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My heart pounded in my chest at the praise and he smirked, seeing right through me.
“Shut up,” I grumbled as he rolled us to the side. He chuckled as I settled my head on his chest. My fingers trailed absently over his skin as we came back down from that high.
Part of me was waiting for him to kick me out as soon as his knot released me, but he currently had an arm around my shoulders, holding me close. He couldn’t hide from me now, not after that bite, or the revelations that just happened.
“Are we going to ignore our interruption or talk about it?” Drake asked. “Because, frankly, this whole dancing around the truth is getting old.”
I sat up and stared down at him, my mind coming back online so I could process what truly went down.
“Why can you see him? And what the hell were you talking about... demons? Hel?”
“He’s a demon, Harlow, not a hallucination,” he said bluntly. I swallowed hard at that and started to deny it, but he rolled his eyes and stood.
My eyes tracked his movement, trying to see what he was doing. Instead of pulling clothes on, he spread his hands out and a scream caught in my throat as he changed before my eyes.
His eyes faded from vibrant green to inky black, no white left at all. A tail flicked around him, wrapping around his middle. A set of curved horns formed on his head, forcing his black hair to fall over his eyes even more.
When he smirked, fanged teeth glinted in the overhead light. Even his skin had gone from pale to a shade of dark gray.
He looked like himself still but also not. He didn’t have the same fire that Monty and the other demons had, but the same color glowed through his tattoos, making them come to life before my eyes.
“Holy shit. I need to adjust my meds.” My words had a growl escaping. In a blink, he was right in front of my face. His eyes burned with frustration yet I wasn’t afraid. I could see Drake under it and feel his vulnerability echoing in my chest.
“This is real, Harlow, this is not a hallucination. Those things at night? Demons. Your friend? A demon. Me? Half demon, it’s why I look different,” he quickly explained. Almost as if he were frustrated I’d questioned him. “You’re going to have to accept it and realize our world isn’t as black and white as you thought if you want to survive this place.”
“Vane?” I questioned in horror. He shook his head.
“No, but he does know, he’s the reason they feed here. We feed here.” At that part he put up a wall, closing himself off from me.
“Drake,” I breathed out. “What? How? Why do I see you and others don’t?”
“The others see me,” he clarified. “Just not in this form. And the other demons keep themselves concealed, simple as that.”
“Monty? He’s different,” I challenged, still not quite buying it fully. How could there be real demons? And if that was the case, was I truly crazy? Were any of my hallucinations real? This honestly changed everything, and it wasn’t as easy to accept as he made it seem. “He’s always been around.”
“Did he come before your hallucinations started?” he questioned, crossing his arms like he wasn’t standing before me half demon and naked.
My words died off and I thought it through. It was true, Monty came first. He saved me from my dad and his friend, and stayed through me living with my grandmother.
All those years from a preteen onward he was there. The others didn’t come until later, a startling change to my world, but if not for him, it would have been worse.
In the back of my mind, I worried if he was the cause all along. Did he bring the hallucinations on by showing himself? Could my mind just not handle it?
“He was real?” My broken tone had Drake changing back and settling beside me.
“We’re all real,” he agreed. “And yes, he’s Hel’s commander. She’s the one who created the demons here.”
“Hel?” I squeaked out.
Even before he could explain, I remembered the flashes of the strange woman and her world I’d seen in the courtyard. The blue fire I’d seen was the same that the demons were made of.
Pieces of the puzzle were clicking into place. And it was fucking terrifying.
That was enough for me to stand and panic. I’d heard enough, I couldn’t take anymore.
“I have to go.”
He didn’t stop me as I pulled on my clothes and fled. I didn’t stop running until I was in my room, hiding under my blanket like I could chase away the new world I seemed to have stumbled upon.
