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Focus on something else.

Jarren’s voice booms over the buzz in the air and everyone quiets down again.

“Fourteen?” he turns to someone sitting next to him in the first row, “You know, that was around the same time I came up with those silly little birds, what were they called?”

A chorus of people around the courtroom rings out, “Dodos!”

“Oh, yeah, right, well?—”

“Are they gettin’ sentenced or not?” A cyclops the size of my hand, standing on a pedestal in the second row, interrupts. “I’ve got a jazzercise class that starts in five minutes, so are we adjourned?”

Grumbles from the courtroom rise up and then taper back down when Jarren speaks. “Yes, right, right, you two are hereby sentenced to fourteen centuries in the eighth circle of hell. And once you’re done with that, you’ll live in this realm as magicless,flightless little dodo birds who can only speak when spoken to.” With that, Jarren claps his hands and they’re gone.

A relief like I’ve never felt comes over me. It’s done, and I never have to see them again.

Jarren stands and addresses Donella, “Donella, you’ve done a good thing here today and I apologize for not listening to you at first. You and your mate are dismissed.”

eight

. . .

Donella bowsand grabs my arm softly to guide me out of the courtroom. I watch the rooms decrease in size and luxury as we make our way back outside and closer to this discussion I won’t shy away from. Will I have to live in the demon realm forever? If I go back home, can I see Donella again? Now that the court is behind us, the onslaught of panicked questions at this new information comes bursting through.

It’s still midday by the time we reach Donella’s board parked outside. I grab Donella’s hands and rest my head on her chest, not ready to speak yet but not wanting to move on.

“The spell wasn’t exactly what summoned me,” Donella says after some time. I lean back to look at her and notice a pool of gray at the bottom of her violet eyes. She’s crying.

I squeeze her hands and bring them up to kiss them. “Tell me everything.”

Donella motions toward the board and we both sit down.

“The spell you finished was a call to this realm. The sisters would have used it to pull a weaker demon that they could control to do their bidding. When you put those final orange slices in, I was able to hear the mating call in your blood.”They reach for my wrist, dragging their thumb across the veins underneath.

“I was reading when I heard the clear tone of wind chimes and I was confused for a moment, wondering where the sound was coming from. But then the vibrato felt like it shook my soul loose and I just knew. I sat my book down and went straight to you, I didn’t even realize I was coming to Earth.”

“Did you know I was human?” Donella looks down the street for a moment before they continue.

“At home; no, I didn’t know who I was going to meet on the other side. But once I saw you, yes, I knew you were human, but I thought you could feel the mating bond and were just being coy with me.” Their sigh rustles my baby hairs. “But then I realized you couldn’t hear my blood’s song, you had no idea who I was. And, with the situation you were in, I figured you didn’t want to hear ‘yeah I’ll fix your problems, and also love you forever, if you don’t mind.’ Now that I say it out loud though, I made that choice for you instead of giving you the chance to make an informed decision. I’m so sorry.” Donella starts to withdraw their hand but I turn mine over to grab it.

“You did what you thought was best at the moment, Nellie. I don’t know how I would’ve reacted if you’d told me then but it probably wouldn’t have been good. Either way, you kept your promise to keep me safe, you never made me feel like I owe you anything in return, and I don’t know much about mates but that was probably hard to keep your excitement to yourself, right?”

“Yes, but that’s not your problem to worry about. I shouldn’t have let you find out like that, I should’ve told you.”

Oh, my squishy, little cinnamon roll.

The bond explains what I’m feeling now, what I’vebeenfeeling this whole time. A settled calmness, a rush of hot lust, us being mates doesn’t overshadow how easy it is to laugh with them, or how I admire how they support their community. I grabtheir face with both hands so that they can really hear me this time.

“No, what you should have done was made me an extra croissant this morning. It’sokay. You were trying not to be weird about it. You gave me a chance to get to know you without the pressure of being partnered.”

“Oh! We aren’t partnered yet though. You don’t have to be with me if you don’t want to. The mating call isn’t a binding, it’s more of a really strong suggestion.”

“Okay, but what if Idowant to be with you?” I boop their nose and watch the tension leave their shoulders. I’m at ease with the news and ready to talk about logistics.

“How can we make this work?” I don’t want to sacrifice someone every time I want to make out with my hot demon.

“I can realm-jump on my own, just like how I brought you here,” they explain, “Now that I know who you are, I can show up at any time, with your invitation of course. I don’t want to take you from your human life; I can visit you and bring you for visits here until you’re ready to crossover, whenever that may be.”

“Seems like you’ve already thought this through.”