“You want to know what I know?”
“Yes.” I speak flatly through my clenched teeth.
“You trust me enough to tell you the truth?”
“Yes.”
“I hadn’t realized we were so close, Miss Vega,” the demon says casually as the shine of his glowing sapphire eyes catches mine.
“Tell me who killed Kyra!” I fling my hand through the veil with tension splaying my fingers wide as I aim for what I hope is his throat.
But nothing except for cold ice stabbing into my flesh meets me on the other side. It prickles and stings my bones with vengeance. My scream washes through the colors, waving the blue and white and silver together like a building tsunami.
A calm touch wraps around my hand. His warmth burns through the cold, like numbing pain settling in.
“Our relationship requires blind trust, Miss Vega. A vow of eternal trust.” His whisper washes over the back of my hand as a kiss seals itself there delicately. “Do you understand?”
A gasp cuts from my throat as tears openly trickle down my eyes.
“I trust you,” I grind out. “Tell me,” I whisper on a shaking breath.
I’ll suffer through this pain. Even if this magic slices through flesh and bone, I’d be willing to sacrifice so much more to find Kyra’s justice after all that I ignored when she was alive and needed me the most.
An unclear cutting smile lines through the water of magic that lies between the demon and I.
“A vow so deep should be commiserated,” he whispers like a snake slithering through the shadows.
Hard breaths and desperate beats of my heart are all I can hear for a moment as I stare at him with pleading eyes.
“Please,” I whisper once more.
A cackle of laughter and the warmth of a fire burns up my arm as he pulls himself against me. Instead, I fall headfirst into the veil. A swoosh of magic fills my ears. Thousands of slicing sensations stab into my neck and face, yet still he pulls me closer. My feet stagger, but I fight him off enough to stay partially grounded.
The world around me is a colorless void of white, silver, and a hint of ice blue. And the man standing at the center of it is the same. His flame blue eyes stare curiously into mine. Messy hair the color of bright blue gemstones hangs over his brow as he looks down on me with a hooded gaze. Tall white horns rise up from his temples in a terrifyingly beautiful arch.
“You’re powerful, for a human,” the demon whispers strangely. “Bewitching too,” he adds. He speaks like he’s afraid he might break me if he leans any closer.
Yet he does. He leans down, his hair skims over my cheek as his breath tingles over my ear. “Most delightful of all,” he pauses as he gazes at me from the corner of his mischievous eyes, “your soul is now a part of mine!”
And then he slams his lips into mine.
He tastes like Hell and candy. Like smoke and sugar. Like a deadly, deadly mistake.
I pull back from him, my hands clutching onto his as I shove him away. My palm snaps across his cheek just as my knee comes up fast. My foot connects with his groin, but he grabs me there. He holds me close and as I stumble back, he follows.
My ass hits the floor with a thump of discomfort slamming all through my body as his heavy weight collides into me. His smooth chest glows in the darkness. Symbols like nothing I’ve ever seen before slash over up his arms and down the center of his chest like a glowing neon sign. Black, tattered pants cling to his waist where even more swirling letters dash down the hard lines of his hips.
Color kisses his pale skin now. But oddly, his eyes and hair still retain that shimmering gemstone color. He holds himself up with his arms braced on either side of me as he stares into my eyes like I’m the most enchanting thing he has ever gazed upon.
“Tell me!” I repeat once again on a ragged breath.
I don’t give a single fuck about this demon. I don’t care that I’ve released him without a single understanding as to how or why.
He made a vow, and now he’s going to tell me everything.
Right now.
“Kyra didn’t love Rival. Rival felt guilt toward Kyra, and she chose to put up with him for some reason.” He speaks factually as his fingers brush my hair back from my face.
