Maliah pulled into the parking lot of her favorite mom and pop restaurant. She barely gave Abioye a glance as she stepped out of the car. Abioye lingered behind, slowly closing the car door.

“Really?” Abioye deadpanned looking over the top of the car to Maliah.

She stopped and scowled, “I’m. Hungry. Just because you don’t have to eat doesn’t mean I don’t. And besides, I don’t remember inviting you for a meal in the first place, so it’s moot point.”

Abioye gave a delicate sniff, “So you expect me to just tag along and watch you sit and consume food, too huh?”

“Again I ask, what do you expect me to do, put my life on hold every Saturday?” she hissed.

They were interrupted when someone came into the parking lot and looked at her funny. Maliah smiled and feigned forgetting something to get back in the car with a glare at Abioye. Abioye rolled his eyes and appeared beside her. She didn’t jump this time. Picking up her phone, she pretended it was a speakerphone.

“Am I?” Maliah asked into the phone.

Abioye rolled his eyes, “And do you expect me to run around you all day every Saturday for the rest of your life?”

“No disrespect, but what life?” Maliah asked incredulously, “You are practically immortal. The total days to 110 years are not going to impact your life any.”

“29,930….”

Maliah gaped at him, “Excuse me?”

“From the day you signed you have 29,930 days left. Less since it’s been a moment since then. But 29,930 days give or take….”

Maliah’s right eye twitched, “I see you are getting the time accurate.”

“It’s what I do best.”

“Clearly. Fine. 29,930 days….” she stressed, “...is not going to impact your life any.”

Abioye growled, “You don’t know that!”

Maliah was patient, “Well, will it?”

Aboiye was silent.

Maliah exploded then, “My point exactly. It’s not my fault that your father fixed a contract for us!”

“Neither is it mine! I never wanted this!”

“And you think I did?”

Abiouye glared at her, “Well, you were the one that chose to accept the contract. No one made you. You could have decided to make it null and void.”

“By staying dead!!” Maliah really did yell that time.

Abioye shrugged, “Well….”

Maliah growled, “Look, can we do anything about this?”

Abioye looked at her and opened his mouth.

“It’s a yes or no question. Can we do anything about this? Change the contract?”

“No.”

“Even if I decided to drop dead right now and reverse the contract, could I?”

“No.”

“Then it seems to me we need to get an understanding and work within some boundaries.”

“I was trying to set them.”

“I ain’t gonna repeat myself no more, Abioye. It’s unfair of you to ask me to give up 29,930 days of my life. I’m a human. I have things to do.”

Abioye growled and crossed his arms, “So basically, this entire contract is set up for your benefit and not mine. What do I even get out of this?”

“That’s not my fault. That is your fathers. I didn’t write the stupid thing. Now, I’m hungry. I’m going to eat. You are welcome to join me and watch me consume food unless you can make yourself visible.” Maliah opened the car door and climbed out.

“You don’t want that.”

“I don’t care either way”, Maliah hissed before slamming the car door and marching across the parking lot.

Maliah breathed as she tried to calm down. She wasn’t being unreasonable, was she? Perhaps the contract wasn't fair to him, but how was that her fault? She had a life to live. How was she supposed to live it?

Maliah had ordered the food and was waiting for it when she felt a bit of a heaviness began to settle in her stomach. Was she out of range? By the time her food had arrived, she swore she felt a light jolt. She took a bite of food. She had no time to consider what she would do if Abioye didn’t come in because suddenly he was in a chair next to her. Maliah almost choked on her food.

“Please don’t tell me you don’t know how to chew your food properly.”, sniffed Abioye, “And surely you felt that small jolt. Do you want it to get worse?”

The heaviness had eased rather quickly as Maliah swallowed. She wasn’t going to dignify that with a response. She kept eating.

Abioye gave a sniff, “It stinks in here.”

“You don’t have to be here”, Maliah couldn’t help but growl under her breath before shoving another bite in her mouth.

Abioye didn’t answer but leaned forward to survey her food, “What kind of slop is this?”

Maliah ignored him and continued eating.

Abioye’s right eye twitched. He couldn’t help why he felt curious. Perhaps because he was shocked that a mortal dared to talk to him the way Maliah did. She was really ready to be so foolish to continue living even if it costed her. But it irritated Abioye that she as willing to take him down with her. No one ever told a Death Prince to do. No one except the Death King. And now this slip of a mortal was willing to test him. It drove him crazy yet it intrigued him.

