Page 12 of Demon with Benefits (Hell Bent #3)

An hour later, he had molded the thing into what was starting to resemble wings.

There was a blob at the base of them that kind of looked like a person crouching, curled into a ball, so he was going with that for now.

He took another sip of coffee—cold now—and had just leaned in to mess with the clay some more when the studio door opened and Jacqui entered.

“’Sup, Jacks?”

She headed straight for the coffeepot as predicted. The coffee was old now, but at least it was still hot. She took a sip and then came to stand beside him. “What are you working on?”

“Dunno yet.” He paused the music on his phone and spun his stool around to look at her. His eyes narrowed. “What’s up with you today? You look like shit.”

She gave him a look. “Gee, thanks.”

He shrugged. “You said as much to me the other day.”

“No, I didn’t. I said it seemed like you had a lot on your mind. It’s rude to tell people they look like shit, Meph.”

He was a demon and really didn’t care about manners. But he supposed he did kinda care about Jacqui, so he tried to be nicer for her sake. “Fine. What’s bothering you?”

She glanced out the window. “Nothing.”

He snorted. “That’s a crock of shit.”

She blew out a breath. “You don’t want to hear about it anyway.”

“Probably not. But that’s why it’s safe to tell me. No judgment ’cause I just don’t care, right?”

She managed a laugh and shook her head. Her smile fell as she dropped into a chair across from him at the other table. “It’s Dan.”

Meph’s lip curled automatically. “What about him?”

“He stopped calling.”

“I thought you weren’t speaking to him anyway.”

“I haven’t been. But he’s called almost every day since he left regardless. I know he doesn’t expect me to answer. I think he just does it to let me know he’s okay, or, well... that he still cares.”

“Wait. So you told him to get lost, but he’s been calling you anyway like a simp. Finally, he grows some balls and leaves you alone like you asked, and now you want him to come back?”

Jacqui’s face blanked as she stared at him. Then she shook her head. “No, that’s not—It’s more complicated than that.”

“How?”

“Well, I didn’t exactly tell him to get lost . It wasn’t like that.”

“It wasn’t? I thought you were pissed at him for lying to you for twenty-seven years and couldn’t forgive him.”

“Well, yeah.”

“So you told him to leave.”

“Yeah.” Jacqui seemed to be shrinking into herself.

“But he didn’t do what you wanted because he kept calling you every day.”

“Well, that’s not necessarily—”

Meph rubbed his forearm over his face since his hands were still covered in clay. This emotional shit never made any sense to him. “So you did ask him to call every day?”

“No, I didn’t.”

“I’m confused. Do you or do you not want him to keep calling you?”

“I... don’t know.”

“Ohhh.” Understanding finally dawned. “So it’s like that. I get it.”

“Like what?”

“You can’t decide what you want, so you’re bringing the bastard along for the ride, making him hurt for what he did.”

Jacqui gasped. “What? That is not—I take offense to that!”

“Want some advice?”

“No!”

“Cut him loose. Or don’t. But just make up your mind about it. You can’t hang on to your anger indefinitely. Eventually, you have to decide—forgive him or don’t. But you can’t expect him to wait forever, so if you want to forgive him, don’t sleep on it too long.”

Jacqui had frozen with her coffee mug raised halfway to her lips.

A little voice inside Meph told him he might have overstepped, but the problem was, he really didn’t have a filter between his brain and mouth. He just said whatever stupid shit he thought up, and he often got punched for it by his brothers.

He doubted Jacqui would punch him, however, and that made him feel a tiny bit bad. At least with his brothers, when he crossed a line, they let him know. Jacqui was too nice to say anything, and he realized he didn’t like the idea of upsetting her.

So he added, “Or better yet, ignore everything I just said because I don’t know what I’m talking about half the time.”

He made to spin his stool around and get back to minding his own business, but then Jacqui said, “You’re right.”

He stilled.

“You’re completely right.” Her eyes were wide. “I’ve been dragging him along for close to a year now, letting him know how mad I am and how I don’t forgive him for what he did. But I can’t do that forever, and it’s not fair to Dan to expect him to wait. I need to cut him loose, as you said.”

Except, as she said the words, her eyes filled with tears.

Meph immediately got jumpy. He didn’t do emotions. He especially didn’t do tears. This kind of shit gave him the creeps.

“Or you could, you know... take him back.” He cringed.

“But I can’t.” Jacqui blinked hard to keep the tears from spilling over. “It can never work between us. It’s impossible.”

“Uh, why?”

“Because I’m mortal! You and my daughter and my husband are going to live forever, and I’m just going to die !”

And with that, she folded forward and sobbed into her hands.

If it had been anyone, anyone else, Meph would have fled right then and there. But it wasn’t anyone else. It was Jacqui.

“Don’t worry about that,” he said weakly, simultaneously wishing to punch himself in the face until he was unconscious. “There are workarounds.”

“What workarounds could there possibly be for the ultimate dilemma of human existence?”

“Vampires are created with demon blood. They’re not that cool, but you’re frozen at the age you’re turned, and you can live as long as you want if someone doesn’t decapitate you.

The wooden stake thing is bullshit, so don’t worry about that.

And you can still eat garlic and see yourself in mirrors.

I’d stay away from churches, though. Priests are creepy. ”

Jacqui sniffed and lifted her head. She didn’t seem assured at all. In fact, her eyes were bugging even more than they were before.

“V-vampires...” She could barely get the word out. “Are real?”

“Sure. They’re kinda lame, but they don’t die easily, so at least there’s that. You won’t burn up in the light like people think, but sunny days aren’t your friend either.”

The silence was deafening. Meph was starting to regret getting out of bed this morning.

Finally, Jacqui said in a low voice, “You’re telling me this option has always existed. That any human can be turned into a v—into a v— vampire ... and become immortal.”

“Yeah.” Why did he get the sense she was about to blow?

“And Dan would know this.”

“Well, yeah. He’s probably killed his fair share if he’s any good at his job.”

“He knows this... and he didn’t tell me.”

“Yes?”

Jacqui leapt to her feet and slammed her coffee mug onto the table. Meph flinched like a bomb had just gone off in his face. Her nostrils were flared, and her hands were clenched into fists.

Had he thought Belial’s rage attacks were terrifying? Because this shit was on a whole other level.

“Here I am, torturing myself with the agony of my mortality, believing there were no options, no possible workarounds. And all along, he knew about this?”

“Wait, so you want to become a vampire just like that? I wouldn’t get that excited. It kind of sucks. No pun intended, but—”

“No, I don’t want to. Well, maybe. I don’t know. But he should have told me!” She plastered on the most terrifying fake smile he’d ever seen and said, “If you’ll excuse me, I have to make a phone call.”

And then she marched out of the studio and was gone.

Meph shuddered. He almost felt bad for Dan. Almost.