Page 16 of Firefly

“Are you feeling a little better?” he asked, resting his shoulder against hers.

Her sigh was long. “Each day, I am a little closer to death.”

Simon lifted his arm, wrapping it around her shoulder. “What can I do?”

She let her head rest in the crook of his arm. “My only fear is for Sarah. I never want Father to lay a finger on her.”

Simon squeezed her gently. “I promise to do everything I can for her. And you.”

Rebecca lifted her head, pulling out of his grip, and faced him. “It's too late for me. I only care about keeping Sarah safe now.”

Simon’s fingers trembled, and he curled his hands into fists at his side, taking a deep breath. “I want to be honest with you. And… no matter how you feel about me after, please know I will look after her.”

Rebecca’s gaze trailed to his shaking fists, and he willed them to be still. “Tell me,” she whispered.

He opened his mouth. “I…” He’d imagined this so many times, but the words didn’t want to come. He tried again. “I am bound to your father by magic.”

Rebecca nodded as though she had already expected this.

“But…” He dug his nails into the palms of his hands, feeling the indentations in his skin, and relaxed his grip. “It's more than that. I bring demons back for him. So he may extract their essence to prolong his life.”

Rebecca’s lips turned down, but she gave him another encouraging nod.

“Before… me, he only extracted demons from humans who were possessed by them. Their bodies were inhabited.” He took a shaky breath. “When they were extracted, the human died.”

He closed his eyes, terror at seeing whatever expression was on her face, forcing them shut.

“Those boys,” Rebecca breathed. “My father would have killed them?”

He nodded. “But I was stopping him. I wasn’t bringing the boys to him.”

Rebecca’s hand flew to her mouth. “You weren’t?” Her eyes sparkled in the moonlight, tears threatening to spill down her cheeks.

He should tell her all the times he brought humans to her father. He should tell her he had tasted human blood and liked it, even if he was working to keep those cravings in check, but fear was a living thing, and it strangled him. That was hope in her eyes. Hope that he wasn’t the monster she thought he was.

“There’s something else,” he said, forcing the words past his lips before he lost his nerve. “I’m not alive.”

Chapter 12

Simon

Rebecca flinched back as though she had been struck. “What?”

Simon’s fingers were trembling again. Somehow, he had known this would be the thing she couldn’t forgive. Could he blame her?

“Your father’s experiment didn’t just bind me; it ended my life.”

Her gaze roved over him, looking for proof or perhaps something to discredit him. Her eyes lingered on his jacket sleeves, and she reached down, sliding them back and gasping. “Simon.”

His gaze followed hers to the dark marks wrapped around his wrists, a brand forever reminding him of all the times he had been strung up in her father’s laboratory.

She reached for his hands, and they trembled more violently as she placed hers over them and gave a gentle squeeze. She looked up, meeting his eyes again. For a moment, he thought she could see him as he truly was, but the moment passed, and she gave him a weak smile.

“I see only my dearest friend in the entire world. Nothing more and nothing less.”

Simon let out a breath he hadn’t known he was holding, some of the tension bleeding from his limbs, and squeezed her hands. They sat like that, staring at one another, hands clasped, and hope blossomed in his chest.

“What a tender moment.”

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