Mabel woke up slowly, grimacing when her body made its protests clear. She blinked several times to clear her vision, questions forming in her head when she realized she was lying in her own bed, swaddled in blankets.

"Aleron?" she croaked, startling when he appeared directly above her, his dark hair dangling around his worried features. "What happened?"

"You fell unconscious," he rumbled, his hands dancing over her face and arms. "I brought you back here."

Memories coming back to her the more she woke up, Mabel groaned. "Oh, no. Was that before or after you killed the guy?" she knew there was no hope for the man who'd attacked her—especially not when she wasn't even conscious.

A dangerous smirk crawled across Aleron's lips. "Where do you think I came from, Little One?"

Mabel let her head fall back against the pillow with defeat. "Of course. I should have known. Can you help me sit up?"

"No." his stare turned steely. "You will not move until you are healed."

Laughing at his typical behavior, Mabel pushed herself up to her elbows, ignoring the soreness and grinning victoriously when Aleron assisted her. "You are stubborn," was all he said, clearly disgruntled.

"Yes," Mabel agreed, sitting on the side of the bed with her legs dangling over. "Which is something you should remember in the future."

He quirked a smile, but Mabel could tell his heart wasn't in it. "What's wrong?" she asked, leaning forward and grasping his hand in her own.

Still silent, he inspected their clasped hands, twining their fingers together. "Would you like to know why you were attacked?" He asked finally, his voice cautious.

"Actually, yes." She bent her head down to try and catch his eyes, to no avail. He was just as stubborn as her, it would seem. "Aleron?"

Pulling her hand up until it was settled against his chest, he sighed with contentment, eyelids shut as he soaked in the feeling. "Do you trust me, Little One?" his eyes snapped open, and they searched hers.

Mabel curled her fingers against the rough material of his black shirt, bobbing her head up and down without hesitation. "Yes. Of course I do. Aleron, you're scaring me a little bit. Why was I attacked?"

"You were targeted because Herman continues to involve himself in things darker than he understands. He has no family or friends, and—since you are the only one seen with him—you are the only weakness they believe they can exploit." His words dripped with fury, and Mabel swallowed back the bile in her throat.

They were targeting her? All because Herman was doing stupid stuff?

She was suddenly lightheaded, and closed her eyes against the too-bright lights. "Right," she started slowly, "So, in other words, I'll keep being targeted until Herman gives them what they want."

Aleron's entire body stiffened; he growled low in the back of his throat, lips lifted in the beginning of a snarl. "I will kill them if they touch you!"

She had no doubt about that, and it probably should have scared her more than it did. "Yes, yes, I know," she soothed, moving her free hand to pull her fingers through his hair, grinning inwardly when he relaxed immediately. "Please don't go around just killing random people, though, alright? I don't want to be responsible for the deaths of innocents."

"I will determine whether they are innocents," he scoffed, tilting his head minutely so she could get better access to his shaggy locks, "Not you. You need only worry about your own safety, Little One. You will not go anywhere without informing me beforehand, and you will call for me if you believe you are in the slightest bit of trouble."

Quirking a small smile at his usual demanding behavior, Mabel rolled her eyes fondly. "Sure thing, boss."

"I do not joke," he reiterated sternly, "You must be safe." To most, it would sound like a demand, and it was, but there was an underlying note of pleading in Aleron's voice, and Mabel felt her heart melt a little.

She pulled her hand down from his hair to stroke his jaw, "I know, Al. I will be safe, I promise. Okay?"

He huffed, shoulders slumping with acceptance. "Yes. Now sleep, Little One. I cannot have you falling asleep when you are supposed to be working."

Mabel's laugh was muffled when he pulled her into his chest, leaning them both back down to the bed and stroking his fingers down her sides.

***

Mabel sighed when she turned on the news Saturday night and saw the headline: Another Lifeless Criminal Found: Who is Safe from 'Death'?

Drumming her fingers on her thigh, she grimaced when they showed pictures of the man's body. It wasn't anything too gruesome (she'd have to thank Aleron for going easy on the guy, later), but Mabel had a weak stomach when it came to injuries.

