Page 51 of Demon Food

He nodded. Good. Yes. Now, I should do that. I should let go.

The drugs were coursing through my veins, but how much faith was I really going to put in them? If he saw me twitch, even once, he’d know I was lying. He’d realize how much danger he was in.

Steady. I released my hand from his mouth slow and steady.

I did everything in my power to ignore how pink his lips were from the pressure, and how I’d never wanted to kiss anything more. I’d started to back away when a knock sounded at the door.

He jumped, grasping my forearm, his whisper panicked as he asked, “Who’s that?”

My lips parted, but I couldn’t answer. Not when each delicate finger of his was pressing into my skin. Me. Under a perceived threat, his first reaction was to reach for me. The one who threatened him the most.

He must’ve realized he was holding me, because he suddenly yanked his hand away like it’d been burned and said, “Don’t do that.”

My eyebrows lifted as my tongue failed to devise words.

“I’m serious.” He glared, wiping his mouth, as if to wipe the demon off. “Don’t possess me. Ever.”

There was something uncontrollable inside me that suddenly wanted to…laugh.

His eyes widened when I erupted into a chuckle. “It’s not funny.”

“It is, though. That’s why I’m laughing.”

“No, it’s not.” His fingers tightened into fists, and it looked like he might hit me, but he punched them to his sides. “It’s disgusting is what it is. Possessing people against their will is disgusting.”

My chuckling softened to a grin. “I didn’t possess you.”

His glower faltered a little. “Y-yes, you did. Just now, you did⁠—”

“I didn’t, baby,” I whispered, shaking my head and lifting my palms as I backed away toward the door.

He parted his lips like he might try to argue but said nothing.

“Trust me, human,” I winked, “if I was inside you, you would know.”

His expression heated further, and oh, the pretty little snow fox with the pretty little pout. If he only knew how cute he looked all infuriated. I wanted to spool around in his anger like a rollie bug in the dirt.

But then another knock banged on the door, and I had to peel my gaze from him. Whoever was on the other side of this door lacked patience, which meant it was probably⁠—

“Prince Alek, it’s Lucc!” my attendant’s stressed voice bled through the door. “Are you well? Unwell? Alek? Answer me, please.”

I opened the door, and Lucc exhaled loudly in relief. Then he launched himself forward, squeezing me into a tight hug.

“Oh, Prince,” he said, still hugging me. “I’ve been so worried. I heard. I heard what happened between you and your father. How awful. How distressing.”

I couldn’t help but smile against his shoulder as I let him fuss. He was the son of a nobleman, and a sweet kid. He was also the most neurotic vultus I’d ever met, but it fared him fine in the position as my attendant, a role he took very seriously.

He’d turned eighteen a few months ago. He was only a year younger than me, but it felt like a lifetime between us. Probably because he still ate food. He hadn’t awoken yet, but the signs were there and growing. The twitching. The flashes of red in his eyes when he saw certain humans.

“You are feeling well, then?” he asked, stepping back to hold me by my shoulders so he could scan me, his gaze snagging on my side. “Oh, dear gods. This is bad. Oh, no⁠—”

“It’s fine.” I nodded. “It’s a surface wound. It’ll heal.”

He pinched his lips tight as he peered at it. “But Prince. It’s not healing⁠—”

“What do we have here?” I nodded toward the four human servants in the hallway behind him. “A meal for the human?”

They were all dressed the same in matching aprons and frocks with white hats upon their bowed heads, and they each carried a different food-related item. I waved a hand, easing them from their respects, and they shuffled into a single file line behind Lucc.