Supernova

Chapter Twenty Four - One Hell of a Heaven

Demon eventually calmed down. Or rather, he continued to make the types of comments that made Needles and I laugh and got very little reaction out of Elias, while still allowing him around. I tried to find out why Demon didn't like him, but the answer changed every time I asked. Either that, or he'd just pat his lap hoping to distract me enough to shut me up. It was effective every time. I never failed to comply and crawl into it. He still did want to work with us, so we asked if we could defer going on tour one more month, and of course, the headmistress allowed it with no resistance whatsoever.

After the month we were alone, I felt like the sensation I felt from Elias' skin was only getting stronger, so I asked Demon, with his thick skin and high pain resistance, if he could help us out. He reluctantly agreed, albeit not for free, but it was in the affirmative, and that's what mattered. He joined us in our private gym for the first session, already thick with annoyance. His arms crossed as soon as the door closed behind him. I asked him if he could touch Elias and rate the pain so we could have a baseline, because I couldn't really tell.

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Demon sneered at me. "He's your fucking sidekick and your responsibility. How the fuck can't you tell?"

"He doesn't know?" Elias asked me, his eyes widening with surprise. "I thought he would have figured it out by now. I've heard you two are close."

"We are," I scoffed back at my partner. Where the defensiveness was coming from, I was uncertain, but I didn't fight it as it reader its head around the corner.

"Know what?" Demon demanded of me.

"I," I started.

"Know." His voice was as cold as his voice was. It was the first time he'd ever scared me. "What?"

"I can't feel anything," I admitted, smacking one of my cheeks with my hand. "It's part of my quirk."

His black eyes watched me in their quiet silence for a few seconds, and then his face became livid. He grabbed me by the face and throat, stealing my ability to speak, and lifted me to his eyeline. From the way his arm was trembling and the veins were pulsing, I was aware that he was trying to crush me. I wondered, if he could of, whether he would have killed me right there in the training gym. It looked like he wanted to. It excited me, and it was thrilling to watch.

"You've been faking it?" He yelled at me. My eyes widened. That's what this was about?

"Oh my," Elias said softly, but not remorsefully. "How awkward."

"Silence, you slug," Demon yelled at him before his eyes came back onto me. "She clearly does the same for you. Or do you even bother?"

His fingers didn't move off my mouth, which told me that he didn't really want the answer, which I wouldn't have given him anyways. Elias just smiled at us both as Demon's black eyes travelled back and forth between the two of us. His eyes were flaring wildly with something vicious, and if I could have, I would have pleaded him not to.

"She doesn't bother," Elias told him calmly, his smile never leaving his face. His eyes were sharp like a dagger. "She doesn't have to."

Demon's grip on me tightened so much that it was making himself wince slightly. Demon's eyes flared then as he realized, and the sight of it stunned me so much that he eventually asked me what the fuck I was looking at and threw me so hard I flew across the gym. I lay on the ground for a while, trying to have enjoyed the experience of flying, but picturing Demon's eyes as they flared. When I pulled myself into a sitting position, Elias was shirtless and gloveless and Demon still had his arms crossed. They were looking at each other. They just kept staring, watching each other's eyes, and neither of them said anything for what felt like a long time. I got the notion that it was something I shouldn't be watching. Eventually, Elias held his unscarred hand out slowly in front of him, not breaking the eye contact. Demon looked at it for a few seconds before he uncrossed his arms and reached for it. He grabbed it, and there was only a slight cringe.