Page 5 of The Shadow's Soulmate

“You aren’t the only one. He’s flirting with other women, too.”

My throat felt tight and I tried to swallow.

“Well, we aren’t dating. He can flirt with anyone he likes.”

“You deserve to be the only one. And he’s not a good person. There are a few of them in here, guards, who are up to something. Something that will have terrible repercussions for us all.”

Before I could respond, he disappeared. My body sagged. What was I thinking? Offering him therapy. It was ridiculous, but at the same time, it was the only thing that made sense. I needed to figure out what his problem was, and that was where I could do it best. I tried to push Billy out of my mind. He was a free agent, he could flirt with anyone he liked.

Chapter 4

Descaris

Ihesitated outside the room. What was I doing? I’d completely failed to stay away from her. Every single person I decided to kill just led me to another vision of her dying. Which was a shame because I especially wanted to rip the balls off that guard who was flirting with her. Slowly. I’d thought about it a lot. But each time, the visions got more painful. Watching her die over and over and over again was flaying me raw. I was breaking, and I had to find out why. Why was she so important? How could she break down centuries old barriers like no one else ever had? Why did I want to murder every man who even looked at her?

I passed through the door and immediately she glanced up at me. Wide brown eyes looking me up and down. Every part of me wanted to rush to her. She was beautiful. The thought stopped me in my tracks. Truly beautiful. I’d seen plenty of attractive human women before. I’d even enjoyed them from time to time. But this. This was true beauty. It didn’t matter how hard I tried to push it away. She was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.

“Please sit.”

I sat in the chair opposite her. We were so close now. I felt my body harden in that place where my cock would be if I took a solid form. I adjusted my robes just in case she could somehow see that, too.

“Well, as you know, I’m Ella. What’s your name?”

“Descaris.”

“Hello, Descaris.”

My name sounded like a song when it came from her. I wondered how it would sound if she was moaning it. She watched me for a moment, twisting her hands. She was still scared of me. I didn’t know how to fix that. I was a shadow demon. Demons were naturally dangerous and often violent. I’d killed countless other creatures.

“How are you finding your time in prison, Descaris?”

I didn’t have a heart in my body anymore, but I could swear that it started beating harder in its box.

“Tedious. Aggravating.”

Until you, was what I wanted to say next. But I held it back. She leaned forward, like she could tell I wasn’t saying everything, and she watched me. Quiet. Waiting. Those brown eyes taking me in. She wasn’t shaking anymore. This was her arena. Clever. She’d changed the state of play by pulling me into the place she was strongest. I admired the strategy. It made me even more turned on by her.

“Prison isn’t exactly how I planned to spend the next couple of centuries of my life.”

“How did you plan to spend them?”

I paused. How honest to be?

“In luxury. With power.”

“What went wrong?”

For the first time in my life, I didn’t want to talk about what I had done. I didn’t want to see her reaction. I knew she wouldn’t approve.

“I did what I had to. The underworld that I come from is full of the most vicious creatures, all vying to be on top. It’s kill or be killed. Sometimes you need to send a message to those that threaten you.”

“Do you?”

I tilted my head at her. It was a genuine question. She wasn’t judging me. That was unusual for a human.

“Sometimes. I had people that lived on my lands. People that worked for me. It’s only right that I protected them. Proactively when needs be.”

“Proactive protection?”

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