Page 9

Duke

D uke stood on the doorstep of a cozy, little suburban house. Flowers poured out of planter boxes and a sunny welcome mat lay in front of the door. It certainly looked like a place the sweet human Miri would live. He double-checked the address on his phone just to be sure.

The opened before he could knock. Miri stood on the other side, a bright smile on her beautiful face. Her honeyed strawberry curls floated around her head in a soft halo.

“Duke! Come on in.” The sweet human stepped back and waved him inside.

He cleared his throat. “I’m sorry I’m late.”

“No worries.” She closed the door behind him. “Nico was running a little late from work too, so he only just got here.”

Nico? He didn’t know a Nico.

Miri padded down the hall on bare feet and stepped into another room. Duke looked down at his own feet. Should he take his shoes off? She hadn’t said. Maybe this wasn’t a good idea…

Her head poked through the doorway into the hall again.

“Duke, come on!” she waved him toward her.

If Miri wanted him to take his shoes off, she could tell him he decided. The winged demon followed her down the hall and into the living room. The warm scent of roasted garlic and tomatoes tickled his nose as he passed by the kitchen. He nearly detoured just to get a glimpse at what she had made.

It can wait , he told his rumbling stomach.

Kaz and Ace waited in the living room, a third demon standing off to the side. A shade of deep red, he had tall black horns and dark tattoos covering his arms and throat. A frown rested on his face. Duke couldn’t tell if he was unhappy to be there or if that was just his face.

What did his sisters call it again? Resting bitch face?

Whatever it was, the unfriendly demon had it in spades.

“Duke’s here, so we can go ahead and get started with dinner.

I know it’s a little weird, but do you guys mind if we eat around the coffee table?

” Miri winced and waved a hand toward the kitchen.

“I forgot I had a project spread out for work and if I move it now, I’ll never remember where all the fiddly little pieces go. ”

As long as she fed him whatever that delectable smell was, Duke would happily sit anywhere she told him to. The other demons must have felt the same way because they all moved to sit cross-legged on the floor around the small table.

Miri quickly placed wine, plates, and silverware in front of them.

“If you guys want to introduce yourself to Nico while I grab the food, that would be great.”

“Let me?—“

“No, no.” She raised her hands to stop them. “It’ll just take me a minute.”

Miri hurried off into the kitchen before anyone could argue further. Four sets of demon eyes followed the swish of her sundress as she rounded the corner.

“You all know each other?” the red demon—presumably Nico—asked.

“Yep,” Ace said cheerfully. He grabbed a bottle of wine of the table and started topping up glasses. “I’m Ace. I’m a Sagittarius, obviously?—“

“You were born in July,” Kaz interrupted.

“Shhhh. Don’t be so narrow minded. Let me be who I want to be.”

“That’s not how astrology works,” Duke added. He assumed. The big demon certainly wasn’t an expert.

“You are such a Virgo.” Ace shook his head, a deep sigh rasping from his chest. “As I was saying, I’m Ace. I like long walks on the beach and my main hobby is bottle rockets.”

Nico frowned. “How is that a hobby?—“

“Don’t,” Kaz cut in. His hand rose to pinch the bridge of his nose. “Just, don’t.”

The tattooed demon nodded slowly. “Really starting to see the dynamic here.”

“What dynamic?” Miri asked, two steaming dishes of lasagna in her oven mitt clad hands.

Nico reached over and took one of the hot dishes in his bare hands. Without so much as a twitch, he lowered it to the table. The surprised human stared at him. She passed him the second dish without a work and disappeared back into the kitchen.

“Neat trick.” Ace craned his head to peer at the other demon’s unscathed hands. “How did you do it?”

“I’m one-sixteenth dragon.”

Duke blinked. That was a new one. Usually, monsters tried to stick to their own kind or with humans. Breeding between monster species was much rarer… and unpredictable.

Ace propped his chin in his hands. “Please tell me you breath fire.”

“No. That was pretty much the extent of it.” Nico shifted uncomfortably under their scrutiny. “You’re only one-third of the way through introductions.”

Miri came back into the room with a large bowl of salad and basket of garlic bread.

Their eyes snapped to her as she placed them on the table and sat down in the empty space they had left for her.

Her eyes flicked up behind her round glasses and caught them staring. Pink bloomed over her round cheeks.

“Right,” Ace cleared his throat. “This big guy here is Duke. He’s lovely. Not much of a talker, but he grills a mean steak and will usually lend you twenty bucks if you ask nicely. He also wears a lot of suits and I can only image how high his dry-cleaning bill is.”

