Demons Don't Know How To Love

Chapter 8. The Talk

When Logan and I went out on the terrace, the weather suddenly turned bad. The sky was overcast with gray clouds, a cool breeze blew right at my face, and lightning flashed somewhere far in the distance.

I sighed and wrapped my arms around my shoulders. Logan was silent and looked at me worriedly, leaning back against the railing. He was clearly waiting for me to explode and start screaming and cursing. But I did not want to do any of that. Christophe’s words just didn't fit in my mind. It seemed to me that a swarm of bees settled in my head and buzzed inside endlessly, not allowing a single thought to take its place in my mind.

Why did Christophe say I'm not a demon yet?

How could I live so many years, remaining human?

Was I even alive?

No, I was definitely alive. If I were actually dead, I would be wandering around the world as a disembodied spirit.

As far as I knew, I was not yet a ghost.

To clear out my concerns, I went up to Sparks and jabbed my finger into his chest. My hand did not pass through his body, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Are you alright?" he asked, trying to look into my eyes.

I closed my eyes and shook my head, then shrugged, "I don't know."

"Should I call Dante?"

"No."

I wasn't sure if I should be with Dantalion at that very moment. I have had more and more questions for him since the second of our reunion. Unfortunately, he managed to avoid them. To be frank, I didn’t tell him much either, even though he asked me about how things turned out for me back in Hell after he left. Maybe we should start trying to talk with each other.

But why didn't he ever tell me that he didn't actually make me a demon? I mean, did he even think that I might have been in danger down there, especially since I’m a mere human soul? And what was the ritual that he did not complete?

"Hey Dahlia," Logan put his hands on my shoulders. "Look at me. You need to talk to Dante. The sooner, the better."

"No, I..." I sighed, my shoulders slumped. "I want to go to the library."

I took a step to get away from him, but Sparks held me tight.

"No, Dahlia. Nothing is more important than dealing with what Christophe told you right now. The books can wait until tomorrow."

“I’m not sure that he will explain something to me. All my attempts to talk to him ended with him seducing me and... "

"Okaaay! That’s enough information!" he finally let go of my shoulders and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Let’s make a deal. You will never, AND I MEAN NEVER, DAHLIA, share the details of your bedtime adventures with me. I will gladly listen to everything that is on your mind or your heart. I will let you cry on my shoulder if needed, but please, everything related to your s*x life with the demon should remain within your bedroom. Deal?"

I didn't quite understand why Logan asked me to do this, but I nodded my head in agreement.

"Excellent. Now go back to the house and talk to Dante. Something tells me he won't shy away from talking this time."

I obediently got back inside but didn’t immediately go to the bedroom. I ended up heading to the library and spent a few hours studying books. Despite the absolute bombshell dropped by Christophe on my long-suffering head, the new knowledge fit into my mind with more success than it did on the previous day, after Dante's book.

To my surprise, I discovered that the human world was now inhabited by more than just humans, angels, and demons. Many creatures were able to thin the border between the worlds and enter the realm of people. So, vampires, werewolves, witches, and even dragons have long learned to coexist with humans. Of course, mere mortals did not know about this. I was curious about how the current church dealt with witches and other creatures. I remember how a woman was burned at the stake in the middle of the city square, accused of witchcraft. Later, Dante told me that she was not a witch but a healer, just like most executed women. The poor thing only studied herbs and found their use to help people recover from diseases.

Logan also provided me with a sufficient number of books for the school curriculum. I must say that they turned out to be the least interesting. History books were mostly written about who ruled where and when, and who fought with whom and when.

The biggest discovery for me was the world. Living my human life, I had little idea of ​​what could be located outside the settlement in which I lived. My little world was limited to the viceroy's house and everything adjacent to it, which was, the market, the square and the church, my wretched room in the midwife's house, the fields where I worked, and the wide dirt road that went into the forest. Only once did I approach the forest. That day, I met Dantalion and agreed to become his wife.

The thought of the demon made my heart ache. It was unbearably hard for me to be away from him all these years, but even now, when we finally reunited, I did not have the feeling of former closeness. I needed to talk to him, but instead of talking, we always made love.

No. I couldn't think like that. We were engaged in carnal pleasures. What happened between us had nothing to do with love. At least from his side. I didn't want to believe that I still loved him unrequitedly, so I forbade myself to think that I had feelings for him.

After sitting in my studies until the evening, I put the empty books in an even pile and left the library.

I reached Danathlion's chambers and quietly opened the door. At that very moment, the demon was at the door and pulled it hard towards him, which caused me to fall into his arms.

"I'm sorry my sweet flower, I didn't know you were at the door." He gently stroked my shoulders.

"Where were you going?" I asked, looking up from his chest to his face. His eyes looked into mine. He was in dismay.

"I wanted to find you." His voice was low and hoarse. "You were gone for a long time and I began to worry."

"I was in the library."

Dantalion nodded his head. He took my hand and led me into the room. We sat down on the bed together at some distance from each other and fell silent. I had no idea which of us was supposed to start the conversation. I felt like I should have started asking him questions before telling him about my experience in Hell in his absence, but I had no idea which of my questions should come first.

