Page 29 of Wickedly Yours

Over and over, that thought repeated through my brain.

He’d lied.

EIGHT

zain

Luna was still trembling.

The bodies of the demons who’d tried to attack her were fresh in my mind. Hers, too, I was sure. Had she ever experienced that level of violence before? I hated that I’d exposed her to that.

That she’d seenmelike that.

This wasn’t how I wanted to tell her who I was.

Though I’d magicked away my wings and the blood from my fingers, my blood was pumping too furiously for me to return the rest of my human glamor.

But now… she wasn’t safe here. I didn’t know how they’d found out about her existence, but I supposed my recent visits to the human realm hadn’t gone unnoticed.

It was the day of my deadline for Damien, not that Luna knew anything aboutthat.Because I hadn’t told her.

Dammit.I’d fucked everything up. Part of me had known I would because I couldn’t stay away from her. She was like a drug, and I wanted more of her in my system.

As soon as I’d sat Luna down to her feet, I could practically feel her slipping away from me. Like she was building bricksbetween us, blocking out the bond. On the couch, she’d drawn herself in tight, her arms pulling her legs to her chest as if she could keep herself together solely with the physical effort.

“Youlied,” she whispered. Luna’s eyes were focused straight ahead on the wall in front of her, avoiding my gaze. The furry beast she called Selene jumped on the couch next to her, the cat nuzzling against Luna’s arm.

Sighing, I kneeled in front of her. “Believe me, I never meant to.” I’d kept things from her, yes, but would she have believed me if I’d told the truth from the beginning?

“A lie of omission is still a lie.” She finally looked back at me, her breath catching as her gaze caught on my irises. “Who are you?” Her eyes trailed over my form. “Whatare you?” Luna’s voice was quiet as she said the words, like she was unsure if she wanted the answer.

“I think you know, love.” Perhaps it was my fault. For not saying it the moment we’d met. For not getting it out in the open before we’d slept together. I knew I shouldn’t have, but how could I stay away?

Her shoulders sagged.

“You’re not human,” she stated, a slight hesitation in her tone. “But you’re not a witch, either. Iknewthat. But how’d you get through the barrier? How did the magic not keep you out? Why—” She was spiraling, all the questions I’d left unanswered coming back to the surface.

“Luna,” I murmured, cupping her jaw. Moving closer, like the bastard I was, because I couldn’t keep my hands off of her. Not when she looked so uneasy with the truth. But I didn’t want her to fear me. “You’re right. I’m not human.”

“You’re ademon,” she whispered, that word not filled with disgust as I’d feared. Some of the tension in my chest eased. “That’s how you could defeat them, right? They were demons, and you?—”

I’d ended their sorry existences. I didn’t regretthat.

“Yes. They’re a race called blood demons,” I confirmed. They were demons that solely existed to prey on weak humans, who would take what they wanted without concern for other life. “Nasty things. They didn’t deserve to live.” I reached up to brush a strand of hair behind her ear.

The color drained from her face, and she let out a strangled sound. “Why did they come afterme? I’m…” She twisted her hands nervously in her lap. “I’mnothing. No one. I’m just a baker, for goddess’ sake. I’m not…”

“It’s my fault,” I said, cupping her jaw. Forcing her to look at me. “They came after you because of me.”

“But… why? What could they possibly attain by attacking me?” Confusion painted her face.

Because of who I was. Because of who she was to me.

“They want to hurt me.” I winced, knowing the next part was going to be another shock. “And we haven’t been very careful. My scent is all over you.”

That must have been how they’d found her so easily.

Her eyes widened. “I—what? Ismelllike you?”

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