"Little One," Mabel squealed at the unexpected voice, unable to catch herself when she plummeted off the couch, landing with a thud on the floor of her apartment. Aleron was by her side in the next instant, concern and amusement warring in his features. "Are you alright?" He practically demanded, scooping her up and replacing her on the couch. "I am sorry—I did not mean to scare you."

Mabel laughed, waving off his worries. Besides some minor embarrassment, she was fine. "I think we need to talk about this whole 'I can transport and scare the crap out of you' thing, Al. I'm not sure how much more my health can take."

Upon completing his scan of her body and ensuring that everything was intact, Aleron settled beside her, a smirk tugging at his lips. "I should have considered that you scare easier than a mouse, Little One. I apologize again."

Mabel's mouth dropped open. "Excuse me?!" she shoved him away halfheartedly, trying to keep a smile from her face (it was surprisingly easy to date him, even if he was a murderous demon from Hell). "A 'mouse'? You can leave, now, I think." She turned away from him, an exaggerated pout on her lips.

There was a beat of silence, and then Aleron picked her up, spun her back around, and settled her on his lap. "Hello," he greeted, tilting his head to give her a kiss.

When they pulled away, Mabel finally let her grin show. "All right," she conceded, kissing his cheek. "You are forgiven for your rudeness."

Aleron's returning smile was wicked. "Thank you, Little Mouse."

"Oh, shut up!"

***

"It is almost time," Aleron admitted only several days later, when they were settled on a bench beside the park's pond.

Mabel didn't have to ask to what he was referring; it went without saying that Herman's soul was growing darker with each passing day. Mabel had noticed a palpable difference in the air that surrounded her boss lately—an aura that made her anxious.

Gone were Herman's smiles and easygoing ways, replaced by terse responses, wicked grins, and dark expressions. If this was what happened when someone's soul grew black with wickedness, then she never wanted to see it occur again. She told Aleron exactly that, and he sighed with pity, placing a comforting hand on her knee and rubbing slow circles there.

"It happens far too much, Little One. Right before I must take him," she was grateful that he didn't outright use the work kill, "his eyes will fill with the darkness, and then he will no longer be the Herman you knew. You must be cautious around him, now."

A seed of concern planted itself in the base of her stomach, and she turned to face him entirely, her brows furrowed. "You won't leave me alone with him all the time, right? I know I used to trust him, but I . . ." she licked her lips, "I don't feel safe around him anymore, Al."

"As you shouldn't," Aleron grumbled, pulling his hand away and shifting so he could pull her tight into his side. "I will be watching over you as I always do, Little One. I can feel you at all times, but I will do my best to ensure that I keep my eyes on you constantly. You naturally attract danger, I believe."

Mabel managed a weak chuckle, appreciating his attempt at humor, even if it did contradict the sternness in his gaze.

***

Mabel couldn't decide if she was paranoid, or if Herman's voice really did sound odd. It almost seemed like there was another voice directly beneath it, echoing his words and making them ominous.

She wasn't sure, but—regardless of the reason—she didn't like it.

Standing in the doorway of his office stiffly, she shot a halfhearted wave to where he sat behind his desk. "Goodnight," she managed, her voice sounding weak even to her own ears. "See you tomorrow."

The smile Herman sent her in response could only be described as chilling.

Aleron waiting on the other side of the entrance made her relax, but the confused, almost anxious look on his face had her tensing up all over again. "Soon?" Mabel asked, wrapping her hand around Aleron's arm and squeezing.

He pulled her closer, face morphing into a blank slate. "Soon. Do not worry, Little One. No harm will come to you, especially not from Herman."

Mabel wanted to believe his words, but how could she?

Aleron didn't even seem that confident in them.

***

"I cannot believe the crap going on right now!" Lucy complained while the older woman in front of her filed her fingernails, "I am so exhausted."

"What's going on?" Mabel asked idly, smiling slyly to herself as she admired the dark red of her own nails that was eerily reminiscent of Aleron's eyes.

