He chuckled. “I guess it depends on the demon. For me, it was like a mortal being invited to feast with the Gods themselves. I’d rather starve to death than eat anything else.”
I swallowed hard, trying to remain neutral.
“Don’t worry,” he purred, suddenly closer. “You have many fine qualities besides that.”
“Stop it.”
“I’ve behaved long enough sweetie.” He placed his hands into his pockets. “It’s only fair to make you squirm in return.”
Well, I couldn’t argue with him, I had punished him for quite some time for the events at Rimefield, possibly even unfairly so.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
“Hmm?”
“I’m sorry that I was too scared to let you in completely. After Rimefield I feared that if I let you come close again… next time something happened, I would lose you forever. And that frightened me.”
He stopped, his eyes looking at me curiously, yet his face was blank. “What changed?”
I scoffed. “You. Your persistence, constant pushing and pulling… You’re always in my face.”
“Then,” he said, a smile spreading on his lips as he reached for my hand. “If something ever were to happen, I expect you to nag me, bother me and hunt me down the same way.”
“Sure,” I laughed.
“Promise?” he teased, smirking mischievously at me.
“What are you, like seven?” I rolled my eyes.
“A bit more, if we’re talking inches.”
I stumbled, my eyes widening at his implication and my cheeks flared, causing him to chuckle dark and amused by my reaction.
“I-I promise, okay?” I stuttered, flustered.
“There she is,” a familiar voice cut in.
Our heads turned and I saw Amestele’s scorching eyes meeting mine, before they inspected Malakai.
She had another beautiful dress, dark blue with silver embroidery across the bodice.
“This must be… your littlepet.”
Malakai snorted.
“So, that’s how you keep him on a leash?” she asked, her eyes locking on my neck. Even though I had closed the wound with my flames, the marks still remained.
I clenched my teeth, a mixture of anger and fluster. “He’s a person you know,” I bit out.
“Adorable, he still bites like a demon, though,” she scoffed, clearly not buying my words.
“Don’t worry,” Malakai interrupted, voice sharp as his eyes lingered on Amestele. “I won’t bite you, even a creature like me has standards.”
Her eyes narrowed, clearly offended by his words and I had to press my lips together not to sneer. She slowly turned her attention back to me.
“A soldier debriefed me earlier—seems you failed tocross the border?”
“We didn’t fail, but once there we were ambushed by a score of demons,” I corrected her, fighting against the flames that hissed underneath my skin. “The rest of the squad is out scouting as we speak.”
