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“Aw, come on, that isn’t fair,” he practically whined. “How about if I promise to admit everything later?”
“How about if you tell me right now?”
Pursing his lips, he straightened to his full six and a half foot height, thrusted out his spectacularly muscular chest, and brushed the wrinkles I’d caused out of his shirt. His ears twitched; his leathery black wings partially expanded and then like an accordion pulled tight against his body.
Krishna hovered at my elbow as if he were as invested in Asmoday’s answer as I was.
Let’s not even get into why I was so invested.
Asmoday spread his arms wide. “Yes, Daruka, at some point, my family expects me to take a mate and get her with child. And no, I don’t want to do it. I don’t want to take over, and I don’t want to have kids. I’m a demon, for the love of fire and brimstone.”
He narrowed his eyes, glaring at me. I darted my gaze back and forth, like that would somehow help me understand why he was looking at me like that.
“Part of the issue is the person I think is my mate is—”
I lifted my hand, cutting him off. “Don’t go down that path. Not right now.”
“You’re forcing me to talk about my deepest, darkest secret, and now we can’t talk about yours?”
Whatever I may or may not feel for Asmoday, while confusing and frustrating, was definitely not my deepest, darkest secret.
Luckily, the building gave another shake, this one hard enough to knock dust from the ceiling and send a picture of some long dead famous person crashing to the floor. Students screamed and shouted for their friends while professors seemed to materialize out of nowhere, directing everyone to calmly and quickly make their way to the main level of the building.
“What are you expecting?” Asmoday asked as the three of us made our way downstairs at a significantly slower pace. He seemed to be pretty much recovered from the jolt I’d accidentally given him, but I wasn’t exactly in a hurry to get down there to what I suspected was waiting for me.
“What do you mean?” I asked, hopefully sounding casual.
“You’re expecting trouble. I can tell. What do you think is going to happen?”
I sighed. “I’m guessing my roommate wants to duel or whatever supernatural people do when they fight over a lover.”
“Really?” Krishna said, sounding shocked.
Asmoday barked out a laugh. “I don’t think that has been a thing for hundreds of years, Daruka. Although I do appreciate your willingness to dual on my behalf. It’s very romantic.”
“It really is,” Krishna agreed.
“Damn it, it isn’t on your behalf,” I argued, even as my stupid cheeks heated. “I don’t think she’s going to give me a choice.”
He sobered and gave the walls a critical glance. “I’m not so sure. Whatever is messing with this building is seriously powerful, and Selina is definitely not. She barely has any magic. I’m sure that and the expectations as a result of having the surname Blackthorn are why she’s such a bully.”
“I have some pretty steep expectations and you don’t see me treating other people like shit,” I pointed out.
“What expectations are those?”
Oops, I shouldn’t have said that. “Later. Seriously. Whatever is going on with this building is clearly more urgent than my family issues.”
He didn’t press, simply allowed me to set the pace as we followed the crowd to the main level.
“What would you do if you didn’t go back to manage the elfin woods?” I asked after a few moments of silence.
He snorted. “The only way I can get out of it is if I take on some other responsibility that is equally as important. Which, one, doesn’t sound like fun, and two, there aren’t many options.”
At least he had options. Mine were to do as Dad dictated or keep running and hiding.
Period.
When we were done dealing with this Selina mess, I probably needed to tell him about my situation. It wasn’t fair to keep stringing him along, as inadvertent as it may be, without him knowing the full story.
