Page 31 of Taken to the Shadow Realm

So… I deflected.

“Your hair is so pretty,” I cooed as I ran a comb down her wet strands.

Her shadows had come out to play as soon as we sat down on the bed. They snuck up my legs and held on to me as I started to brush her hair. She stayed still, not speaking, but her shadows told me all I needed to know.

While at first I couldn’t read them, now they told me how Yien was feeling—not in colors, but with their actions. And right then, they were holding me close.

Every time I moved the slightest bit out of reach, they would pull me back and wind further up my legs and arms, slipping into my robe and rubbing mindless patterns over my skin. They needed the comfort.

She needed the comfort, even if Yien didn't want to admit it. Her shadows told me every little thing she was thinking.

Xira fully believed they had lost Allura, but for the first time, I saw disbelief and frustration on Yien’s face. She didn’t want to believe it. It was almost an insult for Xira to even suggest what she had.

But Xira’s emotions and the blue that surrounded her told me that she firmly believed their sister was dead. There was even a burst of pity that flooded through her aura when she realized that Yien wasn't going to accept her words easily.

“No one's ever brushed my hair before,” Yien said, breaking the silence.

“Have you ever let anyone?” I asked and moved on to another section. I was about halfway through.

“No,” she answered.

“It's okay to rely on people sometimes,” I advised. “Especially me. You chose me as your companion. So I'm here whenever and wherever you want me.”

“I didn't ask for you to brush my hair,” she said bluntly.

If she had been a normal human, my feelings might have been hurt by those words. But this was Yien, and I could sense that she had some trouble putting what she actually felt into words. So, I let it slide.

“No, but I knew that you needed it.” I smiled lightly. She couldn't see it, but her shadows traveled further up my legs and arms, tickling my skin, telling me that she heard the smile in my voice.

“I’ve never needed anybody.” That was a lie. Or maybe she just couldn’t comprehend the concept of someone helping her. Of someone wanting to help her. Maybe she didn’t understand what it meant to be needed or to need someone.

But I could show her.

“Maybe you have, but you haven't been able to put it in words,” I said with a shrug. “Everyone needs someone, demon or human.”

“Do you need someone?” she asked, and I paused, letting her hair slip through my fingers.

Her question caused my heart to skip a beat in my chest. How many times had I laid in my bed, my mind screaming into the void, begging for someone to come save me? How many times had I sobbed, curled up into a corner because of what my parents were putting me through?

“I’ve needed someone for a very long time,” I admitted. I never thought it would be possible for anyone to come to my rescue. But it happened in the most twisted, fucked-up way, when I least expected it.

And I’m not sorry it happened this way.

“You weren’t happy. I could tell when I first saw you—you were afraid on that stage, but it was more than that. But something has changed since you've gotten here. You feel… less tense?” Her words were careful, like she was afraid of my answer.

“Yes,” I said carefully. “I think the other humans would be appalled if I told them that I would rather be here with you as a demon’s pet than back home.”

“I’ll always be there for my pet,” she vowed, twisting around to look at me. Her eyes scanned my face, searching for something.

“Is that all I am to you?” I asked. “A pet?”

A slow smile spread across her lips. It was enough to cause my heart to jump in my chest. Every time she showed even just a little bit of emotion, my own feelings went haywire.

“No,” she answered. “You're my companion, but you like it when I call you my pet.”

She wasn’t wrong. I liked it when she called me hers.

Her shadows slithered up my legs, teasing the junction between thigh and hip and brushing slightly over my underwear.

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