Closing Time

29.

A chill travelled down my back at the change in his demeanour. I had a feeling this would be an ultimatum with only one choice.

I held his darkening eyes for a moment, exhaling softly as I cut another piece of waffle. "What is it?"

"Angels still gather, right?"

"Yeah." I replied dryly. "I just told you."

"Good. I need intel on their next move."

I was silent for a few moments, using the act of pouring syrup as a way to stall. "Didn't I just tell you they sit there in silence and drink? It's downright creepy."

"They're not sitting there in silence." Lou straightened up, eyes reverting back to normal as I kept humouring him. "They communicate in ways different from demons."

"Clearly. Is it telepathy?"

"Of sorts."

I paused, looking up from the puddle of golden liquid in my plate. "Will I get telepathy?"

"Who knows?" Lou shrugged, reminding me of his absolute cluelessness about my situation. "Even if you did learn that, you won't understand what the angels are saying. The frequency it functions on will literally melt your brains."

"Okay." I took a bite, crunching through the chicken and waffles as I leaned back in my seat. "You're telling me... I can't listen to angels without my head absolute getting juiced. And you also told me earlier, that I can't even look at their real form without my eyeballs also getting absolutely juiced. How exactly do you want me to help?"

"I can teach you." He cocked his head, holding out his open palm. "With enough demon essence in you, you'll be able to handle their voices in your head."

I raised an eyebrow at that. "You... want me to absorb more demon essence from you so I can eavesdrop on the angels... for you?"

"Yes." There was not a flicker of doubt in his eye. "Demons have numbers versus the angels. But the angels have strength. On a good day, it takes five demons to down one angel. On a bad day, it can take even twice or thrice as much."

"Those numbers are pretty bad." I nodded sympathetically, but the smile I gave him didn't mirror the nod. "But I refuse. I do-"

I was cut off as my body froze in response to sharp rise in cold. A shiver crossed through me as I met Lou's eyes. We're in public. He won't do anything... right?

"You.... refuse?" His voice vibrated in my chest. I couldn't hear anyone else around me anymore. Everything seemed frozen. The fingers of the hand he was holding out had sharp talons at the end. There were veins starting to crawl down his cheeks. "Do you... want to die?"

I exhaled softly, my breath forming into a mist. The demon essence in me was keeping my lungs working. The vise around them wasn't as intense as it used to be. "I..." I shivered as I trailed off. It was hard to move my jaw. "I... don't want... to take sides. Angels... are strong a-and..." The cold rose exponentially, a stammer entering my voice. "N-no one i-is.... watching ove-r me. I-I'm n-not... safe from... either of y-you."

"You're scared of lil ol' me?" He cocked his head, lips splitting wide open in a very fang-filled, fake innocent smile. "Have I ever done anything to threaten your life?"

"S-several times."

He rolled his eyes, dropping the smile. "Fine. You got me there."

I shivered violently, my breath was now a solid cloud escaping my lips. "L-let me go."

"Agree to help me."

"N-n-ah."

Lou shifted forward, his long fingers wrapped around my wrist, pulling it towards him. The fork clattered loudly as it slipped out of my frozen fingers. He raised his other hand, stretching out one finger and trailing it over my skin. "So, you don't agree to help me?"