Page 19 of My Demon Manny (Demon Debacles #2)

Lux

"How about you play on the floor for a while, hmm, Gungun? Your dad and I will make our dinner and be right back, okay?"

Gunner babbled away, completely uninterested in what I had to say, leaning up on his elbows to grab a toy. Since he'd started crawling recently, I'd covered most of the floor with playmats so he wouldn't hurt himself. With my magic, it was easy to remove the mats when he wasn't playing on the floor, and it was the best solution we'd found that wouldn't limit Gunner's play area.

My magic also made sure that nothing in the room would ever tip over and accidentally hurt Gunner. Archer seemed especially fond of this new fact because he could be a little clumsy sometimes. He was usually very well coordinated, but if he didn't have caffeine in his system, or if he'd had a long day at work? He was like an elephant in a grocery store. Or something like that.

"Okay, Gunner's doing some tummy-time on the floor. What can I help with?" I slid into the kitchen, and Archer glanced over at me, a slight tip to his lips.

"You don't need to help. You can just keep me company."

I narrowed my eyes at him and huffed. I wanted to help Archer cook the human way—which was very, very slow—but he seemed to think that just because I could do it with a snap of my fingers, I didn't want to learn to do it his way, which just wasn't true.

"Come on, I want to learn. What if your friends come over and I'm epically clueless? They'll get suspicious."

Archer gave me a considering look and then sighed. "All right. How about you prepare the veggies for me?"

"Yes! I'll do anything."

Archer showed me how he wanted me to chop onions, peppers, carrots, and some other veggies, and I copied him, chopping everything into evenly sized pieces.

"Is this okay?"

Archer glanced down at the spread in front of me, and his eyes widened. "Did you use magic?"

"No way. I told you I wouldn't."

"You did very well, then." He shook his head, a look of wonder on his face. "It looks like the work of a professional."

I preened at the compliment, and Archer's gaze flicked to me. Closing the distance between us, he wrapped a hand around my neck and pulled me into a kiss.

The knife clattered onto the cutting board as I dropped it, grabbing him around the waist to remove the gap between us. I kissed him back, humming at the way his lips caressed mine, soft yet insistent.

It'd been a few days since the whole dark soul debacle, and I hadn't heard from Maximus again, but it had taken us a while to relax back into our normal life.

Being with Archer and Gunner was the best thing in my life, and I wasn't going to let anything take that away from me, especially not a few dark souls who belonged in the Burning Chasm.

Pulling back to give Archer some space to breathe, I peppered kisses on his jaw as he chuckled roughly.

"We should stop if we want to have dinner."

I hummed in agreement, but continued kissing him, unable to resist his cheeks and the way his stubble scratched against my lips. Now that Gunner wasn't quite as interested in his beard anymore, he'd started shaving it.

"Lux," he murmured, and I sighed, taking a big step back in an attempt to resist temptation.

"It's your fault for being so sexy," I complained, making him chuckle.

"Oh? Is that so? Well, I apologize. How about you help me cook up our dinner quickly, and then we can have some fun once we've filled our bellies?"

"What do I do?"

Laughing, Archer started giving me directions, and I followed them to the letter, rushing through the cooking as much as I could without actually using my magic.

Archer gave me an impressed look when I dished out our food, and I smiled to myself, following after him with two glasses of wine as he carried our dinner to the living room.

"Uh, Lux?"

"Yeah?" I placed the glasses on the coffee table, then stood up to find Archer standing in the middle of the room, dishes still in hand.

"Where's Gunner?"

I glanced over at his play area, and where he should've been lying on his belly playing, there were only a few of his toys scattered around, and no Gunner in sight.

"What the hell?"

I scanned the room, trying to find the brightly colored onesie-clan bundle, but he was nowhere to be seen. Had someone taken him? But I would've sensed it if they had! Gunner still had the charm around his neck, and I'd also put a protective ward around the place. Who could've taken him without alerting me?

"Lux?" Archer asked, worry clear in his voice, and I shook my head.

"Give me a moment." Closing my eyes, I focused my magic on Gunner's charm, and my brows furrowed when my magic told me it was close by. Had whoever taken him removed it?

Opening my eyes, I followed my magic's direction back to the couch, confused. According to my magic, this was where the charm was. What the...

"Blaa!" I blinked at the sound of Gunner's voice, and fell to my knees, peeking under the couch. There, squished into a place barely large enough for him, was Gunner, happily chewing on his toy like he hadn't just given us a heart attack.

I was glad I always made sure to remove every speck of dust and dirt from this room. Who knew what kind of germs Gunner could've put in his mouth otherwise?

Getting to my feet, I turned to Archer with a wry smile. "He's down there."

Archer's eyes widened, and he put the plates on the coffee table before walking over to me. "He's under the couch?"

"Mm-hmm. I'll pick it up and you get him out, okay?"

"Okay."

Grabbing one end of the couch, I picked it up, and Archer quickly grabbed Gunner and his toy.

