Henry had to admit it.
He had been completely fooled.
Looking back, he was the one to blame. All this time, he had convinced himself that Bela's behavior was the result of the witch's love spell. Now it seemed that assumption had been completely wrong.
Henry let out a helpless sigh.
"Well, Bela... well done. You really got me."
Bela's smile only grew wider.
"Haven't you heard? Everything's fair in love and war."
Henry gave her a flat look.
"Yeah? I'd also like to know when this 'love and war' nonsense even started."
"You're a big boy," Bela replied with a teasing smile. "Figure it out yourself."
She leaned forward until her face was only inches from his, held his gaze for a moment, then turned and walked out of the room as if nothing had happened.
Henry watched the door close behind her.
"What the heck is wrong with this woman?" Henry muttered.
He let out a long sigh.
He genuinely couldn't figure out when any of this had started. Was this really the same Bela Talbot whose favorite pastime was conning people out of priceless artifacts and walking away before they realized it?
"Well..." Henry muttered to himself, "let's just call it the eighth wonder of the world."
Trying to understand Bela's heart felt like searching for a single drop of water in the middle of the ocean.
It was an impossible task.
He climbed out of bed and stretched, his muscles protesting after the fight. Pulling back the bandages, he looked down at the wound over his chest. It had almost completely closed.
"Looks like it's nearly healed."
He could also feel his angelic grace slowly returning.
So the angel blade really can disrupt the angelic power inside me. It couldn't kill me outright, but it shut my grace down for a while.
Henry rubbed his chin.
Maybe if I become stronger, I can reduce that effect... or even ignore it completely.
For now, it was only a theory.
Before he could think any further, Bela's voice came from the doorway.
"And, big boy, Madison says lunch is ready..."
She stopped halfway through the sentence.
Henry had taken his shirt off while checking the wound.
Bela's eyes lingered on his bare chest for a second before a faint smirk crossed her face.
"Not a bad view."
Henry rolled his eyes.
"Can you stop that for five minutes?"
He reached into his coat, pulled out the contract, and held it over his palm. A moment later, it burst into flames and turned to ash.
"It's over," Henry said. "You're free from our deal."
Bela looked at the drifting ashes before meeting his eyes again.
"So I'm out of the contract?"
"Yes."
"Good."
She simply nodded, as though they had just finished discussing the weather.
"Now come downstairs. Lunch is getting cold."
Without another word, she turned and walked away.
Henry stood there, staring at the open doorway.
That... wasn't the reaction he had expected.
She had agreed to stay with him because of the contract. Now that it was gone, she should have taken the first opportunity to leave.
Instead, she had barely reacted at all.
"What is going on inside that woman's head?" Henry muttered as he followed her downstairs.
***
As they ate lunch together, Henry couldn't help but notice something strange.
Madison and Bela were surprisingly quiet, and more importantly, they weren't arguing. The two of them had been like oil and fire before he left, yet after only a month they were sitting at the same table without trying to kill each other with words.
Can people really change that much in a month?
Madison was the first to break the silence.
"So, Henry, explain something. What the hell happened while you were gone?"
Henry put down his fork.
"Well... it's a long story, but just know one thing. The Devil, Lucifer, is real."
Bela looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
"The big bad Devil from the Bible?"
Henry nodded.
"Yeah. And Lilith, the demon who tried to kill us back at the mansion, is trying to break the Seals on Lucifer's Cage and free him."
Madison pressed a hand against her forehead.
"Sometimes I miss being completely ignorant of the supernatural. I had no idea this many dangers were lurking around us."
"So what happens if this big devil gets out?" Bela asked.
Henry shrugged.
"What else? The apocalypse. You can pretty much say goodbye to life on Earth. This is Lucifer we're talking about—the one who created demons and hates humanity. If he gets out, humanity is finished."
Madison and Bela exchanged a glance before the room fell quiet again.
Henry decided to change the subject.
"But enough about that. Is it just me, or did something happen while I was gone? You two used to fight like rivals. How did you suddenly become friends?"
Bela smiled as she took another bite of her food.
"Well, you were gone for a month, golden boy. Anything can happen in a month."
Henry sighed.
"Can you stop calling me that? It feels weird."
Bela rested her chin on her hand, pretending to think for a moment.
"Well then... what should I call you instead?" she asked with an innocent smile. "Dear? Darling?"
Henry immediately choked on his food.
Madison quickly reached over and patted him on the back until he stopped coughing. She then turned toward Bela with an exasperated look.
"Can you stop teasing him while we're eating?"
Bela merely smiled and continued eating as though she hadn't done anything at all, while Henry silently reached for his glass of water, wondering what had happened to the woman during the month he had been away.
*****
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