Page 41 of Protected By Monsters (Everwood Demons 1)

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BUG (TOLRUN)

“Why’d Creeper go with the rock?” I groaned, flicking my elastic band on my wrist as I sat in the library with Jack.

Chumley was off playing Playstation, something else he’d come to enjoy, and Creeper had wandered off.

“I think it was somewhat important to him. He didn’t allow Dezikiel to open him up like us, so he’s still…” Jack frowned as he searched for the right words.

“Simple and lacking emotions?” I scoffed.

Emotions, feelings, morals. All things we’d learned a bit with Dezikiel when he woke us up, the rest from lessons and studies. We were slotting in with the other students much better now.

“Yeah, pretty much,” Jack smirked as he flipped the page of his history book.

I found those kinds of books so boring, instead loving to explore all the worlds people had created.Harry Potterto theGame of Thronesbooks, which had TV adaptations apparently. Not that I watched much TV.

“What powers do you think she’ll have?” I mused as I lounged on the couch.

“Grand ones, I imagine. Being the daughter of Asmodeus,” Jack murmured, focusing on the text before him.

“You can sense it, can’t you?” I asked softly.

Even in our projected states, we had sensed something different about Lily. And now, having her here with us, actually being able to touch her and hug her, we could sense it so much more.

“Yeah,” Jack sighed, knowing exactly what I was talking about.

I chewed my cheek as I wondered about this unique vibe she gave off. Something that drew us to her.

We were created to protect her, but that wasn’t all of it. We’d all felt the strange buzz when she’d hugged us. Touching her was thrilling, it made my stomach tighten and strange feelings wash over me.

Feelings I’d never had before.

But I recognized it. As did Jack, something we’d discussed for a moment with Chumley earlier. Even he felt it too.

And I was sure Creeper did, although it was clearly giving him some grief since he didn’t know it.

We’d spent years watching over Lily, learning everything there was to know about her, all her little quirks and traits, growing to care for her on a deeper level than just her protectors.

But we had to tread carefully.

She was only now meeting us, and as much as we knew her, we were still strangers to her.

“She’s taking the whole demonic thing well,” I stated as I reached for the book I’d been reading.

“I think, deep down, she knew. She knew she wasn’t really crazy,” Jack said as he looked over his book to catch my gaze.

“Yeah. The way she spoke to us sometimes, we were her truest friends it seems,” I said as I pressed my lips together sadly.

I’d sat with her some nights while she read, and she’d told me about the book she was reading, or spoken to me about how exciting the characters' lives were.

Exciting. Even in the books where they were up against insane odds, she wanted to be a part of it.

Maybe her love for reading had helped her accept the truth about the world. About us.

Many times I’d gone with her to the local library to borrow books. It was one of the places I’d enjoyed going with her. To sit and watch her read. Sometimes, I’d even read with her, back here in the Academy, while my projection sat with her.

“It’s nice finally being able to talk to her,” I said as I opened up my book to my bookmark.

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