Why You Should Never Rescue Stray Demons Chapter 118

**KACIA**

“You tried to spell me!” Tarish thunders, his voice like a crack of thunder. Raylah looks cornered, her lips parting and closing again like she can’t decide which half truth might save her. Her gaze flicks desperately to Tarish, but his expression is carved from stone.

“I just…” She blurts finally, her voice cracking. 

“I only wanted to know what you felt about me! You’re so, so neutral, always so composed, and I thought maybe if I could encourage you to speak your mind… I might learn what you really think of me.” Her words tumble over themselves, frantic and raw. But Tarish’s fury doesn’t ease. If anything, it deepens. His pale eyes blaze, sharp and cold, and the very air in the room feels heavier, pressing down on my chest like a weight.

“You might have been aiming for me, but you failed. And the result is that you dared to spell my guest?” His voice lashes like a whip. 

“In my own home? While under my hospitality?” His tone is harsh. Raylah flinches as though the words themselves are blows.

“Do you understand what you’ve done?” Tarish’s voice is low, dangerous. 

“You’ve broken the rules of hospitality. You’ve caused me to betray my guests. People have been killed for less.” He practically growls the words. My stomach knots. I knew the fae took their rules seriously, but seeing Tarish like this, utterly furious, his casual composure gone, is terrifying. Raylah’s face has gone ghost pale, her hands twisting together like a child caught in the worst possible crime. 

“I didn’t mean to hurt him! I wasn’t thinking. I just… I wanted the truth!” She says pleadingly. Her eyes flick to him again, desperate. 

“I wanted to know how you really see me.” She adds softly. My breath catches. She spelled his drink, not Oz’s. She wanted to use magic to force Tarish to confess his feelings for her. If he has any. No wonder he’s so furious. But instead, Oz drank it. And now he’s… What exactly? Overly honest? Too affectionate? The spell has to do more than compel truth, because the fae already can’t lie. No, it must be something more than that. 

“Right now I see you as a traitor.” Tarish says coldly, his words slicing clean. 

“Someone I absolutely cannot trust. I regret asking for your assistance today. I should have reached out to Kacia myself.” He says coldly. Raylah flinches, paling further.

“I didn’t mean any harm…” She whispers miserably, shrinking under Tarish’s glare.

“It doesn’t matter if you meant harm!” He snaps. 

“You INTENDED to spell me without my knowledge. You DID spell my guest. How am I ever supposed to make this right?” He demands. The air hums with his fury, heavy enough to make me want to shrink back, but Oz is still holding me like I’m the only thing that matters. His tail curls tighter around me, oblivious to the tension. I clear my throat loudly, forcing the words out before Tarish’s wrath swallows the room whole. 

“Look, the two of you can argue later. Right now, I need to know exactly what you did to Oz!” I demand. 

Raylah wrings her hands together, her eyes darting between me, Oz, and Tarish. She looks like she’d rather melt into the floor than answer, but Tarish’s icy stare leaves her no choice.

“It was… A spell of honesty.” She admits, her voice small. 

“It encourages the subject to be open in both words and actions. To say and do what they truly feel, instead of holding back. It…” She swallows. 

“It’s designed to slip past defenses. To make it seem natural, so the person doesn’t realise anything is odd about their behaviour. Otherwise the effect would be obvious, and I didn’t want you to notice.” She says guiltily. Tarish’s expression sharpens, his voice cutting. 

“So you tampered with my drink to strip me of my composure. To force me to expose myself.” He says. Raylah shrinks back, pale and trembling. 

“I didn’t mean for him to drink it! I… I set the strength for you, Tarish. For a fae lord. It wouldn’t have been so strong, it likely would have just… Taken the edge off. I didn’t think-” She starts.

“You didn’t think!” He bites out. She flinches but nods miserably. 

“On a demon, on him, it’s… Stronger. It hit him harder. That’s why he’s so…” Her gaze flicks to Oz, who has his arms and tail coiled protectively around me, brushing his lips against my hair like it’s the only thing keeping him sane. 

“So unrestrained.” She decides on. My stomach drops. 

“How long will it last?” I demand. Raylah twists her hands tighter. 

“I don’t know. A day, maybe less. It should wear off on its own.” She dares a quick glance at Tarish, then back down. 

“Hopefully.” She adds. I glance up at Oz, who smiles down at me like nothing in the world is wrong. He presses another kiss into my hair, humming low in his throat with contentment. To him, everything feels perfectly normal. He KNOWS that it isn’t but he just doesn’t seem to care right now. Tarish exhales slowly, but the fury in his eyes hasn’t dulled. 

