Page 68 of The Devil and His Sparrow

He smiled, only this time, there was no trace of teasing or seduction. It was all warmth, one that came out when your whole being felt the effects of whatever bliss coursed through you. “I was glad to do it.”

He came over to where I still stood in the doorway. “I’ve got a meeting to get to with the group, so go ahead and get settled in. Since you don’t have more clothes, I’ll see about sending Eden over with some. Just relax, okay?” He tucked some hair behind my ear and stared down at me. “You deserve some time to unwind.”

I held his gaze, which searched mine. My heart felt too full after what he’d done, both this morning with all the cake and again now. As I looked up at him—this demon that I’d accidentally gotten stuck with yet come to care about—something deep inside of me urged me to lean into him. To place my hands on his firm chest. To press onto my tiptoes so that I could feel his lips on mine.

But I didn’t know where that desire came from, and that scared me. It scared me how badly I wanted to get closer to him.

So instead of doing anything that my body begged, I smiled and whispered, “Thanks.”

Zagan left in a plume of shadows. With the abrupt lack of his presence, I finally drifted into the room. The first thing I did was flop back onto the bed. It welcomed me like the softest cloud, and I nearly stayed there because it felt that inviting.

I shot Nahla a text while I laid there, telling her how Mom had kicked me out. With that done, I forced myself to get up. I moved to the gorgeous record player. I eagerly got the Sinners Do It Better vinyl out and placed it on the turntable, starting the record up. The pulsing and sensual song filled the room, and I smiled as Zagan’s deep voice sang sweet words and filthy promises.

The next stop on my room tour was the bookshelf. I pulled each of the ten books down, gushing over the covers and reading the synopses. I’d read a couple of Nahla’s books over the years, but to have my own books to hug and flip through was surreal. Especially since they were romance books, the genre I’d been most drawn to.

By the time I finished flipping through and looking over the books, the record player finished playing the Sinners Do It Better vinyl. I switched off the player and replaced all the books, knowing that I needed to unpack before I got swept away in their fictional worlds. I turned the TV on and thumbed through the streaming sites. I landed on one that had The Conjuring and immediately turned it on to watch while I sorted through my belongings.

As I put away the few remaining things I had, I waited to feel the lingering effects of my new reality. Hurt. Turmoil. Grief. Anger. Something.

But all I felt was happy. Zagan had taken a horrible situation and actually made it seem exciting and like a new beginning instead of an ending.

I finished putting all of my things away, and with nothing left to do, it hit me how drained I was. Even though I wasn’t lingering on the dark turn of the morning, I couldn’t deny how stressful it had been, and that wild rollercoaster of emotions was catching up to me. I nestled back against the many pillows on my new bed, hugged the dragon from Gemma, and focused on the movie.

About thirty minutes into the film, Zagan reappeared in my room.

I smiled at him. “Welcome back.”

He smirked. “You look cozy.”

“Very.” I sat up a bit and paused the movie. “How did the meeting go?”

“Funny you asked.”

He looked at the vacant air beside him, which thickened with shadows. In the next instant, Coldin appeared next to him in his dark sweats and t-shirt. He was as straight faced as always with eyes that would be solid black, if not for the flames dancing in them. His swooping black horns stood tall in his brown hair, and his clawed black fingers flexed by his sides.

I gasped at the sudden appearance of the demon.

Zagan gestured to Coldin. “He’ll be staying with us.” Zagan looked at his bandmate. “Go ahead and change.”

Coldin wordlessly darkened and shrank until a long, thick black snake sat on the ground where he’d just been standing. His forked tongue flicked out into the air as he slithered around my room.

“Holy shit,” I whispered, watching his tail disappear beneath my dresser. I guessed he’d been searching for a dark place to hang out.

“Yeah,” Zagan said with a small laugh. “All the guys are getting places here in Tennessee since I’ll be staying here often now. That’s what the meeting was about. Us relocating here instead of New York. We’ll still have things to do up there, but we can record music here just fine with the studio I have.”

He nodded in the direction Coldin had disappeared and explained, “Coldin is a … well … different kind of demon, and he isn’t allowed to just roam free. He has to stay with one of us, and when he isn’t doing a job—band stuff or his more particular assignments—he has to stay as a snake. So you shouldn’t ever see much of him. He’ll just be doing whatever it is snakes do.”

I swallowed hard, still staring at the spot where he’d disappeared beneath my dresser. I glanced warily at Zagan. “What kind of demon is he, and what’s his particular job?”

Zagan scratched the corner of his mouth, his lip ring flashing in the light. “You don’t wanna know.” He looked at the TV and came around the bed to flop down next to me. “What are you watching?”

“The Conjuring,” I answered, my eyes inadvertently tracing the hard lines of his body. I was astutely aware of him and every move he made as he settled against the pillows beside me.

“Oh, that horror movie based on a true story, right?”

“Yep,” I said, hitting play again, since he clearly wanted to watch it with me.

We both fell quiet, intent on watching the dramatic and suspenseful scenes unfold on the screen. The demon haunting the family made her first appearance, and my attention stayed glued to the chaotic moment.

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