The final class of the day was World History with Mr. Abernathy, a notoriously dull teacher who could make even the most fascinating historical events sound like an insurance policy reading. Under normal circumstances, KJ would have been fighting to keep his eyes open, but today was anything but normal.

  As Mr. Abernathy droned on about Mesopotamian farming techniques, KJ found himself unable to focus on the lecture for an entirely different reason. With the immediate panic of "demon management" temporarily subsiding, his teenage brain was finally processing something his survival instinct had been suppressing: Lilixia was gorgeous.

  She sat beside him, twirling a strand of her flowing black hair with purple highlights around one finger, her golden eyes (currently disguised as hazel) wide with genuine interest in Mr. Abernathy's monotone lecture. The afternoon sun streaming through the classroom windows caught her profile, highlighting the elegant curve of her cheekbone, the perfect arch of her eyebrows, and the subtle shimmer of her skin.

  KJ swallowed hard and tried to focus on his textbook. This was bad. Very bad. He couldn't be attracted to a demon. Especially not the third most powerful demon in Hell. That was just asking for trouble on a cosmic scale.

  But as Lilixia shifted in her seat, crossing her legs and inadvertently leaning slightly toward him, KJ's resolve crumbled. Her scent—something like cinnamon and thunderstorms—made his head swim. The curve of her waist, the fullness of her lips, the way her uniform skirt showed off her—

  "Mr. Williams?"

  KJ jerked upright, realizing with horror that Mr. Abernathy had called on him. "Yes?"

  "I asked you when the Sumerian civilization began to decline. Since you were paying such close attention." The teacher's voice dripped with sarcasm.

  "Um..." KJ's mind went completely blank.

  "2004!" Lilixia whispered helpfully.

  "2004?" KJ repeated before he could stop himself.

  The class erupted in laughter while Mr. Abernathy sighed deeply. "No, Mr. Williams. The Sumerian civilization did not collapse the year Facebook was founded. Perhaps if you spent less time staring at our new exchange student and more time reading your textbook, you'd know it was around 1750 BCE."

  KJ's face burned with embarrassment as he sank lower in his chair, acutely aware of the knowing smirks from his classmates. Beside him, Lilixia looked confused.

  "Was I wrong?" she whispered. "I could have sworn it was 2004. That's when Pazuzu and I visited for his birthday and the place was totally abandoned."

  "Pazuzu isn't Sumerian, he's Assyrian," KJ muttered back automatically, then froze. "Wait, how do I know that? And why are you hanging out with ancient demonic entities?"

  "He's my cousin on my mother's side," she explained casually. "Third cousin, twice removed, once by force. Terrible at bowling but makes amazing guacamole."

  KJ pressed his fingers to his temples, torn between fascination and exasperation. Even when she was driving him crazy, he couldn't help being intrigued by her. Which only made his current predicament worse.

  "Is something wrong?" Lilixia asked, noticing his distress. "Your heart rate has increased, and there's a distinct change in your pheromone output."

  "Nothing's wrong!" KJ hissed, his voice cracking. "Just... pay attention to the lecture."

  "Okay, but you should know your aura is doing that flickery thing humans do when they're experiencing attract—"

  "SHHH!" KJ cut her off, painfully aware that several students were watching their exchange with interest.

  Lilixia shrugged and returned her attention to Mr. Abernathy, who was now explaining how the Sumerian writing system evolved. KJ tried desperately to focus on the lecture, but his eyes kept drifting back to Lilixia.

  It wasn't fair. She was literally designed to be alluring. It was probably some demonic trick to ensnare human souls. That had to be it. This wasn't his fault; she was using some kind of supernatural charm on him.

  As if sensing his thoughts, Lilixia turned and gave him a small, genuine smile that made his stomach do a somersault. No, this wasn't some demonic power. This was just regular, awful, human teenage hormones, and he was their helpless victim.

  The next forty-five minutes were torture as KJ oscillated between trying to ignore Lilixia's existence and being hyperaware of every movement she made. When she leaned over to borrow his pencil, the brief brush of her fingers against his sent an electric current up his arm. When she absentmindedly bit her lower lip while concentrating, he nearly fell out of his chair.

  By the time the final bell rang, KJ was a mess of conflicting emotions. Relief that the school day was ending, dread at the thought of being alone with Lilixia at home, and a growing attraction that he was struggling mightily to suppress.

  As they gathered their books, Heather Collins approached their desks, flanked by two of her cheerleader friends. KJ tensed, expecting confrontation over the dodgeball incident.

  "How did you do that thing in gym?" Heather demanded, eyes narrowed at Lilixia. "No one moves that fast."

