Page 138 of The Demon Court

“I think that spirit inside you has a lot to do with that. But I am not versed in such things.”

“I don’t think many of us are versed in that.” The slight chuckle she attached to the words felt wrong.

She’d only been awake for an hour or so. The healer had been very particular that no one tell Lust until they were certain that Selene was healed well enough to receive visitors. It was a terrible plan, and she’d told the healer that. Still, the woman was quite firm when she wanted to be.

A good healer always was. Selene suspected Sirona might be the best in the entire kingdom.

Her heart twinged at the thought of Affection inside her. The spirit was visible to this healer, a woman she suspected might be a sorceress of a kind, and apparently had done all the healing necessary for her to wake. Sirona was quite put out when she realized that all her work had been completed in a matter of a few days.

“You’ve been asleep for nearly two weeks now,” the healer grumbled. “All it took was a single spirit two days to fix what I couldn’t in two weeks.”

“Don’t let it bother you too much. Magic is unpredictable.”

“At its best.” Sirona snapped the last clasp on her bag shut and then nodded. “I do hope we see each other again. Under better circumstances.”

“I’d like that.” And she meant it. The healer was a very pleasant person to be around.

Then the door to her bedroom slammed open so hard that three paintings on the opposite wall crashed to the floor. Lust stood in the doorway, his eyes wild and his chest heaving with ragged breaths. He stared at her, she stared at him, and then she saw panic start to crawl up inside him.

“I think you should go,” she whispered, never taking her eyes off the man she loved.

“I think that’s a good idea,” Sirona replied before skirting past Lust. He never even looked at the other woman.

His eyes were only for her.

“I’m awake,” Selene said when they were finally alone.

His jaw trembled, but other than that, he didn’t move. He stood in that doorway with his breath heaving from his lungs, his eyes tracing over every part of her body.

“Are you not going to come here?” she asked, and doubt settled in her stomach. She’d told him that she loved him, but she hadn’t been awake for the rest. Had he been terrified that she’d said such a thing? She couldn’t take it back.

“You’re still hurt.” His voice was gruff and deep with emotion.

“I’m not.” Selene lifted her arms. “Affection apparently fixed it all before letting me wake.”

A small huff of breath erupted out of him before he moved. And suddenly he was at the foot of her bed, crawling up her body with tears streaming down his cheeks as he gathered her close to his heart.

Ragged, uneven breaths fanned across her neck. He’d buried his head there, his lips pressed to her skin as he tried to piece himself back together. A tear trailed down her cheek, and she was already shoving the emotions away before she caught herself. She would not disappear on him. Never again.

Selene smoothed her hands down his back, easing the torment that had plagued the both of them for too long.

“I’m here,” she whispered. “I’m okay.”

“You weren’t.”

“No, I wasn’t. But I came back.” Selene tugged him out of his hidden spot at the base of her neck, forcing him to look at her. She smoothed her thumbs over his cheeks, dashing away the tears. “You’ve never looked worse.”

He laughed, squeezing his eyes shut and shaking his head. “Of course you say that.”

“No, really. You look terrible.” And he did. With dark circles under his now red-rimmed eyes, gaunt cheeks, and stress lines that furrowed his brow. But he’d never looked more handsome either.

Selene tugged him forward and kissed him. A quiet, soothing kind of kiss that promised she would be here for a while to come. “I’m sorry for worrying you.”

“I’m sorry I wasn’t faster.”

“I didn’t need you to save me, or at least, I didn’t think I did. I shouldn’t have gone without talking to you first. But I didn’t want to die in front of you, either.”

He nodded, pressing his forehead to hers as a few more tears slid down his cheeks. “Greed told me everything about your conversation. I’ll be mad at you later.”

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