Page 20 of Sent To A Fantasy World and Now All the Men Want Me 7

“Demons adored your father too, remember?” he answered. “They felt safe in his presence. His taming ability as a dark mage was part of the reason, but I feel it was his kind heart that truly won their trust.”

Warmth prickled at my sternum. It was a bittersweet feeling: the joy of learning how great a person my dad was but also the ache of having missed out on getting to know him myself. Both he and my mom had died before I’d been old enough to remember them.

The orange blob of fuzzy cuteness rose up on his hind legs and placed his front paws on my chest, nuzzling his face against my chin.

Was he… comforting me?

“Ah, you’re such a sweet boy.” I lightly scratched the fuzzy demon’s back. He chittered again and shook his tush from side to side. “Where’s your family, huh? Did you wander off?”

“An oddity among his kind for one to be alone,” Varys pointed out. “They often travel in pairs. If I were to guess, he was cast from his nest.”

“Cast out?” I asked. “Why?”

“The color of his fur, probably.” The demi-wolf frowned. “They normally have either brown or green fur. It allows them to hide in the leaves. Also, he’s smaller than average. More than likely the runt of the litter.”

My heart sank, and I nuzzled the arbordu’s head, much like he’d snuggled me earlier. More chitters sounded, accompanied by another butt wiggle. The cuteness damn near killed me.

“Well, I think your fur is pretty,” I told the tree demon and gave him more head scratches. “You remind me of a pumpkin.”

Oreo bared his teeth and inched forward. He tried to nudge the other demon off me, but the arbordu ignored him, soaking up all the attention. I reached over with my left hand and scratched the Fenrir puppy’s ears. He licked my palm and curled up against my thigh, as if accepting the compromise. I could shower them both with affection. No biggie.

The problem came when another set of fluffy ears drooped.

Lake stared at the two demons with a forlorn expression. He wanted head pats too.

A soft chuckle left me. I’d be sure to make it up to him later. Maybe with a picnic lunch in the garden and a nap together after. My wolf loved his naps.

Booming laughter came from the path beside the oak tree. Three demon warriors walked past, their weapons clanking as they headed to join the others on the training field. Two males and one female, each holding battle axes bigger than me.

The arbordu emitted a tiny squeak before jumping on top of my head, then leapt back up into the tree, scurrying through the leaves. Poor little guy was scared.

“It was nice meeting you,” I called up to him, trying not to be too sad that he’d left. I couldn’t keep every cute creature that crossed my path—even if I wanted to.

“Sad toad face,” Lake softly said, poking the tip of my nose.

“You’ve spent too much time with Ro.”

“Not enough, I’d say.” Lake smiled at me before facing the field of wildflowers. A spring breeze found us beneath the oak tree and rustled the strands of his silver hair. “No amount of time with any of you will ever be enough.”

My heart wobbled. I felt the same. Hallowed Saints were said to rise in times of great conflict. Meaning, with the awakening of my powers, my destiny could come calling at any moment.

How many more days like this would we have together?

As a gentle breeze swept through the leaves, a peppery scent came with it. One that left little doubt as to who’d decided to join us beneath the oak tree. He could hide from my sight but not from my nose.

“Ah, pup,” Rowan’s raspy voice came from above us. He materialized on the branch, having been concealed within the shade, and sat against the trunk, dangling one leg down. “You really do love me. I’m touched. My black heart is all aflutter.”

Lake sneered up at him. “Come down here so I can whack you.”

I laughed.

Cheep.

A fuzzy orange lump inched along the branch toward Rowan but didn’t get too close, as though unsure of this new person in his tree. Happy tingles poked at my chest. I had thought the arbordu left, but he’d simply been hiding.

“Aren’t you a curious little fella?” Rowan scrutinized the demon. “Just know, if you bite me, I’ll bite ya back.”

“Be nice to Pumpkin,” I called up to my feisty redhead.