2 Weeks before Hunter’s 18th birthday

Zekaj sat by the window watching as the rain cascaded down the glass. His planned return to the beach had sadly been thwarted by the endless torrent of rain. Hunter just sat studying spells watching Zekaj pouting on the window seat.

“Is there a spell to stop the rain?” He asked quietly.

“I don’t think any mage is powerful enough to stop the rain Zekaj.” Hunter said, getting up from his desk and walking towards him. Hunter had never changed into a beach outfit, unlike Zekaj who had put on the tank top and swim trunks from two weeks ago.

“But this was our last chance before it gets too cold.” He pouted.

“I’m sorry dude.” Hunter said, patting Zekaj’s shoulder. Zekaj inched towards his touch on instinct. The warmth from Hunter’s touch was enough to put him out a little from his mood.

“We’re going the second we can next summer.” Zekaj whimpered.

“I’ll make sure of it.” Hunter whispered, looking out the window with Zekaj. “School starts back up tomorrow.”

“Ugh!” Zekaj groaned, throwing his head back. “Don’t remind me. Another year of boring shit.” He grumbled, crossing his arms on his chest.

“Well about that.” Hunter started. Zekaj looked over in excitement.

“You’re dropping out!” He exclaimed. A huge smile appeared on his face.

“No no.” Hunter chuckled. Zekaj went back to pouting. “I have to confirm it with my counselor but I believe I’m eligible to graduate early.”

“So this means…” Zekaj whispered.

“Only one semester of “torture”.” Zekaj’s smile returned as he jumped off the window seat and lifted Hunter into a hug.

“This is the greatest thing you’ve ever done.” He screamed in excitement.

“Hey I haven’t gotten the ok-”

“Only like 4 months then and you’re done! And then,” He paused. “And then what?” He calmly said.

Hunter thought about it for a moment. “I’m not sure I guess. We could leave this town and travel? There is a lot of the world we’ve yet to see.”

"There's so much world!" Zekaj thought. "Countless years Hunter has to spend with me!"

"You have to promise to travel with me nonstop! I don't care if you find your soulmate. You're still stuck with me!" He said, making the deal.

"What?" Hunter laughed. "Are you adding an addendum to our contract?"

"Yes! That's exactly what we're doing!" Zekaj held out his hand, the pale gold surrounding it. "You, Hunter Sullivan, agree to be best friends forever and to not ignore me when you find your soulmate.”

"Deal." Hunter extended his hand, the palm meeting Zekaj’s as the mark on his hand rebranded.

Zekaj grabbed Hunter’s wrist and examined the mark on his right hand.

“Nice.” He said out loud.

Hunter rolled his eyes and laid down on his bed, his back up against the wall. Zekaj watched him before deciding to sit right next to him. The only problem was Hunter was sitting on the edge of the bed. Zekaj decided instead of going around he would simply crawl over him.

“Don’t mind me.” Zekaj said, crawling over Hunter. Hunter rolled his eyes again.

Zekaj got himself situated right up against Hunter, his bigger body rubbing up against his smaller one. Zekaj watched Hunter sit there on his phone scrolling through Tiktok. Many of the jokes he didn’t understand and Hunter had to explain to him.

“So, where would you want to go first?” Zekaj asked, trying to change the topic. Luckily Hunter locked his phone and tried to think.

“Well we’d be leaving in the winter, so maybe somewhere warm? Like Hawaii? Can you portal us that far?”

“Well I’ve never hit a limit as to how far, but I can’t keep portaling back and forth between places cause that’ll drain me quickly. So Hawaii it is!” Zekaj smiled.

“Perfect. But the only problem is money.”

“No it’s not.” Zekaj casually said.

“What?”

“Well, where do you think I get all the money I buy stuff with?” Zekaj asked.

“I-,” Truth be told, Hunter hadn’t really thought about it. “I have no idea.”

