I shrugged. “Why not? If Hell makes someone like you, I think it must be pretty great.”
The lightheartedness left his eyes. A small crease formed between his brows, and a frown pulled at his lips. “Someone like me? You mean a monster?”
My mind drifted back to what Dante had said when we were talking on the cliff—his struggles with what he was and what that meant. I’d thought he’d been referring to his celebrity status, but now I realizedthiswas what he’d been referring to.
I moved closer until my legs overlapped and tangled with his beneath the sheet. He grazed his fingers from my hip to my back and pulled me nearly flush against his naked body. I kept just enough space between us so that I could keep my sincere gaze locked on his.
“What makes a monster?” I asked softly. “Horns and claws? If so, sure. You can be a monster. But if you’re referring to what’s here …” I placed my hand in the center of his chest, his heart pounding steadily beneath my palm. “Then I have to disagree with you. There are plenty ofrealmonsters in this world, Dante, and they don’t have horns or claws. They hurt and tear down those beneath them whileyouuplift and offer a helping hand to those same people. You may be a demon, but you’re no monster. You’re …”
I paused and nearly second-guessed my decision to reveal my thoughts from earlier. But I pushed that fear away.
He deserved to hear this.
Heneededto hear this.
“You’re the night sky,” I revealed softly.
His fingers moved from my back to the silver curls around my shoulders. His touch was tender and almost mindless as he brushed his fingers through my hair. “The night sky?”
I nodded. “The night sky. A beautiful vastness with endless potential and power. You could take over and smother everything beneath you in total darkness, but instead, you allow small, broken fragments like me to shine. You’re the cushion, the safe space, for entire constellations to land.”
His idle touch stilled, and his eyes searched mine. The palm of his hand came to rest on my cheek. He swallowed hard. When he spoke, his voice came out in a rough whisper. “How can you see me that way when you don’t know the lies I’ve told or know the things I’m capable of? How can you say that when I’m the villain in your story?”
“Didn’t I already tell you?” I smiled faintly and leaned in to press a light kiss to his lips. “I’ve always believed the villain deserves a happily ever after, too.”
One Month Ago
Diary Entry 180
Dear Twila,
This past month with Dante has been … EVERYTHING. I don’t know how else to say it, Twila. Today was perfect. He woke me up between my legs (yes, doing THAT), and we showered together. We made homemade waffles, too. You know how I’ve always hated cooking, but I guess doing it with someone else makes it better. I couldn’t stop laughing while he threw flour at me or while I chased him with the goopy spatula. The rest of the day, we lounged in his library, reading, watching movies, and justexistingtogether.
I’ve never felt so at home, Twila. There’s a safety in existing with another person who sees your cracks, broken pieces, and flaws and treats them like a special design that’s worth admiring instead of something that needs hiding or fixing.
With Dante, I can exist unapologetically asme. I can be quiet or talkative, I can laugh or sit with my thoughts, I canbreathewithout this pressure to be a certain version of myself. I’ve never felt so comfortable in my own skin. I’ve never felt seen, valued, or heard like this. I hope he knows how much it means that he lets me exist authentically. I hope he knows how much he’s helped me find my footing in a place where others tried to knock my legs out from under me.
I hope I give him the same peace. I hope I give him the same weightless feeling. I hope he knows how much he means to me.
Chapter 25
Dante
SERENITY SLEPT SOUNDLY. I STARED at her slumbering face, my hand still dragging up and down her arm. I couldn’t seem to stop touching her. My heart and head had been doing a whirlwind of a dance, playing tug-of-war with my emotions. I searched Serenity’s sleeping face for some answer to the questions now burning me up on the inside. But answers seemed to evade me.
Instead, I was struck with an overwhelming sense of peace and of belonging, two things I’d never felt in my whole goddamn existence. Her presence, even as she slept, consumed me. She was beautiful with her lashes closed over pale cheeks, plump lips parted slightly, and silver hair fanned out around her naked shoulders. Seeing her so vulnerable now made me want to pull her in close to my chest where I could shield her from Bradley, her bullies, and anyone else who’d ever made her feel small.
But what right did I have?
What right did I have to be the night sky she thought I was?
My chest constricted painfully, and sneering at the feeling, I moved closer to tuck her head beneath my bearded chin. She sighed contentedly against my chest and snuggled in closer, and my heart nearly fractured with how much I wanted everything to just disappear.
I wanted my past and the issues that came from it to disappear.
I wanted the line between demons and humans to vanish.
I wanted my lies and the real reason she was in my arms to go away.
