Page 403 of Flirting with Darkness

“Seems we’re both rather lecherous, wouldn’t you say?”

I show him my favorite finger, dunk myself underwater and swim out from the shore.

When I emerge, it’s as if I’m seeing everything for the first time. Streaks of moonlight dapple the stream’s surface and firebugs of not just golden-yellow but pink and purple and even green, glitter and glide among the leaves above. And despite the darkness which in my manor felt so oppressive, so full of sin, there’s a richness, a depth to the shadows here. The indigo night seems less like a threat and more like a warm velvet cloak.

I gaze upward to stars I don’t recognize, and float on my back, cataloging every shade of midnight, every masterful brushstroke of blackness.

If I’m trekking toward my execution, this is a fine memory to make.

“Get back under the ward!” The king’s bellow pierces me through with an icy spear of fear. He dives into the water as I swim toward him as fast as my legs allow.

Dread takes hold in me. Each kick roots terror deeper and deeper. The once inviting darkness is now sharp, full of clacking talons and scraping teeth. Every inborn instinct screams at me to go faster, swim harder. The terrible sounds press in around me, and I think only of escape, of getting to that ward, or diving to the stream floor if that fails. Because with each stroke, each wild kick, I know that to whatever’s out there, I’m just a soft fleshy treat waiting to be devoured.

Panic doesn’t release me even as I breach the ward’s protection, and I don’t stop swimming until I’m in his arms, shaking and shuddering.

He presses me close, his touch a balm against the terror. Silently, he simply holds me until I stop quaking.

Only then does he release me, letting his fingertips drag across my back and shoulders. My breath hitches in my chest and I chance meeting his gaze, fully equipped to dispatch the snide remark or arrogant gleam waiting in his eyes.

I find neither.

“What were you thinking?” The question is hardly more than a whisper, yet the utterance holds the weight of his concern.

“I-I didn’t mean to. It was all so beautifully enchanting.”

He doesn’t say anything. Doesn’t swim away. The space between us swells thick with want, and I’m locked in his gaze. I can’t look away even if I wanted to, and I don’t. And, it seems the same is true for him. But however much I’d like this to continue, to stay suspended, basking in his careful attention, to reach out and touch that sculpted face and coax those delicious flames of desire from him once again, I don’t.

I cannot get involved withhim.

He’s…

Well, I don’t know if he’s a demon or not and I don’t know how to be sure of that.

Though he doesn’t seem evil, but that remains to be seen, I suppose.

But then there’s the matter of him wanting me dead, and that…

Well, that just won’t do.

I narrow my eyes, breaking the spell between us, and adopt a challenging tone. “If you’re the supposed king of this land, why has no one come looking for you? Why did no one try to rescue you from my cellar, or even now? Where is the search party? You said the realm knows you’re here. So where are your loyal subjects, oh king of this dreadful land?”

He stares at me, taking his time, as always. “I cannot prove a negative to you, Liesl. Accepting that I am not a demon is something you’ll have to come to on your own.”

He read me cold. Heard the meaning behind my childish outburst as clear as if I’d said it out loud.

And I hate it.

I twist my mouth into a sneer. “Who said anything about—”

“You did.” He doesn’t say another word. He merely studies my face a moment longer, turns, and swims back to the shore.

“You’re not a very amiable person, are you, little bird?” he asks as he gathers his clothes. “Do you find humor in ferreting out the weaknesses in others to use to your advantage? Does that bring joy to your embittered heart? Fire to your unused loins?”

Before I can volley back, he chucks my boots closer to the water’s edge. “Get dressed. We need to keep moving.”

I curl a lip at him but comply all the same. Although, not before calling him every demonic name and variant I can think of.

5

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