“Elizabeth. Elizabeth.” Asmodeus gripped her shoulders. His eyes held hers like a tether to reality as she tried not to faint. “Elizabeth. You’re okay. Get a grip. You’re going into shock.”
Her eyes widened with fear. She didn’t want to be touched by any of them.
Monsters.
She frantically looked at his hands gripping her shoulders.
As if he read her mind, he said, “Yeah. I’ll let you go as soon as I’m sure you’re not going to topple like a toddler.”
She steadied herself and cleared her throat. “W-what? What was that?”
Her body trembled, her hands slick with cold sweat.
“You’re going to march to your room, and you’re going to drink some water. Okay?”
She nodded, feeling like a child.
“You’re looking for food?”
She nodded again.
“I’ll have a human-looking demon send something up.”
Her lungs stopped taking in air. She felt like a fool. The world faded in and out.
Asmodeus sighed impatiently and cautiously leaned her against the wall. “Wait here.” He opened a different door down the hall and barked out orders.
He returned and raised his brows at her.
“Do you want me to carry you, or will you walk yourself?” His tone carried disbelief.
She held her head high and stood defiantly, even though she still felt unsteady on her feet. Though Asmodeus was helping her, she needed to save her pride. “I will walk myself.”
“Okay,” he said, letting her.
Elizabeth put one foot in front of the other and somehow made it to her chambers.
“Go splash cold water on your face,” Asmodeus suggested, having followed her like he was unsure where she’d end up in her daze. “Better yet, take a bath and invite me to come watch. For protection purposes, obviously,” he said, grinning.
She glared.
However, his commentdidhelp distract her from the roaring in her ears.
She left for the bathing chamber, where she splashed her face with water and took a moment to look in the mirror. The hollows under her eyes looked darker, and her skin looked pale.
When she came back, Asmodeus was snacking on a lamb bone and had two plates of lamb chops in front of him. One had vegetables, and the other did not.
Elizabeth closed her eyes against the images that pressed in on her mind.
“Hey, now. Don’t get all woozy on me again. You knew he was a demon. You knew we drink blood and eat flesh. Youcannotbe surprised. I assume he told you we drink human blood and hunt them?”
“Knowing and seeing are vastly different things,” she said, her words barely audible.
“Don’t worry, he won’t do that toyou. He wouldn’t have bothered to set everything up and bring you here as his mistress if he planned to just kill you. He would have done it already, if that helps.” He gestured dismissively with his lamb bone. “But the demons in this house do need to eat.”
“I—”
“Thought he was good? He’s a fuckingdemon. What did you expect?”
