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two

.

.

.

Horns.

A tail.

A person with gray skin, violet eyes, two horns, and a tail is standing in front of me, talking to me.

And the familiarity of that greeting isn’t lost on me either.

God, I wish I wasn’t sober right now.

They have a look around the rest of the room and stop when they notice my kidnappers.

“And with them . What’s the story here?”

Okay, so maybe this one’s actually sane.

But that doesn’t mean they won’t cause mischief of their own.

“Well, I—How do I know I can trust you?”

I’m surprised I don’t also see wings when they cross the cauldron to stand closer to me.

However, I am surprised by the way I’m mesmerized by their hips as they do so.

“Sweetheart, you called me here. I am a demon, at your beck and call, here to do your bidding. As long as you trust yourself, you can trust me.”

A demon that wears crisp leather jackets and has a short white bob?

With two pointed horns that are lengthening as we speak?

Yeah, suuuper convincing.

But, weirdly enough, I do feel calmer with them here now.

And another magical person would probably know best how to deal with the witches, so they’re kind of my only hope of getting out of this situation right now.

“What’s your name?” I ask before we go any further.

“Donella, darling.” They lift their hand towards me and I flinch thinking they’re going to touch my hair, but they simply drag their fingers down my arms.

“Yours?”

“Lellies.”

“Lellliessss.” Donella draws my name out slowly, like they’re tasting every letter.

Donella inches closer to me, almost pinning me to the wall.

They’re taller than me, which doesn’t happen often so I have to raise my head to keep eye contact with them.

They drop their head closer to me and whisper, “And you, Lellies, how did you end up here with those two?”

Oh, right.

But it’s hard to think now, with Donella’s breath on my cheeks and an arm leaning on the wall above my head and their lips right at eye level.

In fact, I don’t take my eyes off them when I respond, “If I ask for help, will it cost me?”

Donella gives me some space again, folding their arms and setting a wide stance.

Their horns have stopped lengthening now, sitting in a curl and pointing up to the ceiling.

I breathe a little easier now.

With Donella so close, my cheeks flushed, like the temperature in the air surrounding just the two of us had risen.

And, I mean, I love flirting but now’s kind of not the time.

“Well that depends on what you’re asking.” Donella says, looking me up and down like they want to take a bite out of me.

I almost want them to.

But I need to stay focused.

Donella seems calm and hasn’t tried to shank me yet so I’ll give them that, but I still need to cover all my bases.

“I’ve read The Thousand and One Nights . I'm not going to say something vague and then you get to ‘interpret’ that as a command just so you can do something … nefarious.”

Donella smirks, shaking their head slowly. “Never. That’s not the kind of being I am and that’s not the kind of game I play. And, honestly, as long as you let me take these two with me, I couldn’t care less what you ask of me right now.”

“Wait, really?” The words fall out of my mouth before I’ve had a chance to even halfway think them. I can’t keep the smile off my face when I say, “That’s actually all I need you to do. Take them away from here and make sure they can never come back.”

Donella’s smile is—wow. The gray skin around their eyes crinkles and they have one dimple on the left side. I only get to see it for a moment before they turn around and assess the state of the witches.

“Absolut—” they turn back to me with a look of confusion, “Do you know who these two women are?”

“No, I was at a party and they kidnapped me.” I’m not worried about telling them the truth now that I know they’re going to take care of them. “I woke up here and I was trying to get away and then you appeared.”

Donella’s reaction confirms my gut feeling. Eyes wide, breath staticky, they even bring a hand to their chest as they take two steps back.

They are on my side!

Donella takes a breath like they’re about to speak and then stops. They take another look at the sisters and then step forward and bend down to me. “Pretty girl,” they whisper, “I’m so glad you’re okay. But I don’t just show up randomly. What else happened?”

Ooooo, you think I’m pretty?

Okay, stop, focus. My chest cringes at the idea of having to come clean but I certainly haven’t done anything nearly as bad as what they were planning to do to me. And Donella seems smart, charismatic, sexy as hell … Where was I going with this?

I trust them to help me figure out what to do.

“They were going to kill me. They said they wanted to steal my youth and that the spell would kill me and that they’ve done it to other girls as well.” Once I start talking, the words come out faster and faster like they're on a runaway train careening off the tracks. “I didn’t want them to be able to get away and steal other people’s lives.

I didn’t know what was going to happen, I didn’t know you’d get summoned here, but I knew she was going to put orange slices in the cauldron so I figured they could reap what they sowed and,” I don’t want to say it out loud but Donella’s expression doesn’t look judgemental at all.

In fact, they’re nodding me on, like they would’ve done what I did.

“I … I cut them like they planned to cut me. And then when I saw the oranges, I threw them in there too.”

“Ahhh, the full story.” Donella opens their arms in a silent invitation and I all but throw myself into that hug.

“From now on, I want you to always tell me the full story, okay?”

Donella talks like we’ll see each other again.

Maybe that’s part of the culture where they’re from?

But no sense in derailing our conversation when things are going so well.

Besides, I feel so much more at ease with the gentleness they’re giving me.

“Okay?”

I get another glance at Donella’s gorgeous smile when they say, “Good. Now, these two. You have found yourself in the awful company of Marlmadine and Henrietta Clairce. They’ve been at this for centuries, summoning lesser demons and forcing them to rip youth from a human sacrifice, always suspiciously unconscious and reeking of liquor, in order to be let go. I know this must have been scary for you, but you did the right thing Lellies.”

“Thank you.” I smile, watching them pace back and forth like a history teacher powering through a passionate lecture.

They’re on my side, they’re going to take care of this, I can relax now.

Also, that explains why I woke up when they didn’t expect me to.

