Page 316 of Evil Hearts

“What does that mean?”

“It means I cannot be corporeal in the light because it takes too much energy. I need darkness.”

“How will I ever see you?”

“Once we mate.”

“Mate?” I bark out, jerking out of his touch and to my feet. “You mean fuck? We’re supposed to fuck?”

He chuckles again. “Don’t act like you don’t want it.”

“I don’t even know what you are!”

“I am yours.”

“Butwhatare you? You’re not human. Are you a demon?”

“I am not a demon. I am… a creature of the darkness.”

“And how did you get here?”

“You performed the spell.”

Right, yes. The spell. I know that. But…

“How does Madame Zella know you?”

“She has a deal with our kind,” he says, moving closer to me. I feel his presence there, and his voice is closer. A little louder. There is nothing that tells me I should be afraid of this thing,other than it’s a monster in the darkness and an otherworldly being that I know nothing about. But I’m not getting bad vibes from it.

“So, what? She gives people the spell and you all get to feed on humans?”

“It is not feeding. It is freedom.”

“From?”

“Our version of hell.”

Oh… okay.

“How do I know I can trust you?”

“I suppose,” it begins, brushing its fingers along my forehead, then down my face. I feel it standing right in front of me. Feel its large presence. Though I can’t see it with my eyes, there is something that I can just feel, that I know. Like a memory, almost. This thing is tall and large. Seven feet or so and if it had weight to it, I’d guess around three hundred pounds. “You will learn to trust me over time.”

It’s hand falls, but it doesn’t move.

“What is your name? Do you have one?”

“I am Nyx.”

“That’s… simpler than I thought.”

“It is short for Nyxomaiha.”

“Still not too bad,” I say with a little laugh, then realize what I’m doing. I’m fucking laughing in my living room with a demon. Okay, not a demon, but a monster. I’m hanging out with a monster. Is this really what my life has become? What the hell!

Yet, I don’t hate this. Don’t hate that this room doesn’t feel as lonely as it usually does. That his touch is warm and possessive. That his voice is soothing and understanding.

“How are we supposed to be together if I can’t see you?”

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