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“I’m going to have to disappoint you again.”
Joy laughed. “What’s your favourite movie, then? Of the ones you’ve watched.”
Malachi took a moment to think, rifling mentally through his watched shelf. He loved a good romantic movie; he loved action films—he had quite a vast taste, actually. But he seemed to lean more toward animated movies.
“The Iron Giant,” he finally said. He loved that movie because it told the story of an outsider who simply wanted a home—wanted to belong. It was a story that said who you were didn’t have to have anythingto do withwhat you were born to do; you choose who you are. “I find the story very relatable.”
Joy softened all over. Her eyes were shining. “I knew you had taste.” Malachi’s feathers rustled as he forced his wings to keep from spreading, though he couldn’t quite prevent the soft smile from stretching his lips. “I’m sure you already know this considering how much time you’ve spentwith me, but I love cartoons. Animated movies. All that. I love them with all my heart.The Iron Giantis an underrated gem and I’m glad you know how to appreciate art when you see it.”
Malachi chuckled. “Animation is my favourite medium as well.”
“I could tell.” She winked.“How about books? Do you have a favourite?” Joy had finally reached the end of the shelf, and was beside the floor-to-ceiling windows, casually glancing outside. She let out a happy gasp. “Wait, you have a garden!”
“I do,” Malachi said.
Joy turned to face him, her question and her current task forgotten. “Take me to your garden,” she demanded.
Fuck. Was Malachi falling in love? Was this what it felt like? Every time she looked at him, it felt like all his organs were taking a tumble;like someone was squeezing his heart at the same time that the organ was inflating like an air balloon behind his ribs.
Rather than use the aether, Malachi took her hand, leading her out of the room, back down the stairs, past the kitchens, and out the back door.
Joy’s sharp, wonderous inhale sent Malachi’s chest puffing, his wings flaring before he could control them.
“Wow,” Joy breathed.
The exit from the kitchen held three pathways, two that wrapped around the house on each side, and one leading straight ahead, right into the garden. All three pathways were bracketed by thick, tall hedges that were a deep green in the darkness.
The path to the garden spilled into a little conservatory, surrounded by hedges on all sides with more pathways leading deeper into the garden. This roofed little space had a small, stone fountain in the middle, with curved benches along the hedges on either side.
Bright flowers bloomed in the greenery of the conservatory.Malachi couldn’t help but show off a little, his eyes flaring as he pulled from the aether.
The flowers began to change colour, flashing dully in the moonlight.
Joy glanced at him from over her shoulder, her lips curled into a happy smirk. “Show off,” she teased, and Malachi’s heartbeat did something complicated. “This is … wow.” She moved to the bench on the right side of the fountain and sank into it, staring around at the conservatory, then up through the glass ceiling at the house behind them. Malachi sat next to her, spreading his wing and draping it around her when she shifted closer to his warmth, which made his heart do that complicated thing again.
Joy shook her head, disbelieving. One of her hands had found their way into his feathers, and he tried not to shiver as she distractedly played with them.
“This place is actually ridiculous.” Her voice softened, and she couldn’t quite meet his eyes. “To be honest, I don’t know how you stand it. It’s … it’s a little big, isn’t it? For you alone.” Then she laughed, though it sounded strained. “I mean, unless you aren’t alone! Maybe you have—I don’t know. Friends. Partners. Lovers. People who visit.”
“I don’t,” Malachi said. She looked sideways at him. “I don’t,” he repeated. “Have any of that,” he clarified. He had to swallow past a sudden embarrassed lump in his throat, looking away, feeling a blush heat his cheeks. It was her scent, his need for her happiness and her vulnerability that had him admitting, “I thought a castle was romantic.”
There. Her scent bloomed like a flower in the night, rarely seen and all the more intoxicating for it.
“Malachi,” she whispered, “that’s so sweet.”
“I am not sweet.”
She laughed, her scent brightening, warming further. “How long have you been in the mortal realm, by the way? Or do demons just come and go as they please?”
“I have been here for nearly two years,” Malachi admitted.
“Only? But you’ve been here before, right?”
Malachi shook his head. “I have not. To answer your earlier question, while demons—or nicquiris, like myself—can travel to and fro through the Veil, we are not meant to remain in the mortal realm. However, wecanremain by one of two ways; using a contract to a human as a tether, or acquiring a human soul.”
“Ah.” Joy nodded in understanding. “So, if someone sells their soul to you, you can stay here for as long as you want?”
“That is correct.”
