Page 44 of Demon Hunger
Not for the first time, I tried to put myself in his shoes. What if one day I woke up, and I looked nothing like myself? I doubted I would be able to deal with it the way Drevan did. He was outgoing, funny, caring…
Good.
He was good.
Drevan might be Lucifer’s son, the offspring of a fallen angel, a Prince of Hell, but he had a good heart.
All I ask is that you don’t judge me by who you think I should be, but by who I truly am. The words he once told me echoed inside my head.
With his actions, he had turned my world upside down. I didn’t think of Hell and demons the way I used to, and my opinion of Heaven had certainly changed. If Jophiel was an example of what I would encounter there, I never wanted to go.
We walked through the Museum in silence, admiring the many sculptures and intricate stone carvings. As we stood in front of an elaborate and colorful tapestry depicting men with spears in the hunt for a unicorn, the back of Drevan’s hand brushed mine. When I didn’t pull away, he slowly interlaced his fingers with mine.
For a quiet moment, we went on staring at the length of the massive piece of art. It covered the wall, almost reaching the fifteen-foot ceiling. And it wasn’t the only tapestry of its kind. There were six more in the same theme and style.
“This is horrible,” I said.
“Is it?” Drevan cocked his head and frowned at the intricate design.
“I don’t know what this is supposed to represent, but what the men are doing feels true to our nature. If a unicorn suddenly showed up, it’s not hard to imagine a bunch of men trying to spear it through the heart. We seem to destroy everything that is beautiful.”
“I suppose that is accurate.” He nodded. “But humans also have the incredible ability to create beauty. You can’t deny that, despite the imagery, this is an amazingly skillful use of wool and silk.”
“I guess.”
“There is supposed to be some symbolism around the seven tapestries. Something to do with pagan and Christian beliefs, but I won’t bore you with that.”
Hand in hand, we moved on from the tapestry, carefully exploring the different chapels, courtyards, and something called the treasury room, which contained beautifully illuminated manuscripts.
Drevan enlightened me with his knowledge of history, making the trip far more interesting than if I’d visited under any other circumstances.
“Did you know that they rent the place for weddings?” He asked when we reached a large iron gate at the end of the cobble path we’d been following.
“No. It must be expensive.” As we stopped, I placed a hand on one of the gate’s bars and glanced at the uplit trees on the other side.
“Certainly. Worth every penny, if you have it. The memories would be unforgettable.”
“I didn’t know you were a romantic.”
He frowned. “You didn’t? Then it seems I’ve been doing a terrible job.” He turned away from the gate and faced me.
I traced the length of the iron bar with one finger, stubbornly staring straight ahead at the trees. Gently, he took my hand and coaxed me away from the gate until we stood in front of each other, a mere couple of inches apart. My heart hammered in my chest.
“I would like to freeze time at this moment,” he said. “I never want to leave your side. Would you have me?”
I panicked at the question, which he must have noticed because he pressed a finger to my lips and said, “You don’t have to answer that. I’m getting ahead of myself.”
He leaned closer, his golden eyes capturing me. “May I kiss you?” His gaze flicked to my mouth. “Your lips are like a salve and…” He took my hand and pressed it to his heart. “And I’ve been living wounded for so long.”
How could I say no to that? Especially since, all along, I’d been dying too…
I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him. As our lips touched, his hands came around my waist and a wave of something like relief spilled from him and washed over me.
“Oh, Lucia,” he murmured as his tongue brushed mine.
He deepened the kiss and gathered me against his hard body. Mine responded with nothing but the deepest of desires. Whatever fear of revulsion I’d harbored had been unfounded, and I realized it wasn’t his semblance I’d been upset about, but his lies.
He pushed me a few steps back, and I found myself against the stone wall. The tip of his tongue flicked against one corner of my mouth, sending a shiver straight to my core. He abandoned my mouth to kiss his way down to my collarbone, his tongue twirling in a suggestive way that made me moan.
