Page 40 of Bad Demon

Of course he did. He probably came here all the time. He probably brought his dates here. Did hounds date? Why was I even thinking about that? Why did I care? I didn’t. I opened the menu and scanned what was on offer while he scanned the room like he had laser beams coming out of his eyes and was ready to slice someone in half if they dared look at me wrong.

A server came to our table and smiled at me. “Can I get you something to drink?”

“Don’t look at her,” Relic said before I could open my mouth. “Look at me.”

The guy went pale. “Uh … sorry. What can I get you?”

“Beers.”

The guy dipped his head and rushed off.

“That was so freaking rude.”

Relic tracked the guy all the way back to the bar. “He looked at your tits.”

I froze. “No, he didn’t.”

“Yeah, Tink, he did. When we walked in and while you were looking at the menu.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, oh. Now, let me do the protecting.”

The guy delivered our drinks, and this time, he kept his head down. We ordered, and as soon as we were on our own, Relic turned and faced me.

“So, what’s going on?” he asked.

I blinked up at him. “What do you mean?”

“Fern, you literally drugged me and bartered me out of my soul. You’re fucking terrified of something even more than you are of me. So, what gives? Who’s the big bad? Who am I fighting? Point me at them, and I’ll take them out. Deal done.”

“I’d rather not say,” I said. “And if the big bad comes, you won’t miss them. You’ll deal with them then.”

“Fern—”

“I’m not talking about it.”

No, I couldn’t talk about any of it. I couldn’t take the looks of disgust or pity that were sure to follow. Or worse, if I talked about it, the nightmares would definitely come, the memories would invade more than they already had been, and I’d spiral out of control all over again.

My fingers tapped against my thigh before I knew I was doing it.One, two, three, four. Four, three, two, one.Always fours. Everything in fours.

Our dinner arrived, and thankfully, Relic let his line of questioning go.

We didn’t talk much while we ate, and after he paid for the meal, he took my hand again, led me back to his bike, and took me home. If I hadn’t tricked him out of his soul and if he wasn’t being forced to protect me, it’d almost be like we’d been the ones on a date. I’d never been on a date. I’d never had a boyfriend.

But it hadn’t been a date, and he wasn’t my boyfriend. I didn’t want or need either of those things.

We walked into my place, and I left him in the living room to take a quick shower and dress for bed.

I went through my bedtime routine and my current list of things Ihadto do before I could sleep. Moisturizing first, brushing my hair second, then I sat on the edge of the bed and had a sip of water before placing my drink bottle on the coaster on the bedside table, tapping the bottom of the cup against it just right.Front, back, left, right. Twist left, twist right.Then I slipped off my slides, making sure they were lined up perfectly.Not quite right.I adjusted them.No, still not right. Fuck.I did it again, using my thumb to make sure they were lined up perfectly.Good. Then I climbed into bed and pulled up the covers. Some rituals came and went, but this particular line-up had lasted years.

I could hear Relic moving around in the living room, and then he knocked on my door and walked in.

“You can sleep on the couch.”

He chuckled. “Not sleeping on that fucking small couch, and that’s too far away from you.”

He tugged off his shirt, kicked off his boots, and then undid his jeans.

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