I mulled over what was said in yesterday's meeting with the vampire kingdom's representatives. They were honestly frightened of Matteo after the trampling incident and now they revered me as this superior being that shouldn't be trifled with for any reason. Both of those things were fine, and the negotiations went well through using my magic for truth checks, fact checks, any loopholes or liabilities, and other important business necessities.

But all of that was not what I was really thinking about. Instead, I'd had a question for Matthew. I was a bit surprised when he did answer me honestly and truthfully. He was very forthcoming with information—so much that it was disturbing. Well, Matthew himself was a bit creepy after the Matteo incident after all. All the delegates were creepy but nice enough to counteract the former.

And I've gone off track again. I had asked Matthew about the entity known as the Evil Spider (to me) and if he had any information on it. He had a lot of information—both rumors and facts. Matthew was able to show me documents and factual evidence to prove that the Evil Spider has been extremely active as of late.

The elderly vampire had used his magic (or whatever it was) to retrieve documents, missing people reports, and other related information about murders in several key locations. There were body parts left behind, which meant that some body parts had been stolen. And these reports included nonhuman and human reports. It was a bit frightening.

The reason why Matthew knew that the Evil Spider was involved was because a different kind of spider had been left at each crime scene. I asked if there was even a possibility that this was a case of mistaken identity. Matthew had shaken his head and showed me old newspapers from a couple hundred years ago when the same things had been happening on the other side of the world. The order of which limbs and parts were found was different, but the spiders were the same.

The Evil Spider wanted to be found. He wanted to be reveling in the chaos. However, he disappeared after six months. Would he do the same this time? He seemed keen on making me his toy since he believed I was the only hybrid.

Something clicked into place. The Evil Spider had been watching me, that's how he knew where Uncle Andros had taken me. Perhaps he had been watching Uncle Andros—maybe everyone dear to me.

My face paled. Excluding my daddy and uncle, my beloveds were in danger. My papa could take care of himself, but our family on that side was in trouble. I think, although I might be wrong, the Evil Spider is trying to create a hybrid—perhaps multiple different kinds—to achieve some kind of goal.

But how could he have found out that I was a hybrid so quickly? I had only shown my form once on the day of Blaine's attack, then I remained in my human form for at least a few weeks afterwards. And in that time, in the third week of the first month, that's when I was snatched by the Evil Spider and his horrible black-colored, painful and lethal venom-infused magic.

And then I met that demon who was trying to kill Matteo's father and cause his whole family pain and anguish. That had been successful, but I captured the demon and stored him away.

"Perhaps the demon can help me, though."

I had forgotten about the demon I'd stored away in the other dimension. I hadn't felt him rip the card I gave him, but I knew he couldn't have died because time is kind of frozen in that space. He wouldn't have gotten super hungry, thirsty, or even needed to relieve himself. But he must have gone stir-crazy.

I imagined myself inside that other dimension and noticed how dark it was, save for one light above the demon's cage. He looked up at me from his spot in the furthest lefthand corner of the cage, then quickly turned his head.

"What do you want?"

"Well, I was waiting for you to rip the card."

"I threw it away and it never came back. I'm surprised you remembered me," he sneered. "How long has it been? A few weeks? A few months? Years, even?"

I shook my head. "It's been about a month and a half. A lot has been going on outside of here." I replied, walking up to his cage and unlocking it.

The demon was a bit stunned when I locked myself inside with it. He couldn't harm me even if he wanted to, so I plopped down in his lap and curled my fluffy tail around myself.

The demon was frozen stiff as he uttered, "Y-you're trying to get me to let my guard down."

"Yup. Because at this point, you're not my enemy and I'm not yours. Don't you want to get back at the Evil Spider? He enslaved you for a couple hundred years to do his bidding."

"And I received power in return," replied the demon. "And you can offer me nothing."

I chuckled. "Doesn't it depend on what interests you?"

The demon paused, then he answered, "Yes, however, serving you provides no benefit since the ones I aim to kill are your allies."

I sighed and rubbed my head on his cheek, nosing his jawline and flicking my ears. The demon was still very tense, but he wasn't shoving me away. And that was probably because he was a bit too scared of what I might do to him in retaliation.

"I cannot allow you to harm my lover or his family, but I can give you power for another purpose—one beneficial for both us and others."

The demon subtly shifted his position, so when I didn't move, he bent his knees as if to trap me in his lap. I chuckled as his arms cautiously curled around me. The demon seemed to be warming up to me or he was trying to catch me unaware and do something to me later. It could have been the latter.

"What exactly is that purpose?"

I smiled and petted his black hair, which made him flinch. But he relaxed a bit and leaned into my touch. Although the demon quickly snapped out of his blissful stupor and glared at me.

"Don't touch me!"

"All right," I replied, then began to move off his lap.

"W-wait, what are you—?"

I looked at his face curiously. "I was touching you by sitting on your lap. Did you want me to stay?"

Now the demon was conflicted. He had been alone for a month and a half, craving any kind of contact from another being, and now he was getting the contact he wanted from someone he disliked. I smiled warmly and held out my hands. The demon's crimson eyes flicked down for a moment, then he slowly reached up to grasp my fingers. He slowly exhaled and wordlessly moved me to his lap this time.

"Just...stay." he whispered, then placed his hand between my wolf ears and petted my head. "What exactly do you want with me? You need me for information on my master, don't you?"