As scary as this whole situation was, now that I’m safe I’m so glad they grabbed me and not one of the girls.

My heart aches just thinking about what would’ve happened had it been Rachel or Nneke.

I hope they got home alright.

“However,” Donella continues, “I’m remiss to tell you, you aren’t quite done with them yet.”

Donella moves over to the couch on the far side of the living room and beckons me to them.

Once I’m seated, our knees almost touching, they explain, “The Clairce sisters will be charged with illegal spell use and fraudulent shape-shifting in my realm. I would rather kill them where they lay and be done with it but Jarren gets prickly about us demons killing humans without a direct order. He’s a god, and the ruler of my realm, and he likes to hold court and have a trial before we can punish or kill humans.”

Donella pauses and I look at my shoes, taking a moment to let this soak in.

They said he’s a god, not the god.

“But also, if they’re on trial, is there a possibility of them getting out of this as not guilty?” I ask Donella, who reaches over to take one of my hands in theirs.

“That’s what I was getting to Lellies, I need you to come with me and stand as a witness. I know it’s not fair to have to put your trauma on display just to get some semblance of justice or retribution, but you being there will guarantee their sentencing. And Jarren would be able to tell if you were under a spell or coerced to lie, so when he sees that you’re voluntarily telling the truth, he’ll believe you. I will keep you safe in my realm and return you to your home, or wherever you’d like, when it’s over.”

Donella tugs on my hand and I lift my head to look them in the eyes.

“I know you want to make sure they can never hurt anyone else again; this is the way to do that. But it doesn’t mean you have to. You could also walk away, right now, and I will still take them to my realm and, at the very least, they won’t be able to return here.”

“Okay,” my voice squeaks on accident, “Can you give me a minute to think?”

“Absolutely,” Donella says, squeezing my hand gently with a smile.

I put my head in my hands after they leave the couch and try to go over everything they’ve told me with a fine-tooth comb.

They come from another realm.

That’s shocking, but better than knowing random beings could just appear on Earth willy-nilly.

I would be silly not to take a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go to another realm when they’ve already promised to keep me safe and bring me back home, right?

And is sending the sisters to another realm good enough?

What if they find someone to sacrifice there?

Will society ever be safe from them?

That feels like too big of a decision to make on my own.

A god would know better, right?

And he’d be able to actually do something about it.

And it’s not like here on Earth where I have to prove what happened to me.

He’ll be able to see that I’m telling the truth, simple as that.

I feel like I should go just for that reason, in honor of all the women in the world that weren’t believed in court.

Like Neil Armstrong said, one small trial for me, one liberating case for all the girls, gays, and theys that weren’t listened to.

Well fuck me and call me Betsy, I'm going to another realm tonight.

The lightbulb in the lamp next to the couch turns on and I turn to see Donella pointing at light sources all around the room, each one brightening instantly. When they’re done, I stand and call their name. “I’m coming with you.”

Donella sighs, passing a hand over one of their horns, “Lellies—thank you.” They keep eye contact with me as they walk back over. The silence between us is calm, warm, I can feel a buzz of frenetic energy when they grab my hands.

“I will keep you safe, have no doubt about that.” When a tall and powerful demon is going all protective over you, it’s practically impossible to have doubts. All I can do is nod my head, I believe them.

“Let me clean up here and we’ll be on our way, okay?”

“Okay,” at least this time I managed words. Donella goes back to their task, snuffing out the fire below the cauldron and using their magic to sit both witches up on the floor, addressing them for the first time tonight.

“I don’t owe you two a morsel of respect, but because I respect myself and my morals, I will let you know what’s about to happen. I am turning you into roaches.”

Um, ew.

“And I will keep you in a box. You will be transported to The Jarren Realm safely and no harm will come to you before your trial. But rest assured you will face your wrongdoings and take accountability for them.”

Just as they finish speaking, Donella points to them and Marlmadine and Henrietta hover off the floor for just a moment before being turned into bugs. Donella produces a small box about the size of a hand from … somewhere and they float into the box so they can close it.

“Come with me,” they say with the wave of a hand, and we both step out of the cabin’s front door. Finally out of the cabin, I get my first look at where we are. In the middle of nowhere. The sun is coming up, I can see the thick woods we’re surrounded by. I never would have made it out of here on my own.

“Lellies, stand with me please,” Donella calls out, snapping me from my thoughts. Once beside them, a hazy wall of energy rises from the ground to surround us. “I’m about to destroy the cabin. This dome will keep us safe from debris.” I nod and watch them work. I appreciate that they let me know what’s coming and get my consent before moving forward. It makes me feel more in control and puts me at peace with my decision to travel with them.

Just a wave of their hand is all it takes for the cabin walls to cave inward, wood bunching and popping, crumbling into smaller and smaller pieces right before our eyes. It isn’t long before the cabin is reduced to a pile of wood, glass, and fabric, but that’s when Donella sets it on fire. Everything is soon turned to dust that travels into the trees on the wind. My heart feels like it’s releasing from a squeeze. I’d had another panic attack and didn’t even realize. I take some slow, deep breaths as the protection wall comes down.

“I’m going to make a portal that’s human safe, but it might be a bumpy ride.” A bright pinkish-orange circle appears before us, snapping and buzzing with magic and light. It’s oval shaped, and the surface mimics ocean waves in a storm. “Ear popping and feeling warmth in your arms and legs is normal, but if anything else feels wrong just tug on my jacket, okay?”

“Uh, yeah,” I hear what they’re saying but, woah, this is really happening.

“You can tell me no right now. And you can tell me no at any time, even if we’re in the courtroom.”

“Thanks Donella, I’m ready,” I step into the side hug they’re offering and wrap my arm around their torso as they do the same to me. And then we step in together.