Dark Path to Heaven [Demon Romance]

Chapter 73

Chapter Music: "Spruce Forest" by Brandon & Derek Fiechter

"Um, you guys do know that I can't get sick, right?" I asked the two demons who were apparently too busy dressing me as if I was a little child.

"You're not a child," Orias chastised before bundling me up with a third sweater. "You're our warm human doll."

I grinned. I very much liked the sound of this.

"Have you always been reading my mind so shamelessly?"

He smirked and glanced at Astaroth who was now covering my head with a knitted red hat.

"I'm pretty sure he has," said the latter. "But it only became a habit after we moved here."

Orias knitted his brows, looking surprisingly grim. "Your mind was as silent as a dead person's."

In a split second, the gloom spread throughout the entire room. I was quite taken aback seeing that the two strongest demons I knew could become so miserable.

"B-but that wasn't really true, was it?" I exclaimed, desperate to take their sadness away. "The priestesses would never do something so drastic."

I certainly didn't consider myself innocent, but I definitely didn't think I deserved a permanent death. If Infervana and Inna had been so harsh, they could have ended the war before it even started.

Besides, it's all in the past now, right? At last, the struggles are over.

I wasn't sure if it was due to my words or the fact that the demons had run out of layers to dress me in, but Astaroth and Orias had finally stopped and listened to me.

And here they are, making me all shy again.

That's the way it had been for the past hour. We'd all taken an –unexpectedly innocent– bath in the hot tub and played with the bubbles like a bunch of kids. Of course, the demons made sure to check that all my wounds had properly healed and groomed me in a way that made me keep my head down for most of the time. They never stopped teasing but my chest would only tighten up every time I worked up the courage to glance at their faces.

I couldn't take it. The look in their eyes was truly worth a thousand words and the realization made it hard to breathe as my body shivered in joy.

I'm still unsure how I made it without shedding a single tear.

"Orias," murmured Astaroth and pulled me into his embrace before resting a hand on top of my head, gently.

Tears finally filled my eyes and I let myself sob against his shoulder. That was all too good to be true.

So pathetic. Had I always been like this?

Right then, the light was turned off and the fire burning in the hearth suddenly seemed a lot brighter.

"Why don't you turn around, Sophia?" Orias spoke in a low voice from behind me.

I froze for a moment and gazed up at Astaroth only to see him grinning mischievously as I expected.

I suppose there's only one way to find out what these two are planning.

I turned around.

"Welcome home," they both said the moment my eyes fell upon the white platter Orias was holding.

"Chocolate soufflé cake with vanilla ice cream," Astaroth informed with a smile. "You like this, right?"

"I love it," I only managed to utter.