Page 61 of The Demon Mark

“Not me. Then she plucked out his eyes and told him to find his way out of the castle.” Lilith winced. “He only took about seven steps before he fell.”

Orphe always knew how to please him, even when he wasn’t feeling well. But clearly, Lilith thought this was a gruesome end, and she wasn’t a particular fan of such things. Understandably, considering how sheltered she’d always been. So he did not laugh at the man’s misfortune. Even though he wanted to.

But then he caught a glimpse of his arms and hissed out an angry breath. “Where are all my tattoos?”

Now it was Lilith who arched a brow. “You healed them all, but did not summon them to return to you. I corralled them all into your office, but they’ve nearly destroyed the place. They also had free access to both my bedroom, the kitchen, and the pool room, considering the portals were still active. They’ve made an impressive mess.”

He was certain they had.

Sighing, he started the long and arduous process of calling them all back to him. One by one, they appeared on his flesh. Each one settling in a new spot, jostling with others as they raced across his body. At one point, his favorite serpent ended up with some of its coils over his cheek before he hissed out a complaint that forced it to move.

And throughout it all, she watched him with an amused expression on her face.

“What?” he finally asked. “What is that face for?”

“It’s just... You handle them like children.”

“Sometimes they are,” he grumbled.

She stayed right where she was, leaning her hip against his bedside table and still wearing that amused expression, and he just couldn’t take it anymore. He didn’t want her to be so far from him. Not after they had both risked their lives and they were both injured.

He patted the bed beside him. “You were injured as well, oracle.”

“You healed me.”

“You need rest just as much as I do.” Although he had to admit, he’d done a fantastic job healing her. There weren’t even dark shadows under her eyes. She looked like she’d slept for hours and woke up the most rested she’d ever been in her life.

That she didn’t hesitate to round his bed and crawl on top of the covers warmed him to the bone. He hadn’t realized how nervous he was until she’d moved. Although she hesitated when she got a little closer to him.

He wouldn’t let her ruin this moment with her innocence. Reaching out an arm, he hooked it around her back and drew her into him. With her in his grip, he eased back down until he was lying flat and she was pressed up against his side. Every inch of her touching every inch of him.

With a deep, contented sigh, he settled into the softness of his bed. “This feels right,” he murmured.

She stiffened before falling limp against him. “It really does. How strange.”

“Is it so strange to you?” He lifted their hands together, holding them up so they could both look at them. “I don’t find it strange at all.”

And he really didn’t. It was the most natural thing in the world to have her hand in his. To see his blocky fingers framing the thin grace of her own. And as he watched with her, mist rose from her skin. It mingled with the magic that came from him, almost as though it was pulling his magic out of him.

Where they met, a brilliant golden light emerged. Like a gold thread, it glimmered in the light.

“You see?” he murmured, watching her mist toy with the magic he allowed it to feast upon. “Not strange in the slightest.”

“This isn’t strange?” A slight giggle erupted from her lips before she looped one of the golden threads around her thumb. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen my magic do this before.”

“Because you hadn’t met me.” And that fed something deep inside him. Something was so satisfied to know that he was it for her. That he’d been something different and unique and more than anyone else had ever given her.

So he looped the thread around his fingers, too. Envy rotated the thread so that it wrapped around their wrists, binding them a little closer to each other with every movement. But never close enough. He wanted to be even closer to her.

With his arm around her shoulders, he toyed with the magic that they both called their own.

This was enough, too.

24

Lilith woke a few hours later, still snuggled up to his chest. And what a strange feeling it was to wake wrapped up in a man’s arms. It made her feel... different.

Less like the woman that no one wanted. Less like the strange oddity that everyone gave a wide berth for fear of what she would see. But Envy didn’t have to be scared of her. She couldn’t see his future, and even if she could, Lilith was quite certain that he wouldn’t be bothered by it.

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