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The privacy of the frosted glass is gone and Bax is right there. Sitting at his desk. His eyes on me. Our gazes lock. He’s been watching me this entire time and the thought makes it hard to breathe.
I swallow hard. “Asmodeus…who implemented all these changes.”
Even though I can’t pull my gaze away from Bax, I can feel Asmodeus’ smile. “Only one person could.”
I swallow hard again, taking one step toward the center of my chaos, but Asmodeus stops me with a soft hand on my shoulder.
“Elara,” he says, “there’s something you should know, before you go in there.”
It takes great effort to pull my gaze away from the archdemon so I can look at Asmodeus.
“I’ve known Bax for a long time. Long before you ever existed,” he says. “There’s a power here. An undercurrent. You are in danger.”
My eyebrows lift slightly.
“Your soul…” Asmodeus presses. “It would not be wise to continue. Your job here…is done.”
But, is it? I swallow hard as I pull my gaze away from him and face Bax once more. He’s right of course. Everything I wanted to implement is done and it didn’t take six months either.
I should be happy.
So why…why is there some part of me that’s feeling lost and alone?
With each measured step forward, it’s like Damnation Financial fades around me. The closer I get to Bax’s office, the more that thing inside me grows and demands attention. And before long, I’m right before the heavy mahogany door.
My palm presses against the wood and it opens slowly.
I swallow hard, standing in the doorway and facing the archdemon before me.
“Bax,” I whisper.
“Elara,” he says.
He doesn’t move an inch and yet still I’m drawn forward until I’m standing right before him. At my back, the door slides closed, shutting out the rest of the office around us.
“You…you did this.” My voice cracks and I can’t seem to care. “You implemented all my changes.”
That red-hot gaze of his searches my face.
“I thought you hated my ideas. I thought you didn’t care.” I release a shuddering breath. “Yesterday, when I stormed out, I—”
My gaze falls. How can I admit I was so hurt I almost drank myself into a coma? Risking seeing annoyance on his face, I lift my eyes back to his.
The expression on his face is one I’ve never seen before. Gone is the cocky surety that is always there to be replaced by something I could almost mistake as caring.
Bax searches my face. “Yesterday…was it about what happened between us in the library?” he asks carefully.
The memory causes a fresh wave of pain. “Let’s not talk about that.” I choke out. “That’s in the past. A mistake. Something that didn’t mean anything to you, clearly. You have many lovers.” Ugh, just remembering that female demon from that first day makes something akin to jealousy rise within me. “It was nothing. Anyway—”
Bax rises and suddenly he’s before me. “It wasn’t nothing, Elara.” His voice drops low. “Trust me.”
I laugh bitterly. “Trust you? How can I possibly trust someone who delighted so much in sabotagingeverythingI did? I mean, you’ve fixed it now. Am I supposed to not be upset?”
His jaw tightens. “You’re right. I made a hell of a mess of things. But don’t for a second believe you mean nothing to me.” His eyes blaze with sincerity. “You’ve worked your way far deeper under my skin than you realize.”
His words hold me speechless and I lift wide eyes to him.
With one hand, he gestures and the glass around his office turns completely opaque.
