Page 87 of Demons and Darlings


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Alek didn’t know that Theia was the Goddess of Light. He had no idea why my mother was so strict, why my apartment was video-monitored, and why I couldn't text him using my own cellphone.

He knew nothing. He had never asked. Never pushed. Even though I knew he wanted to. I knew how my situation looked from the outside.

“Why does she keep you locked in that apartment so often?” he asked. “Why are you afraid of her finding out what you’re really doing?”

I set my fork down, suddenly losing my appetite. “She’s just strict,” I answered.

“But why? Did you have a crazy rebellious phase when you were younger or something?”

He continued eating, completely ignorant as to how catastrophic these questions were.

Yes, I had a rebellious phase. If you would even call it that. I had escaped her increasingly tight claws and had ran—as far as humanly possible—until my feet bled.

Only, I wasn’t just some rebellious teenager. I was my mother’s purpose for surviving. My blood gave her worth. Gave her power.

Because my mother controlled the veil. And she needed my blood to do it.

But I couldn’t tell Alek any of that.

Or could I?

Alek understood my need to live. My longing for adventure. He understood the darkest parts of me that I had kept hidden away. He saw it all, and he showed me the light. Which in his world, was just more chaos and darkness. But I loved it. I loved all of it.

Could I show him this? Could I share this burden with him? This man who was a stranger to me just a few weeks ago?

I stopped myself. No, I couldn’t. Alek was a demon, and he had mentioned the veil more than one time.

But would he use me? After knowing how caged I had been? After knowing how tortured I had felt my entire life? How sheltered? I’d like to think he wouldn’t, but when was I ever that lucky?

“I ran away from home a long time ago,” I said. “After my father died, it was just my mother and I, so I could see how she would feel a bit insecure after that.”

“Wow,” he said. “Seems like she can hold a grudge.”

“Yeah,” I agreed, forcing a smile. “She can. It’s a miracle she even allows me to live in that apartment alone. We’ve come a long way.” He eyed me with brows drawn together. “What?”

“It’s just… it seems like you’d be totally fine on your own. That’s all. You’re a beautiful, smart, witty girl. I don’t see why you let your mother control you so much.”

“It would be impossible not to. She has connections.”

“That’s right,” Alek replied. “You mentioned that she worked for gods and goddesses. That must create a lot of pressure for you.”

I blushed again. Of course Alek would remember a tiny lie I told weeks ago. And of course he would bring it up. “Exactly,” I said.

It felt wrong lying to him. Especially because I knew he might have been the one person in the world who would really understand my situation.

His father controlled him, too. In a different way, Alek was also living his life in a cage.

Two caged animals begging to be let free.

Both too afraid to bite the hands that fed them.

How poetic.

We finished the rest of our dinner without discussing our parents. Alek mentioned a few of his favorite sight-seeing locations, where he used to wander in Paris, and how him and Charles had known each other for years.

“Are you ready for the real fun to start?” Alek asked. He stood up and held his hand out for me to join him.

Was I ever?

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