Gunner went "ba ba ba" as I returned the couch to its spot, probably referring to the sheep-shaped toy in his hand, and Archer shook his head as he watched me, an impressed look on his face.

I was tempted to pick up the couch again and do a few curls, but I resisted the urge.

Archer

I stared down at the little hellion who'd somehow managed to crawl into the tiny space below the couch. I had no idea how his little mind worked, or why he'd thought it was a good idea, but I was glad I had Lux. I couldn't imagine how I would've retrieved him otherwise.

"For our peace of mind, you're going to stay in your crib while we eat dinner, okay, little dude?" I said, which Gunner found funny for some unfathomable reason.

Sitting him in his crib, I offered him a different chew toy so I could wash the one he'd taken on his adventure, then walked over to the couch and fell beside Lux, resting my head on his shoulder.

"That was crazy, huh?"

I hummed, feeling like a balloon someone had let all the air out of. The last few days had been exhausting. Nothing had really happened after the day Lux's friends visited, but there had been this expectation... this fear that something might, and we'd both been on guard for a while.

It felt like the danger had passed now, that the dark souls had moved on to some other place, and I suddenly felt like I'd been completely sapped of energy.

My life since Lux—no, since Gunner came into it had become such a whirlwind, and it'd only gotten worse when Lux arrived. I still wouldn't change any of it, of course, but I could still whine to myself a little bit.

"All right, let's eat before the meal I slogged over goes cold," Lux said, and I snorted as I sat upright.

"Of course."

Lux handed me my plate, and then took his, flicking on the TV and turning to one of the monster-hunting shows he was a fan of. He liked pointing out all the wrong and right facts they had about certain supernatural beings, and it was helpful in a way because it taught me more about his world. Or rather, the world I'd lived in without any idea of what was around me.

I'd only taken a few bites when my phone started ringing, and I realized I'd left it in the kitchen.

"Want me to get it?" Lux offered, hand raised with fingers ready to snap, and I shook my head.

"Nah, let it go to voicemail. I'm off work, and I'll call whoever it is back later." I had different ringtones set for people I cared about (Lux, Jerry, and Kat), for people at work, and for unknown numbers, or numbers I rarely contacted, and this was the third ringtone, so I figured they could wait. I wasn't going to let them interrupt my dinner.

"Okay." Shrugging, Lux leaned back into the couch, pressing his side against mine. Smiling to myself, I continued eating, laughing as Lux talked over the characters on the TV, telling them about all the dumb mistakes they were making.

"That's not how werewolves work!" Lux scowled, and I hid my smile behind my hand, loving how engrossed he was getting.

After we'd finished dinner, I took the dishes since he'd done most of the cooking, and he went to feed Gunner his bottle and get him ready for sleep.

Rinsing the dishes and sticking them into the dishwasher, I wiped down the counters, added some stuff we were running low on to the grocery list on the fridge, then grabbed my phone, finding a voicemail waiting for me. I clicked play without paying attention to who it was from, then blinked in surprise at the voice.

"Hey, Archer, it's Maya. Sorry about calling you out of nowhere. I'm going to be in town this weekend for a seminar, and I was wondering if I could maybe come see you? And—and Gunner? I promise I'm not going to try to take him from you, or anything. Only if it's okay with you. Let me know?"

The voicemail ended with a click, and I stared at my phone, unsure what to feel or how to react. I knew on a logical level that Maya wouldn't try to take Gunner from me, that she wasn't that kind of a person, but I was still worried. What if seeing Gunner changed her mind? I had full custody, but could she get it back if she tried hard enough? The courts favored the mother, didn't they?

"Archer? Everything okay?" Lux's voice broke me out of my thoughts, and I realized I'd been staring at my phone for who knew how long.

"Uh, yeah, I'm fine."

"Was it a work call?"

Shaking my head, I glanced up at him, then shrugged. "It was Gunner's mom. She wants to see him."

"Oh!" Lux blinked, as if unable to comprehend what I'd said, then shook his head. "Are you going to let her?"

"I suppose so. She said she just wants to see him, nothing more. She's coming to town on the weekend for a seminar."

"Then I guess you have some time before you need to decide."

"Yeah."

"Come on, Gunner's already in bed, and we should grab some sleep too."

Lux wrapped an arm around my waist when I didn't move, then led me to our bedroom. We cleaned up, then removed our clothes before sliding under the sheets. My plan earlier had been to reward Lux for his cooking with some fun times, but I wasn't in the mood now, at all. Lux seemed to sense that, though, because he merely wrapped himself around my back, spooning me as he hugged me close.

I sighed, relaxing in his embrace and leaving all big thoughts for tomorrow's Archer. Closing my eyes, I snuggled into him, linking my fingers with his and holding him close as sleep tugged at me.

Before I fell asleep, the thought occurred to me that Lux would never allow Gunner to be taken from us, and that thought was what finally helped me relax enough to drift off.