Take It Off

"Amelia Beleth," Ryoko said through gritted teeth. "Why are you here?"

So that was this lady's name. Amelia Beleth. It had that kind of old-money ring to it.

"Ryoko," Amelia said. "So formal. I was just in the area doing a little shopping when I felt this enormous spike of Demonic Energy. Naturally, I thought I'd check in on my favorite student's first solo retrieval mission."

She took a few more steps forward, heels clicking against concrete.

"My, my though." Amelia's gaze swept over Ryoko's injuries. "You look like someone put you through a blender."

"I'm fine."

"You're bleeding from at least seven visible wounds, your left arm is definitely broken, and I'm pretty sure one of your ribs is doing things ribs shouldn't do." Amelia pulled her phone back out. "Hold that pose, sweetheart."

Oh no.

The phone's flash went off, illuminating Ryoko in the worst possible glamour shot. Blood-streaked face, torn clothes, broken arm hanging at an angle that made Rome's stomach flip. The girl who'd been ready to fight a demon literally thirty seconds ago now scrambled to hide her face with her good hand, her pale skin flushing with what he recognized as pure mortification.

"Sensei, please!"

"Just sending this to Kuina," Amelia said cheerfully, her thumbs flying across the screen. "She'll want to prep the infirmary. And... sending it to the upperclassmen group chat. They'll all be so worried about you."

This woman, this Amelia Beleth with her designer clothes and her supernatural glow-stick eyes, had just photographed a wounded teenager like she was documenting a particularly amusing vacation.

What the hell kind of school did these people go to?

Amelia pocketed her phone. The playful smile vanished like someone had flipped a switch.

"Now." The teasing tone evaporated completely. "Report. Did you retrieve the artifact?"

Ryoko straightened as much as her injuries allowed. Her voice went flat, clipped. The kind of tone you use when giving mission debriefs in action movies.

"Negative. The primary target, a C-Rank Scavenger, had already consumed the artifact. It triggered a forced evolution. The target became the B-Rank Tyrant."

Wait, that nine-foot nightmare Rome had somehow eaten was supposed to be even worse than advertised?

Amelia let out a low whistle. "A B-Rank on your first solo mission? And you took it down? That's a gold star, Ryoko."

"I didn't kill it," Ryoko said. Her ruby eyes flicked toward Rome, still kneeling on the ground like an idiot. "He did. After he turned into a Demon."

The silence that followed was the kind you get right before lightning strikes.

Amelia's head turned. Slowly.

"Really?"

She started walking toward him. Each click of her heels against concrete felt like a countdown timer Rome didn't know how to stop. His brain helpfully suggested that standing up might be a good idea, his legs had apparently gone on strike and were refusing to cooperate though.

"He doesn't look very demonic to me."

She stopped directly in front of him, close enough that he could smell her perfume. Then she crouched down, bringing herself to eye level.

Oh god.

Up close, Amelia Beleth was the kind of beautiful that felt like a registered weapon. Those glowing purple eyes, still spinning with that twelve-petaled lotus pattern, studied him with an intensity that made him want to crawl backward into the nearest hole and die.

Her hand came up.

Rome flinched. Couldn't help it. Instead of doing something violent though, her cool fingers cupped his cheek. Gentle. Almost tender. Her thumb stroked along his jawline while her other hand tilted his face up, turning his head slightly left, then right.

"My, my," she murmured. Her lotus eyes spun faster, the purple light reflecting in his vision. "You really are a cesspool of Demonic Energy, aren't you? Just simmering under the surface."

Rome's mouth felt like he'd swallowed sand. "I... uh..."

"What's your family name, darling?"

The question caught him off guard. "Angelo. Rome Angelo."

"Angelo?" Her perfect eyebrows drew together for maybe half a second. "Never heard of them."

And just like that, he was a nobody.

"How are you feeling right now, Rome Angelo?" Her voice dropped lower. "Feel like... feeding?"

Rome shook his head, his hand unconsciously going to his chest. The obsidian pendant hung there again, cold against his skin. He'd shoved it back on the moment he'd gotten control of himself. "No. Not since... not since I put the necklace back on."

"Interesting." Amelia's smile returned, wider this time. "So that's the key."

She stared at him for another long moment.

Then her expression shifted into something playful. Dangerous.

"Let's test a theory. Take it off."

Rome jerked back so hard he almost fell over. "What? No! I could hurt you!"

The laugh that came out of her was completely condescending. Like he'd just said something adorably stupid.

"Honey," she said, her hand still cradling his face, "you are a full millennium away from being able to lay a finger on me."

Her expression softened slightly. "To make you feel better though, how about a time limit? Just a minute. Then you put it right back on. We'll see what happens."

She leaned closer. Her lips came so close to his ear he could feel her breath on his skin.

"Deal?"

Rome's brain was throwing up every red flag it owned. This was a terrible idea. This was possibly the worst idea in the history of ideas. Taking off the necklace again meant letting that thing back out, the hungry voice that had wanted to consume Ryoko's energy, that had obliterated a B-Rank monster like it was nothing.

Amelia's hand was still on his face though, warm and steady. Her eyes were still glowing with that hypnotic lotus pattern. And some stupid part of him that was apparently trying to get the rest of him killed wanted to impress her.

Wanted to show her he wasn't just some scared kid who'd stumbled into something he didn't understand.

"Just one minute," Rome heard himself say.

"That's it." She held up three fingers in what might have been a salute if scouts were gorgeous supernatural beings in designer heels.

Rome's hand went to the necklace. The obsidian felt warm now, like it had absorbed his body heat. He could feel it thrumming against his palm, this subtle vibration that seemed to pulse in time with his heartbeat.

Behind Amelia, Ryoko took a step forward despite her injuries. "Sensei, this is a bad idea."

"Shush, Ryoko. The adults are conducting an experiment."

Adults? Rome was seventeen!

He took a breath. Closed his eyes.

And pulled the necklace off.