"Oh, Mabs, come on! Kellan knows all about this, and she didn't tell you?"

Mabel shrugged casually. "I thought Kellan was still on the cruise to Alaska with her boyfriend?"

Lucy considered this for a moment, before nodding. "True enough. You know," she leaned towards Mabel and wiggled her eyebrows, "She'll probably come back with a fiancée."

Mabel's eyes widened in response. "Whoa. Wait, back up—he's going to ask her to marry him?!" Mabel could barely contain her excited shrill. "That's wonderful!"

Lucy nodded smugly. "It is, isn't it? You know, he asked me before he bought the ring, and I—of course—gave him my blessing."

Mabel laughed, knowing perfectly well that Lucy was basically Kellan's older sister (an odd dynamic that Mabel hadn't expected when she'd first introduced the two, but she thought it was sweet nonetheless).

"Anyway," Lucy continued with a wave of her one finished hand as the manicurist moved to the other, "she's off gallivanting with her adoring boyfriend, while I'm on a wild goose chase for some kind of poisonous drug that doesn't even appear to be of this world." She rolled her eyes, clearly exasperated. "Not to mention I'm annoyingly single. What about you, Mabs? What's new?"

Explaining as she always did that nothing exciting was going on in her life (her guardian demon/boyfriend was left out of all conversations), Mabel moved to the topic of the drug. "What do you mean by 'not of this world'?"

Lucy rolled her eyes with exasperation. "It's so annoying, Mabs. This stuff has killed multiple people—we can find the remnants in their systems—but no one's ever seen anything like it before. One of the experts we had look at a sample said, and I quote, 'This is some kind of magical shit.' If I have experts telling me that, how the Hell am I supposed to know what it is?"

Mabel had no answer for Lucy's woes, but a rock of dread had settled in her stomach the moment Lucy mentioned 'magical'.

That same dread only worsened when, watching the news the next day, the anchorman detailed the horrific deaths from the drugs, citing that they were something out of a "sick horror movie." If that wasn't bad enough, the drugs contained properties never seen before, and there was one person—creature—that Mabel could think of who would be able to create something so terrible.

But no, she told herself, Aleron would never do something like that.

It was his job to dispose of wicked souls, after all, so surely he couldn't become one.

Right?

***

She'd broached the topic cautiously, setting her words up in such a way that she was sure he wouldn't get the wrong idea and think she was outright declaring that he was responsible. She had explained what Lucy had told her, and then quietly tacked on the words: "I was thinking that maybe you would know something about this? Maybe you could help out and give me some answers that I can pass on to Lucy? I know you work with the evil souls, so I would guess you would have better information."

She had just wanted answers, not a fight.

So how had this happened?

Aleron's eyes were on fire the second she finished speaking, his expression torn between fury and betrayal. "You dare accuse me of something so volatile, Mabel?" He growled, towering over her and shaking with rage. "You think I am not actively fighting against this, just as your friend is? You accuse me of shirking my duties?"

Mabel couldn't remember the last time she'd actually been nervous around him, and now . . . she was scared of him. "I'm not accusing you of anything, Aleron," she replied carefully, taking a cautious step backwards, halting when her back hit the kitchen counter, "I'm just asking if you know anything about what's going on, because–"

"Because I am a disgusting creature born from Hell, so I must have an evil core?" He took a step forward, until he was a foot from her. "Because I am no better than the measly humans like you, so I must be easily corrupted?" Another step as his tone grew angrier, and Mabel's lips quivered as she fought back the urge to cry.

How was it possible for everything to fall apart this quickly?

How had she let this happen?

"If there were ever a reason for my fall," he continued with a sneer, his words gaining fury and speed as he spoke, "it would be a result of associating myself with a weak human. You have no backbone, you are puny, and you would sooner die because of a pointless disease than I would fall to wicked intentions. Do not speak of things you do not understand, Mabel, and do not ever call for me again!" He shouted the last words in her face, leaving her with one more snarl before vanishing into thin air.

Mabel collapsed against the counter, her body trembling, tears falling onto her shirt.

What just happened?