by Ella M. Lee
He’d only ever bitten me in those two spots. He hadn’t wanted my whole body scarred; that made a human less valuable.
I sat up, covering my mouth to stifle a sob. It took a few uncomprehending seconds to remember where I was. My adrenaline drained, leaving me with a heaving chest, dry mouth, and trembling fingers. My eyes shot to the bedroom door, but it was closed. Tiny slivers of light leaked into the room from the edges of the curtains.
I sat back against the headboard, clutching the blanket around me, trying three times to swallow before I worked up enough spit. I dragged a hand through my hair. It didn’t feel like I’d slept for long enough, but there was no way I would sleep now. Not after the nightmare of Franklin holding me down, and not with a demon hanging out on the other side of the door.
I made my way to the bathroom and washed my face. It was covered in tear tracks, as though I’d cried for hours. I pulled my hair into a bun and waited while I calmed down, breathing deeply in the cool bathroom.
Ren isn’t scary, I told myself, while the more sensible side of me beat her head against a wall in annoyance. But he hadn’t touched me while I slept in the car, and he hadn’t bothered me in this bedroom.
His demi-form flashed through my mind. Demonic, but not in the hellfire and brimstone sort of way.
I steeled myself and put my fingers on the bedroom door handle. It took another few moments before I could push down. I crept out of the room and into the dim light filtering into the hallway, winding around the corner and back into the great room. Ren sat at the dining room table, his back to the large windows, framed against the blue sky beyond and bathed in sunlight. I remembered his wings and shivered. What would he look like in that sky, spiraling among the clouds?
Despite wearing headphones, some sense had alerted Ren to my presence, because he looked up the second I was within sight. He dragged the headphones out of his hair and down around his neck. They were bright red—an interesting contrast to his green eyes.
“Good morning?” he ventured.
“Is it?” I asked. “Is it morning?”
His wariness disappeared, his expression opening into a grin. “Barely.” He tapped the screen of his phone. “No. Actually, it’s noon now.”
I took a few steps closer, lingering by the island, which I irrationally considered safe after our easy conversation there last night.
“Come closer,” he said, and my teeth clenched at the way my feet automatically obeyed his words.
So obedient already, the tiny voice told me, and I couldn’t tell if it was proud or taunting.
I stepped into the light, flinching. I wasn’t used to bright sunlight; I hadn’t been out in it in ages. I’d caught dawn here and there, and very occasionally the shimmering golden sunset, but I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been kept in a room that had access to the day. My gaze cut from Ren’s and turned to the windows again, scanning the park below. I wasn’t safe here, but goddamn did sunlight make things feel good.
Ren still surveyed me, his eyes wandering over my body, but in a concerned way, not a creepy, possessive way. “Did you sleep?”
“Yes.” I left out the nightmares.
“Do you know how to cook?”
I glanced back at the fridge. “Um, not really. A little. Some things.”
“Oh.” A grimace crossed his handsome face. “I’m not much of a cook. I eat raw food. You’re welcome to figure something out for yourself.” He waved a hand in the direction of the kitchen and pulled his headphones back on.
I turned toward the fridge. Was he an introverted demon? He didn’t seem like he wanted to talk right now. I rifled through the fridge, and my mouth watered at the sheer amount of palatable, edible human food. Something else I hadn’t really seen in ages. Vampires seemed to forget what humans ate pretty quickly. But Ren had fresh eggs, red strawberries, silken tofu, ripe mangoes, and a treasure trove of other things. My chest tightened. I glanced back at him again, but he was leafing through a book. The ocean-blue book from last night, in fact.
I took out eggs, spinach, mushrooms, and brie. Each thing in my hand felt like gold, and I was angry and embarrassed at feeling so emotional over food. It took a while to gather the things I needed—a frying pan, a bowl, a knife, some utensils—but for someone who didn’t cook much, Ren had all of it. He even had salt and pepper.
I studied the items before me. Did he eat raw eggs? Raw mushrooms? But I shouldn’t have been surprised that his palate was different than mine. I didn’t drink blood, but vampires were addicted to it, and Ren didn’t seem to mind it all that much, either.
I wiped my eyes discreetly and fried the eggs and vegetables and cheese. Ren studied the food when I brought it to the table alongside a glass of milk. His headphones were off, resting on the table next to him.
“Do you want some?” I offered. “I can make more…”
He shook his head, grimacing in distaste.
“What are you doing?” I took a bite of the food, focusing on his face so that I wouldn’t cry over something stupid like breakfast.
“Studying,” he said.
“Are you like a college student? Or whatever demon college would be?”
He laughed slightly. “A college student,” he repeated. “No. There’s no such thing in my world. For my kind, the study of magic is never over. Our magic does not come easily or tamely to us. This is just…a requirement of living, for me. Like if you had to study in order to keep breathing or keep pumping blood through your body.”
“Maybe you should attend human college. You seem really interested in humans. You could probably learn a lot.”
He chuckled. “Maybe. I am interested in human history and culture, even though it isn’t something usually important to my kind.”
“Would you like some book recommendations?” I liked history, too, especially ancient civilizations. Given Ren’s complete lack of knowledge, he’d probably have to start there.
