“Or you can come over here before I make you and injure myself in the process.”
She glares at me, her lips pressed into a hard line.
“Please don't make me beg,” I groan. I don't have the energy for theatrics.
“You’re impossible,” she finally concedes with a sigh, slipping up against me and laying her head on my chest. “Is this okay?”
My skin aches beneath her touch—not in the ways I like—but having her close is the only thing that matters. She’s here, we’re okay, and that’s all I need.
“It’s perfect,” I say as I close my eyes, and I’m asleep before she says anything else.
Chapter 33
Tobias
We spend the entire day on the road, and when we reach the next venue, we’re two states away from where we were attacked. A bit of the tension in my chest eases. We aren’t technically safe anywhere, but being so far away from the last hellbeast sighting is comforting.
Surely, we’ve gotten them off our tail, though I don’t know how long it’ll take for them to catch up to us again.
We order Chinese takeout, and even though I’m dying to find fresh energy to replenish what I expended in the fight, I’m still too weak to leave the bus. It feels like I was shoved through a meat grinder, the slices in my skin aching with everymovement.
One more day and I should feel well enough to venture out.
Joseline and Emrys make small talk over their food, and I lounge on the couch, my mind wandering too much for me to keep up. I have so many questions, so many uncertainties. I knew everything would blow up in our faces eventually, but this is brutal. My head fucking aches from thinking.
No matter how many times I drag them away, my eyes always seem to find their way back to Joseline. Even now, as she laughs and jokes with our keyboardist, she’s nothing but fire and passion. Warmth and light.
Everything a demon like me craves but doesn’t deserve.
Things have been tense and a little awkward between us—oddly cordial, all things considered—and I know it’s because of the questions we both have. They consume my mind any time I sit still for too long, tugging me apart from the inside.
What happens now? Do we go back to normal? Do we acknowledge the tension between us? Do we let it die?
I shift on the couch, dragging my eyes away yet again. I stare across the bus at a notch in the wall, fighting the churn of emotions that well anytime I think about her.
Trying to stay away from her at this point is… well, pointless. Our fates are intertwined, whether I want to admit it or not. We’re connected, but I still don’t know what that looks like going forward.
Do I attempt to put these feelings into words? Or doI ignore them and just see what happens? Do I drag her into my bed and fuck her with abandon, hoping my cock answers all the questions she refuses to ask?
Thankfully, someone knocks on the bus door, derailing my train of thought.
I flinch, my eyes jumping toward the door as it opens, but it’s just Sebastian and Niki with the baby. Niki looks rested and energized—at least someone does—and Sebastian looks like he got his ass beat, which he did.
“You look like shit.” His eyes narrow on me.
“Good to see you too.” I nod at him, and he takes a seat across from me. Niki joins him, cradling the swaddled baby in her arms.
“My turn, my turn,” Joseline squeaks, abandoning her plate and hurrying to take the baby. Her face instantly lights up, a smile brightening her features, as she whispers nonsense to the bundle in her arms.
She slowly rocks back and forth on the spot, swaying like she’s done this a million times, and I watch in awe. She looks so maternal. The way she cradles the baby against her chest is perfect in a way I could have never imagined.
Something primal ignites in my chest at the sight. I like seeing her like that, with a baby in her arms. Though children are almost certainly out of the question for me, I know she’d be a fantastic mother. That alone sparks another flicker of doubt in my mind.
How could I possibly ask her to be with me knowing I’d be depriving her of something she clearly desires? Even now, I can see her with children and a husband, living her life carefree and happy. Jealousy flaresin my chest at the idea of a fictional man making all her dreams come true, but I shake my head and the thoughts from it.
“I’m glad you’re alive.” Niki grins when her eyes fall on me. “We thought you were a goner for a bit.”
“I thought so too.” I chuckle, very aware of how lucky I am to be sitting here right now.
