My hands rubbed at my arms as I took a step away from him. Many times he’d been almost caring toward me, more so than my own mother had been over the years, but was it a pretense to get what he sought from me, a trip back to Hell?
“What is that woman’s name?” I asked.
“I don’t recall.”
I blinked at this statement; it was the only reaction I could have to it. “You hurt her feelings, that much was obvious, but so is the fact you don’t care.”
His head tilted to the side, and his forehead furrowed as he studied me. I understood him about as much as he seemed to understand me, which was not at all. “Why would I care?”
I threw my arms in the air and turned away from him. “There are walls with more understanding than you!” I shot over my shoulder at him as I made my way up the hill toward the tents.
I didn’t realize he’d followed me until he reached around me to pull the flap on his tent back for me. “I have understanding,” he said as soon as we entered. “It’s why we have adapted to your ways more than I would have liked.”
Turning on him, I placed my hands on my hips as I met his gaze. “Yet, you still don’t understand you hurt her feelings.”
“The women and men who look to satisfy their curiosity about what it is like to be with a demon, or are simply looking for a good fuck, should know better than to become attached to any of us. We have made no secret we will return home; the woman is a fool for believing there could have been more between us.”
My hands fell back to my sides as his blunt words sank in. He was right. I understood the woman’s unhappiness, but he had a point. Most of the people here may not know what the demons were searching for, what they believed the key to closing Hell was, but they did know the main goal here was to defend the wall, close the gate, defeat Lucifer and for the demons to one day return to where they’d come from.
So why did I feel so upset and betrayed?
Because ofhim. I hated thinking about him with other women or of him returning to the fiery depths where he had come from originally. I certainly didn’t want to be the one who sent him there. He’d knocked me on my ass more times than I could recall, he infuriated me, he was the main reason I was here, yet all I craved was to feel those powerful arms around me. To know what his body would feel like moving against mine, to have those lips and hands sliding over my skin.
I kicked myself in the ass for allowing the fantasy to enter my mind. It couldneverbe, and I wouldn’t be another non-fling to him. “You’re right,” I murmured.
Before I could flee to my section of the tent, his hand snaked out and he took hold of my wrist. An electrical current flowed over my flesh, and my breath caught as I struggled not to step closer to him and rest my hands against his chest.
“You haven’t eaten,” he said.
“I don’t feel well. I’m going to lie down.”
It wasn’t entirely a lie; my head was pounding, but I was aware that I was acting like a coward as I tugged my wrist free of his grasp.
“Do you need me to get you anything?” he asked.
“No.”
I didn’t look back as I slipped into my section of the tent, kicked off my shoes, tugged my bra off from under my shirt, and crawled into the bed with its soft mattress and tempting pillows. I could hear the thump of punches and the clashing of swords and knives as instruction resumed on the training field, but I didn’t crawl from the bed.
As the day progressed, I found it increasingly difficult to open my eyes, and it hurt almost as much to keep them closed. I didn’t dare move; every time I did, I was certain I’d throw up. Instead, I lay unmoving on the bed as the migraine took hold of me.
It had been years since I’d had one; I’d believed it was something left behind with my childhood, but the stress and misery of these past six weeks had finally caught up to me. Eventually, I fell into a fitful sleep. When I woke again, I knew it was night only because of the dimly lit lantern on the table next to the bed. Beside the lantern sat a plate of food.
My stomach rumbled with hunger. The lingering throb of the migraine pulsed in my head when I swung my feet out of the bed, but I knew the worst of it had passed. Washing my face, drinking some water, and eating some food would help to rid me of the rest of it. I greedily ate the chicken on the plate before diving into the potatoes. I was full by the time I was done.
I licked the juices from my fingers before lifting the handle on the lantern and walking silently toward the flap leading outside. Kobal had told me to get him whenever I had to go somewhere at night, but I’d prefer not to wake him if he was sleeping, and I didn’t want to wait around for him to get dressed. Besides, I didn’t need a bodyguard.
Undoing the flap, I pushed it back and stepped into the night. I inhaled deeply as I savored the warm air blowing against my skin. My gaze went to the flames of the bonfire leaping on the hill about a hundred yards away. Tents and trees blocked my view of the fire, but the orange glow lit the night, and I could see the tips of the flames dancing in the air. Laughter and music floated down the hill toward me.
My head tilted to the side as I pondered for the thousandth time what went on up there. I took a step toward the fire, but the pressure in my bladder had me turning and walking down the hill toward the small house at the bottom. I’d only planned to use the toilet, but once inside, I couldn’t resist the lure of a shower. I undressed and stepped beneath the spray, letting the warm water wash away the rest of my lingering migraine as I shampooed my hair and used the straight edged razor on the shelf.
My step was much lighter when I emerged from the shower feeling a hundred times better. I hummed to myself as I dressed and reclaimed my lantern. Walking up the hill, my gaze returned to the fire. Kobal had told me to stay away from it, but it sounded like a good time. Besides, what could one little peekreallyhurt?
Turning, I strode toward the fire crackling high into the sky. More laughter trailed down the hill, and I picked out the sounds of a guitar as I slipped past two of the tents while making my way closer to the flames. The heat of the fire in the air warmed me before I arrived to stand behind a large oak tree. I lowered the flame on my lantern and placed it on the ground beside the tree.
Pieces of bark broke away beneath my fingers when I rested my palms against the tree and poked my head around the side of it. My breath froze in my chest as I gawked at the scene before me. Most of the demons were gathered there, their hair alight in the flames playing over their bare skin. Amongst the demons, there were a couple dozen humans gathered in the clearing around the fire. Not all of the humans were naked too, but almost half of them were. They all appeared my age or older, and I realized they were all soldiers.
Bale sat on a fallen tree trunk, playing what looked like a guitar. Her red hair shone in the fire that lit her bare flesh. Two naked women danced before her, leaping and jumping as their laughter trailed from them. Drinks were passed around, and a loud cheer arose from the group circling the flames.
