Page 80 of Touched By Darkness

But I don’t.

I let him whisper against my lips, “Don’t fight it.”

And I don’t pull away when his lips press against mine.

With a gasp, I shoot up in bed, pressing a palm to my chest. My heart is hammering, and sweat coats my skin.

Sweat and blood.

So much blood.

It takes me a few seconds to remember where I am. The memories from last night are hazy.

Nerves swell inside me when I scan the room, taking in the body parts that lie scattered over the floor and the blood that has soaked through the thin carpet.

Sunlight pours in through the window, birds tweet in the trees outside, and a door shuts somewhere in the hallway.I’m in the human world.I try to breathe through the panic threatening to suffocate me.

Beside me, Daemon stirs, then his heavy arm drapes around my waist. He pops his head up and looks around before growing eerily still.

I hold my breath while he scoots up in bed. His shoulder is healed, but he still winces as if he’s in pain, or maybe it’s the sunlight that bothers him. They always hunt at night in the human world.

Shame clogs my throat as he takes in the blood and carnage. The severed hand in front of the chest of drawers, the heart on the bedside table, the girl with the empty eyes that stare at the ceiling. I can’t even look at her torso—or what’s left of it.

“Shit,” he whispers quietly.

So quiet, in fact, I almost miss it.

But I don’t. The shame and self-hatred threaten to drown me as I shield my face with my stringy, crimson hair.

Soft fingers find my chin and guide my eyes to his brown ones. “Hey, look at me.”

I can’t. I just can’t bring myself to let him see me like this.

“Little witch, look at me.”

My eyes slowly meet his.

“You saved my ass.” He ducks, capturing my gaze when it drifts down to my bloody fingers. “I’m alive because you thought to lure that woman in here.”

“I’m a monster.”

“We’re fallen angels.”

I shake my head softly, tiredly. “You’re a fallen angel, Daemon. I was born of the light…”

“But you’re a fallen angel now. The darkness is a part of you.”

“Yet you don’t lose yourself to it for hours while tearing your victims to pieces.”

His throat jumps as he stays quiet.

Daemon is disgusted by me, I know it. How can he not be when I’m a monster who kills for enjoyment? This part of me is terrifying. Where does it end?

Just when I think he’s going to push me away, he tucks my hair behind my ear. “It’ll be alright.”

I look at him then, my eyes flicking between his. “Will it, though? This darkness inside me is growing, and I have no control over it. What if I lose myself completely? Or what if I hurt someone I love?”

Like him.

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