As he pressed their bodies close, she did as she was instructed and closed her eyes. The world around them darkened as they traveled from one realm to the next, landing in the center of her room. Before she even opened her eyes she could tell that she was home, able to smell the scent of freesia from the fresh bouquet the maids placed in her room every morning. While she wished she could stay in the nether realm, she was happy to return to the comfort of her own home. Syn stepped away from her, but she noted the way he eyed her. Her robe was damp from the spring water, melding to her form. Mina blushed at his words, tempted to show him then and there when he leaned in to capture her lips. Her hands clung to his arms, gently clenching the material that cover them as he poured passion into their kiss. It was pleasant, but short lived—enough to incite her lust but enough for her to pull away when the time came. “One day.” She promised, staring up into his crimson eyes.<br/><br/>At least he was staying the night. She wasn’t quite ready to part with him.<br/><br/>While he took the liberty of informing the maids of her return, she showered and changed, oblivious to the arrival of her parents. She pulled on a casual<a class="link link--external" data-proxy-href="/proxy.php?link=https%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2F1UiFfM8.jpg&amp;hash=70326b21fa323f387126a6bc5f978e0e" href="https://i.imgur.com/1UiFfM8.jpg" rel="nofollow ugc noopener" target="_blank">nightie</a>and dried her hair before she returned to her room. Mina expected to find Syn waiting for her, but he was nowhere to be found. When she suspected that the maids might have been giving him a hard time, she went to find him. This time of night, she knew they would be in the kitchen, cleaning up and preparing meals for the next day. As she moved down the hall, she could smell food and hear them bustling about, faster than the leisurely pace they kept in her presence. It meant that her parents were home.<br/><br/>She walked in on a tense scene: her father staring daggers at her guardian and Syn bristling with hostility.<br/><br/>“Wilhelmina, I’ve met your ill-tempered guardian.” Her father said, straightening his tie and brushing off his sleeves as though he’d been dusted with first by the Demon Lord’s mere touch. “It makes perfect sense that he would not be obedient, given that you are also not obedient.”<br/><br/>“No argument there,” Mina muttered, her bold personality shrinking a bit in his presence. “Syn, this is my father, Cicero Gregory. He must be home because he heard I wasn’t feeling well.” She said sarcastically, knowing that his curiosity had likely gotten the better of him after all this time. Hearing that his lazy, disappointment of a daughter had summoned a Demon Lord was apparently enough to call him away from his duties. “Aren’t you supposed to be beheading humans and putting their bodies on spikes, or something like that?”<br/><br/>“We demand respect of the lesser race. If violence is needed to obtain that, then that is what we will do.” He looked to Syn. “That is a sentiment you seem to understand, isn’t it? I hear you’ve been manhandling your lessors into submission, Lord Night. Perhaps we have more in common than you might believe. At Warwick, we respect hierarchy. We recognize the power of the demons who serve us, acknowledging that we are not equals. Partnership, not enslavement.” He explained, lifting a glass of wine to his lips. “If Mina knew what was best for her, she would align herself with us.”<br/><br/>Mina folded her arms across her chest and lowered her eyes. There was so much he wasn’t saying, things that he was conveniently leaving out. The students of Warwick were nasty and their demons were nastier. At Kennewick, they summoned at random based on skill of the conjurer. At Warwick, demons were matched with their charge. They usually mirrored their twisted and brutal counterparts.<br/><br/>"You never cease to disappoint me, Wilhelmina." He said, swirling his wine. He must have expected her to argue with him. That was the Warwick way, after all.