“Encouraging complete honesty is reckless enough. Doing so by violating hospitality?” He shakes his head, pale gaze like steel. 

“You’ve made a grave error, Raylah.” He says darkly. Raylah swallows hard, her lips trembling. 

“I… I didn’t mean to hurt anyone.” She repeats. Beside me, Oz rubs my back in soothing circles, utterly oblivious to the storm in the room. He’s completely focussed on me and my stress. 

“Don’t worry, Princess.” He murmurs sweetly, his forehead resting against mine. 

“I’m not hurt. I just finally get to say what I feel. Isn’t that what you always wanted?” He teases. And damn it, part of me HAS wanted it. But not like this!

Tarish looks WRECKED. For a man who carries himself with so much composure, the guilt written across his face is almost shocking. He apologises over and over, his words sharp with self recrimination.

“I should never have let her pour the drinks. I should have known. I should have-” He starts. 

“Eh.” Oz cuts him off with a shrug, pulling me closer into his lap, his arms and tail wrapping around me like I might vanish if he loosens his grip. 

“It’s fine.” Oz says casually.

“It is NOT fine,” Tarish insists, I wanted to make a good impression, and now I’ve let my guest get spelled. I shake my head quickly. 

“I don’t blame you, Tarish. YOU didn’t do this.” I say sincerely. Oz hums approvingly, kissing the side of my head. 

“Of course you don’t. You’re so wonderfully generous, Princess. You’d never place blame unfairly. You even forgave me for lying to you in the beginning.” His hand drifts down my arm, squeezing gently. 

“That just proves how good you are.” He says sweetly. Then Oz frowns, his forehead pressing harder against my temple. 

“You’re too good for me.” He murmurs, his voice cracking with sudden sadness. His arms tighten like iron bands around me, and his tail curls protectively over my lap.

“Far too good. I don’t deserve you.” He declares. Apparently honest Oz is very emotional. My heart twists painfully. I stroke his arm, trying to calm him, even as Tarish’s fury shifts back to Raylah. She throws her hands up, her face pale. 

“It was an accident! I didn’t mean for him to drink it!” She insists. Technically true, but the desperation in her voice only makes it sound weaker. Tarish’s voice is low, dangerous. 

“Your intention was to spell me. That does not absolve you. You violated hospitality, and you endangered my guests.” He repeats. Raylah swallows hard but doesn’t argue. Tarish finally turns back to me, his pale eyes heavy with guilt. 

“How can I make this right?” He asks. I glance at him, then at Oz, who is still nuzzling my hair. 

“You already offered to teach me about the fae. About magic. You could keep that promise.” I suggest. Tarish nods once, grim but resolute. 

“Then I will.” He promises. Oz perks up immediately, pressing a kiss to my jaw and hugging me tighter. 

“See? Everything’s working out. You’ll be amazing at magic, sweetheart. You’re already amazing at everything else.” Oz compliments me. Tarish sighs heavily, rubbing a hand over his face. 

“I think those lessons had better wait until he’s back to normal.” He says. exhaling slowly, dragging a hand down his face as if trying to scrape away his own guilt. When he looks at me again, his expression is steadier, but the tension in his jaw betrays him.

“I will see to Raylah, but first, I will send you both home. Are you well enough to travel?” He asks politely. I blink, startled by the question. Raylah never bothered to ask. She just shoved us through like luggage being tossed into storage. Tarish’s tone, though still clipped with anger, is polite. Careful. He’s making sure.

“I’ll manage.” I say, squaring my shoulders. Oz hugs me tighter in his lap, one hand stroking over my hair. 

“She’ll be fine.” He answers for me, voice protective and resolute.

 “I’ll hold her.” I add. Tarish gives him a long look, as though gauging whether Oz even understands what he’s saying under the spell’s influence. Then he nods once. “Very well. Are you ready?” He asks. 

“Yes.” I breathe. The air stirs, bending faintly around us. Tarish lifts a hand, and light spills through the cracks in the room like water through stone. Unlike Raylah’s portal, which had yanked and pulled like a hook in my gut, this one feels… Smoother. Polite, almost. The magic brushes over my skin before pulling me in, as though asking permission. Oz adjusts his grip around me, his arms and tail binding me securely against him. 

“Don’t worry, Princess, I’ve got you. I’ll keep you safe.” He murmurs into my hair. The room wavers, folding inward. And just before the garden and firelit sitting room vanish completely, I catch one last glimpse. Raylah, pressed back against the wall, her face ghost pale, hands wringing together as Tarish towers over her. His expression is cold fury, his pale eyes like knives. Then the world tips, light folds over me, and the image burns into my mind as we tumble through.