Page 117 of The Girl Who Only Died Once

CHLOE (12:35 PM): I do hate that nickname.

MAISON (12:36 PM): Heard that two junior level guards in Washington reported you were back, then people dismissed it, until the complete and utter destruction of a base in Minnesota.

CHLOE (12:36 PM): To be fair, I did the breaking in, not the destroying.

MAISON (12:37 PM): Delina is jealous of your adventures and don’t you dare ever bring her in someplace like that.

Chloe quirks a smile at her phone, before deciding that she’s done with the conversation and shoving the phone into her pocket.

“Overprotective, much?” Killian asks blandly, and at some point, she’s going to have to address the fact that he can see through her eyes.

“That’s the Half Demon,” she informs him, “and his n…person.”

“Did you almost say Necromancer?” Killian says dryly. “Is that the one who brought you back?”

She doesn’t like him figuring that out, so she crosses her arms as he squints at her, like he’s trying to figure her out.

“So that’s what they were doing with Alerin’s son this entire time, they turned him into a Necromancer’s bodyguard,” he says, and it’s way too accurate. “And why he would’ve flipped sides, if I had a guess.”

“Are you just guessing or something?” Chloe asks, and there’s almost too much heat in her voice for the moment, so she relents. “They’re very…loyal to each other.”

He takes another long moment, before he shrugs, one shouldered. “Inherited that from his father. Half or not, the demon side comes through.”

It’s too insightful and begs more questions about the demon attachments that she’s not quite sure she wants to deal with at the moment.

But she crosses her arms, raising an eyebrow instead. “Switching bodies hurts so much?”

“It’s not fun,” he challenges right back. “There’s a reason we don’t do it around humans.”

Despite his tone, he reaches towards her and his hand grazes her elbow. Her heart jumps, any words suddenly leaving her brain at such a simple touch.

“You slept well,” he says, gentle and tentative, stating it despite the question.

She doesn’t know if he can tell that from the touch or not.

“And you seem very aware of my physical status,” Chloe shoots, before rubbing her eyes. “Of course I did.”

A small quirk of his lips. “Good.”

“Her father…” Chloe trails off at the sudden shuttering of his expression. “What did he do to you?”

“What do you mean?” he asks, voice so carefully neutral, but his hand tightens ever so slightly.

And Chloe’s too experienced in all of this to be cowed by questions. She’s withstood torture. She’s withstood imprisonment. She’s shot Killian, for heaven's sake, and he’s saved her life.

She’s not going to be scared by him showing some fear.

“A few things she said,” Chloe says, sticking her chin up. It’s unfair that he took a new body and it’s still so much taller than her. “He experimented on you?”

The human face is impassive, perfectly still, but beneath it the demon face spasms as if she hit him.

But he clings to her arm, as if it’s the single thing keeping him there.

“Can you tell me how?” Chloe asks, and her heart pounds. “You were at the Minnesota base. You were kept captive in a cage. You had a cell you knew well enough to teleport to.”

He wanted to kill the Terese project out of some mercy.

And if he wants her trust, if he wants the small physical comforts from her and all that means, she’s going to need some actual answers.

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