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help you. Our bargain
set.”
    “Just… Please don’t
go hunting for more memories…” she pleaded, her body
stiff from the long day of practice.
    The moon reflected off his hair, and
the sleek little black horns hidden amongst the strands, its silver
light making him look that much more appealing. “You mistake
what happened,” he said. “Two souls mingled, that is
all.” He gave her a deferential bow of his head, though. “But
I shall not meddle or play the voyeur this eve, madam,” that
alluring foreign accent of his so rich, “I promise.”
    “Thanks.” It was so weird.
All of it. His behaviour, his looks…
    But the strangest was how he was making
her feel such affection and longing to be around him. To have someone
who actually shared interests with her and yearned to find out more
about her. She stood up straighter, her large eyes becoming heavier
as her mind began to quiet down for the evening. “So good
night, then.”
    Varuj leaned in, his arms moving up
about her in that warm gesture. He embraced her again, as he had the
night before. “Goodnight,” he said softly, head tilted,
her dark, foreign prince of the damned looking about to kiss her as
he leaned in, but then…
    He was gone, she felt him settle within
her. His essence mingling with hers. So foreign, so unlike her own,
yet feeling so warm. So comforting.
    The soft yip of her familiar tore her
from the moment, however, his tail swishing as he gazed up at her.
    She smiled warmly at it before
repeating that motion the demon had taught her, calling her familiar
to join them. To make her whole once more.

Chapter 5
    Firia had resisted the urge to turn to
the demon for help again. It would’ve guaranteed her success,
she knew that for certain, but she feared for herself. Feared what
she might do if she were exposed to his smooth charms and stunning
good looks again.
    He wanted more in exchange for further
favours, she knew. The thought of what it might mean to treat him as
equal scared her.
    She instead practiced with her new
familiar, honing her use of the tricks she’d learned, and
trying to devise new ways to impress with her mastery of him. She
also practiced the little cantrips she’d learned on her own
over the years too. The ability to control flames – albeit tiny
ones – and freeze water upon her touch.
    It was impressive work for a human such
as herself who’d never been tutored, but all the same they were
meager tricks for a potential apprentice, and she knew the true road
to success would be her stunning new familiar.
    It consumed her thoughts as she ate her
meal in front of her father, her hand repeating some of the gestures
the demon had taught her – without actually casting the spells
– as she prepared for the day ahead.
    Her father, however, had been watching
her. “You okay, hun?” he asked with concern. He knew what
day it was. How the elven students would begin their competitions for
recognition. She hadn’t told him of her new tricks yet, and as
far as he knew her chances were still so very slim.
    For her part, she was distracted with
not only her spells. For though the demon had kept her word and not
probed into her memories, she had dreamed of him quite frequently.
Natural dreams, she felt. They were not tainted by his actual,
meddling presence, she believed; it was just hard not to think on the
newest addition to her life. Her great gamble.
    “Yea, dad.” It was a lie
they both saw through, but they were so used to these little white
lies. The denial that anything was wrong in their life. The denial
that they were both so unhappy.
    But this was something new. This was
excitement that lay beneath the dread and fear, and her mind kept
wandering. She had to be focused and sharp, but it was so hard with
him on her mind. She wanted to see him again, to feel his smooth hand
caress her wrist, but she had to resist.
    He ate quietly, though she knew he was
aware of the significance of the day. He had gotten up early