Page 20 of My Demon Charming

“Then why—” I start, but my newfound hope and excitement are replaced by dread and pain.

I fall back and grasp at my neck, fighting for control over my lungs.

“Yu-jin? What’s going on? Are you all right? What happened?”

“I…he…” I choke.

I’m all too familiar with the agony coursing through me.

“He’s…calling…me…home.”

CHAPTER SIX

"WHAT A GIFT THIS IS."

My body, my whole body, is in sheer agony. That’s all I can focus on. So I barely register when Lucian picks me up, and I don’t notice when he jumps off the bridge, spreading his wings. It’s when we’re back inside the city, when the pain slightly subsides, that I realize these things must have happened.

“What—” I start.

“I’m taking you to him.”

Dread covers the pain inside.

“Oh.” My muscles tense, and I grip his arm harder.

“I’m taking you to him so he stops torturing you and so I can rip him to shreds just like I did with his son.”

“Oh.” I let out a breath and rest my head on his chest.

Amethyst City flies past us, but neither the wind nor the traffic sounds disrupt the comfort of his embrace.

He’s like the salve that cures all ailments. And even though the pain caused by Kevin is still there, pulsing inside me like a poison, it feels unimportant when I’m in Lucian’s arms.

What is this feeling? Why am I feeling this way in the first place? How could I have gone my entire life disinterested in anything and everyone for it to all turn out irrelevant and unimportant as soon as this gorgeous hell-demon turned up in my life?

I…I don’t know the answers to those questions, but I don’t care. I truly don’t care. I only wish I’d summoned him sooner. If only I could have saved money faster.

But I guess there’s a reason for everything. Not that I think it was my fate to suffer abuse for years before Lucian showed up, but just that…life works in mysterious ways.

Besides, what guarantee did I have that if I had summoned him sooner, it would still be Lucian who showed up?

I shake thoughts of fate and destiny out of my head and focus back on the city brushing past us. Gray and glass buildings give way to trees and grass, and soon, we’re in the suburbs on the other side of town. And the Taylors’ house looms ahead, getting bigger and bigger the longer we fly.

But Lucian doesn’t stop when we reach the house. He puts his wings in front of us and bursts through the front door and into the living room like a storm.

We land on the floor with a thud, and Lucian unfolds his wings. As they part, I take in the room.

It’s empty.

Where the fuck is he?

“How are you feeling?” he asks.

I look back at him and offer him a reassuring smile.

“I’m good. The pain is gone.”

“The pain? The pain?” someone screeches.

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