Page 20 of All the Devils are Here

“Who are you? Where am I?” My voice scratched like it had been torn through with broken glass.

The hand he’d used to turn my head gently cradled the side of my face as he held more water to my lips. “You can call me Ban.” The words were quiet.

“Ban,” I echoed once I’d swallowed. “I’m alive?”

“You are alive,” he said.

“That’s good.”

His purr turned into a chuckle before sliding back into the low, comforting sound. “Yes, it is good.”

“How? How am I alive?”

Ban lifted another mouthful of water to my lips, and I drank it greedily. But even as the water was giving me energy and relief, my eyes felt heavy again. Like my body wasn’t fully able to deal with whatever trauma had happened while I was unconscious. Even sitting, I swayed toward the ground, and he caught me.

I was lifted, still curled in the blanket against his chest as he laid me down on the mattress again. “You need to rest. You are alive, but you are not safe.”

“What?”

Settling next to me, he made sure I was covered with the soft blanket. His warmth was intoxicating, and sleep was pulling me down even though I didn’t want it to.

“I will keep you as safe as I can,” he whispered, and I felt a thrill of something in the air as he shifted back into the form of a large cat.

I ended up with my head on a large furry body, feeling safe and protected, even though he told me I wasn’t.

* * *

I surfaced slowly, listening to the rich purr under my ear. It wasn’t fur beneath me now, but skin, and a hand stroked down my spine slowly. Breath warmed my temple, and I realized I was fully wrapped around Ban before I even opened my eyes.

How long had I been sleeping?

My one arm was curled around him, feeling the soft fur on his back. Why was I so comfortable here? No matter who I was before, I still wasn’t the kind of girl tosnugglewith someone I’d never met. Let alone a monster.

I lifted my head and found him staring at me.

Just like the man on the boat—the one I now assumed was dead because he’d thrown himself over the side—he was beautiful. The dusting of dark fur that crept around his neck and over his cheekbones didn’t lessen it. This close I saw his nose was flatter, closer to that of a panther.

It was like I couldn’t help myself, reaching out to stroke down his nose. His eyes closed, and his purr grew stronger before he leaned in and nudged my temple with his nose.

“What are you?” I asked quietly.

“I am Caliban.”

Ban.Caliban.

“But what are you? You’re a shifter, but also not. What kind of monster are you?”

He smiled, and I saw slightly elongated canines. “I am just me. There’s no one else like me.”

“Oh.”

There was a hesitance in his gaze before he spoke. “You are not afraid of me?”

I blinked. “No. Should I be?”

“No.” Surely I was imagining the relief I saw.

The feeling of him stroking down my spine again had my eyes closing and my head sinking down to his chest again.

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