Something falls on me and I shoot up with a gasp.
“I didn’t mean to startle you.” Maxon’s handsome face is just inches from mine. He’s covering me with a blanket that must have come off his own bed.
I lean back, bringing a hand to my face to push my hair back. “You didn’t. I’m…I’m jumpy.”
“Understandable.”
“And exhausted.”
“Also understandable.” Was that the candlelight flickering, or did the corner of his mouth twitch?
“I didn’t mean to fall asleep.” I pull my fingers through my messy hair. “I don’t even know what time it is.”
“It’s late and you should sleep. We both should.”
I swallow hard and nod. “Do you need your cloak back?”
He shrugs. “Keep it if you’re cold.”
My eyelids are heavy and I want nothing more than to collapse back onto the pillows. Knowing he took his own blanket off to try and keep me warm makes my heart flutter—just a bit.
“You’ll get sleeping garments in the morning,” he tells me. “Will you be comfortable tonight?”
“Yeah, I’ll be fine. Though the next time I die, I’ll remember to wear something comfortable.”
“The next time you die, there will be no coming back,” he says, and I slowly get out of bed, carrying the package of personal care items with me. I turn and pad out of the room, going into the bathroom to get ready for bed. Lanterns hang on the walls, and I snatch one, not being careful enough and almost burning my fingers on the hot glass.
I quickly brush my teeth, and then hurry back into the room before anyone gets up in the middle of the night and sees me. Maxon is in bed when I get back into the room. He’s wearing a light gray T-shirt and is half tucked under the covers.
“Maxon?” I ask softly, pulling the blankets up to my chin. “Why do demons want souls?”
“Power.”
His words send another chill through me.
“The more souls they consume, the more powerful they become.” He blows out the candle on his nightstand, leaving just the one on the middle of the table as our light source. “You should get some sleep, Addy. We can talk more in the morning.”
“Okay. Goodnight. Thanks again for helping me out tonight.” I turn my head, studying his handsome face in the dark. A few moments of silence pass by.
“Hey,” he says softly. “Are you still up?”
“Yeah, I am.”
“I’m…I’m sorry that demon spotted you. If it hadn’t…maybe you wouldn’t have had to come here. I should have killed it sooner. Then I might have saved you.”
I flick my eyes to the ceiling. “Maybe you did.”
6
“What the hell is this?” A high-pitched female voice reverberates through the room, waking me with a start. My eyes fly open and I jerk up, blinking so my eyes adjust to the bright light. A young woman with long, silver-blonde hair is standing in the threshold of the room.
She’s wearing a white button-up shirt tucked into a yellow and gray plaid skirt, knee-high black boots, and a long black cloak.
“Maaaax!” she whines and stamps her foot. “What’s going on here?” She sweeps her hand out at me and all I can do is stare. Max, who was still sleeping, throws the blankets back and sits up.
At some point in the night, he must have gotten hot. Because he’s only wearing the dark pants and no shirt and holy hell, he’s a fine-looking man. Tall, tan, with more abs than I can count. He has a half sleeve of tattoos on his left arm that goes up his bicep and over his pec.
“Celeste,” he grumbles, bleary eyed. “What are you doing?”
