Page 96 of The Devil and His Sparrow

“You’re drunk,” Zagan said flatly, his head still turned away. “I think we should talk about all of this tomorrow.”

My eyes didn’t follow him as he headed back toward the house. I stared at the wooden pier beneath my feet, numb to it all.

Numb to my mom’s lack of love.

Numb to Zagan’s hurt.

Numb to my pain.

A chill swept over my bare arms, and I was reminded that I came out to the water in nothing but my sleeveless dress. My insides were warm with the booze, but the sting of the November cold was enough to make me want to take my drinking pity party inside.

I turned on my wobbly legs, and the world spun with me. The deck edge went out from under me, and my arms wheeled as I fought to grapple with something. There was nothing.

I tumbled back into the dark, frigid waters. My cloudy mind panicked at the sudden cold waters dragging me under, and the immediate shock knocked some sense back into me. I fought to reach the surface as my throat closed up, but it felt like the surface wasn’t getting any closer. My throat burned with the need for air, but no matter how hard I kicked my legs and clawed my hands, the surface remained far away.

Terror seized me as pinpricks of pain and the need to breathe grew to a near-bursting height. I fought harder, yet I still found myself submerged in the dark depths. My mouth pressed together as the fire in my chest reached its breaking point.

This was it.

I was going to die.

Hands suddenly grabbed my upper arms and yanked me in the opposite way I’d been frantically swimming.

The moment my head broke the surface, I sucked in huge gulps of air and choked as tears streamed down my cheeks. I was slung over a broad shoulder, and the warm body at my torso carried me away from the water until we reached the grassy backyard.

Zagan set me back on my feet and grabbed my upper arms tightly as his wild eyes searched my soaking wet body. “Are you okay?”

Shivers shook my entire frame. I’d almost died. The shock kept my wide eyes locked on him, his own dark hair clinging to his forehead as rivulets of water ran down his face and body. “F-Fine.”

He released me then, and his blue eyes swirled dark. I blinked, and in that short second, the human Zagan had given way to the demon. His clawed hands snatched the bottle of bourbon from my hand, which I hadn’t realized I’d held through that entire ordeal. He chucked it at the house, smashing the drink in a spray of liquor and glass.

“You’re cut off!” He turned his fuming black-and-red slitted eyes on me as he raked his hands through his wet, dark hair. “What the fuck were you thinking? You could’ve died! Do you understand that? I get you’re—”

“You saved me,” I said, breathlessly. My heart continued to race, but it was no longer from the adrenaline of nearly drowning. “I could’ve died.”

He sneered at me, exposing his fang-like canines. “I know. I just fucking said that.”

I stared at him. The cold air hit my wet body and clothes, but the feeling couldn’t be further from my mind. “It—It would’ve been an accident.”

He placed his hands on his hips like he was fighting to not rip me apart where I stood. His nostrils flared as he snapped, “Glad to know it wasn’t on fucking purpose.”

“Zagan,” I said softly, taking a step forward. My throat tightened all over again, and the bourbon left me as quickly as it had hindered me. “Why would you save me? It would’ve been an accident. You—You would’ve been free.”

I saw it the moment he realized what I was getting at. His shoulders stiffened, and he seemed to stall out. No breathing. No blinking. He just stared at me. Slowly, he turned his head away, staring off at nothing. “Forget it, Iyla.”

My brows slammed down, and I took another step in his direction, my wet dress clinging to my legs. “No. I won’t forget it. Why did you save me? Why—”

“Shut up!” He roared, shoving both hands into his hair to grip his head like he was trying to silence it and me. His chest rose and fell sharply with heavy breaths, and he paced a few feet away.

“Zag—”

“Goddammit,” he growled, his slitted eyes finding mine as his hands dropped to his sides. He rushed forward in a blur of darkness, and his clawed hands gripped the sides of my face as his lips crashed into mine. A warm flutter broke out inside me as he kissed me hard, almost desperate in the sweep of his lips and tongue.

A groan sounded in the back of his throat as I fisted the front of his wet shirt, just as hungry for him as he seemed to be for me. His body pressed into mine, forcing me back, and a dizzying rush hit me. I opened my eyes just in time to see a plume of black shadows erupt around us. When it cleared, we no longer stood in the yard but in my bedroom.

“Fucking crazy,” Zagan growled as he nipped at my lip with his fangs then swept his tongue against my own.

“What is?” I asked breathlessly. My heart raced, and my entire body burned like a glowing ember.

---