“Yes,” he says matter-of-factly.
“B-but why? They worshipped you. They sacrificed me to you. Why would you do that?”
“They tried to hurt you. Never in any of my edicts have I ever commanded for the death of an innocent. This entire region is rotten.”
I should be paying more attention to what he’s saying but I can’t. My skin itches and a floating piece of mage ends up in my eyes, which puts listening to the demon I just got sacrificed to a bottom of the list kind of thing.
I swipe at my eyes with a shriek when they come back sooty. “I thought it was snow,” I wail and shake my head back and forth trying to get my hair clean. “It’s in my hair! Oh my gods,I have mage in my hair!” I hop around like I’m on fire but all that does is get mage in my mouth.
I hear the demon chuckle. “Happens to the best of us.”
The demon sounds like he’s pretty experienced at having mage in his hair. I don’t want to know why. I suck in a deep breath but when I get another mouthful of ash, I hit his arm with a whimper.
“Get us out of here. I’m going to be sick. Oh my god, I’m breathing them in. I’m ingesting them.” I don’t care if the demon is naked, or that he’s incredibly good-looking, or even that until a few minutes ago he was definitely trapped in a rock. Right now, I don’t think I could stand if I tried. The demon is my best bet for getting out of here.
“Please,please, get me out of here.”
Chapter
Twelve
Idon’t know how I ended up in the demon’s arms, or where we’re going but I do know we’re getting there at a decent pace. I shift in his arms and look him over. I tried walking with him but after I stumbled into a hole the demon had enough and scooped me up with atsk.
I should be trying to run away or screaming bloody murder on the off chance that Buffy or any of the others find me but I’m not. I’m snuggled up in the demon’s arms as quiet as you please. I’m content, too. I don’t want to admit it but being here in his arms, I feel safe. Like beyond safe.
The gentle rise and fall of his steps and the rocking of his arms makes me feel like nothing and no one could ever get close enough to touch me. I’ve never felt like this with anyone before. I bite my lip and lean my forehead against his chest.
“Thanks for putting on my jacket,” I tell him. Turns out demons run hot, at least the one carrying me does. It took all of ten minutes in his arms before I was burning up, which called for a pit stop for me to shimmy out of the down jacket. It was then that I came to a decision. I might be going into the forest with a demon but I wasn’t going to go with a naked one. Okay, he waswearing my backpack with Charlie’s book in it too but that really didn’t do much for modesty, you know?
“Can you cover up?” I asked, offering him my jacket.
“Is this not pleasing to you?”
“What?” I spluttered.
He gestured to himself. “This form is from your memories. I know you like it best. I can adopt another form if that would suit your tastes better.” He raises his hand like he’s about to snap his fingers and go all magic the way Wrath does sometimes so I rushed forward to stop him, eyes carefully averted not to get any more of an eyeful than I already have.
“It’s perfect. Really, I mean you look…” I flounder for words because he isn’t lying. This really is my dream man come to life. “You look beautiful.”
“Beautiful?”
I nod and offer my jacket to him while I make a study of the trees. “Yes, you’re beautiful. There’s no need to change how you look to make me happy, an-and you should look how you want. Don’t worry about what I think.”
“I’ve been called many a thing but never beautiful,” he said, and I knew he wasn’t going to listen to me about not caring how I thought he looked. “I will do as you ask. I understand humans require patience.”
I didn’t ask what he meant about patience because he was right. We really did require patience. I hear something run through the bushes to the left of us and I press closer to the demon.
“It’s only a small thing. No need to worry,” the demon says and gives me a reassuring squeeze. The touch works like a charm and I settle instantly. It’s then that I realize I don’t know his name. At least, not from him directly. The mages called him Jaak? No, that can’t be right, it was something that ended in an M but what was it?
I can’t just keep calling him the demon. It feels wrong.
I clear my throat in what I hope is a totally normal sound to break the ice. “Um, so…I know things have been a little, you know,” I say, waving my hands in the air in front of us in a poor interpretation of our night so far, “chaotic. But, ah, what’s your name?”
“You don’t know it?” he asks.
I shake my head sheepishly. “I wasn’t really listening to the mages before they got dusted.”
“That’s a smart choice. That lot are known to be long-winded, very pompous.”
