When we returned to the Dragon’s Inn, we took a seat at one of the empty tables, and Julia, already dressed in her sexy waitress outfit, came over to us. She wore a short skirt that barely covered her thighs, and I found myself wondering how she pnned to work the whole night without fshing someone. But after one gnce at her cleavage and how much of her tits she was showing, I realized that maybe that was the point.

  “Hey, what can I get you?” Julia asked with a smile.

  “Do you ever even get a day off?” I asked. “I feel like I see you working all the time.”

  Julia ughed softly. “I take most of the morning shifts and every evening. So yeah, I’m always working whenever you're around.”

  “Even at night?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

  Julia snorted. “From what I’ve heard, you’re the one being busy at night.”

  “Oh?” I leaned in, smiling. “And what exactly have you heard?”

  How much could she hear through those walls? Had she overheard something she wasn’t supposed to? About my css?

  “A few times, when I passed by your door te at night after my shift, it sounded like someone was getting murdered in there. But judging by how great your companions all look, I’m guessing something very different was going on.”

  “You could’ve knocked, if you were that worried,” I teased. “Come in to check.”

  “I want chicken stew,” Mari cut in sharply, shooting me a gre.

  “Oh! Right,” Julia gasped. “Sorry!” she added quickly, pulling out her notepad and writing it down.

  Mari scoffed and turned her gaze away.

  I just shook my head and ordered the same. Julia ran off to the kitchen right away to get the food for us.

  “You really have no shame,” Mari muttered.

  “And why should I?” I asked casually.

  Mari scoffed. “You’ve got two sex sves. You’re sleeping with her,” she added, nodding toward Tori. “And now you’re flirting with the waitress. You probably want to drag her into your bed too.”

  “That’s actually not a bad idea,” I said thoughtfully, giving a slow nod.

  Mari let out an angry huff. “Doesn’t that bother you?” she snapped, gring at Zoe and Azura. “Oh, right! You don’t get a choice!” she added sharply, not even giving them time to respond. “But you do,” she growled, turning her gaze to Tori.

  “And it’s not your fucking business,” Tori replied coldly.

  Mari opened her mouth like she wanted to say something, but ended up just scoffing again. When Julia came back with our food, Mari grabbed her bowl and stormed off toward the stairs, heading to her room.

  “It doesn’t bother me, Master,” Zoe said with a sweet smile.

  “I know,” I replied, chuckling softly.

  Azura didn’t even look at me, already focused on eating. Still, I doubted she had any problem with it. Same as Tori. When they joined me in bed, they weren’t the first ones, and they knew what they were getting into.

  I started eating quickly, not giving Mari’s little outburst too much thought. But I did need to talk to her about healing her body. Though judging by her mood, it didn’t look like that talk was going to go well.

  But with her, there was never a good time to talk. So I might as well get it over with.

  “I’m going to talk to Mari,” I said, getting up after I’d finished eating. “When I’m back, we’ll go train. Tori, you coming with us?”

  “No,” she answered right away. “I’ve got something to take care of. But will there still be room for me in your bed ter, or have you already found a repcement?” she asked, giving a pointed gnce at Julia, who was busy serving other customers.

  I looked at Tori, a bit surprised. She sounded jealous, but her grin gave her away.

  “There’s always room,” I said. “Worst case, we’ll just cuddle real close,” I added with a smile. “Good way to save money.”

  Tori snorted, smiling. “Right. That’s totally what this is about. Saving money.”

  I smiled back, but headed upstairs, making my way toward Mari’s room.

  “I’m not apologizing,” Mari said the moment she opened the door.

  “I doubt any of them care enough about what you said to expect an apology,” I replied. “But maybe you should ask yourself why you feel like you should apologize in the first pce.”

  Mari just stared at me without saying a word, her brows furrowed.

  “We need to talk,” I said.

  “I’m listening.”

  “Not here.” I nodded toward her room. “This isn’t a hallway conversation.”

  “What do you want?” she hissed.

  “Like I said. Private.”

  “Not interested.”

  “You don’t even know what it’s about. But it’s about your future. Trust me, you are interested.”

  Mari stared at me for another second, then finally sighed and opened the door wider. “Try anything stupid and I’ll fill you with ice.”

  I stepped inside, shaking my head. I’d never done anything to make her think I’d try something like that. But after what she’d been through, she didn’t trust anyone. She expected the worst from everyone, convinced that everyone wanted to hurt her.

  As she closed the door and stood in front of me, I looked at her properly, no hood covering her head and face now, and the light in the room made her face clearer. The wound was still fresh, but healing into a scar. I wondered if it was the ointment, or her css that helped. Or both.

  “You know I’m looking for the b,” I said. “It’s a job someone gave me. I talked to them, and there’s a possibility that healing you can be a part of my payment. Your face. Your tail. Your ears.”

  Mari sucked in a breath, eyes wide, mouth open in shock. But then she scowled and scoffed.

  “And in return, I will be your sve for the rest of my life?”

  “Is that an offer?”

  “Go fuck yourself.”

  “I was thinking more like it would increase your debt.”

  “So basically the same thing. I’d spend my whole life paying you back.”

  I stared at her. She was exaggerating. It wouldn’t take her whole life. Sooner or ter, she’d pay it off. But I got it, having her freedom deyed with no end date in sight sounded like a shitty deal.

  Maybe this was a bad idea. Maybe I should’ve just ignored her. Kept her around until she made me money in the dungeon, then let her go.

