Chapter 3 – The Demon and the Discovery Ride
715 Words
I’d thought taking Kael to the grocery store was exhausting.
Turns out, that was child’s play compared to taking him to a theme park.
It started with Sarah begging. “Come on, Alayna, it’ll be fun! We can all go—me, you, Zayn, Kael. Double date, but with extra sugar and roller coasters.”
Kael perked up immediately. “What is a roller coaster?”
“Think… giant metal death serpent,” Zayn said helpfully.
Kael’s eyes lit up. “I’m in.”
The second we walked through the park gates, Kael stopped dead in his tracks.
His eyes swept over the rides, the screaming children, the clouds of cotton candy floating by.
“Darling,” he murmured, “this is… chaos. I like it.”
He pointed at a spinning ride shaped like teacups.
“What is the purpose of that?”
“To make you dizzy and possibly regret your life choices,” I said.
“I’ve been doing that to mortals for centuries. Excellent.”
Our first stop was the Discovery Ride—basically a giant tower that hoists you up and then drops you at a speed designed to make you question your existence.
Kael watched it for about thirty seconds, frowning.
“It’s just… up and down?”
“Exactly.”
“That’s not so bad,” he said confidently.
Cut to: thirty seconds later, as we’re being cranked to the top, Kael’s knuckles are white around the safety bar.
“Darling… this is a very long way up.”
“It’s fine,” I said, trying not to laugh. “Look at the view.”
“I am looking at the view. The view is death.”
Then—WHOOSH. The drop hit.
Kael let out the loudest, most undignified scream I’ve ever heard. It wasn’t even a fear scream—it was like he was yelling at the physics of the universe for betraying him.
When we reached the bottom, he sat there frozen for a full ten seconds. Then he slowly turned to me.
“That. Was. Glorious. Again.”
Next, Sarah dragged us onto the spinning teacups. Kael insisted on controlling the wheel.
Five seconds in, I regretted letting him.
“Faster!” he yelled, spinning us so hard I was certain we’d achieve interdimensional travel.
By the time the ride stopped, my hair was a disaster, my stomach was somewhere in another county, and Kael looked like he’d just conquered a kingdom.
We stopped for food next. Kael’s eyes locked on a pink, fluffy cloud one kid was carrying.
“What is that?”
“Cotton candy,” I said.
“It looks like spun magic.”
I bought him one, and he poked it suspiciously before taking a bite. His eyes went huge.
“It dissolves in my mouth. How do you humans manage to make this stuff?”
“Sugar. Lots of sugar.”
“This explains so much about your kind.”
Of course, Zayn got Kael to try a massive bowl of ramen next. Kael picked up the noodles with his chopsticks, let them dangle, and frowned.
“They’re like edible rope.”
“They’re delicious edible rope,” I said.
He slurped one, blinked, and muttered, “Fine. Acceptable.” Then finished the entire bowl in record time.
We ended the day with the biggest roller coaster in the park.
As we climbed the first hill, Kael glanced at me with a cocky grin. “I am prepared this time.”
Two seconds into the first drop, he was screaming again—this time with pure, unfiltered joy. His hair was a windswept mess, his eyes bright like he’d just stolen the sun.
When the ride screeched to a halt, he jumped out and declared loudly, “Mortals have mastered fear as entertainment. I respect it.”
On the way home, Kael was unusually quiet. Not his brooding, dark-prince quiet—more like thoughtful.
“You had fun,” I said finally.
He glanced at me, smirking just a little. “If you define fun as sharing ridiculous, terrifying, wonderful moments with someone until your heart feels like it might burst… then yes. I had fun.”
And for one dangerous second, I forgot to breathe.
- Writer
