Sword and Shield

I looked up at the sky and saw the vast blue overshadowed by clouds. The rain pelting the window with rhythm. The girls giggling away on their bed soothed my rainy day. The bright lights reflecting off the window and the sweet smell of strawberries in the room. 

Mandy was gently applying makeup on Celyce and holding a mirror with one vine and lipstick on another. 

I turned away from the window and sat down next to Celyce. 

"Do mine too!" 

Mandy moved toward me with the mirror and Celyce hugged my arm and clung to me. 

Feeling Mandy's emotions as she applied makeup on my face was becoming easier and easier. 

For a demon, she was surprisingly human. She enjoyed everything we did together and I could feel her emotions through her thoughts. Every day was a new day for her and a new set of emotions. She had been studying with Cera recently and taking in all of that information and quietly storing it in her precious little mind. She was growing up.