Why You Should Never Rescue Stray Demons Chapter 74

**OZ**

Shit. Nothing good ever follows the words ‘we need to talk.’ I feel my heart start to climb into my throat as I go into full internal damage control. What did I do? What exactly am I in trouble for? I mentally rewind through the last twenty four hours like a guy scrubbing security footage for a crime he doesn’t remember committing. The obvious candidate, accidentally dosing Kacia with my nightmare magic and scaring her half to death. But she didn’t seem angry about that! Shaken, sure. But afterward she invited me into her bed. She flirted with me after I walked out of the shower. Which means… Whatever this is must have happened in the last ten minutes. But all I did was go shower and get dressed! In the clothes she picked out for me! So why the hell is she kicking out both Mikey and Angelo with a big smile and those cursed words, we need to talk? I follow her into the living room on autopilot, still trying to figure out whether this is an ambush or a trap of some kind. Kacia moves to sit on the couch and pats the spot beside her.

“Come sit.” She says gently. I walk toward her like a man being led to the gallows. Each step feels like it might be my last. She laughs, actually bursts out laughing.

“I’m not sure what you think is happening, but you’re not in trouble.” She says through a grin. 

“Oh. Well, in that case…” I trail off as I slide onto the couch with all the exaggerated confidence I can fake. I settle in like I belong here, doing my best impression of relaxation. Still, I can’t shake the tension winding its way through my spine.

“Comfy?” She asks with a knowing look.

“Sure.” I say smoothly, nodding once.

“Hm.” She hums, distracted. Her gaze drops down and her lips twitch with amusement. I follow her line of sight, and my stomach sinks. My tail has betrayed me. Again. Without conscious permission, it’s wrapped itself across her knee in the most casual, possessive, snuggly way imaginable. Like we’re already curled up watching a movie and I’m claiming her as my territory. Damn it. I’d just given myself a whole internal lecture not ten minutes ago about how I need to keep my distance. About how I can’t keep letting these little moments slip through. And now here I am, physically draping myself across her like some sort of demonic weighted blanket. This, this right here, is why I can’t stay. I don’t mean to get close, but somehow I always end up here. It’s like I’m orbiting her without permission. And my tail? It’s basically a separate entity at this point, powered by chaos and poor impulse control. I yank it back like I’ve touched a hot stove. Kacia gives me a strange look but, mercifully, doesn’t say anything.

“So…” I clear my throat, trying to recover. 

“What did you want to talk about?” I ask. She shifts slightly, and the humour drains from her expression. She looks a little nervous now, lips pressing together like she’s gearing herself up for something unpleasant. 

“Well…” She starts slowly. 

“As much as I’m not really into labels… Mikey pointed out that it might be a good idea to, y’know… Define our relationship a little. Set expectations. Stuff like that.” She explains. I freeze. No. Nope. I am NOT prepared for this. This is so far beyond what I was ready for. I was still internally drafting the speech where I gently excuse myself from her life forever. I just decided I was going to have to leave, and now she wants a label? She clears her throat again. She’s pushing through this, despite clearly wanting to be anywhere else.

“So… I was thinking maybe we could… Each take a turn. Say where we hope this… Thing… That we have will end up. And maybe where we feel like it’s at now?” She suggests. She finishes the sentence and immediately avoids eye contact, fiddling with a thread on the couch cushion. Her posture is tense, like she’s waiting for me to laugh, or panic, or bolt. And she’s right to worry, because internally I am spiraling. She wants a future conversation. And I have already started to rehearse a breakup speech. Shit.

Kacia clears her throat again, fidgeting just slightly, like she’s trying to shake off nerves that are slowly strangling her resolve. 

“Um… So since this was my idea…” She begins.

“I figure I should probably go first, right?” I asks. I open my mouth, wanting to stop her, needing to stop her. But the words don’t come. My mind is a mess of fear, guilt, and hope all tangled together, and it leaves me useless. Frozen. Because the worst part, the absolute worst part, is that I want her to keep talking. I want to know. How does she feel about me? What is she hoping for? What would it look like if things could be different? She takes a breath and continues.

“Right, so here it goes. I’m hoping for a proper relationship. The romantic, long term kind…” Her voice shakes a little, but she powers through it. 

“And I feel like maybe… We’re at a point where we could be considered a couple? Or somewhere close to that point.” She reasons. She looks at me then, really looks, and I see the tiniest tremor in her lower lip. Her hands are clasped in her lap like she's physically holding herself together. And I can tell she’s holding her breath. Waiting. Hoping. Damn it, I wish I could give her what she wants.

“I…” I swallow, then force myself to speak. 

“While I do agree that we’ve been getting… Very close…” My voice catches, and I have to push the rest of the sentence out like it’s being dragged from my chest. “Long term… I can’t stay here forever. I’ll need to go home. To my family.” I tell her. I try to sound neutral. Calm. But it’s impossible to keep the misery from creeping in. Kacia freezes. Her expression falters just slightly, like I’ve reached into her chest and pulled something loose, but she doesn’t crumple. Not yet. She’s still fighting. Still trying to understand. 

“Well, yes… I understand that you’d want to go home…” She says slowly. 

“But there are… Options, right? Once we get your magic released, you’ll be able to travel between the realms again. It wouldn’t have to be all or nothing. We could-” She pauses, and I can hear the edge of desperation starting to creep in. 

“We could make it work. Couldn’t we?” She asks tentatively. I press my lips together. Fight the urge to groan, or curse, or bury my face in my hands. Because this, her stubborn hope, kills me. It thrills me. It makes my whole chest ache with the thought that maybe she wants me to stay. That she would fight for me, if I let her. But it also makes everything harder. Because the more she hopes, the more damage I’m going to do when I leave. And I will leave. I have to. I sigh heavily, and every breath feels like sandpaper in my lungs. 

“Look, Kaci…” I start. She stills when I say her name like that, softly, seriously. 

“It’s not safe for me to keep getting this close to you. You saw what happened. My magic is dangerous. I can’t keep it completely under wraps, not all the time. And if I slip up again, if you look at me the wrong way at the wrong moment it could be worse next time.” I remind her. She shakes her head, but keep going before she can argue.

“When I go home… It would probably be for the best if I just…” My throat tightens. 

“If I don’t come back…”  I trail off. Her breath hitches, barely audible, But I hear it. 

“Ever.”She repeats. And then the silence descends. Heavy. Final. And woah, it hurts.

Because I don’t want to go. But I can’t stay.