Page 29 of Once Upon a Demon's Heart
He nods greedily with a large smile. “Gods, I was hoping you’d offer. The rations are always smaller on the way homefrom battle. I keep telling King Achill that we need to increase the stock we bring. Are you sure you’re not hungry?”
I shake my head. “I’m fine. Just promise me you’ll tell Kalel I ate the whole bowl if he asks.” Nikolai’s brows pinch with concern, but he nods.
“Alright, but I’m making sure that you eat breakfast in the morning.” He extends his hand to me. I lift a brow. What is he doing? “You don’t know what a handshake is?” he says disbelievingly.
My lips flatten. “No.”
Nikolai laughs and reaches for my hand. I jolt at the motion and freeze when he grips it tightly, shaking it up and down a few times. His brown eyes flicker and his cheeks flush red at the contact. He studies my face like he’s seeing me differently.
“It means: deal. The mortals do this all the time. We picked up on it years ago.” He slowly lets go of my hand.
“Demons are strange,” I mutter with a grin. Tessa and Nikolai give me a sliver of hope for my new life. Maybe I won’t have to do this alone after all.
The tent is dark when I return.
Kalel is sitting at his desk, writing a note before sealing it into the canister on his hawk’s leg. It’s the same one from King Borlin’s study the day we received the news that they agreed to take me as an offering.
Kalel’s eyes lift to mine. He waits a moment, staring at me with that unreadable gaze before standing and moving past me to release the bird from the tent.
“Did you eat?” He assesses me like he won’t believe me either way.
“Yes, Tessa saved some for me.”
Kalel grunts and moves to the edge of his bed, offering his hand to me. I go to him and sit on his left side. He gently moves my hair from my neck and leans in close. Inhaling deeplyover my scent glands before stroking his tongue across my skin, lighting every inch of where he touches me on fire. My hands curl into the sheets as his fangs brush down the side of my neck until he finds the spot he likes. His teeth enter my bloodstream.
The muscles in my back shut down, he was ready for it though with his hand wrapped around my lower spine. The venom in his bite that causes the sudden relaxed state isn’t so bad now that I’m used to it. A slightly unsettling thought, because if he ever truly wanted to kill me it’d be easy for him to.
The bite feels more like a small discomfort. I listen to the sound of him feasting from me. He seems hungrier today, his pulls are fervent and his grip is tight on my back.
“Mhm,”he growls, the sound hitting me like an axe to the chest. His teeth sink in further, pulling a cry from my lips.
“Ow, that hurts.” I gasp as he readjusts his hold on me, moving a heavy hand to my thigh and squeezing hard. My pulse leaps with adrenaline, and he must taste it because he pauses before quickly releasing me.
His breaths are staggered. Those golden eyes are filled with shock for a second before he blinks it away and drags his sleeve over his bloody face. He’s never been this messy with it before. Was he really that hungry? Fear trickles through me. I lift my hand and press it to my throat hesitantly. The gash is much larger than usual. Gold liquid stains my sleeve.
“Go to bed,” he snaps, turning his back to me and running his hand through his hair.
“What was that?” I ask with a trembling voice. Was he losing control of his hunger? What happens if he lets go? Gods, I don’t want to even think about it.
His shoulders tense. “I said go to bed, little godling.”
Chapter Ten
ALIRA
The wind dies downas we reach the border between Devicit and Alzhor—an entire week of travel through the grueling cold wears down your soul. Although I’m not sure many places can be more dreadful than the valley of the Fallen Ridge.
Blood was spilled on these grounds from both armies—the red-and-gold-imbued ground discloses as much.
Kalel’s army seems glum as we pass through. Their eyes linger on the broken flag stakes that were driven into the ground during the battle.
It still looks so fresh. Frozen in time until spring will thaw it.
I remember our leading general telling us about this particular battle in a war briefing six months ago. Our forces held this border for a few weeks, but we were no match for the sheer number of demons. Part of me thinks that King Borlin was holding out in hopes that the gods would refute the spilling of so much deity blood, but they stayed silent. They never came. Many of our knights lost what little hope they had left when their prayers were left unanswered.
This was one of the few battles that King Borlin did not send me on. I was to remain in our kingdom and protect the castle in case of a secret raid.
My shoulders slump at the weight of death that hangs in the air here.
