Page 35 of Once Upon a Demon's Heart
“Kal… Kalel Lornhelm,” I cry, covering my face with both hands and ignoring the blood that spills from my wrist onto my face and hair.
“Louder!” He yells, slamming his hands on the ground to either side of my head. The sheer venom in his voice triggers me, lighting up the adrenaline through my bloodstream.
I sit up quickly, my silver hair lashing with the momentum. His eyes widen as I scream in his face. “Your fucking name is Kalel Lornhelm!”
My breaths are hard and shaky as we stay nose to nose. Hot tears still stain my cheeks as his shocked expression fades into a flat, angry stare, but my jaw tightens with my outburst.
He leans forward, making my body still. “Don’t call me a devileveragain,”he rasps. His breath is hot against my neck. I don’t respond, I just swallow the fear that’s nestled itself inside my throat.
Kalel pulls back and assesses my features. He doesn’t look satisfied with my silence. “You want to kill me, don’t you?”
My head shoots up, and our eyes meet.
Yes, there is nothing in all of Faultore that I’d like more than that.But as the thought flutters through my mind, I picture Kalel dead, lying in a field of darkness and it sends dread through my bones.
“No… I don’t.”
His hostile eyes temper, searching mine like he genuinely didn’t expect me to say that. He lowers his head after a few moments.
“Fuck,” he says, shaking his head and threading his fingers through his hair roughly. His lips press together, and he gives me a look full of turmoil. A suffering man who only knows how to make others suffer. “I never wanted to be this.” He grinds his jaw and lowers his head between his knees.
I tremble, holding my wrist delicately and wincing with each throb that rolls through me.
There’s a desire deep inside me that yearns to understand Kalel more, but we come from two entirely different worlds. I don’t know how I’m supposed to even comprehend how he came to be the demon he is today.
“I never wanted to hurt anyone,” he says quietly. His eyes lock on his hands, muddled with my blood.
“I didn’t either.” He looks up at me, sadness blooming in his gaze. “And I hate what I became, Kalel. I can’t take any of the things I did back, and no one gets to return.” I lean forward and lift my hand to his face. He pulls his head back a little like he might retreat from my touch. “If I have to spend every single dayof my life repenting for who I used to be, then that’s the price I’ll pay.”
I close the gap and softly rest my palm against his reddened cheek.
“I’m sorry I hit you.”
He holds firm to his callous expression, but after a few moments, he lets his gaze drop to my wrist. “You don’t remember, do you?” he asks with a broken smile.
My brows pinch together. “Remember what?”
A snap in the woods gets his attention. He stares into the darkness with golden eyes that practically glow. I try to turn around to look too, but a dizzy spell from the blood loss makes me topple against him.
I try to move away, but Kalel wraps an arm around my waist and pulls me close.What was that sound?My breaths grow staggered, and it feels like I’m going to pass out. I blink away the drowsy spell.
Something is coming. Something big.
My heart drops.
The large white dire wolf that bit me earlier steps out from the underbrush.The forest spirit.Its fur is tipped in metallic gold with deity blood. Chills erupt across my arms. I mindlessly wrap them around Kalel, his breath stuttering as I do, but his reaction to me curling into him is the last of my concerns right now.
The wolf’s eyes are pinned on me with hunger.
Then a haunting voice fills every crevice of the forest, or perhaps it’s only in my head, but it sounds like it’s coming from the trees themselves. “Feeding in my forest? Do you wish to invoke the wrath of the wolves?”
I tremble against my best efforts. I’m so drained of energy from Kalel’s punishment that I’m completely defenseless right now.
A low growl rumbles from Kalel’s chest. “We were just leaving.” He doesn’t let his grip on me lessen as he slowly stands, picks me up, and carries me cradled in his arms against his chest. Kalel walks backward, not showing his back to the beast until we are out of its sight.
Kalel’s heart pounds wildly against me. It makes my heart follow suit, wild with the fear that the dire wolf instills in us. He turns forward and walks steadily once we are in the clear. We remain dead silent until he breaks through the forest wall—the air instantly feels colder against my skin without the shelter of the trees.
The camp is quiet, and many of Kalel’s knights are standing guard, waiting for our return. I meet several of their gazes as Kalel struts by them. I feel so ridiculous being carried by him like this, like some damsel in distress. They look pissed that I made their commander chase after me through the forest.
