Page 34 of Nocturne

I shrug, trying to be nonchalant.

“Ivy said that he nearly bit the head off of a male nurse who tried to take you from his hands,”

I don’t like the small smirk on her face. I shrug again even if my insides are a mess. Is she talking about him? His face was the last thing I saw but it could have easily been Eero. I don’t think someone like Mr Devlin would have enough free time to waste it on me.

“He seems well acquainted with you,” Iyra probes and I shake my head as a no.

Although he saved me and I cried in his hands for an embarrassing amount of time and ruined his shirt, he is a stalker and still is a stranger. A dangerous one at that. No amount of attraction or insides turning into a puddle of goo can change that.

“Since when do you cosy up with men like him?”

I turn to give her a slight glare at her judgemental tone. A triumphant smile plays on her face and I fall back on the pillows with a silent groan. I cannot believe I fell for the juvenile trick.

“Gotcha!” She laughs.

I groan silently again.

“You fancy him,”

I shake my head vigorously, denying her words. She seems amused when I try to throw the empty ice bucket her way but it gets lost somewhere in my blankets.

“I don’t have to tell you to stay away from men like him right?

The amusement vanishes from her eyes after a few seconds.

“Their world is much more dangerous than we can ever fathom, Ara,”

It is my time to turn suspicious. She talks as if she already knows it. So I grab her phone and type.

That tone suggests a familiarity. What are you not telling me?

“Crestford is the hub for the local crime boss and I hear stories that chill me to the bone.”

I nod even if the slightest bit of suspicion remains. Before I can ask her anything, the door to my room opens.

Ten

Zagan

I’m used to it by now. The stares, the slack jaws, the way people look at me like I’m something that crawled up from hell. Doesn’t bother me like it used to. Younger me would’ve taken one look at their faces and smashed them into the nearest wall just for looking my way. Now it’s just irritation.

That’s why I avoid public places unless I have to.

“You look absurd holding that,” Iblis taunts Eero.

“Fuck off,” Eero growls, adjusting the massive white teddy bear in his arms. “Agatha bought it, and I’m not throwing it out.”

Iblis smirks, nodding at Nico, who’s clutching five huge balloons. “Agatha got you too, huh?”

Nico just grits his teeth. I don’t get why the fuck they have come along. Hell, I don’t even know why I’m here. I know she’s alright. I know she’s woken up. So why the hell am I standing here, wasting my time?

Eero doesn’t bother to knock as he barges into her hospital room. Not that any of us have ever been known for our manners.

“How are you doing, sweetheart?”

I grit my teeth at the endearment, hating how my enforcer seems to have grown a soft spot for her.

“She’s doing good,” A small woman beside Ara answers for her.

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