“Starting to feel better, thanks.”
“It’s nice to meet you all.” Mum smiled politely at everyone. “I hope you’re feeling better, young lady?” She looked pointedly at Sera.
Sera squirmed a little, but replied, “I am, Mrs. Longwood. Running around in the night is such a stupid thing to do, especially for a teenaged girl.” I felt attacked. “I’m lucky I have these guys looking out for me. I’m sorry Katie got hurt.” Mum nodded, satisfied. “Oh, Katie. Before I forget. We got you a little something. It’s not huge, we all put in for it. I hope you like it.” And she pulled a small gift from her bag, and handed it to me with a smile.
I was astounded. “You guys! You didn’t have to get me anything!”
“Open it!” Seth encouraged.
Embarrassed, I tore the wrapping paper off, to reveal a jewellery box. I looked around at my friends, who were smiling nervously. Gingerly, I opened it, to reveal a stunning silver dragonfly necklace. “You guys! It’s so beautiful!” They all looked so pleased. “I love it!” I put it on immediately. I was overwhelmed. Mum smiled lovingly at me.
“Very nice, dear.”
We ordered, and chatted casually. I shouldn’t have worried about my friends. Sebastian was charming, Lucifer was attentive, and Sera and Seth… Well, Sera was reserved as always, and Seth wisely didn’t say much, which I was thankful for. I wasn’t sure he was capable of sustained good manners. Mum excused herself to the bathroom at one point, leaving me alone with my friends.
“You didn’t have to get me a present, you guys!” I scolded.
“But do you like it?” Sera asked.
“I love it. No one… I’ve never really gotten a gift from someone outside my family before.” My voice got softer, as I was speaking I realised how pathetic I sounded. “Thank you. Really.” Sebastian stood up and walked around the table to me, wrapping me in a bear hug.
“Our pleasure, dear one. And I’m still sorry about the other night.”
“Yeah, you should be.” I teased and grinned at him. He rolled his eyes and took his seat.
“Lucifer, is this ok? Are you… I dunno… are you getting tired or anything?” I was concerned for him. His eyes were more shadowed than usual.
He smiled gently. “I’m fine, dear one. Thank you for your concern.”
“We heading down to the river tonight?” Seth interjected. “We’ve got more presents for you, but we didn’t think your mum would approve.” He smirked at me.
“Ah, yeah, I guess.” I was surprised.
“I’ll come grab you from your room.” Sera said quickly, as mum approached from across the room.
The rest of the evening went by without a hitch. When Sera came to my room later that night, she was back in her customary leather clothes. “Feel better?” I pointed at her clothes and grinned. She grinned back.
“Damn straight.”
We appeared at our customary spot. The guys were already there, drinks in hand. “Birthday girl!” Sebastian called boisterously. Lucifer shook his head at him resignedly. He looked tired.
“Here, Katie, before my First Lord gets too drunk and forgets where he is.” He stood up, and picked up a briefcase from behind himself. “Happy birthday.” He handed it to me, an expectant glint in his eye. Wordlessly, I opened the case, wondering what it could possibly be.
It was a dazzling array of knives. Different sizes and shapes, and a cutout left for the knife Sera had given me ages ago. They were all made from that smoky grey metal, with leather wrapping the hilts. I burst into tears, and bolted off into the night.
“I’ll go.” I heard Seth say, then his footsteps were following me. I knew he could easily outrun me, but he just kept pace, a little behind me. Eventually I tired of running, and sank to the ground, head in my hands as I sobbed. I was aware of Seth seating himself close to me. He didn’t say anything, or try to touch me, just sat with me as I cried.
Eventually, I lifted my head and looked at him. He looked steadily back at me, waiting for me to speak. I sighed. “I don’t know what that was about.” I admitted sheepishly.
“May I hazard a guess?” He’d never used such a gentle tone with me. I nodded.
“Tonight was stressful for you. You didn’t know if we were going to behave ourselves, or if your mum would accept us. You’ve mentioned before that you’ve never really had friends before- I mean, we thought you were exaggerating, but I’m guessing from the way you’ve reacted to getting gifts that maybe you weren’t. And all those emotions hit you all at once, and it was too much.”
I looked at him in surprise. “Wow. You’re really good at that.”
He smiled bitterly, and gazed off into the distance, absentmindedly rubbing his wrist, before meeting my eyes with an unreadable expression. “We’re demons, Katie. It is our job to torture people, punish the wicked. I don’t know if you’ve considered that fully before. I’m very good at reading human nature, because the most effective way to hurt someone is to know them first.”
I gazed into his cobalt eyes, my heart pounding. We never talked about… that side of things. “Will you hurt me?” I asked softly.
“Not like that, no.” He tilted his head. “Do you think you deserve it?”
“What?”
“Do you think you deserve to be punished by demons in Hell for all eternity?”
I thought about it. I didn’t know. He shook his head at me fondly.
“How will you hurt me?”
“What?” It was his turn to be confused.
“Before, I asked if you would hurt me, and you said ‘not like that, no.’ So how would you?”
He smirked. “You’re getting better at picking up on our evasions.”
I didn’t reply, just looked at him steadily. He sighed. “If your safety, sanity, life or soul depended on it, then I would hurt you. Like teaching you how to fight. I knew Sebastian would get mad and give you a decent pounding, and I thought that was a lesson you needed to learn. I didn’t think he’d go that far, though.” He added quickly, embarrassed.
I nodded thoughtfully. “I get that, because same. Ok, I think I’m good now. Let’s head back.”
He stood and held his hand out to me. I took it and rose as well, and we were back by the campfire.
“Katie!” Sebastian bounded over to me, gathering me into his arms. “Are you ok?” He held me at arms’ length and studied me, before pulling me close again. Tentatively, I snaked my good arm around his waist and hugged him back. He shifted, pulling me in closer still. Shyly, I rested my head on his chest and relaxed into his warmth. There’d never really been anyone in my life who hugged me so freely, and I gotta admit, it was nice. He rested his chin on my head, and stroked my hair, gently rocking side to side. “We’ve got you, dear one.” He murmured gently.
I pulled away and wiped my eyes again. “Thank you, Sebby.” And smiled at him. He grinned back at me, and tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear. “So.” I cleared my throat. “Knives, hey? Do you guys think I’m going to become a chef?”
Sera rolled her eyes at me, but I could still read concern on her face. “I’m going to take over your training, Katie, and teach you how to use these. If you still want to learn, of course.” She added quickly, glancing at my cast.
“Absolutely! I need to be able to kick his arse!” And I gently punched Sebastian’s shoulder. “They are so beautiful, what are they made from?”
Lucifer