When you wake up, you're lying on the couch with a pillow under your head and a blanket covering your body and Zeldris is standing a few feet away. You sit up.
"Hey, uh--" he starts.
"Are you sure we can't kill the cultists again?"
He gives you a half smile.
"So we have to..." you cringe
"No. There's a loophole. There has to be. We just need to find it."
"A loophole."
"We use loopholes to trick humans and get out of holding up our end of the bargain all the time, there has to be one to help us get out of this ritual too. If you can stand, I'll walk you home then I'll start looking."
You smile weakly. He offers you his hand and you take it. You're a bit shaky on your feet but you can stand. That's a good sign. You move slowly but surely and Zeldris leads you out the door.
"Can you manage the stairs?" he asks.
"We'll see," you answer starting up the stairs. You're too proud to admit they're difficult with whatever drugs the cultists used on you still swimming around in your system, but it becomes harder and harder to put one foot in front of the other about halfway up the stairs. Zeldris, who is standing behind you in case you fall again, notices.
"Do you need to sit down?" he asks.
"I'm... fine. Let's keep moving."
You keep walking and once you're at the top your legs nearly give out. You steady yourself against a wall and Zeldris moves the stone slab that makes up the door out of the way as if it's made of styrofoam. He guides you to a bench outside and you sit. The light of the moon bounces off his dark hair, making it shinier than it had been in the mausoleum. He puts the door back in place. With any luck, no one will ever discover the bodies of the cultists lying down there. Though if someone did, you suppose the police will chalk it up to a cult drinking the kool-aid. You didn't notice any external wounds on them during your brief panicked look earlier. He sits beside you. The night grows cooler. You shiver.
"How far is it you your place?" Zeldris asks.
"A kilometer away. Mostly downhill."
He drapes an arm over the back of the bench and pulls you closer. You curl up and lay your head on his shoulder.
"I could carry you if you want" he says.
"No, thanks, I just need to rest for a bit."
His arm drops to wrap around you. His warmth makes you sleepy. There are no crickets in the graveyard. The silence of the night and the bright stars in the sky leave you breathing easy as you relax. Zeldris looks up at the sky, completely captivated by it. You stare at the sky, at ease for the first time despite the fact that your head is resting on the shoulder of a literal demon.
"There's nothing like this in the Demon Realm," he says suddenly.
The dark mark above his eye has faded and his eyes have turned green. Were they always that way? You smile. He seems to have relaxed, too.
"I always hope I'll have time to see something like this when humans summon me."
His words fade into the quiet of the night and eventually the only sound are eight hearts in unison.
YOU ARE READING
The Graveyard (Zeldris x Female Reader)
Fanfiction(AU) You just wanted a nice relaxing beach day but nooooooo you had to get kidnapped by a cult and sacrificed to a demon prince. You're not dead. That's a start. But you would definitely prefer not to be naked. Stupid cults with their stupid rituals...
