Page 312 of Flirting with Darkness

Fucking hell.

Dex released her and stepped away, breathing hard.

The urge to yell at her nearly overwhelmed him, but it wasn’t her fault he was right on the edge of burning the fucking world to the ground. He snarled and closed his eyes, knowing they were glowing.

“Could you please ease up on the darkness?” It took everything he had to ask nicely.

The last thing he needed was to scare her even more.

This girl had some serious trauma if her sleeping patterns were any indication.

“Sorry.” A second later it was back to a normal darkness and he could see again.

Dex turned slightly, making sure she could only see his white fire. She stared at nothing though, eyes unfocused and with her entire body trembling.

Without another word, he picked her up and carried her into the bedroom.

Dex flicked his fingers, using magic to make sure the curtains and blinds were closed as tightly as possible before settling her in his bed. He wrapped the blankets around her and then lay on top of them. His arms went around her next and he held her close.

This was definitely inappropriate but there was no other way to calm down his demon at the moment when she was the source of his irritation and anxiety.

“I’m sorry,” she said, the words tickling his bare chest.

“Why are you sorry?” His voice still wasn’t normal and Dex gritted his teeth, tightening his grip on her.

“I scared you.”

Dex sighed then, feeling bad she was trying to comfort him in this situation. “You did.” He tried not to think about how peacefully she’d slept until he’d left. “Are you okay?”

Nova didn’t bother trying to lie to him.

“What was the nightmare?”

Her arm snaked across his middle and she pressed into him like she couldn’t get close enough. Dex held her as tightly as he dared, understanding the need for some kind of anchor after a dream like that.

“It was the same dream I’ve had ever since it happened,” she told him. “I watch the demon rake his hand over my face with his claws.” Nova reached up and mimicked the motion on his own face, middle finger right over his eye.

A demon did that to her?

“And then my sister got him off of me. I was five years old when it happened, and she was only ten. Ten years old and she still got him off.”

Dex had no idea how a ten-year-old witch could manage that.

“She was a hunter,” Nova whispered like she could hear his thoughts. “Taking after our dad.”

Well, fuck.

“The things he did to her.” Nova shuddered and Dex actually felt sick. “I was the one with magic. Why couldn’t I help her until it was too late?”

Dex didn’t move as he listened to her. He knew some demons refused to temper their chaos cravings, but kids? That was pretty rare. Why had a demon come after a kid in the first place?

“My magic…lashed out at him when he gutted her,” Nova whispered. “He was burned to ash, but it was too late. It took her so long to die, Dex.”

There was nothing he could say to make it better. There was nothing in the world that could erase what had happened to her.

No wonder she thought the scar was ugly when every time she looked at it, that was what she remembered.

“She died a true hunter’s death, protecting those she loved.” Dex knew it wasn’t that reassuring, but it was better than saying nothing at all.

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