“Well long ago when my parents still took summons, a mage set up a bank account for them as a form of payment. They also helped with stocks and stuff. I don’t know, I wasn’t really listening. Zekai would know.”

Hunter was dumbfounded. He always assumed Zekaj’s family was rich but never thought they were rich in human currency.

“Oh and also whenever I can’t think of a payment I’ll just have the mage transfer money into the account. I’m sure it’s accumulated a lot over the years.”

“How much is in it then?” Hunter questioned him.

“Uh, Zekai would know, dammit.” Hunter watched as Zekaj entered a deep thought, him biting his lip and concentrating hard on remembering how much was in the account. “Probably a hundred million?”

“A hu- hun- a HUNDRED MILLION?” Hunter screamed. “You have a hundred million dollars and never told me?”

“Hey! It’s mostly my parents and you never asked!” Zekaj defended himself.

“Oh my god you’re a millionaire.” Hunter covered his face with his hands.

“Can we just drop this subject? I’d much rather watch tik toks than this.” Zekaj asked.

“Fine.” Hunter laughed, turning on the Tv.

They quickly chose a movie and the room fell into a comfortable silence. Hunter’s eyelids started to slip as sleep took over his whole body. His head slid from its support on the wall and fell onto Zekaj’s shoulder.

Hunter subconsciously snuggled up into Zekaj’s side, clutching his strong arm. Zekaj was no longer paying attention to the movie, but to Hunter.

Zekaj always thought Hunter was adorable when he slept. His hair always managed to get messy in a short amount of time and he always held onto something tight or was completely sprawled out. There was no inbetween.

Hunter’s touch was intoxicating to him. His body always filled with warmth when they touched. It was a new feeling ever since the incident at the beach and in Zekaj’s bathroom.

With Hunter clutching onto his arm, his whole body was filled with the warm feeling. The warmth really soothed Zekaj and he too started to doze off as well, his head fell down onto Hunter’s as they both slept to the sound of the rain and the movie.

Hunter was the first to wake up. The credits to the movie had started rolling and Hunter’s vision was just starting to clear up from his small nap.

He then felt the small pressure on the top of his head and he looked up without moving his head. Hunter saw the black hair of Zekaj’s head, it caused Hunter to smile instinctively. Hunter then noticed he was clutching hard onto Zekaj’s arm, but he refused to let go.

It was one of the most intimate moments between the two and he wanted it to last. His birthday was in 2 weeks. The thirteenth was slowly creeping up on him. If they weren’t soulmates he didn’t know what he would do.

Their chances were low. There has never been a confirmed case of a Human and Demon being soulmates. Sure there was a story he had heard from a book but that wasn’t confirmed.

There was still the chance that Zekaj didn’t like him the same way, Hunter thought. There was no use worrying about the future. He needed to savor this moment between the two of them. He knew Zekaj was asleep, and probably didn’t know they were in such a situation.

Hunter slowly started gliding his fingers up and down Zekaj’s hard muscles, hoping Zekaj wasn’t actually awake to notice. He loved the feeling of his hands on his muscles, how hard they felt and protected it made him feel.

He knew he was going to keep Zekaj around for as long as Zekaj wanted, if they weren’t soulmates. He prayed to whatever god would listen for them to be soulmates for deep down he knew they were perfect for each other.

Hunter understood Zekaj the way Zekaj understood Hunter. They both needed someone and found each other at the right time. Hunter’s loneliness and Zekaj’s emptiness disappeared the second they became friends. As long as they had each other, they would never feel that way again.

Their friendship had truly blossomed into something deeper and more meaningful.

Zekaj felt Hunter’s fingers glide up and down his arm. He truly loved the feeling of the warmth as it grew and grew with each touch. It was at that moment that Zekaj had decided.

If Zekaj wasn’t Hunter’s soulmate.

He would find Hunter’s soulmate, and kill them.

Hunter was his.

And he wasn’t letting no mate bond stand in his way.