Page 34 of The Fallen
“No. No, you can’t possess me,” I gasp out, batting his hand away.
His brow furrows in confusion and he draws away.
“My kind cannot possess humans. I can use your magic and essence, so to speak, to make myself invisible to others around us. That is it. But I still require your permission. Does your kind truly think you can be possessed by us?” He shakes his head, one pointy ear twitching as the shouting and pounding footsteps gets louder.
I stare up at him, my mind spinning with nothing but a roaring static that almost drowns out my own heartbeat. If I say yes, there’s a chance no one will know he’s even here. If I say no, guaranteed expulsion from the Academy and possibly jail time. That’s if I get out of this tunnel alive.
The beam of a flashlight illuminates the wall farther down the tunnel, and the fear twists tighter inside me. If I say yes, maybe I can get justice for what Jacob did to me.
“Yes.” I can barely hear my whisper over the roaring in my head.
Asenath’s shoulders slump in . . . relief? Is he relieved that I said yes? Why is a demon lord worrying about anything here? Doesn’t matter, that roaring is getting louder and darkness is batting at the edges of my vision.
All I can see is the demon’s crimson eyes as he leans over me. Feel the softness of his lips as he presses his mouth against mine. Magic surges around me and my own abilities flare, sending goosebumps over my skin. Tongues of flame and rivers of ice flick across my body as our two separate magics swirl and merge. The pressure in my head and chest swells until I feel like I can’t breathe.
The pressure bursts, my vision whiting out as my magic stretches and morphs, almost as if I’m sliding into body temperature water. The last thing I see before darkness swamps me is Ben rushing towards me, screaming my name.
CHAPTER 4
Beeping. That’s what drags me out of oblivion and lets me know my body isn’t happy with me. I’m really getting tired of waking up in new places and not knowing how I got here. It’s happening way too often these days.
Wait, what day is it?
That beeping doesn’t stop.
I peel open my eyes and blink blearily at my surroundings. There are gray cabinets across from where I’m lying with a stainless steel sink to one side. The smell of citrus antiseptic is subtle, but it makes my nose itch.
It’s dim here, just a single light over the sink. Though the blinds are drawn, early morning light filters around the edges. How long have I been out?
I scan the room for that damn beeping and find a monitor by my left shoulder. Owlishly, I blink at the hodge podge of numbers and lines on the screen. And the fact that I can see the information perfectly, what does it mean?
Why isn’t everything blurry?
“One of the perks I mentioned,” a deep voice says softly.
I jerk in surprise and immediately hiss in pain. Pretty certain my toes are the only things that aren’t hurting right now.
In a blur, Asenath is at my side, brows pinching in concern. “I swear if you offer to kiss anything to make it better, I’m taking this needle in my arm and shoving it somewhere uncomfortable for you,” I grumble.
He arches a silver eyebrow, a faint smile on his lips. “Threatening a lust demon with penetration of any kind is typically considered foreplay.”
I roll my eyes, shifting to get into a more comfortable position. It hurt like hell, but I’m expecting it so I only let out a soft, painful grunt in the process. Asenath reaches out to me and I instinctively flinch, but all he does is fluff my pillows a bit so that my neck doesn’t get a crick in it.
Odd. Very odd. I thought demons were more prone to ripping the pillows to ribbons and using the remains to kill their victims as slow as possible.
I blink at Asenath’s arm. And then blink again. “Why are you sparkly? You weren’t sparkly in the tunnel. Were you?”
Asenath chuckles, before turning to look behind him. I follow his gaze and see a still form on a small recliner next to my bed. Ben is passed out, snoring softly. My heart speeds up, the monitor tattling on me as the beeping increases, but I don’t care. He’s here and that makes my chest tighten and my stomach get that fluttery feeling.
“As to your question, it’s because I’m still shielding myself within your magic.”
“So, like an invisibility cloak, but with sparkles? How very . . .Twilightof you.” I don’t get to say more as a quiet knock sounds on the door before a nurse opens it and flits in.
Literally. Her tiny body can’t be more than two feet tall, and her colorful wings are nearly invisible as she darts to the monitors, twittering something in her own language as she jots down information on her notepad.
If a sprite is my nurse that means I have to be in the medical wing of the Academy. Her dark blue hair floats around her face, accentuating the pale blue of her skin tone. After she finishes her notes, she flits over to me and lands softly on the handrail of the bed, peering at me with warm blue-gray eyes.
“I’m so happy to see that you are awake,” she trills softly. She asks me a series of questions, jotting down my answers; although every now and then she glances around the room with an intent expression. I have to keep myself from looking over at the very naked Asenath, who is standing silently in the far corner, tail twitching impatiently.