  "Lots of practice!" Lilixia chirped. "Also, excellent reflexes run in my family. My father can catch lightning bolts with his bare hands." She paused. "Metaphorically speaking, of course."

  Heather wasn't buying it. "There's something weird about you."

  "Thank you!" Lilixia beamed as if it were a compliment.

  KJ quickly intervened. "We should go. My mom's probably waiting for us."

  "This isn't over," Heather warned, but her usual intimidation tactic fell flat as Lilixia continued smiling pleasantly at her.

  "It was lovely chatting with you again! Remember what I said about Kevin. His soul really does yearn for yours!" Lilixia called after Heather's retreating back.

  "Could you please stop mentioning souls in public?" KJ pleaded as they walked toward the exit.

  "Sorry! I forget it's not normal small talk here. In Hell, it's like discussing the weather. 'How are the souls today? Oh, quite tormented, thank you for asking!'"

  They reached the main hallway, where students were rushing to their lockers and making plans for the afternoon. KJ spotted his friends by the water fountain and steered Lilixia in the opposite direction.

  "Aren't we going to talk to your friends?" she asked.

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  "Not today. I need to process... everything." Especially his newfound awareness of her, which was making it difficult to form coherent thoughts.

  "Process what?" Lilixia tilted her head curiously, and the innocent gesture somehow made her even more attractive.

  "Nothing! Just... school stuff. Let's find Emma and wait for my mom outside."

  They found Emma waiting at the front steps, still eyeing Lilixia with intense suspicion.

  "How was your first day, demon girl?" Emma asked bluntly.

  KJ nearly choked. "Emma! Don't call her that!"

  "It's okay," Lilixia laughed. "Your sister is smart! And my day was wonderful, little detective. I learned about Mesopotamia and spherical projectile avoidance techniques."

  "She means dodgeball," KJ translated.

  Emma narrowed her eyes. "I told Mom I saw you open a third eye yesterday. She didn't believe me."

  "What an imagination you have!" Lilixia ruffled Emma's hair, causing the girl to scowl. "That's why I like you. Children are so much more perceptive than adults. In the Middle Ages, they used to believe children could see fairies and demons because their souls were still pure."

  "Were they right?" Emma asked, her curiosity overtaking her suspicion.

  "About some things," Lilixia winked. "Not everything."

  KJ was about to intervene when he spotted his mother's car pulling into the pickup lane. "There's Mom. Remember, normal conversation on the ride home."

  "Define normal," Lilixia and Emma said simultaneously, then looked at each other in surprise.

  "Great," KJ muttered. "Now there's two of them."

  The ride home was mercifully uneventful, with Linda asking standard questions about their day and receiving carefully edited answers. KJ noticed that even Emma seemed to be covering for Lilixia's oddities, which was both concerning and slightly touching.

  Once home, KJ planned to retreat to his room to process his conflicted feelings, but his mother had other ideas.

  "KJ, could you show Lily around the neighborhood? It would be good for her to know where everything is."

  "I'd love a tour!" Lilixia bounced excitedly. "Are there any dimensional weak spots or ancient burial grounds nearby?"

  Linda laughed, assuming it was a joke. "Such an imagination! No, but there's a nice little park two blocks over, and the ice cream shop on Maple Street is a local favorite."

  "Ice cream?" Lilixia's eyes widened. "The frozen dairy treat? I've heard legends about it!"

  "You don't have ice cream in France?" Linda asked skeptically.

  "Of course we do!" Lilixia backpedaled. "Just not... American ice cream. It's different. More... American."

  KJ grabbed Lilixia's arm. "We'll be back in an hour or so, Mom."

  Outside, the afternoon sun was beginning to soften, casting a golden glow over the suburban landscape. KJ and Lilixia walked in silence for a few minutes, headed in the general direction of the park.

  "Your sister knows what I am," Lilixia finally said.

  "Yeah, I got that," KJ sighed. "But no one will believe her, so it's still contained. Probably."

  "She's a remarkable human. Very perceptive. In another era, she might have been trained as a witch or oracle."

  KJ glanced at her. "Is that a real thing?"

  "Of course! Humans with spiritual sensitivity used to be much more common before smartphones and processed food dulled your species' connection to the ethereal plane." Lilixia skipped over a crack in the sidewalk. "Your sister would have been quite powerful."

  "Great. So I'm living with a demon and a potential witch. That's not weird at all."

  Lilixia laughed, the sound like wind chimes in a summer breeze. The noise did something strange to KJ's insides, and he found himself smiling despite his worries.

  "So," he said, desperate to change the subject away from anything that might make him more attracted to her, "dodgeball, huh?"

  "I got carried away," she admitted, looking genuinely contrite. "It was just so fun! In Hell, our version involves actual fire and much more screaming."

  "Everything in Hell seems to involve fire and screaming."

