A Demon's Kiss ✔️

NINE

Word Count: 1967

~Aspen

I shiver, pressing deeper into the couch, clasping the hot cup of tea between my hands.

Kastriv sits on the coffee table in front of me, our legs basically intertwining. He has had the same grim look on his face since I came in.

"I'm sorry, Aspen, but I'm not letting you return to him," he murmurs lowly, brows furrowed.

I swallow thickly.

The thought of going back to Oliver now has my heart racing to the point of pain, leaving my limbs trembling and head spinning. It feels different this time.

This time, I have a way out.

"I'm not going back. I'm done," I say over the rim of my cup, sipping the hot tea. I'm still shivering, my clothes and hair soaked through from my trek in the rain, but the blanket Kastriv draped over my shoulders earlier has helped.

Kastriv leans forward, reaching out to brush his thumb along my cheek. When he pulls away, there's dried blood on the surface of his glove from the small cuts along my face.

"How could anyone do this to you?" He says it less like a question and more like an uttering to himself.

"He hates who I am. He likes owning me, punishing me whenever he sees fit." I finish my tea, setting it down. I should be tired, at this late hour, but remnants of adrenaline still course through me.

"Do you want me to kill him?"

I shake my head. "Kastriv..."

Killing Oliver would have endless consequences, both politically, and morally. Turning violence back on Oliver after this would make me no better than him.

Even if I've fantasied about it for so long...

"I will." He raises a brow, trying to tempt me. I doubt he would face any repercussions either, considering his standing as a Noble in this Territory.

"Don't. He's not worth it," I mutter, wrapping the blanket around myself more. All I want right now is a long, hot bath and an idea of where my future is headed.

"You're welcome to stay here for as long as you please. I hope you will work for me now." Kastriv's tone is tentative, wary about scaring me off.

"I'll take that offer...To work for you, I mean," I decide. I knew I wanted it the moment he offered it to me, and now, there is no reason to deny it.

He smiles. "And to stay?"

"For a little while," I murmur.

Staying with a Noble? It's the safest place I could be, especially since Oliver will be wanting me dead as soon as he realises I'm gone.

"Why are you being so nice to me?"

His gaze softens. "Because you haven't deserved what happened to you."

I look down at my hands, working for Kastriv is a way I can alleviate some guilt for suddenly requiring his aid. I just hope I can find other's like me.

"Are you like this with every sad person you come across?" I ask, trying to make a joke, although my amusement doesn't translate in my town. Perhaps because I'm so genuinely curious.

He tilts his head, soft hair brushing along his forehead. "You have something special."

"Because I look like that spirit?"

"Because I see a fire in you that he tried to tame, and failed. You just need some freedom, and the real you will come out," he assures me.

I can sense that he is alluding to my true nature as a Demon, and how I've been so forcefully trained to fight against it, to appear entirely human. I'm too tired to press him on it, at least for tonight.