Before our laughter would follow us into the kitchen as we both arrived breathless and pushing against each other. After, no laughter followed us through the door. It was difficult to laugh when half the world was gone, though we tried.
We’d still sit together in the nook and read, but for a few years, there were no newspapers and crosswords. When a paper returned, it was put out by one of our neighbors and consisted of our small town’s local news. It arrived on our doorstep once a month; we usually knew everything by then, but we read every sentence in that short paper.
But even with the bacon cooking and my confusion over my whereabouts, I knew I wasn’t home. The wall across from me was white and not the warm peach of my room. I stared at the wall as my memories clicked into place. I wasn’t home; I was at the wall and beyond the windows of this home was an endless sea of death.
I closed my eyes as I tried to shut out the screams of the dying and the stench of blood and smoke. Instead, I focused on the large, strong man enveloping me. If the rigid evidence of his erection in my back was any indication, he could use some release. And I was desperate to forget, if only for a little while, the events of yesterday.
Rolling over, I rested my hands on his chest and pushed him onto the bed before taking him into me. For a brief time, I forgot all about the dead as I became centered on Hawk, our bodies, and the way he could make me come apart.
Spent, I collapsed on top of him while I struggled to catch my breath. Those odd little fangs were back in my mouth, and I prodded them with my tongue as a forgotten conversation with Zanta drifted through my mind. I was at the wall in Virginia right after the king and queen arrived. The demons were whispering something about a Chosen, and I asked Zanta what that meant.
“See the marks on their necks?” Zanta asked.
“Yes.” It was impossible not to notice them.
“When a demon finds their Chosen, they mate for life. Those bites make it clear to everyone they belong to each other.”
I poked at my fangs again as I tried to figure out why they were there, what was happening, and who this man beside me was.
“Hawk?”
“Hmm?” he murmured as he ran his fingers through my hair.
“I have fangs.”
“I’m aware,” he said with a chuckle. “I recall enjoying the feel of them sinking into me.”
“I’ve never had fangs before. I mean, I’m still relatively new to this whole demon thing, but I think I would have noticed fangs.”
He stopped playing with my hair and propped his head on his hand to gaze down at me. “What do you mean, you’re still new to this demon thing?”
“I mean, I’ve only been a demon, or I should say immortal, for two years. I’ve been part demon my whole life; I just didn’t know it until I stopped aging and started accidentally setting things on fire.”
“And no one in your family knew about it until the gateway opened.”
“Exactly. It comes from my mom’s side. She stopped aging too but didn’t acknowledge it until I told her what was happening to me. Afterward, the military moved my parents to the wall for their protection. I didn’t think anyone would attack her, but I wasn’t taking any chances.”
Everyone was now aware of what really happened with the war, but for years, the government kept it a secret. The collapse of the seals and the escape of the Hell creatures blew that secret wide open.
“I don’t blame you,” he said. “What kind of demon are you?”
“I’ve been told I’m part fire demon. I can create small balls of fire, and it doesn’t burn me,” I said. “My fire isn’t strong enough to do any real damage to an enemy, but I have been known to torch a bed.”
“They can be treacherous.”
The smile he gave me did weird things to my belly, and I tried to ignore the butterflies kicking around in there as my gaze fell to his lips. I jerked my eyes away and focused on the wall over his shoulder. When he ran his fingers over my cheek, it took all I had not to jump on him again, but we were supposed to be discussing something here.
“I can also see souls!” I blurted to distract my traitorous body.
His fingers stilled on my neck, right over the last place he bit me, before it fell away. “You can what?”
I could think a little more clearly now that he wasn’t touching me, but I was acutely aware of his body only inches away from mine.
“All my life, I’ve been able to see a person’s soul,” I said. “Looking at them, I can tell you if they’re good or bad. Those with twisted souls are… well, they’re hideous inside, and I can see it. Of course, it doesn’t work for demons because they have no soul, but I’ve always known when to stay away from certain people.”
His brow furrowed as his gaze ran over my face. “That’s… fascinating.”
“And strange, but it’s pretty cool too. Though, I don’t think it’s an ability I have because I’m part demon. Since demons don’t have souls, there’s no reason for any demon to possess such an ability. I think it’s an entirely human ability. My dad swore my grandma was an empath, and she told himhermom could see the future; I never met either of them, but I believe I inherited something from them.”