  "Not everything! We have karaoke Thursdays. Though that does involve some screaming, depending on who's performing." She paused thoughtfully. "Actually, now that I think about it, most activities in Hell do involve some degree of fire and/or screaming. Corporate team-building exercises are the worst."

  They reached the park, a modest green space with a playground, some benches, and a small duck pond. Lilixia immediately gravitated toward the swings, her face lighting up with childlike delight.

  "Push me?" she asked, sitting on one of the swings and looking back at KJ expectantly.

  KJ hesitated, aware that being in close proximity to her was exactly what he'd been trying to avoid. But her hopeful expression broke his resolve.

  "Fine," he said, moving behind the swing. "But just for a few minutes, then we should check out the rest of the neighborhood."

  He placed his hands on her back and gave a gentle push, trying to ignore the warmth radiating through her blouse and the subtle scent of her hair as it whipped past him. Each push required him to make contact with her back, and each contact sent a jolt of awareness through his fingertips.

  "Higher!" Lilixia called, laughing as she pumped her legs. "I want to see if I can make a complete rotation!"

  "That's physically impossible," KJ said, grateful for the distraction of scientific facts. "The chains would go slack at the top, and you'd fall."

  "Not if you push hard enough!" she insisted.

  "I'm not going to help you break the laws of physics in a public park," KJ replied, though he did push a bit harder. Her joy was infectious, and he found himself smiling despite his inner turmoil.

  As Lilixia swung higher and higher, KJ stepped back to watch. The sunlight caught her hair, making the purple streaks shimmer against the black. Her face was pure happiness, without any of the calculation or malice one might expect from a demon. She looked so human, so genuine in her enjoyment of something as simple as a swing set.

  "KJ! Look at me!" she called, and as she swung forward, she let go at the apex of the arc, launching herself into the air with a graceful flip before landing perfectly on her feet several yards away.

  "Lilixia!" KJ hissed, rushing over to her. "What happened to keeping a low profile?"

  "There's no one else here," she pointed out, which was true, the park was empty except for them and a few distant ducks. "Besides, that was just good old-fashioned gymnastics. No powers involved!"

  KJ was about to argue when he noticed how close they were standing. In his rush to scold her, he'd grabbed her arms, and now they were face to face, mere inches apart. Her disguised hazel eyes flickered briefly, showing flashes of their true golden color with vertical pupils that dilated as she looked at him.

  "Your aura's doing that thing again," she said softly, not pulling away.

  "What thing?" KJ asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

  "The flickery, swirly thing. It happens when humans feel attraction." A small, knowing smile played at the corners of her lips. "You know, I can sense emotions. It's part of being what I am."

  KJ dropped his hands from her arms and stepped back, his face burning. "I don't know what you're talking about."

  "It's okay," Lilixia said gently. "Human teenagers are basically emotion factories. All those hormones and developing neural pathways. It's completely normal to be attracted to demons. We're literally designed to be appealing."

  "I'm not—" KJ started, then gave up. "Is it that obvious?"

  "Only to someone who can see auras and sense emotions," she assured him. "So just me, and maybe your sister a little bit."

  "Great," KJ groaned. "So the potential witch knows I have a crush on a demon. This keeps getting better."

  Lilixia's face brightened. "You have a crush on me? That's adorable!"

  "Can we please change the subject?" KJ begged, wishing the ground would open up and swallow him, then immediately rescinding that wish, given that Lilixia might actually make it happen.

  She seemed to take pity on him. "Ice cream! Your mother mentioned an ice cream shop. Can we go there? I've always wanted to try human ice cream that wasn't made of souls."

  "Ice cream isn't made of souls in Hell, is it?" KJ asked, grateful for the shift in conversation.

  "Only the premium brands," Lilixia said with a straight face before breaking into giggles at KJ's horrified expression. "I'm kidding! We don't have ice cream at all. It melts immediately. Hell is very hot, y’know."

  KJ shook his head, unable to suppress a smile. "Come on, then. The ice cream shop is this way."

  As they walked side by side, KJ felt his embarrassment gradually fading. Maybe it wasn't so bad that Lilixia knew about his crush. At least it was out in the open, and she hadn't seemed disgusted or angry—just amused and perhaps a little flattered.

  Besides, he reasoned, it wasn't like anything could ever happen between them. She was an ancient demonic entity who ruled over legions of nightmare creatures, and he was a fifteen-year-old human who could barely rule over his own hormones. In less than three weeks, she would return to Hell, and his life would go back to normal.

  Or at least, that's what he told himself as they headed toward the ice cream shop, carefully not touching but walking close enough that their hands occasionally brushed against each other, sending electric currents up his arm each time they did.

  To be continued…

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