Page 38 of Satanic Shadow
“What happened?” I ask as Dane closes and locks the door, trapping me in here with him. “You’re not one of those kinky demons who like dub-con, right? My safe word is not pineapple.”
“I’ve no idea what you’re talking about.” He winces as he lets go of his side, leans down to grab a large diamond, and places it on the professor’s desk. “I need you to open this, that’s all.”
“You want me to open a diamond? Are you for real? They’re specially made by pressurized—”
“Stop. Speaking.” Dane rudely slams his hand on the table. It’s covered in blood. His blood. “Do you take anything seriously? You do all that research on me and still try to provoke me? Do you have any idea what I could do to you without even blinking?”
I straighten my spine, attempting to make myself seem taller, confident, and hopefully a little intimidating. “You don’t scare me.”
“Then you’re as dumb as I assume all humans to be.”
“Hey, have you forgotten we’re partnered up for everything? Stop treating me like I’m worthless and show me some respect.”
Dane looks bored as he shoves one hand into his pocket. “No. Can you open this or not?”
I cannot believe this guy.
“Tell me how you got hurt and I will.” I have no idea why I said that, or why I have the urge to know, to hunt down the person responsible and rip them to shreds.
Sighing, he pulls his hand out of his pocket, takes his other hand from his wound, and begins to undo the buttons of his stained white shirt. I feign indifference, but the sight of him stripping down his top half with only the moon shining through the window is fascinating. I allow my gaze to trace his chest, the powerful muscles there, the ridges of his abs and his hips, coated in blood.
“Why is your blood black?”
He freezes as the shirt slips from both arms. “Because it is. Why is your blood red?”
“Because I’m normal.”
“Nothing about you is normal, human.” He leans against a student’s desk, showing me the deep gash at his ribs. “I tried to open the diamond and it sensed my magic, so it struck me. It has information I need.”
“A diamond beat you up, and you think I’m the weak one?”
His patience is nearly nonexistent. Good. “It won’t be able to trace any power from you, and you’ll be able to pull the scroll free.”
I stare at the diamond, which is no bigger than my palm. “And how do I do that?”
In a foreign language I can only assume to be from his world, Dane mutters a sentence that sounds like it could hurt my tongue. His eyes flicker to a soft silver, not the bright version I’ve seen a few times. With the wound beginning to heal itself, he says the five words again. Are they even words?
“You sound a little Russian.”
He scowls as he repeats the sentence again, and the sliced flesh begins to knit together, little thin black tendrils crisscrossing, closing the wound.
The creature can heal himself. I have no chance of ever winning against him.
His eyes don’t leave mine, and an odd sensation has me swallowing melting ice. Is it hot in here? Did I drop the candles and they’re currently spreading fire through the castle? That would make sense, unlike this nonsense about me opening a diamond for a scroll.
Dane stands, stretches his side to test the skin, and then reaches down for his shirt. When he notices the blood on it, he crushes the fabric with his fist and tosses it aside.
Realization dawns on me. “Why didn’t you heal yourself before coming for me?”
Looking from me to the ground, he shakes his head. “I don’t know.”
“You don’t know…”
“Grab the diamond and read this out loud,” he says, handing me a piece of paper with the most illegible handwriting. “Say it clearly, and when your mind opens up to its power, you follow the humming noise and grab the scroll. As soon as you do, shut your mind off again, got it?”
No. “How do I say that?” I stare at the squiggly lines. “How is that pronounced in English?”
Dane looks like he wants to kill me. He’s impatient, yet patient. “Do as two, do as one.”
