Warm light filtered through the curtains when I woke.
For a moment, I forgot he was there. Until I shifted and saw him still sprawled where he had been, one arm draped casually over his chest, the other hanging off the edge of the bed.
He was still asleep.
The sight startled me more than if he’d vanished. Demons weren’t supposed to look so… unguarded. His expression had lost its sharpness, his mouth no longer twisted in an antagonizing smirk. For the first time, he looked almost human.
And he hadn’t left.
I pushed myself up onto an elbow. The thread of red that had hovered in the air the night before was gone, but the weight of his presence still anchored the room.
He’d stayed. All night.
A strange warmth bloomed in my chest, and guilt came right after, sharp and unexpected. I shouldn’t feel this.
Because a part of me still ached for Lionel, still hated how he had stepped back from me as soon as he learned what I was. He used to sit by my bed when nightmares woke me, used to make me feel safe simply by being there.
But he wasn’t here now. Malakai was.
Malakai hadstayed.
As if sensing my stare, his eyes opened, slow and lazy, but sharp enough that I knew he’d been awake for at least a few moments, waiting.
“Staring is rude, sweetie,” he murmured, voice low and rough with sleep.
“You stayed,” I said, ignoring the jab.
He stretched, catlike, and then gave me that familiar slow grin. “Told you I would.”
Without warning, he leaned closer, bracing one arm beside my head. The air between us tightened, heat rolling off him until I couldn’t quite breathe.
“Careful,” he said, smirk curving into something wicked. “Keep looking at me like that, and I might start thinking you like having me here.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but before a single word could escape, he was gone, melting into air as red threads sparked for a brief moment, leaving nothing but a faint shimmer of heat where he’d been.
“Arrogant demon,” I hissed at the empty room, yanking the blanket over my head as if that could shut out the memory of his smirk, the warmth he’d left behind, or the way my pulse still refused to settle.
I didnotlike having him here.
I decided to put my hair up in a high ponytail for once, keeping it out of my way in preparation for today’s trial.
Once I stepped out of my room, I collided with someone immediately. “Sorry!” I began.
When I turned I saw Lionel, staring wide-eyed at me. “Ethalyn.”
“Oh… morning,” I stammered, surprised to hear him say my name.
“Ehm… did you, ehm sleep well?” he asked, scratching his neck awkwardly, as he often did when he was nervous. It made me smile.
“Mm… you?”
“I can’t even remember the last time we got to sleep in a bed,” he chuckled, a faint smile appearing. Then he looked at me again, as if searching for something. I began to sweat, guilt washing over me even though I hadn’t really done anything.
“Look… about last night,” he began, trying to find the right words, but I shook my head.
“It’s fine.”
“No,” he raised his voice, eyes harsher. “It’s not fine, I said some terrible things."