Higher than he’d like. Duke sighed. It was his least favorite expense on his monthly budget, but he enjoyed looked crisp and put together for work.

“And lastly, this pathetic specimen is my cousin, Kazimir.” Ace clapped Kaz on the shoulder. “Clearly, I got the better genes in the family.”

Miri frowned. “I thought it was Kaz? Do you prefer Kazimir?”

“Fuck, no,” he laughed. “Only my mom calls me Kazimir… and only when I’m in trouble.”

“So, always?” Ace snorted.

She ignored the interruption and kept her bright-eyed focus firmly on Kaz. For once, Duke was jealous of his fellow demon. As much as he hated being the center of attention, he would give his right hand to have Miri look at him with that kind of gentle appraisal.

What did she see when she looked at Duke? A lumbering giant with equally awkward wings? A nervous demon as out of place in her tiny house as a bull in a china shop? Or maybe just a quiet purple nerd with impeccable taste in neckties?

He really hoped it was the latter.

“That’s a beautiful name,” their smiling human continued. “What does it mean?”

“Destroyer of peace.”

She blinked, her soft brown eyes widening. “That’s definitely not what I was expecting.”

“My full name is Acanthus,” Ace added. “It means ‘thorn.’”

“Perfect, because you’re a thorn in my side,” Kaz muttered under his breath.

Duke tried not to sigh. He knew exactly where this was going because it always went the same way—screeching to an abrupt halt when it was his turn.

He scooped another bite of lasagna into his mouth. Maybe if his mouth was full, they would just skip right over him. Shoveling another bite into his mouth, he crossed his fingers.

Miri smiled at the surly, red newcomer. “What about you? Is Nico short for something too?”

“Nicodemus.” He shrugged at her raised eyebrows. “Demons tend to be a bit dramatic when it comes to filling out birth certificates. The darker the meaning, the better.”

One by one, they turned to look at Duke. Wings fluttering awkwardly on his back. He tried his best to seem less painfully conspicuous under their questioning gaze. Duke squirmed uncomfortably in his seat.

Damn it. He had better odds of climbing Everest in the buff than he did of spontaneously changing his whole personality on the spot to be more casual.

“It’s just Duke,” he said around a mouthful of lasagna. “It’s not short for anything.”

His mother might be a demoness, but her no-nonsense attitude would never allow her to name one of her children something flowery like “Nicodemus.”

“Just… Duke?” Ace raised his eyebrows. “How weird.”

“It’s not that weird,” he grumbled.

Okay, technically for a demon it was very weird. Their people weren’t just dramatic when they named their children, they were downright diabolical. His cousin had recently named her newborn twins Nemesis and Arson, and his extended family had considered them tame—if not, boring— choices.

His mom’s decision to name him and his sisters average human names was as out of place as a human naming their new baby “Peanut Butter.” It just wasn’t done.

“I like the name Duke. It’s has an old school, western film vibe,’” Miri cut in before the demons staring at him over their garlic bread had a chance to argue. “I don’t think I’ve had any Dukes or Nicos in my class before. There’s been one or two Aces… definitely no Kazimirs, though.”

“Class?” Nico asked. A drip of pasta sauce stained the corner of his mouth.

Should he say something? Duke felt like it was the polite thing to do, but interrupting the conversation seemed far more impolite. His skin prickled uncomfortably. Why did socializing always have to feel like he was tiptoeing through a mine field?

“I teach kindergarten.” Miri slid a stack of paper napkins across the coffee table. “You have some sauce on your mouth, Nico.”

Oh, thank goodness.

A small smile curved the corner of his lips. It’s like she had plucked the frustrating thought right out of his head and smoothed it out.

The conversation faded into the background as Duke studied the small human at his side.

A kindergarten teacher? He could see that for her.

Her wild strawberry curls floating around her head as she did sing-alongs.

A bright smile waiting for each and every one of her students.

The pretty floral pattern of her sundress making her pale skin glow…

His eyes locked onto the soft curve of her shoulder. Golden freckles dotted her pale pink skin. Duke flexed his fingers in his lap, fighting the urge to graze his fingers over the light flesh and compare it to the deep plum of his own.

“Duke?”

The demon blinked. He turned back to the table to find everyone staring at him. In his contemplation, he had lost more than a little bit of the conversation around him.

“What?”

“I asked what you do for a living.” Miri supplied gently. Her small hand patted his knee.

Duke’s eyes dropped to her pale purple nail polish. So bright against his sedate gray slacks, a mellowed shade of his own tone.