His eyes held genuine interest and appreciation. “Yes. We could go to a bookstore.” Ren’s gaze wandered to his bookshelves, and then out the windows.
I looked away, focused on my food, trying not to get my hopes up about my new owner. Maybe Ren just wanted a human companion? Someone to teach him? I wasn’t the best choice for that, but it was certainly better than being food for a monster. When I finally finished eating, I gathered up the nerve to ask him the biggest thing weighing on my mind.
“What are you—”
He held up a hand, his eyes going to his phone. It vibrated softly on the table. He stared at it for a few moments as though it were venomous before lifting it to his ear.
“El?” he asked, and his tone was distressed and annoyed.
Faint noises came from the other end of the line. They sounded a lot like screeching.
Ren cringed. He uttered a harsh, guttural sound that had to be something in his own language then said, more softly, “Why? Go home. I don’t want you here.”
More frantic sounds from Ren’s caller.
Ren sighed. “No. Absolutely not.”
More sounds.
Ren stood, spinning to the windows. “No, don’t. I don’t have time. I’m on a schedule, El.”
I couldn’t hear the caller at all anymore, but whatever they said next must’ve been long.
“El…” Ren sighed in what sounded like defeat. “I hate you.”
He hung up and spun back to me. His eyes blazed with that living, swirling shadow, and I recoiled a bit, my heart beating against my ribcage like a trapped bird. He must’ve seen my fear because a second later, his annoyance was gone, his eyes clear green again.
“You were asking a question,” he said, prompting. “What are you…?”
But I just got up and took my empty plate and glass to the sink, eager to put a bit of distance between us. By the time I turned back around, he’d sat down again. I hovered on the opposite side of the kitchen island.
“Come back,” he said.
“Why?”
; “Because we need to talk,” he said. “That was my sister. She’ll be here soon. Despite my specific instructions that she stay in the Shorn Realm, she followed me here because she wants to talk.” His mimicking tone would’ve been amusing if he wasn’t so clearly frustrated. “I think you and I are having similar thoughts, and I want to discuss them before she arrives.”
I looked him up and down.
He gave me an inviting smile, and I wondered how he could slide so smoothly between menacing and captivating.
I slowly returned and sat across from him.
“Tell me your question,” he said.
“What are you going to do with me?” I’d intended to look him in the eye when asking, but I cut my gaze away at the last second, terrified that I’d see those shifting shadows again.
He nodded. “I thought that was going to be it.” He laid his hands on the table. “Okay, you’re going to have to live with the short version of the story because we don’t have time right now. My kind don’t usually spend too long in the human realm. It’s not good for our magic. That’s why you don’t hear of a lot of demons here. We only come with a purpose.
“I’m here looking for something, and I need your help.”
Chapter 14
“You what?” I asked.
A laugh ripped from me, harsh and hysterical. Ren’s words sounded ridiculous.
I need your help.
A demon, a literal demon who could intimidate vampires and fly through the skies and alchemize things into other things needed my help. The help of a broken, nineteen-year-old girl who’d spent a year being abused, and had never met a demon before, and desperately wanted to be as far away from this bullshit as possible.
“I need your help,” he repeated, and the words sounded somehow more absurd with each iteration. “It’s complicated. I need to steal an item from vampires, which is something I’m not supposed to do. There are some rules, some complex politics and magic from a long time ago. But a human could steal for me, and that would fit perfectly within a loophole.”
I swallowed. Obviously, I was his choice of human to do that stealing. “Why would I possibly want to do this? I just…” I’d been about to say escaped, but that might not be true. “I just got away from all that. You’re asking me to…what? Literally get close to a vampire and steal something of theirs?” I shook my head. “That sounds like a suicide mission.”
Ren shook his head, and his gaze darkened. “It isn’t a suicide mission with me helping you. And I’ll make it a fair trade. If you do this for me, I’ll grant your freedom. On top of that, I’ll make sure you never suffer again. I’ll set you up with money, and safety, and the promise that you’ll never see another vampire. Or another demon, for that matter.”
Freedom. The word clanged through my mind, reverberating like a bell.
“You do this for me, and it could all be over,” Ren said.
I didn’t want him to see my desperate eagerness. I took a deep breath. “How do I know I can trust you? You could just give me back to one of them and abandon me if things go badly. Or…or…you could betray me. I do this, and I’m still stuck with you forever.”
“Have I bound you?” he asked, spreading his hands, gesturing around him. “I could, but I haven’t. I could make you a true slave, in ways a vampire never could. One spell, and I could have your unyielding obedience.” Those shadows appeared, first in his eyes and then in echoes and whorls around him, but they faded quickly. “I haven’t taken away your will because I want you to trust me. I could never ask for your help after betraying you first. My world is built on fairness and trades. I would like to be true to that with you.”
I waited, chilled.
“As for your concerns…we can discuss them later. I have a plan, and I have ways to ensure your safety and ensure that you can consider me trustworthy throughout.”
“Why me?” I asked. “Of all people…”
His look bordered on apologetic. “The vampire I’m targeting, he has a type. One you fit very well. I’m in a hurry, so I scanned all the participant profiles at the auctions in the area, and you were the best match.”
