Ronnie scanned the person in front of him, she was none other than the girl who his grandpa spoke of.
He was in shock.
"Veronica— I thought you left town" Ronnie couldn't hide his shock.
"I did, but then I came back. I came back to finish what we started last summer" Veronica said, she gave a mischievous smile.
"I told you, Veronica. I'm not interested in getting down with you. It just can't work" Ronnie shook his head as he spoke.
"Why? Is it because of this woman? She looks old enough to be your older sister, or aunt. Is this who you picked over me?" Veronica asked, staring at Lily in a condescending manner.
"You won't talk about Lily like that! she has nothing to do with you!" Ronnie yelled.
The passersby stared at the scene as they went about their business.
"Ron, wait," Lily drew him by the hand.
"I didn't feel it earlier but the aura coming off her…." Lily said.
Ronnie's eyes widened.
"Lily, do you mean—"
"Oh my, I see that your girlfriend caught on. I guess some humans have the ability to detect us. Nonetheless, that doesn't matter now" Veronica interrupted.
"How come you didn't detect it from a few blocks away?" Ronnie asked Lily, be was on edge already.
"This form dulls my senses quite a bit, apologies" Lily articulated, she made a battle ready stance.
"Oh? what it is this?" Veronica laughed.
"It would seem that you are not human. If so, why do you side with a human? is he your pet? Or you plan to devour him at your convenience" Veronica asked.
The dark aura within her had seeped out enough for Ronnie to feel it. His knees felt weak.
"I do not feel obligated to answer your question. Master?" Lily called out, looking behind to make sure he was there.
"What do we do?" Ronnie asked, he was breathing shakily.
"You'll do nothing because I'll devour you, and then I'll devour the souls of every single human in this vicinity" Veronica said. Her body had started to morph, her muscles ripping out bigger like what happened with Josh.
"Master, grab on to me. No matter what happens, don't let go. do you understand?" Lily asked. Her usual bloodlusted cold facial expression had appeared.
"Ye— yes," Ronnie had questions but he knew better than to ask them in that moment.
From behind, he grabbed on to Lily's waist and shut his eyes tightly. Next thing he knew, they were mid air.
Lily's plan was to evade the monster as well as she could and her plan worked.
As she hopped from roof to roof, she made sure to be careful so that Ronnie wouldn't fall off. Veronica followed right behind them.
Lily spotted a big building and swooped in on it.
She smashed open the back door and went in.
Ronnie let go of her and looked around the building.
His facial expression showed horror immediately he recognized the building.
"Lillith are you crazy?! you brought us to a church?!" Ronnie yelled. He pulled on Lily's hand, attempting to drag her away.
"I'll be fine. It's only for a brief while. I have more resilience than others." Lily said. Ronnie could see that she was losing her breath already. her human form had started to wear off.
"What if she doesn't take the bait? It's too dangerous. We should leave here or—" Ronnie was interrupted by Lily, she put her hand on his face.
"I need you to do something for me" She whispered.
"This is a crazy idea" Ronnie said.
Veronica could be seen standing just outside the back door but she dared not to go in.
"Just listen okay?" Lily said. She was hardly breathing. Her human form had almost completely faded but she kept fighting it back.
"I need you to shine for me. Shine— brightly" Lily said.
"Shine? What are you talking about? You aren't making any sense" Ronnie said, his lips shook.
"Just listen. The feel and appearance of your aura draws them to you, right? I don't know how a human emits such untainted aura but you need to emit more of that. she won't be able to— re— sist" Lily explained, right before she fell to her knees.
"How do I even do that?!" He asked, messing up his hair as he saw Lily groaning in pain.
"This sucks!" Ronnie ran to the back door where Veronica stood, he made sure not to cross the threshold.
"This is a careless gamble. If she dies, I'll die too. At the same time, I can't get myself killed by Veronica or she'll die too anyways" Ronnie thought.
His face and hands were moist with cold sweat.
"You want me, you want me right? come get me. Come on, Veronica!" Ronnie yelled, running back inside the church but Veronica didn't follow. She only growled at him hungrily with saliva dripping down the sides of her mouth but she didn't go in.
"What do I do? how do I solve this? Lilith is suffering so much. I can't do anything, I'm just— useless" Ronnie thought.
He stood motionless with his head down as though he had fallen into despair.
"No, I won't. I won't give up on you. I'll save you, I'll save us. Lilith, I'll protect you!!" Ronnie yelled.
The aura emitting off him in that moment appearance like a blinding light.
Lily glanced at him. A brief smile drew on her face for a moment, right before she passed out on the hard floor boards.
Ronnie kept yelling and the light kept getting brighter.
Veronica could no longer hold back her thirst. She growled and charged at Ronnie.
The damned soul sprung out of Veronica, she fell lifelessly.
The soul still charged at Ronnie without a body, engulfing into flames in the process.
Ronnie kept yelling as the flaming creature charged towards him. It burned into nothingness right before laying a hand on him.
In that moment, the building went quiet. Ronnie threw himself against a chair, he tried to catch his breath.
By the time Lilith opened her eyes, it was nighttime.
The cicadas sang aloud as the moon shone brightly.
Ronnie walked slowly, carrying Lily on his back.
"You finally woke up, huh?" Ronnie said, he smiled.
"I can walk on my own. You can put me down now" Lily said softly.
"No, it's fine. You're still burned out" He said.
"It appears so" Lily said.
They went quiet, the chirping of cicadas and Ronnie's footsteps being the only sounds heard.
"Lily, I was thinking. You're the queen of the demon realm right? shouldn't you have some tolerance to holy items? the church included. Also, why didn't you just lure her to a more secluded place like you did with Josh?" Ronnie asked.
"Holy items have no effect on me. They only have an effect on my human form, this form." She replied.
"I see, why didn't you just revert to your original form to put down the damned?" Ronnie asked.
"For the very same reason I didn't fight her. I didn't want to ruin my new dress. reverting to my demon form would have ripped the dress to shreds, the same thing would have happened if I fought her. I had to think fast to defeat it" she said, her voice sounding devoid of emotion.
"The dress? It's just a dress, you would have gotten another one, " Ronnie said.
"This— is the first dress you've gifted me. You said I looked good in it" Lily said, her voice becoming a lot softer.
"Oh, that—"
Ronnie stopped walking. He stood under the beaming moon looking forward with Lily on his back. He was flustered.
"That— makes sense" he continued walking as his heart raced
"How did you manage that? Channeling your innate aura through your body like that" Lily asked.
"Actually, I really don't know. I focused on the thought that I wanted to protect you" Ronnie said. He sounded serious.
"Protect me? That's noble" Lily asked.
"Lily? No. Lillith, I know that you're leagues stronger than I am, I won't be able to do anything for you most of the time" Ronnie said.
"I know that," Lily replied.
"But still, in those moments where you feel vulnerable, where you can't be strong, I want to be there for you. I want to get stronger" Ronnie said. His tone sounded barely audible.
"If your goal is finding a way to break our ties and go back to your world, then my goal is to get stronger, strong enough to protect you while you're in this world. Lilith, I will protect you. I swear on my life!" Ronnie yelled, he sounded intense.
"My my, look who's all fired up" Lily said. she had a brief laugh then proceeded to bury her face into Ronnie's back.
She whispered a silent "Thank you, Ron" as Ronnie walked down. The demon queen felt an unfamiliar emotion.