Page 22 of Monsters' Manor

“I’m fine,” I say, still looking at Renwick, wondering how much Silas shared about exactly what went down last night.

Renwick clears his throat. “Silas tells me you had an issue with magick drain.”

Silas flinches, then turns to glare at him. “I told you that in confidence. Not so you could throw it back in her face and—”

“It’s fine,” I say. “I mean, he is going to be training me, so he should know what he’s getting into.”

Renwick looks pleased with that answer, but furrows of concern spring up on Silas’s shadowed forehead.

“Are you sure? If this isn’t something you want, I can speak with Odelia and—”

“It’s what I want,” I say, wincing a little at interrupting him again, but certain about this, at least.

“You hear that, Sy?’” Renwick cuts in. “It’s what she wants. No need to step in and decide for her. Rosie here is tougher than she looks.”

It’s my turn to glare at Renwick. “Oh shut it. He’s just looking out for me. Which, you know, is kind of nice to have at least one person around here who is.”

That shuts Renwick up and has Silas reaching out another shadow to caress along my arm. Renwick’s eyes track the movement, darting back and forth between the two of us. Silas either doesn’t notice or doesn’t care as he leans in close and murmurs near my ear.

“I don’t doubt you for a moment, darling,” he says, and a pulse of his dark power shoots up my spine, making me shiver. “Forgive me for overstepping?”

“Nothing to forgive,” I whisper, and he draws back before turning to Renwick.

“Behave yourself? I should know better than to ask, but there’s no need to be so… well, to be soyou.”

Renwick grins and puffs out his chest. “You’re right, there’s no use asking.”

With a long-suffering sigh, Silas begins to fade out. “I’ll see you later tonight, Rose?”

“Sure. You know where to find me.”

One last brush of darkness and Silas disappears, melting into the tree’s shadows between one heartbeat and the next.

It leaves Renwick and me alone, and when I sneak a glance at him he’s staring at the spot where Silas just faded, some unreadable expression on his face. I might almost call it regret, or maybe shame, if I thought the demon was capable of those emotions.

He recovers a moment later when he catches me looking, arrogant grin returning.

“Alright then,” he says, clapping his hands together. “You’re with me, Rosie.”

Again, it sounds more like a threat than an invitation. Without waiting for me to accept it or answer, he stalks off toward the gates.

“Where are we going?” I ask, trailing behind him.

“Somewhere all that fire of yours can’t do any damage.”

His strides are so long and purposeful I practically have to jog to keep up, irritation growing with each step I take.

“Yeah, I’m going to need a little bit more than that.”

“Patience, Rosie.”

I bite my tongue and hold back any more arguments. I agreed to this, and if playing by Odelia’s rules and going along with this whole training thing is going to buy me some more time here, I can stop being such a whiner about it.

“So,” Renwick says, changing the topic. “You and Silas, huh?”

He sounds casual about it,toocasual, and when I catch up to him and cut him a look, some of that same tension from earlier has crept back into his expression.

Ah. It would seem the demon isn’t so infallible.

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