Page 83 of Of Sins and Sacrifice

He does, doesn’t he? That is a fine quality in a human. He might be insulting sometimes and there might be a gap in our understanding of the English language, but his heart is in the right place.

Why are you thinking of his heart, Minnie?

I shake myself. Although his heart is housed in a rather nice and muscular chest and…

Bad Minnie, bad!

All right, so he might be a good-looking specimen. But he is still human and far below me. This is something I should keep in mind at all times. But that is why curiosity is eating at me regarding Mine and the greed demon.

How had Mine been able to see it? Talk to it?Hitit?

Not only is that shocking, but it is quite impressive, too.

After what feels like forever, Mine finally stops in front of a tent-like structure. Stabbing a key into the lock at the door, he opens it and pulls me inside.

The interior is almost bare save for a one-person bed next to a small table. In the back, there is a study desk with a myriad of papers on top of it. Two changes of clothes hang from a railing. Oh, and there’s one of those radio contraptions, too, sequestered in a dark corner.

“You want me to treat you here?” I blink in shock. “Through the night?”

I might be curious about him, but this is…unseemly.

We’re alone, in a secluded space. It doesn’t matter if it’s technically both his office and his bedroom. What’s important is that I am alone with a male when I am at my most vulnerable.

“There is no need to treat me,” he adds with a sigh. “I told you there’s nothing wrong with me.”

Turning on a couple of lamps, he lets me gaze upon his body.

I study him from head to toe, noting that the bulging lump from before is no longer there.

W-what?

I hurry to his side and fall to my knees to get a better look.

“But how?” I ask, looking up at him. I pat the front of his trousers, amazed to find the lump completely gone!

Mine audibly gulps and averts his gaze.

“I told you it was nothing,” he mutters, grabbing onto my shoulders and pulling me up.

“But… How did you see the demon then?” I whisper, more confused than ever. “Only dying people can see them…”

Mine is the opposite of that. He is full of vigor—not at all like someone at death’s door. In fact, I should probablynotbe noticing that vigor since it’s making me uncomfortably warm and causing my tummy to ache for some reason.

“Does that mean you’re dying too?”

“N-no. That’s… I mean,” I stammer. “I’m different.”

“Different how?” he asks as he grabs a suitcase and props it on the bed. He opens it and fishes out a clean shirt, which he puts on.

I let out an unconscious sigh of relief. I’m glad I don’t have to stare at his chest anymore. It was quite…distracting.

“You first. How come you could see that demon?” I counter.

I’m not about to reveal all my secrets to someone I don’t trust—a human nonetheless. It’s forbidden for my kind to get involved in humans’ lives and that includes revealing my divine status. Although… I am decidedlynotdivine in this moment. I wonder if the rules still apply to me if I have no powers.

He chuckles.

“Tea?” He motions to a kettle on his desk. The tea is probably long cold.

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