  But if she stayed longer, I’d benefit too. Money, sure. But also safety. Who knows how the fight with those bandits and Mirage would’ve gone without her?

  And then… Mari had been hurt. She’d lost someone she loved. Lost her master, the love of her life. Her soulmate. The most important person in her life. And she was left alone, lost in a world where no one really cared about her.

  I felt sorry for her. And the thought of just throwing her away, leaving her to rot on her own, felt wrong. I doubted she’d st long on her own before ending up in trouble again.

  I sighed heavily. “Alright. What if we change the deal? Instead of working for me until you pay off the debt, you stay with me for ten years after the healing. I take all the money we earn, but I’ll cover your food, a pce to sleep, everything else. After that, you’ll be free.”

  “Can’t wait,” Mari hissed sarcastically.

  “To have your body whole again? I’d think so. You really believe you can manage that on your own in the next ten years if you were free?”

  Mari just gave me a bitter look.

  “And what are you gonna do when you’re free?” I asked. “Do you have any pns? Where will you go? You’ve got no home, no money, nothing.”

  “I’ll do the same thing I did today. Go into the damn dungeon and earn what I deserve. It’s not like you do anything in there besides stand around and watch. You’re just using me. And if it wasn’t for your useless ass holding me back, I’d already be in deeper floors making even more. I don’t need you!”

  “And how do you pn to get your body healed, huh? You think that’s easy? You think people like you just stumble across miracle healers willing to help for free? And then what? You’ll spend your whole life killing monsters alone? Really? You think people will want to be around someone who acts like such a bitch all the time? You’re not even pretty enough anymore for some desperate guy to ignore your shitty personality just to get id!”

  Mari gasped, staring at me. “You bastard,” she whispered. “You fucking bastard!” A shard of ice formed in her hand.

  “What are you gonna do?” I asked, reaching for the dagger at my side, already summoning mana between us. “You want to return to the sve market? Miss the cage already?! Miss starving and sleeping in your own shit?! To be beaten again?! That’s what you want?!” I shouted.

  The ice shard fell from her hand and hit the floor with a clink. She just stood there, staring at me with an angry grimace. Then she shoved me in the chest, not hard enough to move me, just angry.

  “So that’s what this is all about?!” she spat. “I’m too ugly to fuck now, so you want to fix me first and then use me?! Go to hell!”

  I ughed bitterly. “Un-fucking-believable,” I said, almost ughing. “How do you even come up with this idea? And who the hell do you think you are?”

  “You really think I’m so desperate I need to fuck you? Seriously? I’ve got a literal sex demon who’ll do anything to please me. Azura’s hotter, sexier, and nicer than you. Tori’s already sleeping with me. The waitress wants to.”

  “There are thousands of women in this damn city who’d be happy to sleep with me. But no, it’s always about you. You think you’re so fucking special. That everyone’s out to use you. That everyone’s just dying to get in your pants.”

  “Well, let me tell you something, sweetheart—you’re not some rare beauty. With or without that scar, you’re not worth shit. I wouldn’t touch you with a fucking stick!”

  I stormed out, smming the door behind me.

  Everything was always about her. Every fucking thing I did was somehow to use her or get in her pants. I pulled her out of the gutter. I gave her a life worth living. I gave her a chance at freedom. I tried to help her.

  And all she did was bite the hand that reached out to her. Over and over again. I didn’t want anything from her, just for her to stop acting like a bitch and take care of my safety.

  Like I’d ever given her a reason to think I’d take advantage of her. Half the time I ignored her like she didn’t even exist. And the moment I tried to help, it was always the same. The same fucking accusations.

  Maybe she was beyond saving. Maybe her body wasn’t the only thing that was destroyed. Maybe her mind was the real thing that was broken.

  I’ll wait until she pays off her debt, and then I’ll throw her out. The farther away from me, the better.

  I came back downstairs, still seething. Tori was already gone. Zoe and Azura were still sitting at the table, talking quietly.

  As I walked toward them, they both looked up.

  Zoe immediately jumped to her feet and ran over to me, leaping into my arms. She wrapped her arms around my neck, her legs around my waist, and pulled me in for a kiss.

  I caught her instinctively, grabbing her ass with both hands as our lips locked. Her tongue teased mine, and her fingers ran through the hair on the back of my neck, sending a warm shiver down my spine.

  I melted into the kiss, letting the anger fade, repced by passion, heat, and desire for the demon girl wrapped around me.

  When Zoe finally pulled back, both of us were panting for air. Her legs still clung to my hips, her hands resting on my shoulders.

  “Are you okay?” she asked, her pink eyes locked onto mine.

  I stared into those beautiful eyes. With a sexy demon wrapped around me like this, it was hard to stay mad at some bitch upstairs.

  “Better now,” I said, giving her a quick kiss. “Thanks.”

  “I love you, Tobias,” Zoe whispered softly, pulling me close again. Not to kiss this time, but to hold me tight, pressing her body against mine.

  I didn’t even have time to tell her I’d fought with Mari. She must’ve seen it on my face or sensed it in how I moved. And she didn’t hesitate. She just jumped on me to calm me down, to comfort me, to make me feel better.

  It stirred something warm in me. It felt good to have someone who cared. Someone who looked out for me. Someone who wanted to help.

  Someone who made me happy, and who appreciated me. Someone who was happy because of me.

  After a moment, I gently set her down and gave her one st, soft kiss before pulling back with a smile. “Let’s go train,” I said, gncing from Zoe to Azura, who was still sitting at the table, watching us quietly.