He hadn’t thought through his deal, he knew he hadn’t. It’d been foolish, impulsive and, he knew with sudden clarity, manipulated by Damaris playing on his loneliness. And yet, he couldn’t bear to regret it.
And how often do you need to feed?Archie thought the words carefully, testing to see how he could communicate with just thoughts. He’d done it early, but he wasn’t sure if he could think things and Damaris would pluck them out of his mind or if he had to actually think something at Damaris.
As often as you wish. Damaris’s answer was tinged an invitation, a challenge, an assumption.
A vision entered Archie’s mind of being bedded every day.Every day?!
You think too little.I have fed twice on you today already and it is not even noon.
Archie made a noise somewhere between a gasp and a laugh. He swayed, the heat rising to his face so quickly he had to sit and press his cheeks against the cool backs of his hands.You’re a tease, demon.
The rapid thump of his heart hammering against his chest wasn’t just embarrassment, but Archie wasn’t quite ready to examine it yet. He composed himself with deep breaths, brushing his hair back into place, all too aware of Damaris’s presence pressing on the back of his mind, waiting for him to lose control. The mind-speaking was convenient, but Archie had to get a grip or he would be exposed immediately any time Damaris said something that elicited a reaction from him.
Where did you come from? Why me?asked Archie, trying to change the subject to something more safe.
You invited me in.
“What!” Archie was shocked into interjecting aloud. He lowered his voice quickly, hoping no one was on the floor below. ‘I did not!’
The image of Archie’s silken sachet under his pillow floated into his mind. Archie protested,That’s just a charm to banish bad dreams.
The opposite, it is a charm to attract good dreams. And you had a very good dream.
Archie frowned as he tried to recall what he’d dreamed recently. Mostly he couldn’t remember his dreams, but there had been one memorable one back when he’d been in the country for the start of harvest. He and Estelle had sat in the rattling carriage on their way to the family estate for hours, her dozing and him staring idly out of the window, watching the farmhands working with their sleeves rolled up or shirts stripped off entirely in the last of the summer heat. He’d had an odd dream that very night about being a bale of hay which, in hindsight, was probably not really about being a bale of hay, but more the idea of being tossed around by a group of muscular men.
“Ah,” said Archie with very belated realization. Then, “But that means you’ve been here for over two months!”
I had no form, no powers, barely an existence when I crossed into your world. It took me this long feeding on what small emotion I could until I regained my abilities.
“And this whole time, you could hear my thoughts?” Archie tried to remember anything particularly egregious or embarrassing he’d thought in the last two months. There were too many to think of.
You think particularly loudly.Damaris’s tone was somewhat accusatory, as if it was not his fault Archie had fed histhoughts directly to him. Before Archie could protest that he had no control about how loud his thoughts were, an image appeared in his mind’s eye. A tower, tall and plain but sturdy. He sat in the center of it, surrounding by stone that stifled all sound that tried to get in, or out.
Much better.Little wonder the human world is so terrified of demon magic when you do not even teach basic shielding.
“That’s it? I just imagine it? And then I when I do wish to speak with you…”
That Archie in his mind’s eye unlatched a window in the tower. It seemed absurdly simple, but if it meant the demon who shared his body didn’t also share his every thought, he would practice it. Carefully, he opened the window in his imaginary tower before composing his words to think.May I make a request? When we are in front of other people, if you could be… discreet please?
I intend to do nothing that would jeopardize my discovery, said Damaris, almost sounding insulted.
Thank you.Archie made sure the window to his tower was shut before he let himself indulge in the fleeting idea of Damaris working his seduction on Archie and Archie losing control in public, leaving him with a sticky shame of pleasure low in his belly. He didn’t actually want it to happen, but the knowledge that itcould…
CHAPTER SIX
ARCHIE SLEPT BETTER that night than he had in days. He hadn’t even realized how poor his sleep had become until he woke, refreshed, early enough that the maid, Grace, was still setting out breakfast. He was starved too, stomach growling as he heaped his plate. He couldn’t remember being this hungry for years, since he had hit his growth spurt.
“Have you an engagement this morning?” asked his mother when she arrived to see him already slathering butter on his third slice of toasted bread. She looked ready to be pleasantly surprised, and Archie found himself in a rare enough good mood to indulge her.
“I thought I might catch up on my correspondence today. Most of the fellows aren’t at the club as much since getting married so I thought I’d see if it would be more convenient to call on them.”And see if any of their wives had available friendswas the unspoken part that Archie knew his mother would assume, even if he had no intention of doing so.
She smiled tentatively at him. “That sounds very sensible of you, dear.”
It didn’t take long for Archie to dash off a few notes lamenting about the pass of time and suggesting that he might be free to call, which left him with most of the morning left for his actual intended errand. He’d never been to the palace library before, so when he passed the grand wooden doors thrice his height he peered around curiously. It was much bigger than he imagined, almost as large as the throne room with bookshelves lining every wall and neatly in rows across the middle. The air was cold, unusual in the palace where the servants diligently kept the rooms warm, and though there were several other visitors, everyone murmured in hushed tones as if they were at worship.
The librarian, a woman of middling age in a long shapeless dress, pointed out the right section when Archie inquired as to how he might learn more on the demon treaty the king had made. “Thetreatisesare all there,” she said, with gentle emphasis. That was his first clue that there might be more to read up on than he expected.
“Is there perhaps some… introductory texts to what we know about demons?” He asked, helplessly looking at the entire bookcase that she had indicated to.
