“More than anything.” Had it really only been two days since the royal ball? Felt like a lifetime had passed since I’d last seen them.
“Is that why you’re trying to make your grand escape?” he asked with a touch of humor back in his voice. “To return to them?”
“No.” I crossed my arms and rubbed at them. There was a slight draft in the corridor. “I was trying to find the kitchen.”
“Craving an evening snack?” Lord Onyx touched my shoulder and glided his fingers down the curve of my bicep. “That makes two of us.”
Suddenly, the chill in the hall was all but forgotten. Heat fanned low in my belly. Was the demon lord… flirting with me?
No. That’s silly. The dude probably had a harem of his own. His bed unlikely stayed cold for long. No way he’d waste time or energy on me.
“I wanted to cook something for Lake,” I said, working hard to steady my shaky tone. “A treat to make him feel better.”
“I imagine it was a shock for him.” Onyx withdrew his hand from my arm and motioned for me to walk with him. I did. “Seeing his kind living out in the open. Free.”
Pressure enclosed my sternum as I recalled the way Lake had smiled while in the carriage, the wind sweeping through his silvery hair. His joy from being outside and not forced to hide. To think he’d find that freedom under the rule of a demon lord was mindboggling.
“Based on what I’ve seen, you’ve not only welcomed the demi-humans here but have given them an amazing home. Everyone seemed so… happy.”
“This confounds you?” he asked.
“A bit.” I met his gaze. “The Shadow Realm isn’t what I expected.”
“Tell me, little human.” He arched a fine brow. “What did you expect?”
“A nightmarish world with fiery pits and massive dragons,” I said on impulse. “Deep, dark caves full of mysterious and deadly things. And a bunch of bloodhungry demons wanting to eat me.”
He smiled, revealing pearly white teeth. “I suppose one or two demons might want to eat you.”
At my look of horror, he laughed. It lacked even a hint of maliciousness though. The demon lord clearly liked teasing me. And I… may have liked it too.
More sconces ignited as we passed them, driving home my earlier thought of the castle being haunted. I noted several paintings, some of landscapes and others of people.
“Who are they?” I asked, unable to stay quiet for too long. It was a curse.
“My family.” He nodded to the painting beside us of a woman with long, white-blonde hair and red eyes. A toddler sat in her lap, and a stern-faced man stood behind her. “Me, my father, and my mother.”
“You have her eyes.”
“One of the few qualities I share with her. The rest came from my father. Including his temper.” He peered down at me. “What of your parents?”
“They died when I was a baby,” I answered. “Not sure who I take after most. My dad, probably, but I don’t know. I’ve never actually seen them. No paintings or illustrations. Just what I’ve heard in passing from those who knew them.”
“Let’s see. Delicate bone structure.” He ghosted his fingers over my cheek, then smoothed them down to my mouth. “Soft lips.” His thumb brushed across them. “Pretty as a field of lilies.”
Warmth flooded my core. “Never thought of myself as pretty.”
“Then we both view each other in a different light.” He lowered his gaze to my neck before his hand followed, lightly caressing my Adam’s apple. “Though pretty, a fire burns inside of you. A strength most others lack.”
“I’m not strong at all.” What the hell was this feeling? I felt like he had me in a trance. My whole body was attuned to him, arching into his touch.
“This strength comes not from the body, but from the soul.” Onyx trailed his fingertips down my neck, eliciting tingles in his wake, like tiny jolts that both cooled and burned. “And your soul, Evan Clark, is blinding in its intensity.”
As our gazes locked, I was taken aback by the sheer beauty of him. Alabaster skin and raven-black hair. Eyes like rubies. Something stirred in my chest.
“You’re not what I expected,” I said, much softer now. “Stories make you out to be so cruel.”
“Every story, regardless of how embellished, holds a bit of truth. A lesson you’d do well to remember.”
