Elijah has managed to take over my side of the bed despite me only being gone for about ten minutes. He’s holding my pillow to his chest, which is adorable. Elijah is such a cuddler at night and he always needs to be holding something, so this is not shocking but I, of course, still find it cute. 

“Elijah,” I whisper, putting one of my hands on either side of his head. “I know it’s early, but we need to talk to Levi. He’s already awake.”

Elijah’s eyes fly open. “How long have you been awake?!” he demands, sitting up too quickly and smashing his forehead into my shoulder. “Ow, fuck!”

“Ten minutes. Relax, baby, he isn’t going anywhere,” I say, cupping his face in my hands and kissing his forehead. “Put on some clothes, please.”

“I’m wearing underwear.”

I raise an eyebrow, otherwise giving no expression to my soulmate. I bite back a smug look when he sighs dramatically and opens the closet. Since he wants to see our soulmate, he takes very little time to get ready and grabs my hand once he’s in a shirt that he must have stolen from Winston. Neither myself nor Elijah listen to Led Zeppelin and band shirts are not mine or Elijah’s thing. 

He’s wearing his favorite pair of pajama pants that are decorated with little Halloween ghosts. 

I have no idea why my lover likes Halloween prints so much. Anytime we go shopping and he sees they have set up the Halloween collection in any store, he beelines for the pajama section to see if he can find anything that he likes. 

Levi is sitting with his knees pulled to his chest when we get to the living room. He’s on the couch, coincidentally in the corner that Elijah and I usually occupy when we spend time here. His eyes flick up to us, and he seems to recognize Elijah a little bit, but I’m pretty sure he doesn’t recall much of what happened last night. 

Elijah seems a bit hesitant now that he sees Levi again in person. 

“Why did I throw a lamp at you?” Levi asks, and Elijah moves closer to me, anxiety rolling off of him in waves. 

“You accused me of taking advantage of you,” Elijah responds, pushing his face against my arm. His hand is sweaty in mine but I don’t let go. “I know I overstepped when you were buying that ring and grabbing you like I did, but…” He trails off, not seeming to know how to best continue this conversation. 

“Come on, E,” I say gently, pulling him forward. “Can we sit?”

Levi shrugs. “It’s your house.”

“That isn’t what I asked.”

“Just… stay on that side,” Levi says, pointing at the other end. 

I sit down first, and Elijah sits beside me, partially in my lap. “How’s your head?” 

“Fine. I took a couple of Advil. Can you just explain what you apparently need to explain and then let me go home?” Levi asks, and I hate that he and Elijah seem to have matching bags under their eyes. “And, before you start stuttering, Paxton already told me ‘humans are slow,’ he keeps praising someone called Alastor, and I have never heard that name in a religious sense. Oh, and he told me that someone here has powers and his hand changed colors when he took a pop tart out of the toaster oven.” 

Well, thank you Paxton for terrifying him so we didn’t have to. 

“Fucking Paxton,” Elijah mumbles. “Well, hopefully he didn’t scare you too much.”

“He told me I’m a hostage until we talk, so he didn’t exactly make me feel warm and fuzzy inside.”

Elijah huffs. “Well, he’s blunt and an asshole, so I’m not too shocked.”

I nod in agreement. “Levi, you’re here because we’re your soulmates,” I say plainly. “We’re not humans, and we can sense the soulmate bond, but humans can’t feel it as strongly. You may feel an attraction but you do not have the same senses that we do.”

Levi watches us both, but he doesn’t seem shocked and he certainly doesn’t seem afraid. Just kind of tired and as if he is going through the motions. 

“So what are you then?” Levi asks. 

“Demons,” Elijah says. “To be more specific, we’re two of the Seven Sins. I’m Envy, Greyson is Greed.”

Levi seems to freeze a bit at that. “Demons?” 

“Do you want proof? We can shift to our demon forms,” Elijah offers. 

Levi nods. 

I stay seated and Elijah gets up to shift. Of course, he dramatically throws his shirt at me. 

“Told you I didn’t need it,” he mumbles before he starts to shift. 

Wings protrude from his back and his skin darkens to a gray color, the veins that line his body turning the same green as his powers. His eyes change to a brighter green, as opposed to the faded blue they are in his human form. Two horns grow from his forehead and his hands grow claws, but he retracts them when he sees Levi’s eyes fixated on the talons.

As far as our demon forms go, Elijah is on the smaller side, only slightly bigger than Lexi. He is not much bigger than his human form, as opposed to Winston, Simon, and myself who grow a lot taller. Paxton gets taller as well, but he stays shorter than myself, Simon, and Winston. 

“Levi?” I ask as Elijah sits down in my lap once again. 

“You’re demons,” Levi says, his voice shaking. “What do you want with me?”

“We are no threat to you, Levi, and we won’t do anything to harm you. You are our soulmate, and we want nothing but to cherish you and keep you safe,” I explain gently. “We understand this is a lot to take in, as humans are not taught to believe beings like us really exist.”

Levi nods slowly. “I would like to go home,” he whispers. 

“We can drive you,” Elijah says, slowly shifting back and staying in my lap. “I’m sorry that I scared you at the store. I really didn’t want to.”

“What did you do?”

Elijah winces a bit. “Uhhh… I marked your neck.”

Levi’s glare hardens. “And what does that mean?”

“Basically he put a mark on your neck to show other supernaturals that you’re under the protection of the Seven Sins, so they won’t bother you. Supernaturals tend to leave humans alone, but there are rare occasions where they’ll go after a human. It’s there for the sole purpose of your safety.”

“But you’ll take it off?” Levi asks, his glare directed at Elijah. “I don’t want to be branded like a fucking animal because you two can feel some fucking connection that I don’t!”

Elijah winces again. “I’ll take it off,” he says, sounding defeated. “I’m sorry.”

Levi ignores the apology and sits patiently as Elijah removes the mark. “Now take me home,” he demands, crossing his arms. 

“I’ll get my car keys,” I say, and Elijah runs off to our room. My phone dings and I see a message from Elijah, declaring that he’s staying home. 

Levi doesn’t ask any questions when I get in the car without Elijah. He refuses to give me his address, but he tells me the intersection closest to his apartment. The drive is silent, and I can see Levi constantly checking the lock on the car door and keeping his thumb on the seat belt release. 

The area where he lives is not a super safe one, but hopefully Elijah and I can charm him enough that he moves in with us within the next few months. 

“Levi,” I say before he can rush out of the car once I have pulled up to a curb.

“Yes?”

“Let me put mine and Elijah’s numbers in your phone. I know there’s a lot going through your head, but we really do care about you, and I guarantee Elijah and I would want you regardless of the soulmate connection,” I say, and Levi looks at me in disbelief. “Just give us a chance. We can prove we are not what you think we are.”

Levi hands me his phone. “Fine. Don’t expect me to bombard you with text messages.”

“I won’t,” I promise him, and I am surprised when he returns my smile with a small one of his own. “Levi?”

“Am I going to be allowed to leave?” Levi asks me, letting go of the door handle. 

“After you answer my last question.” Since he remains quiet, I take that as my cue to ask my final question. “Can Elijah and I take you on a date? We’ll pick you up tomorrow at six?”

He hesitates. “I’ll meet you somewhere.”

“Can I have your number so I can text you where?” I ask, and Levi holds out his hand. “Don’t expect me to bombard you with texts.”

Levi smiles, but he quickly lets it fall. 

“Have a good day,” I say as he gets out of the car. “If you need anything at all, you can call me or Elijah.”

“Thanks,” Levi says, waiting on the curb for me to drive away before he walks home.