Page 21 of Monsters' Manor

Silence falls between us, but we stay right where we are.

The hush of the October night presses in close—the faint breath of wind through the trees and the soft glimmer of the stars above. The moment is woven through with more of his tempting magick, full to the brim with a hundred questions I want to ask him.

“You’ll be alright with Ren?” Silas asks before I can form any of those questions into actual words. “I know the two of you haven’t exactly gotten on well since you arrived.”

I laugh, the spell between us dissipating. “I can handle the demon.”

“I have no doubt you can,” he says with a chuckle, then sobers. “But you’ll… let me know? If you need help with him? Or… anything?”

Will I? The fact that Silas would even want to know if I needed help makes a little bubble of warmth rise in the center of my chest.

“Sure. I’ll let you know.”

He seems to accept that as he takes a step back, shadows melding into the surrounding darkness.

“Please do. Anything you need, Rosemary, I’ll be here.”

And then he’s gone, slipping away with the autumn wind.

7

A heavy weight settles itself into the bottom of my stomach as I get ready for my first training session with Renwick.

It’s noon, hours before I’d usually have to be at work, but Odelia’s not about to part with one of her star performers for tonight, so Renwick and I are both pulling double duty today.

Leaving my cottage and heading through the woods toward the Acres, I wonder what the demon is getting out of this.

He’s been all arrogance and teasing and totally on board with training me, but… why? What’s it to him?

I toss that thought on top of the heap of unanswered questions in the back of my mind as I continue on.

Questions aside, it’s a banner fall day. Sunny and warm, the kind of day that feels so damn precious knowing winter’s right around the corner. Most of the trees around the Acres are fully turned, making the walk through the woods like stepping into a kaleidoscope of reds and yellows and oranges, and it’s enough to boost my mood a little as I head over to meet Renwick.

It’s not quite enough to erase my worries over what ‘training’ will actually entail, especially when my magick still feels so close to the surface after what I shared with Silas last night. Those moments of connection, the way it felt to give into his power,ourpower…

I’m still lost in those thoughts when I make it just outside the gates and spot a broad, shirtless, maroon demon standing under a tree.

And he’s not alone.

It’s strange to see Silas out in the daytime, and although he and Renwick are talking under the shade of a wide oak tree, the gathered darkness of him is unmistakable.

The two of them are deep in conversation, so engaged they don’t notice me approaching, and as I get closer I can start to make out the expressions on their faces.

Well, on Renwick’s at least, but something in the stiff set of Silas’s posture lets me get a pretty good read on him as well.

Tense. Confrontational. Renwick runs a hand over one of his horns in apparent frustration before saying something to Silas. I’m still too far away to hear their words, but it doesn’t take a genius to see the conversation isn’t exactly a friendly one.

I’m only a handful of yards away when Renwick spots me, and his face immediately melts from all of that tension into the provoking grin I already know so well.

“Hey Rosie,” he says in greeting, though it sounds a bit like a threat in that sharp, teasing tone of his.

“Hello Rose,” Silas says, much softer, and with a thread of that same concern he had last night.

“Hi,” I say, joining them under the oak’s shade.

I catch Silas’s shadowed gaze and feel a pulse of his magick against my skin. It gets stronger when a tendril of his darkness reaches out to brush my arm. My eyes dart to Renwick, and his grin slips a little as he watches the silent exchange.

“How are you feeling?” Silas asks.

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