Page 13 of Cry for Help

I jutted my chin, meeting his eyes. I reached up to the space between my breasts, where the plastic fastening sat.

Stolas stepped forward, reaching for my hand and stilling my fingers by pinning my hand between our bodies. I felt the heat of his body through the fabric of his shirt.

I looked up. His nose was inches from mine.

I couldn’t read his mind. His dark eyes were endless, like the night sky.

His lips hovered over mine.

He was going to kiss me.

I hadn’t been kissed inyears.

My skin prickled with anticipation.

He looked like he knew what he was doing. I needed that. My fingers twitched with the need to turn him. Until then, I’d forgotten about the plastic wrap in my hands.

Stolas stepped back abruptly, grabbing my dress from the floor and tugging it over my head in one swift movement.

A moment later, a key turned in the lock. Demonic hearing.

Stolas hadn’t said anything about roommates.

He hadn’t said much at all.

He maneuvered his body in front of mine, blocking my view of the kitchen doorway. He took the plastic wrap from my hands, crushing it into a ball in his fist and stuffing it in the pocket of his tailored trousers. His black eyes were alert, but his shoulders relaxed. He knew the visitor, but that didn’t stop my fear.

Now that my belly was full and I could think more clearly, I realized just how dangerous everything was. Stolas had taken me to an empty house in the Human Realities. Maybe he planned to do something that other demons wouldn’t agree with. Something illegal, even by the sparse laws of the Red City.

Maybe he had invited friends.

I mean... It had been a while, and I’d need to stretch, but I could make it work.

Heavy footfalls echoed through the quiet house, and a moment later, a head popped around the doorframe and headed to the kitchen. A male demon. Horns curved from his forehead to his jawline, peeking out of a mass of curly dark hair. His eyes caught the light, shining red, more human than Stolas’s dark sclera, but carrying a strange emotion that I’d only seen in predators at the zoo as a child. The stranger cocked his head to the side, regarding me without a hint of emotion.

“Caim.” Stolas stepped forward, drawing the attention of the horned demon. “I wasn’t expecting you back until tomorrow.”

Caim grinned, flashing the hint of a sharp canine tooth. “Who’s behind you?”

Stolas ignored his question. “Where are Malphas and Murmur?”

Caim glanced over his shoulder, revealing two other men. More demons, though they didn’t have horns like the first.

One of the demons rushed towards the fridge. I pressed against Stolas’s back to make myself as small as possible—hoping they wouldn’t see me.

The blond demon growled, slamming the fridge door. “Who ate my cheese?” He glared at Stolas. “I was saving that.”

I bit back a squeak, feeling the stolen cheese in my stomach like a heavy weight.

“Malphas...” Stolas held out his hands, palms facing outin a disarming fashion.

Malphas didn’t have horns like Camio, but he was no less demonic. His eyes were an endless blue starry night, cloudy darkness. Though his voice was brusque and angry, his face was the opposite. Doe eyes and turned up nose. Shorter than Stolas, he looked almost... Cute.

“Becauseyoutold me yesterday that you don’t consume ‘human food.’” Malphas sneered, lifting his fingers to make air quotes. “You’re a lying—” the demon stopped, sniffing the air.

Caim, Malphas, and the other demon, Murmur, zeroed in on Stolas.

“You bought a human at the Meat Market?” I’d heard Stolas call the demon Murmur, so I assumed that was his name. Murmur had short-cropped hair and shrewd eyes. His cheekbones were high, giving him a regal fox-like bearing, and he stood almost as tall as Stolas.

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