I let out a long sigh and drop my arms to my sides. “No.” Is he really this dense?
“You didn’t…I don’t know…feel anything?”
“I just said no,” I snap.
He drops his head even lower. “Oh. I… I think I might have screwed up.”
My eyes narrow. “Why, what did you do?”
He stands up and begins pacing in a circle. I move over to take his seat on the grass. “This is new for me,” he finally says.
“What is?”
“This…you…her…me….us.” He shakes his head in disbelief.
“You like her?” I whisper. I don’t even have to ask; I already know his answer.
He stares down at me with such intensity I momentarily forget to breathe; his dark blue eyes glow under the bright lights of Illyria’s full moons.
“Yes.” He comes to sit beside me. Any pleasure I feel by him sitting so close is extinguished by his response. Of course he likes her. All demons are ruthless unfeeling bastards who care only about themselves…
“But,” he continues, “I like you, too. To me, you and she are the same. I see you as one… I didn’t count on you being so completely separate from one another.”
“You really think Liora and I are the same?” My voice spits out the last word, my anger mounting. He may think he’s being nice, but to me, it’s the greatest of insults.
“No, most definitely not. I see now how you’re completely different. It’s just, well, a lot of demions—especially where I come from—they assume a normal Sapie guise in the daytime, leaving their demon activities for after sundown. I’ve even known several who use two different names…one for day, as a ‘human’, one for night as a demon. In essence, they are two separate beings from day to night. But you and Liora…this is on a whole other level.”
He shakes his head again. “I mean, I still can’t quite believe that the girl I’m talking to now isn’t the same one I was with all day today. It’s wild. I…I admit I don’t quite know what to do or say…”
“Sorry to make things so complicated for you,” I mutter. