Page 60 of Their Demon

I pressed my lips together, feigning deep thought. I let the moment drag on, hoping to make him sweat it out a bit. “Fine.” He sagged with relief. “But under no circumstances, no matter how much you beg me, will I cuddle with you.” I bit into my sandwich to keep myself from smiling.

After the joke settled in, the twins laughed again, and Keir cracked a tiny, itty-bitty smile.

“I love you, baby,” Nicholas said before kissing my cheek hard. “Our life would be so boring without you in it.”

“And less beautiful,” Aiden tacked on with a wink.

Keir was surprisingly pleasant the rest of the day. He ate lunch with us, ran on the treadmills with Nicholas and me as he told us about his father putting him on leave, and even gave me more praise than usual during our training. I was feeling much more relaxed than usual throughout the night.

When I got tired, I walked to my bedroom, the twins taking the hint and crawling off the couch to follow me down the hall.

We small-talked through our routine of brushing our teeth, washing our faces, and dressing for bed like we did every night. When I got to the bed, Aiden was already laying on his side. Nicholas stood by the bed, plugging our phones in. He turned and motioned for me to crawl into my spot in the middle.

I gave him a quick peck on the cheek as I placed my knee on the bed, preparing to hoist myself onto it.

The door swung open. “Good. You’re dressed for bed.”

I looked down at my skimpy pajama shorts and tank top then back up at Keir. He moved out of the doorway and stuck his arm out, inviting me to accompany him. I huffed, but I had agreed to this earlier; it just… slipped my mind.

Aiden sat up in bed. “What are we supposed to do then?”

Keir looked as though he couldn't care less. “Sleep in your own rooms? Snuggle each other for warmth? I don’t fucking care.” His shoulders came up, and he put his hand on my back as he ushered me out the door, his fingers brushing the small sliver of exposed skin above my shorts. My skin tingled as goosebumps spread.

“Why’re you smiling like that?” he asked once the door clicked closed, and we walked toward his room.

“I just didn’t know the dark, broody brother had humor in him,” I replied, softly bumping his arm with my shoulder.

“I can be funny.” He sounded offended, which only made me laugh.

“Sure you can,” I teased. “I believe you.”

“You little brat,” he remarked half-heartedly, poking my side as he opened the door to his bedroom.

“Whoa,” I breathed out.

His room was black everything: walls, bedsheets, floor, everything. I wanted to look at his room and learn more about him, but my eyes were drawn to the windows. They lined the outside wall, overlooking the city.

My body moved on its own, carrying me to the door in the middle of the windows. It led to a balcony with a glass railing, a sleek metal bar lining the top.

I opened the door, and the cold breeze smacked me in the face, blowing my hair back. Awestruck was the only word I could find to describe how I felt as I looked out over the lights and buildings. I never realized just how high up we were. Looking over the balcony gave me an instant headache; the ground was so far away.

I didn’t even notice Keir had followed me out until he cleared his throat. He was leaning on the railing, but he wasn’t taking in the view like I was. He was staring at me likeIwas the view, a strange look in his eyes.

I looked back out before I thought too hard about it and misread the situation, as I had done so many times before. “It’s beautiful,” I said to break the silence. “Makes me miss the luxury of windows.”

My room didn’t have them, and from what I knew, no other room had a balcony like Keir’s.

“Yeah, about that…” He trailed off, and I turned to face him, waiting for him to continue. “The room was originally intended for our mother. We tried to convince her to live with us, awayfrom our father. The room was designed so she was protected and safe inside the walls, with no windows for him to silently sneak through in the middle of the night.”

“It’s your mom’s room?”

“Washer room.” he paused, tearing his gaze from me to look down. “We waited a long time for her to come to her senses, but—well, she never did.” He paused again. “I visited Hell while we had you at the cabin. I came here and told Ida about you, about needing a place to stay…”

“And you chose her room?” I asked, curious as fuck about why he decided to give hismother’sroom to the human who seemed to pester the shit out of him.

He nodded. “It was time for a change. It sat empty, dusty, for way too long.” He looked back up at me. “I’m actually glad it’s yours. You brought life to that room.” I started to say something, but he kept talking. “Purple looks better than green anyway,” he chaffed with a smirk.

“Thank you.”

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