I hated the sound of that. I didn’t want to be some vampire’s type, but I understood, so I nodded.
“And if I say no?” I asked.
He sighed. “I told you—”
Frantic knocking on the apartment door interrupted him.
I jumped, looking behind me.
“That would be my sister.” He stood. “Come on. I think it might be best if you hide in your bedroom at first. I’d like a chance to talk to her. She’s a little hard to handle.”
“Younger sister?” I asked, following him to the hall.
“Older.”
An older, scarier demon sister. Yeah, the bedroom sounded nice.
I opened the door and slipped inside. Just as I was about to shut it, Ren spoke. “Ari?”
“Yeah?” I said, peeking out.
His expression was troubled. “Consider what I said. Please.”
I nodded and shut the door firmly, leaning against it, shaking because I knew what he’d been about to say. I’d seen it in his eyes.
I told you— he’d started.
I told you, I could bind you.
That was exactly what he would do if I refused.
Faintly, I heard the apartment door open and close. As soon as it did, a guttural hissing filled the hall, vaguely feminine. I took a few hasty steps away from the door. The voice that followed—calmer, smoother, familiar—was Ren’s, even though I didn’t recognize the words.
Their voices faded in the direction of the great room as I sank onto the bed.
Of course this was too good to be true. Of course the handsome demon wasn’t a nice guy. He ate raw eggs; how could anyone like that be normal?
To my surprise, tears choked me. They’d been creeping up on me all morning for the first time in months. That was what hope did. It broke people down.
That little voice inside me, the reasonable one, the one that always protected me in practical ways, rose up viciously. Look what a little kindness did to you. He feeds you and says a few nice things and you’re calling him generous and beautiful.
Beauty that hid shadows, and secrets, and inhumanity.
I’d seen that inhumanity last night. He’d shown it to me himself when I asked. What was I supposed to take from that? Was he hinting at cruelty and viciousness if I defied him? Those brutal horns and sharp edges, that roiling power behind his eyes, those devastating wings...
Was he hinting at strength? Or…he said he wanted me to trust him, to accept him and his plans willingly. Was he trying to prove to me that he was a trustworthy partner?
I had no idea what to think.
Focus on yourself, stupid girl, the reasonable voice reminded me. Stop losing your sense in those green eyes. You’ve only gotten through a year. Who knows how much more is to come?
But… Freedom. He’d offered freedom. And he’d offered a way to guarantee it. I’d have to wrestle the details from him, but if he was being honest…
Door one: Go along with him, live, escape.
Door two: Be his unwilling tool, be used, earn nothing for the trouble.
I turned the options over in my mind, unsure. One sounded better than the other, certainly. But I wasn’t sure there was a difference between them at all, once we got past the surface of the issue.
Eventually, a soft knock startled me out of my contemplation.
I opened the door a crack to Ren’s wary expression. He tilted his head toward the great room. A silent request. Or an order.
I followed him.
Standing in the sunlight was Ren’s older sister. They looked like twins. She had his exact eyes, set in a slightly softer, rounder face. Their hair was the same dark, glossy mass, although hers flowed down over her shoulders in waves. Her pale skin, her bowed lips…all his, but with a gentle, feminine touch. And whatever power he had was in her too, lurking underneath the surface, glimmering and
shifting across her stern face.
I wondered if she had his silky wings.
She said something throaty in their harsh language.
“English,” Ren said to her. His eyes went to me. “Ari, this is my sister, El.”
I stared at her, not wanting to make the first move.
She pursed her lips, assessing. “This is your choice, Ren? This paltry human?”
He didn’t say anything.
I swallowed, looking away from her harsh gaze, my cheeks heating. I didn’t know Ren’s plans, and I didn’t know how his sister was involved, but she clearly didn’t like me.
She took a step closer to me, and I stumbled back.
“Paltry,” she repeated with a huff. She looked between me and him, her eyes hard. “My brother’s would-be savior.” She shook her head at Ren. “What will you do, Prince of Temperance, when she fails? Will you finally come home for good and take your rightful place?”
Chapter 15
“Prince?” I asked, shocked into speaking. I looked at Ren. “You’re a prince? With, um, a palace and a throne?”
He shot his sister a dark, annoyed look. When his gaze found mine, lingering shadows haunted his eyes. “Ah, it’s complicated.”
I didn’t see how it could be, but I kept silent, staring at him.
He turned his angry eyes back on his sister. “The point of this endeavor is to avoid the issue altogether.”
“Impossible,” she said. “He will die soon enough, regardless, and you’ll need to have figured things out. You don’t get to run here whenever you want and hide. Stop acting like a child.”
Ren moved so fast I only saw the echo of it, only glimpsed those shadows as they flitted past me in a whoosh of air. Then his sister was on the floor, on her back, pinned by Ren. He’d shifted to demi-form, his clawed hand at her throat, his fangs in her face, his glorious wings arched above him, quivering.
He uttered a single, commanding word in his language, and I could only imagine it was the Baphometic Demon version of “Silence!”