And that is what he hated the most.

This budding curiosity that was so growing within him. He didn’t have it before. Which was why he reached over when Maliah didn’t answer and dragged her plate over. To anyone else it would have looked the plate was there one moment, disappeared the next and reappeared shortly after.

Maliah let out a small exclamation that seemed a little loud to her ears and looked around surreptitiously. Thankfully everyone was absorbed at their table. Abioye snatched her fork and poked at it. Then he put the fork down with a frown.

“Really? With all that you may as well try it” Maliah stated softly leaning her chin in her hands to cover her voice.

“No.” He was drawing the line at tasting human food.

A waiter almost scared Maliah as she asked, “Is everything alright?”

“Yes, everything is fine. Thank you.”

The waiter smiled and would have walked off but paused, “Miss, did you drop your fork?” she asked, searching the floor.

Maliah snatched the fork from Abioye’s hand, “No, I have it here. Thank you.”

The waiter blinked and Maliah could see she wanted to ask but she gave a smile instead and nodded before walking off. Maliah breathed and gave Abioye a fierce glare who looked amused, “Look if you are going to be here, I need you to be visible. I am not going to talk to thin air.” she hissed covering it up with eating.

Abioye looked at her, “You have no idea what you’re asking. Being visible in a room full of humans is not good.”

Maliah shot him a glare once again and Abioye sat back with a sigh, “Remember you asked for it. So annoying.”

Maliah watched as he pulled off the golden ring on his finger. A breeze gave Maliah's skin goosebumps. After a moment she noticed that suddenly heads had turned as one almost as if they were in some kind of horror movie. In fact she realized, after looking around, that all the heads that turned were female and they were gazing right at Abioye.

The devil?

Maliah craned her neck. Even those across the room were gazing at him. She swallowed. What was going on? Abioye sat with an impassive look.

“Hey, there handsome….”

Seemingly out of nowhere a female customer stood from her seat and began walking towards him, eyes locked on his figure. Maliah was distrubed that she looked as though she was in a europhic trance of some state.

The woman didn't even seem to realize that Maliah was there as she reached out to touch Abioye, leaning on the table. Maliah protected her food and she watched with morbid fascination. The woman reached out to touch him when suddenly she was knocked to the side. Maliah jumped when she realized that her waitress was gazing at Abioye. She leaned across the table, her dark eyes shining in the most unnatural way. Maliah felt that she might have begun to climb the table if given enough time.

The waitress purred, "What's your name?"

Maliah couldn’t help but to try to inject, “Pardon me, ma’am!”

However the woman didn’t hear her as she puckered up and leaned over as if she was going to kiss him. In a blink, Abioye was not in his seat and Maliah jumped when she realized he was behind her chair. "Do you have enough or should I let this continue?"

"Put it back on. I’m sorry. Please, this is....", Maliah didn't know what this was honestly. She noticed that other women began to stand up from their table.

Wait, was that a cook from the kitchen peaking out at Abioye?

“Hurry up!! She’s going to stab her!!” Maliah urged when she caught sight of the woman who had just picked up a knife from a nearby empty table and was ready to attack the waitress.. She was in the process of raising it when Abioye put his ring and placed it back on his finger.

Just as suddenly as it began, Maliah realized the spell was broken. All the females turned back to their respective tables. Those standing returning to their seats. The kitchen door swung once and the waitress who was leaning over for a kiss, blinked and pulled back. She scratched her head before walking off not looking at Maliah once. And the woman who had picked a knife put it down before returning to her table and talking with a young man as if nothing ever happened.

Abioye sat back down with a dazed Maliah.

"What....the devil just happened?" she asked.

Abioye looked at her, “For some reason, we Death Children get attracted to. Us, Death Princes make all the females come to us in the area and the Death Princesses make the males come to them in the area. 2nd sister once allowed it to happen a long, long time ago. It was the first time I saw exactly what could happen. All the men were attracted to her and then they started fighting each other until only one was standing. Then that one kissed her.”

“And then what happened?” Maliah whispered.

“He died.”

She was stunned, “Seriously?”

Abioye shrugged, "Where did you think the Kiss of Death came from?"