Page 20 of The Devil and His Sparrow

Fucking knew it.

I closed the distance between us and dropped to my knees in front of her. “So then, do we have a deal? You let me eat when I want, and I’ll try to heal your sister?”

I watched her throat bob on a swallow, and despite the lingering swarm of frustration, I wanted to run my tongue over that neck. Afterall, I was still hungry.

Finally, she nodded. Her voice came out as barely a whisper. “Deal.”

Chapter 7

Iyla

SPEECHLESS DIDN’T DO WHAT I was feeling justice. My brain and all its sense of reality had basically been shoved into a meat grinder and shredded to bits.

Demons.

They were very much real.

And I was now stuck with one.

For life.

I was sure when I woke up this morning that Nahla would tell me it was all a bad dream. We never went to the concert. Never hung out with Sinners Do It Better. All of it was some weird fantasy I’d built up in my head. I mean, when I woke up that morning, there was no weird black ink around my throat like the night before.

But when Nahla stumbled out of my bedroom where I’d dumped both of us after booking it out of the party, I knew it had all been very real. I guessed that meant the black ring on my throat turned invisible. Thank God. I didn’t know how I would’ve explained that to anyone.

“Please tell me there’s coffee,” Nahla groaned, rubbing her hand over her face.

Forcing a smile, I pointed to the kitchen over my shoulder. “In the pot. I already have some ibuprofen next to it for you, too.”

“Ugh. You’re a saint.” She kissed the top of my head on her way by the couch where I sat and eagerly poured the hot brew into a mug while popping the pills. “Last night was easily the greatest night of my life.”

My cheeks warmed, and I tried to hide the flaming of them behind a hearty sip of my own coffee. Last night was a rollercoaster of emotions. I had a lot of fun dancing once I’d warmed up to letting a little loose, and when Zagan ate me out … that was like heaven. But what happened right after was a shit show of the greatest magnitude.

I let a demon screw me.

And that shit hurt.

I stood behind my initial opinion—sex wasn’t any good.

Nahla plopped down beside me on the couch. She propped her elbow on the back and leaned her head against her palm while she sipped her coffee. I fought a chuckle at the crazy state of her post-party hair.

“I love what you’re doing with your hair,” I teased. “Absolutely gorgeous. Are you going for a just-struck-by-lighting look or a birds-welcome-to-this-nest look?”

“Shut up,” she grumbled with a laugh, shoving me in the shoulder. “My scalp is sensitive right now from Dante pulling on it. But damn, it was worth it. That man gave me more orgasms than I have shoes.” Her eyes took on a dreamy look. “I’ve never had such wild, amazing sex. And that’s saying something.”

I shook my head, but there was no hiding the smile in my voice. “I’m glad you finally scored your celebrity crush.”

“What about you?” She nudged me. “What did you do all night while the rest of us were busy?” She paused, and her eyes took on a conspiratorial gleam. “Now that I think about it, Zagan was missing from the group festivities, too. Were you two hanging out?”

I chewed on my lip, trying to gather my words. My hesitation was all she needed as confirmation.

Her eyes widened, and she sat her coffee aside before practically climbing on top of me. “Oh, hell yes. Spill! You better tell me everything? Did you fool around? Did you finally have sex?”

I should’ve known she’d have questions and thought about my answers in advance. Under normal circumstances, I would’ve immediately poured my secrets out for Nahla to listen to and dissect. But what happened with Zagan was not normal. The experience of losing my virginity was a mess with details I wasn’t sure how to divulge without sounding certifiable. So I decided to give her part of the story.

“We may have kissed,” I said slowly. I grabbed a strand of my dark hair and twirled it around my finger. “And he might’ve, you know … gone down on me.”

“Oh my God!” Nahla squealed, bouncing on her knees. “How was it? Did you love it? My baby had her first orgasm!” Her features suddenly turned serious, and she grabbed my shoulders. “You did orgasm. Right?”

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