"To put it bluntly, yes, I do need you for any information you have on the Evil Spider. But that isn't the only thing I need you for." I said quietly, nosing his cheek. His crimson irises met my violet ones. His black eyeballs and catlike slit pupils made for an interesting appearance.

"You want me to be a proponent in your plan, doing your bidding as I did for him."

"Similar, but not the same." I responded with a soft laugh.

"How so?"

"Didn't I tell you before?" I asked, then poked his chest. "You would be free to do whatever you wanted as long as it wasn't bad or had anything to do with revenge on the Knight family. That's more than what you currently have as the Evil Spider's minion."

The demon shifted in his position again, so I materialized a cushion under his rump. He blew out a soft breath against my ears, which did tickle me and I unconsciously slapped my left ear across his lips and cheek. He was a bit startled, but the demon was a bit more relaxed than before, so that was a victory in my book.

"What do I have now?"

"Well, you currently have very little—information and the clothes on your body. You have no power, no connection to your master that can currently be taken advantage of by him, and you have no use to him anymore." I stated plainly, then chuckled. "But you are useful to me right now and, eventually, I hope that you can become an aide to me—a friend as well."

"A...friend?" tested the demon, then his body began to tremble. The demon burst into laughter, but I wasn't joking around. I was completely serious.

"Surely, you are joking! I am a demon and you—? You...I don't even know what you are." he stated with a frown, then snorted derisively. "But you are not worthy to be my friend."

I snorted. "Worthy? I wasn't aware that there was a ranking system for friends based on 'worthiness'."

"Well, there is!"

Now I was burst into laughter, my tail thumping on his legs. The demon was frustrated, but he blushed from embarrassment when I pointed out the obvious.

"You've never had a friend before, have you?"

When I stared at him, he began to stammer, "I-I have...s-sort of...n-not e-exactly."

"Just be honest with yourself." I commented, snickering when the demon's tanned skin darkened with his blush.

"You have no idea what friendship is," I teased, which made him grunt and turn his head. I continued, "Well, I have no right to tease you. The only friends I had before my time at my home were dogs. Well, technically speaking, I still don't have friends that I can be close to and talk with about everything and nothing at all in a non-romantic way. I know some people—well, one casual friend and one acquaintance—that are not part of my family."

The demon listened to me ramble on, cautiously stroking my tail and petting my head. He paid close attention to my wolf ears, rubbing them and smoothing my fur. It felt really nice, to be perfectly honest. I leaned into his touch more and the demon inhaled sharply, his palms starting to become clammy.

"So, um, I guess what I'm trying to get at is—!"

"Do you want me to be your friend?" calmly asked the demon, his glittering crimson irises gleaming with some emotion I couldn't recognize.

"Th-that would be nice if it was possible," I replied shyly. "But you can take time to think about it. And about my other offer."

"Hmm," murmured the demon. "All right, I will consider your proposals."

"Yay!" I beamed, rubbing my left cheek on his own. Then I remembered that I'd stored some food in this dimension earlier today. "Oh, I made some food this morning. Do you want it? It's very tasty, I promise."

The demon eyed me cautiously, so I showed him the food by making it appear in my hands. It was a plate of spicy egg, veggie, and bacon breakfast tacos. Several of them had cheese, too. Of course, I'd made sure Zaire had gotten the ones without the cheese and that Matteo had gotten the ones without bacon.

"Eat one."

I raised an eyebrow. "Okay, but these four are egg, cheese, bacon, and veggies. The other three have no cheese and the last two have no bacon. Which one do you want me to taste-test for you?"

The demon was very surprised by my question, but he chose one of the first four I had described to him. I lifted the stuffed soft taco and took a bite since it was still a bit warm like it had been when I out it in this dimensional space I created. I hummed happily at the yummy taste with the hint of warmth from the medium salsa I had mixed into the eggs.

I almost continued eating before I remembered this wasn't my taco. It belonged to the demon now. He stared at the taco in my hands and then watched me blush when my stomach growled.

"Just finish eating that." he mumbled, then took his own taco.

I lifted my food and before I took another bite, I thanked him and then immediately chowed down. My tail thumped across his legs and I snuggled against his chest, carefully eating my food while he practically inhaled the next three tacos. I giggled to myself when I noticed his stomach gently prodding my right side.

"Name?"

I paused mid-lick of my fingers and looked up at the demon. His tanned skin flushed when he noticed my tongue was still outside of my mouth.

"What's your name?"

"Anwyll," I replied, "Anwyll DeLuca Arcane. And what about you?"

The demon shook his head. "I don't have a name."

"Really?" I breathed, then smiled. "Want me to give you one?"

He paused. "Would this mean I've accepted your offers?"

I shook my head. "Nope, a name is important. Regardless of your eventual decision, the name will be yours from the moment you agree to it. There are no stipulations upon that acceptance."

"You are very strange, Anwyll."

"In a good way, I hope!" I giggled, then poked his cheek. "So what do you say?"

"All right," he murmured. "But I don't want a stupid or unappealing name."

"Okay," I hummed, using my magic to scour the Internet for names and meanings. And then I found one very suitable name. "How about Aeglaeca?"

The demon hummed, testing it on his tongue. "How is it spelled?"

I wrote it out for him using a "magic pen" so that the letters remained glowing on the floor of the demon's cage. "This version apparently means, in very simplified terms, both a demon and a hero or warrior."

The demon barked a laugh. "Hero, huh?" he asked, then chuckled deeply. I stared at his face for a minute, then tucked my head down again for a quick nap this time.

I heard him whisper, "Aeglaeca, hmm? Not bad."