Page 52 of Fallen Demon

“I’m not cold,” he said and I almost winced, still not used to hearing his demon voice.

But he had noticed I was cold. He had made the fire for me. He might not understand it yet, but he cared. I needed to use that.

“I know, but I am. If you sit next to me, it’ll help.” I was pushing it.

He huffed and didn’t oblige. He stood on the other side of the fire, tall and regal, ready for a battle. In the distance, an owl hooted and a branch cracked.

His body tensed.

“Relax,” I said. “It’s just an animal.”

“They can attack.”

“Oh, I doubt they will get too close.”

Levi was the most dangerous animal in these woods, I was sure.

I felt my stomach contract with hunger. When was the last time I had eaten? I had no idea where my bag was. I had probably dropped it somewhere in the underworld, before this whole ordeal started.

Levi paced in front of the fire while I trembled with each faint, chill breeze that blew our way.

I was giving him some time to calm down and be bored before I struck.

Finally, when he paused and looked up at the bare trees, I found my opening.

“What’s your plan?” I asked. He looked at me. “What will you do now? Just stay here with me? Let me die of cold and hunger? Start a war? What?”

His brows curled down. “I want my revenge.”

“Revenge. Against what? Who?”

“My enemy.”

“Ylena? The angel who was in the underworld with you?” He grunted as if to answer yes. “Why do you want revenge against her?”

His frown deepened.

He didn’t know. Levi had been so lost to the monster, he didn’t know why he had been fighting her in the first place.

“Why did you take me?” I tried another approach.

The demon stared at me, his eyes dark, intense. “I don’t know.”

“That’s not a good answer.” I pressed a hand to my chest. “Did you feel something here?”

He glanced down at my hand and averted his eyes. He did! That had to be it. Feeling confident about this, I stood, walking around the fire and closer to him. His gaze was fixed on me the entire time, and his body tensed as I approached him.

I halted a foot from him and placed my hand on his chest again, like I had done when we were flying, but this time, nothing else was distracting him.

“We’re bonded,” I told him. “You’re tied to me and I’m tied to you. We feel each other. We have feelings for each other.” I leaned in closer. “You like me.”

With a growl, Levi caught my arms and pushed me against the closest tree, its trunk wide and hard on my back. He bared his teeth right in my face.

“There are no feelings.” His voice was even deeper now, rougher, chillier. I went rigid, afraid I had pushed him too far too fast. “I don’t feel anything. I just want my revenge and you’re standing in my way.”

He snapped his sharp teeth and punched the tree right above my head. The trunk creaked and cracked with his strength, but it didn’t break.

I paled.

---