Zeev POV
I pulled leftovers out of the fridge for reheating while Harlee sat at the counter glumly staring at me.
"What exactly am I supposed to do with a Demon anyway?" She asked wryly. I chuckled.
"Whatever you want." I replied. "But-everything comes with a price you know." She rolled her eyes.
"Can't I just let you go about doing what makes you happy so long as it doesn't hurt anybody?" Harlee griped and I felt my Heart swell.
"If you want." I replied.
"I mean, you stick pretty close to me anyway.." She rubbed her chest "And you already act like a servant or something-look at you cooking and cleaning, and now you're Bound to do whatever I tell you, and protect me from harm. Why should I make you do anything else? Seems like you've already got the short end of the stick." She let her head fall to the counter. "I don't know how you can stand me." She mumbled, face hidden in her arms. I paced quickly around the counter and gripped her shoulders, pulling her back against my chest and tilting her face up to look at mine.
"I attacked you and stole half your soul, then Bound you to me because of my rash actions during a fight which permanently condemned your soul to Hell. Now I'm toying with your emotions in a desperate bid to win your favor, all while all you've done is give me direction and purpose and the amazing capacity to feel emotions through your very human soul. How do you feel it's not fair you get to order me around a bit in exchange?" I chuckled. She closed her eyes and a single tear escaped. I kissed it away.
"Your life, your soul, your happiness-these are all very precious to me Harlee." I whispered. "Don't think that by asking me for whatever would make these things more fulfilling to you that you would be asking too much of me or that I would resent you overmuch for it." I kissed her again, this time softly on the lips.
"Zeev, the food." She murmured and I darted around the counter quickly to reduce the heat on the pot of overheating soup.
Harlee POV
"Can you sleep?" I blurted suddenly as we lay in bed. "I know you told me you don't need to but can you?"
"This body can do anything a normal human body can do, as you well know." Zeev purred in my ear. I shivered.
"Yes, but you said having children was a chore.." I explained "..and you don't often like to eat.. So I was just wondering if other things were difficult or unpleasant." I shrugged and Zeev pulled me closer.
"The only difficult thing for a Demon is being this close to a human that smells as good as you, and continuing to restrain himself." He murmured lasciviously.
"Be serious for a moment!" I swatted at him as he nibbled my ear. He sighed and rolled away.
"Fallen are different. We were once Angels. Demons that are corrupted from humans or are born Demons aren't quite the same physiologically. For me, sleep is unnecessary. I could, but I choose not to because it's unpleasant to have all of my senses shut off. A corrupted human has an easier time bearing children, one born Demon can generally reproduce normally. Both generally sleep and eat because that is what they are accustomed to. The Fallen generally consider the Spawned and Corrupted as lesser Demons. They will never possess the power we do, because we are the originals, Divinely created." He explained softly.
"What you told me before-about my soul-I'm going to be a Corrupted human aren't I?" I asked softly and I could just make out Zeev's wince.
"Yes. I am sorry." Zeev whispered.
"Done is done." I said decisively, and rolled away so he wouldn't see my tears. I felt his arms settle around me, cradling me gently as I cried quietly, one hand brushing the hair from my forehead, the other wrapped around my ribs, that I clung to like it was the last lifeline to save me from a sinking ship.
"My heart hurts Zeev." I told him after a while.
"It's not just your heart." He answered roughly. I felt a throb come from him through our link and turned to face him. His expression was pained and he gripped me tightly. "I will do everything in my power to make you happy and keep you safe to make up for it." He held my chest against his chest. I gripped his shirt.
"Thanks Zeev." I told him and let his cinnamon and spice scent lure me into a comfortable, drowsy state. I was still in that state when I heard a voice whispering urgently from the dark.
Zeev POV
"Sir, sir!" Came the harsh whisper of my underling. I growled softly. They should not have been able to find me.
"Oh my God sir! The rumors are true! You've been Bound! And to a human girl! Wait-what's the extra connection you two share?" I growled louder and he backed up swiftly. "My mistake sir, my mistake! Listen, someone got smart and back-traced your movements. They're coming for you-to kill both of you! I still had the address on that piece of paper, so I knew how to find you-but sir-you've gotta go! Now!" My subordinate urged desperately. I looked at Harlee dozing in my arms.
"Understood." I told him.
"But sir!" He protested.
"Understood." I growled and he popped out of existence. I sighed and held Harlee tighter, just let her drowse a moment or two more...
Harlee POV
"Where are we going?" I asked Zeev. He was carrying me bridal-style, wrapped in a blanket from the bed, snuggled tightly against his chest. He was taking large strides with his long legs, yet I barely felt the motion.
"You heard the conversation?" He murmured.
"You mean that wasn't a dream?" I asked sleepily.
"No." He replied and let the memory play through my mind.
"Why do they want to kill us?" I pouted.
"Because you made a Demon your slave." Zeev shrugged.
"Wait a minute! Me?" I grumped, waking up. "You were the one who made that call!" Zeev chuckled.
"Yes, but they don't see it that way. Some factions believe it is a disgrace for a Demon to be chained to a human eternally, and until the pair asserts themselves as a force to be reckoned with, they're usually pursued relentlessly by Demons that have nothing better to do with their time." He growled.
"So what does that mean for us?" I asked.
"We're going to assert ourselves." Zeev snarled and I felt his Form shift and everything around me changed.
"What-what is this place?" I gasped, but I already knew the answer. I struggled to breathe for a moment as the atmosphere became denser around me. The colors were weirdly skewed.
"This is another plane-what you humans refer to as Hell." Zeev answered calmly. I looked at Zeev. He was in his Demon Form, and his usual Gold looked a dark reddish bronze, like drying blood. He winced as I thought this and looked down at me. "I'm sorry Harlee, I had to change your Form too so you could survive here." He grimaced. "I couldn't just leave you behind, in case... Well for safety reasons." I looked down at myself and moved aside the blanket.
"What the actual..." Zeev silenced me with a leathery, taloned hand.
"We're not ready for our presence to be announced just yet." He whispered. "This change is really not that drastic because our bond is so new. I had to borrow from the Corruption of the soul fragment I hold to have enough to even shift you this far, so there's a lot of me mixed in." He ran a talon over the leathery skin that stopped at about my ribcage, leaving my midriff exposed before picking back up again below my navel. A lot of my general shape was still human, but I could tell there were differences. Like the limbs that were too long, the hooked fingernails that weren't quite Zeev's talons, and the smattering of fur swirling up my arms. Plus my teeth didn't feel quite right.
"Hey, where'd the fangs come from?" I complained, pinching them with my fingers. Zeev chuckled.
"The eyes, claws and teeth are all you. We'll have to see as time goes on what kind of creatures you manifest as, but if I had to guess there's definitely going to be some kind of wild cat, you little vicious beast.." Zeev's laughter grew slightly louder. "Though, I do like your pretty eyes with those pupils." He brought my face to his and nuzzled against me gently.
"Now listen carefully, we're about to reach a rather large chamber where I'm basically going to issue a challenge. Most of the Demons will be too smart to mess with us, but some.." Zeev trailed off. "I need you to stay calm and act as unfazed as you possibly can-can you do that for me?" Zeev asked. I gulped.