Page 29 of All the Devils are Here

“I don’t agree that it’s true.” He came back toward me, planting an arm on either side of my hips, but was very careful not to touch me. Like this, he was tall enough that we were eye to eye, and the color of his eyes was as beautiful as it was unnerving.

A bright turquoise threaded through with gold and irises that were slightly oval. Very much not human.

“So don’t say it,” he whispered.

“What?” I was so entranced by his eyes I’d forgotten what I wasn’t supposed to say. All the air around us had disappeared. He was close enough to kiss me, and right now, I thought I would let him. Because apparently I was horny enough to think about fucking everything in sight right now.

There didn’t seem to be another explanation.

“Don’t say you’re not special,” he whispered, lifting a hand and dropping it again. “May I touch you?”

“You’ve already touched me.”

A small smirk that made my stomach tumble. “You weren’t exactly conscious for me to ask.”

“Okay.” My breath was shallow in my chest. What the hell was I doing?

I gasped at the softest sensation curling around my calf. Trin shuddered just like Ariel had, and his eyes went wide before becoming so much more intense. Just like Ariel had looked, like I was everything he ever wanted.

That was impossible.

“What?” I asked. “What did I do?”

“You didn’t do anything.” His hand came up and slipped around my neck, pulling me closer. “I don’t want you to say you’re not special, because you are. If you’re not, how come even seeing you from afar makes me feel things I’ve never felt before? How come you being here feels like hope? How come you’re intoxicating?”

His forehead touched mine, and I wasn’t breathing. This time it wasn’t because of the water. “I don’t understand. You don’t know me. None of youknowme. How can I be any of that to you?”

The tentacle slipped higher, circling my leg completely. It didn’t feel anything like what I’d thought it might. It was smooth and warm, almost like being touched with a hand. Except for the gentle suction from the inside his tentacle, which made things feel…

There was no way to describe that, and I didn’t know if I was ready to examine how that simple touch was affecting me. Everything in my body was caught somewhere between guilt and desire.

But guilt for what? For longing for someone who didn’t want me back? For feeling heat rise under my skin when so many people died so I could be here? I didn’t know, but I was confused.

His voice was hypnotic. “How can a place like this exist? How can I exist?”

“It’s just the way it is,” I said.

“Right.” He smiled, fully dazzling me again before he tilted his head and kissed my cheek. “And you are who you are, and I know you are special. All right?”

The tentacle released me and he slid away, floating down in the water until only his head was above the surface, tentacles spiraling out underneath him. “I’m sure I’ll see you soon,” he said, dipping beneath the water and swimming away.

The pool must be connected to the ocean beneath the surface of the island.

Pulling myself up from the pool, I returned to the bed, sitting on the edge while my feet dried. Ariel’s words echoed in my head again. The island gave you your deepest desires. I’d thought it flippantly before, but was that what was happening?

Was I ready to admit what those desires were?

Maybe.

But as the sky darkened outside into night, I decided it could wait until the morning. Chained up as I was, there would be plenty of time to think.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

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ARIEL

Isat on the edge of the rock, looking out at the ocean and the last lingering embers of light. And I was drinking. It was nearly impossible to get drunk as a spirit, but if I stayed in a physical form long enough, I could manage it.

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