Page 6 of Demon's Dark Love

This only ignites my interest more. There’s bravado there, a fire that refuses to be extinguished by the darkness surrounding us.

“What do you want?” she asks, looking into my eyes. It sends a jolt down my body.

“I can ask you the same thing?” I press again, intrigued by the way she looks at me, not with fear but with an ember of challenge that makes my heart race.

She shrugs again but doesn’t break eye contact. “That’s easy. To survive.”

The simplicity of her answer cuts through all the layers of deceit and hierarchy I've grown accustomed to. It’s raw and real, nothing like the games played among demons.

“Why are you different?” I ask before thinking it through.

She stops moving altogether now and tilts her head as if pondering my question seriously for once.

“I could ask you the same thing,” she says slowly.

That hits harder than I expect. I frown at her bluntness, but she has asked something I've been hardly daring to think myself because deep down I know it to be true. Somehow, I am different.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I deflect even as part of me aches for understanding.

Her lips twitch into a knowing smile as if she sees right through my façade. It frustrates me how easily she strips away my armor with just a glance or a word.

I spin on my heel and storm out, relishing the booming that emanates from my footsteps and the way the castle shakes with my fury.

And yet it's not anger at her as it's frustration with me. Frustration because what I really want is to know more about this intriguing human, a desire I absolutely should not be having.

3

LILY

Ifeel Enoch’s gaze on me more often now. When I scrub the floors or haul buckets of water, I catch him leaning against a wall, arms crossed, watching with that unreadable expression.

His crimson eyes seem to pierce through the haze of grime and despair that clings to this place like a shroud. A flicker of something crosses his face before he quickly masks it with that usual arrogance.

“Why are you staring?” I mutter one day, pushing the heavy cart of stones across the courtyard. It grates against the cobblestones, and I can barely lift it on my own. But I refuse to show weakness.

He straightens, smirking as if my words amuse him. “Just trying to figure out how you keep your head up while carrying all that.”

I grit my teeth and keep moving.

Mistress Bethana senses something amiss too. She glares at me when she catches me resting for a moment too long, sweat drenching my clothes and my muscles screaming for reprieve.

Her punishments grow harsher. I've recently been assigned to hauling large stones meant for the castle wall, massive blocks that feel like they could crush me under their weight.

“Get to work, human!” she snaps, her voice dripping with disdain as she watches from her throne-like chair in the shade, two smaller demons holding her drink and a platter of food.

The sun beats down on me relentlessly as I struggle under the burden. Each stone is a testament to my exhaustion and desperation, a reminder that every effort feels futile against the might of demons like Bethana.

Enoch steps forward, a shadow looming over me as I kneel in the dirt, catching my breath after shifting another stone into place.

“You’re pushing yourself too hard,” he says, though there’s an edge of mockery in his tone which I'm sure pleases Bethana. And yet…

I don't dare look at him in front of Bethana so I keep my eyes fixed firmly on the dust around my knees.

“Do I have a choice?” I ask.

“No. But I'd like to see how far you can bend before breaking.”

He tilts his head slightly, studying me as if I’m some kind of puzzle he’s determined to solve.

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