Sweet Nightmares (For the Love of Demons 2) (Published)

Guardian's Make the Worst Patients, Unless Properly Bribed

Demons. They're frustrating, malicious, and attractive to the eye. I have yet to meet a terran who isn't attracted to them. For us, they're a deadly enemy. For the terrans, they're lethal predators.

Some demons eat souls while others enjoy dining on flesh. Either way, the terran suffers for as long as the demon keeps them alive. They thrive on pain, and delight in screams of agony. But they enjoy tormenting my people more than our wards. Every angel they capture dies once they've had their fun. Which, they're aware our wings are sensitive so they enjoy the excruciating agony we suffer when they destroy them.

Yet, not me. Oh, they captured me when I was a fledgling guardian, learning how to survive on Terra. But they didn't push their advantage. Instead, my captors gave me chances to escape and feigned ignorance when we met again. Our battles were slow until I could keep up, and never more than I could handle. Other guardians were overwhelmed without a moment's hesitation, but not me.

For decades I wondered why, even after I met a man who called himself a greater demon. He introduced himself as Drakos, while his demonic companion was Kage, a veresac demon. Nasty things, the veresac. They appear to be a mix of a wolf and bear. Each demon has the brute strength of a bear, but looks like a wolf only they move their tails more like a cat. Kage is a chatty demon full of sarcasm and advice. I've yet to meet other veresac demons, but I've heard rumors they're vicious on the battlefield. Kage is terrifying when he's angry, so I believe it.

When danger came looking for me, Kage tried to save me. Instead, I took the sword meant for him. Even though it was agonizing, and the blade was poisoned, I'd do it again. Healing wasn't something I looked forward to, and I loathed the thought of idling until I could move without pain. However, Drakos declared he would sneak me rookas if I listened to him. If I was an excellent patient, he offered to sneak me my favorite treat from Terra, ice cream. Then, to endear himself to my heart, he offered to put rookas on ice cream if I was an exemplary patient. The demon knew my weaknesses well.

Once Drakos made our newest deal, albeit in truth he blatantly bribed me, he told me to go back to sleep, and he might consider helping me outside once I woke. Even if I wanted to protest, I did not have the strength. Just waking and speaking with Drakos for those few minutes exhausted me.

The sun was setting when my eyes fluttered open, and I turned my head to find Drakos sitting in an overstuffed chair beside my bed with a lap desk full of papers. "Yes Ashriel," he drawled without glancing at me, and I flinched before hissing out my pain quietly, "even I suffer the evils of paperwork. Are you alright? I keep forgetting you are still traumatized and startle easily." He finally raised his head and met my gaze with concern in his gray-blue eyes. I smiled when I saw how disheveled his hair was, he must have been running his fingers through it in frustration. I could picture him and Damien doing paperwork together, coming out of an office with their hair going in every direction when they finished.

Surprise hit me when I realized I neatly fit Drakos into daily life and I wondered when I dismissed Cael entirely from my mind. "Where is Cael?" I asked hoarsely, watching a scowl darken the features of the demon in front of me.

"Probably still crying from the pain," Drakos sneered. His eyes widened in alarm immediately, however, and he lurched out of his chair to place a gentle hand on my left shoulder and forehead to keep me in bed. I winced when the lap desk hit the ground with a thunk, while the rustling of his once orderly papers filled the air as they fell. "No, Ashriel, if you get up, you will only hurt yourself, and his pain will become worse. Sadly, his sharing your agony does nothing to aid your healing. In fact, I find it to be an incredibly useless ability since he has been brought to his knees and is even more pathetic than before."

"He is not used to pain," I protested weakly, even the gentle pressure Drakos uses caused the pain in my shoulder to flare, and I tried to hide my agony. Sitting on the edge of my bed, he gently brushed my hair back, his fingers tenderly caressing my skin while I stared at him.