Chapter 102: The Kind of Work That Made Demons Afraid to Rest
Chapter 102: The Kind of Work That Made Demons Afraid to Rest
Elyn’s POV
I was almost back to my office when the thought hit me.
It wasn’t loud. It wasn’t dramatic. It was the quiet kind of thought that slid into my mind and refused to leave, the kind that made my steps slow and my chest tighten for no obvious reason.
Ignivar and Naviel had been acting strange.
No—terrified.
I don’t know how I missed it. They were terrified of Zorathys working, and I had missed it.
I had just chalked it up to them being strange.
Demons like Ignivar and Naviel did not fear labor. They were powerful, seasoned, frighteningly competent. Overworked? Yes. Exhausted to the point of collapse? Apparently. But afraid that if Zorathys took over, they would die?
That made no sense, but at the same time, it made a lot of sense. This was Zorathys, after all. Even I should be scared of him working, because who knew what would happen if he did the work.
I didn’t even know what kind of work they’d been doing. I hadn’t asked. I’d been too focused on stopping them from dropping dead in front of me and dragging Zorathys out of bed and helping them with whatever it was they were doing.
But now that I thought about it...
It had to be important.
Important enough that two high-ranking demons worked for over twenty-four hours straight.
Important enough that shadow demons were slumped against walls like discarded weapons.
Important enough that Ignivar and Naviel had begged—begged—to be allowed to continue even after their bodies had nearly given out.
And important enough that the mere idea of Zorathys handling it made them panic.
Another thought followed, colder and sharper.
Was Zorathys even going to do the work?
From everything I knew about him, the answer was... doubtful.
I stopped walking immediately.
Rin, who had been just behind Vaelory, crashed straight into her back with a startled yelp. Vaelory stumbled forward, barely catching herself, and Morthen walked directly into Rin with a soft grunt of surprise.
Azerion was the only one spared, purely because he was holding onto my hand. He tugged on it now, frowning up at me.
"What’s wrong?" he asked.
I looked down at him, then back at the corridor ahead of us.
"We’re going back," I said.
Azerion’s frown deepened. "Back?"
"Yes."
"Back to where we just came from?" he asked me.
"Yes."
"Why?" he asked, then scowled. "The mean demon is there."
I blinked. "The mean demon?"
He nodded emphatically. "Yes. The one who’s planning on taking you away from me."
I stared at him. I had an inkling who he was talking about, but I let him continue just because I felt like letting him do so.
"The one with the red eyes," he continued, clearly offended that I didn’t get it the first time.
For a fifty-something-day-old snake demon who looked like a child, he was bratty, like a normal five-year-old human child.
"He always wears red earrings that make him look ugly," he told me.
It took everything in me not to laugh. Calling Zorathys ugly was just... that was weird. Zorathys wasn’t ugly at all. Not even remotely close. If anything, he was too handsome for his own good, and those earrings complemented him well, especially for someone who was extremely lazy—to the point that you had to actually drag him from bed.
I cleared my throat and schooled my expression.
"That demon isn’t mean," I told him. "He’s just... lazy."
More like forever lazy, or maybe inherently lazy was the term to use, since it was embedded in his bones.
Azerion huffed, folding his arms. "I don’t like him. He’s going to take you from me."
"He’s not going to take me away from you, Azerion, and also, he has a name. It’s Zorathys," I told him patiently.
"I don’t like the name either," Azerion replied flatly. "So I’m not going to say it."
I rolled my eyes, even as my lips twitched, but I didn’t have the time for this.
Without another word, I turned around and headed back the way we’d come. The others followed immediately, no questions asked. Rin glanced at me with curiosity, Vaelory looked mildly concerned, and Morthen simply adjusted his glasses and walked on like this was just another strange turn in a very normal day.
The office door came into view far too quickly.
I didn’t knock. I just opened it.
The first thing I saw was Zorathys.
The second thing I saw was Naviel, clutching a piece of parchment and holding it just out of reach.
The third thing I saw was Zorathys trying to take it from him.
They froze the moment I stepped inside.
Zorathys turned slowly, his hand still half-extended, and looked at me.
"Oops?" he said.
I stared at him.
"What do you mean by ’oops?’" I asked.
He blinked. "It means... oops."
I closed my eyes and took a breath.
"Zorathys," I said calmly, "what is actually going on right now?"
He bent down, picked up a fallen piece of parchment from the floor, and held it up between two fingers.
"Work," he said.
I opened my eyes and looked at him flatly.
"You were not working," I said. "And don’t lie to me."
"I literally just picked up a paper," he replied. "That’s work."
"That’s nothing."
"Maybe to you," he said mildly, "but to me, it’s work."
I stared at him in disbelief.
"And besides," he continued lazily, "Ignivar and Naviel were already done with most of it."
I frowned. "Done with most of what?"
"Work. They identified the families," he said, waving the paper slightly. "Returned the children to their homes. Dealt with the cleanup. I have to say, they did a good job."
My breath caught.
"They... what?"
"The children are back with their families," Zorathys said as if he were talking about the weather. "And I took care of the demons responsible yesterday."
I took a slow step forward, a frown on my face.
"What do you mean," I asked carefully, "the children were returned to their families?"