“So few.”
If only he knew. But unlike him, I don’t spill all my secrets at first meeting someone. No matter how cute they are.
I just smirk, and so he doesn’t think me the child I’m not, say, “I’m older than I look.”
He just keeps frowning. “Perhaps I should go after all.”
“Going to protect me from the big, bad apocalyptic angel? Careful, Layden. That’s almost sweet.”
His name tastes good in my mouth. I want to say it again.
“You should rest,” I say again, needing to break this moment before I do something stupid. “I’ll take the floor.”
“No.” The word comes out sharp. Firm. “You will not sleep on the floor because of me.”
I raise an eyebrow. “It’s your first night out of the forest in two hundred years.You’renot sleeping on the floor.”
“Then we will share the bed.”
The suggestion hangs in the air between us.
My eyes widen. “That’s... I don’t think...”
“It’s large enough,” he presses. “And I give you my word—I will not touch you. I will not move from my side. You have nothing to fear from me.”
There’s something in his eyes. Something almost... desperate. Like he needs me to believe him.
Like he needs me tonotbe afraid.
I study him for a long moment. This broken angel who’s been alone for two centuries and flinches away from touch but just offered to share a bed with me.
“Fine. But you stay on your side, and I stay on mine. Got it?”
“Got it,” he echoes.
I start to turn away, then pause. Look back at him.
“For what it’s worth, Layden?”
His eyes snap to mine at the sound of his name.
“I’m not afraid of you.”
His breath catches. I can see his chest rise and fall. “You should be.”
“Well.” I give him a sharp smile, showing all my teeth. “I’m a bigger monster than you, remember?”
I change in the bathroom—well,the closet, this is the kind of country cabin that has an outhouse in the back—into a spare shirt I found. When I emerge, Layden is already under the covers on the far side of the bed, his back carefully to me.
He’s considerate. Giving me space.
I slip under the covers on my side, leaving a careful distance between us.
The cabin is quiet except for the crackling fire. It’s cozy. Safe.
“Phoenix?” Layden’s voice is soft in the darkness.
“Yeah?”
