Page 217 of Infernium

I’d thought it might’ve been a different ant, if not for the crumb still in its mouth.

Staring down at my hands took me back to that day in the bathroom, after Jericho and I had first arrived in Nightshade, when he’d healed his wound just by touching it. I twisted my other wrist, marveling the few currents still crackling over my skin. Was it possible that I’d somehow acquired that ability with his vitaeilem?

Wearing an incredulous smile, I studied the tiny bug, who’d paused his scampering and was looking back at me. As if it was studying me, too.

“Myrmecophilous,” I murmured, and set the ant onto the grass, watching it dart off with its food.

“I don’t know how you can stand it out here.” At the sound of Vaszhago’s voice, I turned and smiled. He stood behind me, dressed in all black, of course, his hair pulled back from his face as he toyed with one of his bracers.

After Infernium, the demon had been set free, no longer bound to me, but for reasons I couldn’t wrap my head around, he’d chosen to stay, serving as something of a guardian to Elyon and me.

“What? You don’t like daisies?” I asked.

“I don’t like the sounds of children.”

Chuckling at that, I twisted back around, stealing a sip of chthoniac I’d poured earlier and set out on top of a picnic basket. “You know, it takes more muscles to frown than smile.”

“Good. I’d hate for any of them to go lax.”

I snorted and took another sip of the potent drink. I’d grown to enjoy the fiery liquor, a burnt cinnamon flavor that was deadly to most humans. An acquired taste, no doubt. I once made a slushy out of it, much to Jericho’s horror. Food, in general, tasted so much better nowadays. Much more flavorful than before, which Jericho attributed to the changes I’d undergone since the claiming. “How did you become so moody?”

“What demon do you know who is spirited and optimistic?”

“Touché. Maybe you should break the mold. Be a trailblazer for a change.”

His lip twisted with repulsion. “I prefer my cynicism. Keeps you optimistic types away.”

“Well, good luck with that. Turns out, I don’t mind you so much. Asshole.” I turned in time to catch averyslight smile curve his lips upward.

“I still find you as pleasant as a thorn in my ass.”

“Awww. That’s so sweet of you.”

Grumbling, Vaszhago stepped in the opposite direction.

“Hey, where you going?”

“I’ve had enough of the giggling for one day.”

Eyes narrowed, I smiled back at him. “Is it the giggling which troubles you? Or the need to spy on the newstable hand?”

About a month earlier, Jericho had hired a new caretaker for the horses, a young girl of perhaps twenty. Completely human and entirely unaware of what Nightshade was. What any of it was, really, including Vaszhago. I’d caught her staring at him a couple of times, smiling, but as far as I knew, that had been the extent of their flirtations.

“I do not consort with human females.”

“Ah. Then, it doesn’t trouble you that she’s grown quite fond of someone else?”

He ran his tongue over his teeth, his eyes assessing me. “Who?”

“What does it matter?” I asked, turning my attention back to Jericho and Elyon. “You don’tconsort with human females, anyway.” I tried my best to copy his prim and proper enunciation, but sounded like an idiot.

“Who?” he asked again, and the impatience in his voice brought a smile to my lips.

“Cerberus, of course. Have you not seen the way she frolics with him all day long? If you’re crushing on her, I’d nip that in the bud quickly.”

Exhaling a groan, he ran a hand down his face.

“You were jealous a second ago. Admit it.”

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