Shifting nervously in place, I looked up at Dantalion. “Is what Christophe said true? You didn't make me a demon?"

He shook his head.

"Why am I still alive?"

“It's because of the seal. Since the contract has not been canceled and all its conditions have not yet been fulfilled, you continue to be in an intermediate state..."

"What conditions?"

Dante sighed. "The main condition of our deal is marriage, followed by intercourse." I felt my cheeks begin to burn. “Physical confirmation of the union for the demons is much more important than the ceremony itself. If you and I shared the bed, the deal would be considered complete, and you would become a full-fledged demon.”

“So… why aren’t you…? I mean, why don’t we…?” I hid my face in my hands so that he would not see it was the color of a ripe tomato.

He grabbed my wrists and pulled my hands away. "Because I gave you my word that I wouldn't have you until we were married." His palm rested on my cheek, and his thumb ran over my skin, causing me to shiver slightly. “I couldn't force you to be intimate. No matter how much I wanted you, and no matter how much you wanted me back, I always reminded myself of what I promised you..."

“Then why haven’t we got married yet? We spent enough time together before you were expelled from Hell…”

“Darling, do you have any idea how wedding rituals are performed in Hell? You nearly passed out when I cut your hand to seal our deal! What would happen to you if you attempted to be naked in a blood-filled bathtub in front of thousands of demons?”

Just thinking about it made me want to vomit and the blood drained from my face. I attended only one celebration in Hell. To be honest, I did not remember what the festivities were for. I only remember how I ran away when the priest began to cut the body of some lower demon with a ceremonial knife in front of the raging crowd. I guess all the rituals and celebrations in Hell were quite bloody events.

Suppressing the urge to return the food I had previously consumed to the world, I touched Danatlion's knee. "I don't mind if you break your promise."

"No." The demon knelt before me and took my hands in his. “No, my little flower. I gave you my word and I will keep it. You deserve the most luxurious and extravagant wedding that this world has ever seen, and I intend to arrange it for you. In addition, I have been dreaming of seeing you in a snow-white wedding gown for a very long time!”

"You already saw me in a wedding dress... on the day of the meeting."

"True. But this time, I'll know you will wear it for me." His lips touched the skin on the back of my hand. “And that I will be the one to take it off you too.” His kisses rose up my arms, shoulders, and neck and froze a millimeter from my lips. “Does this mean that you didn’t decide to leave me and run away with Christophe, to wallow on the clouds in Paradise?”

I slowly shook my head, trying not to touch his lips with mine.

"Thank you," he leaned forward, closing the meager distance between us, but I recoiled and put my hands on his chest.

"Dante, wait. I wanted to tell you something."

The demon furrowed his brows, but sat back down on the floor and nodded, waiting.

Taking a deep breath, I looked down at my own knees and began, “When you left our house, the lower demons that served you came... They destroyed your estate, they broke everything they could have their hands on. One of the maids tried to hide me in one of the secret rooms in the house, but we were caught before we could…Dante, the things they wanted to do to her… they tried to force themselves on her.” Dantalion stroked my legs and put his chin on my lap. “She managed to fight them off and even wounded two of them. We fled from the house, but there were even more demons outside… They said that you abandoned me and that I would only live if I please them…”

"Dahlia..."

I continued through tears, “I defended myself as best I could, Dante. I fought them, bit and scratched…"

His arms wrapped around my waist and in a moment I was in his lap. He held my head to his chest and lulled me like a child. I heard him whisper, but I couldn't make out what he was saying.

I pulled away and looked into his eyes. “They didn't do anything to me. They couldn't. I managed to escape, wandered for many years, and fought with everyone who tried to encroach on me until I found a passage here.”

"I'm so sorry, my sweet flower," he kissed my forehead. "If I knew you were going through something like this, I would never have left Hell without you." He sighed. “I told Thornan and his retinue to keep an eye on you. He must not have been able to get there on time..."

"Thornan? You were the one who sent him?" I twisted away from his arms and looked at his face shocked. I couldn’t believe it…

Dantalion stared at my face in surprise for a few seconds before realizing the reason for my state. “That was him, wasn't it? Thornan tried to…”

"Yes. As far as I know, he demanded Satan give him your position... and me..."

A loud growl came from the demon's chest. His grip on my body became a little stronger, and his eyes became scarlet. “If I see him one day, I will tear him to pieces!”

Dante jumped up, unconsciously knocking me off his knees, and began to pace the room, emitting ancient curses. I carefully climbed onto the bed and began to watch the demon. When he calmed down a bit, I quietly asked, “Why me? Why did he want me?

He stopped abruptly. Looking into my eyes, he shook his head, as if asking me not to ask him about it. I saw how bad he was at that moment, and I decided that we would still have enough time to discuss this. I extended my arms to him for him to hug me. Dante hesitated for a few seconds but accepted my invitation. He helped me undress, took off all his clothes, and put me on the bed. He lay down behind me and tried to hug me from my back, but I turned to face him and wrapped my arms around his neck. His arms froze for a split second before wrapping them around my body. As I was falling asleep, with my nose buried in the crook of his neck, I heard him promise that he would catch Thornan and grind him to dust.