Page 196 of Of Sins and Sacrifice

“I slept enough,” I grumble. “Did you find anything in these books?” I switch the topic, still not very used to these new feelings he awakens inside of me.

Before him, I’d had concerns. But true fear? I’d never encountered that. And I’m still not sure if it’s a good or a bad thing that I now have.

“Not on greed demons in particular. Yet.” He closes the book in his hands and places it next to him. He’s barely looking at me. “How come the general let you borrow all these books?” he suddenly asks.

“He didn’t. I took them.”

He half turns and raises a brow, the scar tissue puckering around his eyebrow.

“Just what happened in there?”

I purse my lips. I don’t know how much I should tell him because I don’t want him to worry too much. After all, the general might have tried to harm me, but he was killed before anything happened. By a demon of all things. Truth to be told, I am still trying to wrap my head around what happened at the base because I’ve never seen a demon so powerful to be able to take out a general with the least amount of effort.

“Let’s just say that my visit there wasn’t welcome. But the general and the soldiers had other things to worry about”—like being killed, though I don’t say that—“so while they were busy, I made away with the books.”

His lips tremble.

“Minnie, Minnie. Breaking more rules?”

I shrug.

“If they did not want to listen to me, then I might as well take it upon myself to solve the issue.”

“That’s a good initiative. Then you should be rewarded even more, no?”

“I suppose so,” I mutter, though the desire to be praised and rewarded seems like a faraway one. Especially after what happened at the military compound. Commander Azerius will no doubt hear of it soon and he will launch an investigation into what happened. He will want to interrogate me, too, and I’ll need to come up with a narrative that will least impact me or Mine. Alas, good thing he waited for me outside. Because the commander will likely employ the truth diviners to see what occurred and if he saw a human with me…

“Then we better start working,” Mine says. He’s still avoiding facing me directly, and I frown. Grabbing a book, I shuffle in front of him so I can have a clear view of him. I do like his eyes on me, and perhaps while he’s reading and not paying attention, I can also steal some glances at him.

He seems startled by my move, but he doesn’t say anything. He merely continues reading.

I force my attention on my book, but every time he turns a page, the sound captures my attention and I find myself glancing up.

He has a slight frown as he concentrates on the words at hand. I wonder how my little spell worked in aiding him to understand the language and if he has any difficulty deciphering the written form.

I should be putting in the same effort to research this demon—it is my reputation and maybe even life at stake here. Yet time and time again, my eyes slide up, ending on his face.

Is he still in pain? Did my blood help with that too, or it just closed the wounds? The questions are so many, yet I find myself tongue-tied when it comes to voicing them aloud.

Suddenly, his gaze collides with mine.

I immediately straighten my back and avert my eyes, but I’ve already been caught.

“Do my new scars bother you?” His voice, laced with a combination of wariness and resignation, surprises me.

I blink in shock, this time looking directly at him.

“No. Why would they?”

He lets out a tired sigh as he threads one hand through his thick locks.

“You don’t have to lie to me. I looked in the mirror this morning. I saw…” he trails off.

“What did you see?”

“I look like a monster,” he replies quietly.

“What?” I stare at him. “You what?”

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