Page 56 of The Demon's Delight
“About what?”
“The pain in your chest.”
A flash of cold went through me. “You know what it is?”
He looked away, and the fact that he wouldn’t meet my eye sent my pulse spiking, anxiety and exhaustion mixing in a toxic way inside my body.
He rubbed a hand across the back of his neck. “It’s complicated.” Of course it was. I huffed a heavy breath. “It’s not bad, Hailon,” he reached out, the pad of his thumb running across my cheekbone. His eyes betrayed him though, the gold dimmed. He seemed sad. “Promise. But it is important. You can come in while I bathe, if you want. We can talk.”
I declined, but stood outside the cracked door longer than I cared to admit, listening to the splash of the water as he washed, the soft noise as he hummed a tune while scrubbing out our clothes. I’d barely moved the handful of steps to sit on the end of the bed when he emerged, hair damp and his clean tunic over his arm.
“I really do need you to teach me your alphabet.”
He followed my eyes to where they were fixed to the strange greenish letters tattooed across his chest.
He grinned, tongue teasing along the points of his teeth. “As I told you, I’m more than happy to teach you whatever you like. These just tell my rank as a soldier and Prince of Hell. Nothing mysterious.” After pulling his shirt on, he fussed with the fire in the hearth.
“You’re stalling.”
He nodded and fidgeted, visibly struggling with where to begin. “What do you know about fated mates?” he asked.
“I beg your pardon?”
“Fated mates,” he repeated.
“I’ve heard the term but have never known anyone it applied to. I thought it was another one of those things that ends up in storybooks but doesn’t really exist, not for normal people.”
“You’re not exactly ‘normal people,’ Hailon. And I’m… well, I’m not evenpeople, really.” He smirked, the gesture somehow humble.
“You know what I mean.”
“I do.” He nodded, then laid down on his back, his feet still on the floor. “Fated mates are a rare and treasured thing,” he started. “Two of my brothers have been so blessed. The two that are in Revalia now, interestingly enough.”
I stiffened. The chances of that happening… I was awed. “How does one know they’ve met their mate?”
“My brothers both said they felt a burning in their chest. That’s how it’s recorded in several books, as well.”
My ribs suddenly felt too tight, the muscles and skin there rigid. His fingers reached out for mine, squeezing. I returned the gesture, which made him sigh.
“Has your chest been burning, Seir?” I wanted to look at him, but I also didn’t dare.
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Since I first arrived in that house.” He was uncharacteristically quiet, his voice barely above a whisper.
I spun to look at him, and he gazed back at me with such softness, such vulnerability I could hardly stand it. He was a tall, strong man, an enthusiastic force of nature. Yet that look on his face was more powerful than any sword he could wield.
Words failed me as I watched him study the nuances of my expression. He seemed braced for a negative response. I stuffed my initial reaction of disbelief down and instead focused on smoothing the wrinkles in the blanket as I lay down next to him.
“I thought it was the food, too, at first,” he said, our faces nearly so close our noses touched. “But now I think it’s more than that. Much more.”
“What does that all mean? What happens if that’s true?”
Seir shrugged. “It doesn’t have to mean anything.” He pulled one of my hands to his mouth, kissed the palm and set it over the strong, steady beat of his heart. “I believe we all have a choice, even when the fates try to get involved in the details.”
“Will it hurt like this forever?”
