Page 40 of An Unexpected Ascension
“You’re on borrowed time.”
My mocking smile falters, but only for a second because little does he know, I’ve nearly paid off my entire penance.
“Not for long. Pretty soon, I’ll have a nice little residence not far from Saint’s Rowe.”
He chuckles, the vibrations in his chest rumbling against my arms clutching the clothes.
Leaning down, out of earshot from Jessie, he whispers, “I’ve missed you in our little cave. Come pay me a visit. I promise I won’t bite.”
“In your dreams, demon.” Rolling my eyes, I skirt around him, checking his shoulder for payback.
He doesn’t budge, didn’t expect him to, but it felt good anyway.
I can feel his eyes on the back of my head as we keep down the center of the Market, passing the dais.
On the right, a yellow tent sits exactly where Sister Mary claimed it to be.
Jessie elbows me in the side as I greet Sally, passing the pile of clothes over. I give her a warning look to keep it together long enough to get through this exchange before we talk about what just happened.
“And here you are! Sister Mary said these should work.” Sally hands me an array of folded apparel for the infants.
“Thank you! I’m sure we’ll be seeing you again soon.”
After collecting the garments, we stiffly head toward Saint’s Rowe, out of the Market.
It isn’t until the meaningless chatter and friendly bargaining dies down that she finally asks, “What the heck was that?!”
Stealing a glance behind me, I swear I spot a blur of darkness lurking behind a stand, its attention clinging to me, hooking those dreadful claws into my skin.
Farther... we need to get farther away.
As we round the block to the quaint little town past Saint’s Rowe, I sigh.
“It’s nothing. Just some demon that I met when I first got here. He has some weird fascination with my family.”
“Okay, but why is he so hot?!” She groans.
I feel myself stiffen at the clear desire entwined with her admission.
“Ew. Jeez, Jessie. Keep it in your pants. He’s a demon! Literally bows down to the Devil. He’s hot because H-E-L-L is hot.”
I study her for a moment, trying to read her thoughts. I don’t even like this demon, but the idea of her all over him flashes in my imagination for the briefest of seconds, and suddenly, I’m bothered.
“Come on. Tell me if you were alive, you wouldn’t be all over that.”
I don’t grant her a response. The urge to lie to her is too great and I am not digging myself into a hole when I’m so close to freedom.
“I’m going to take your silence as an answer.”
“Do what you must. Can we please change the subject?”
“Wow. That demon must have really gotten under your skin.”
Perhaps he has…
“Hey.” I halt, turning to her. “He really isn’t someone to mess with.”
Her teasing grin slips, her features sobering. “Of course. I was just teasing you.”
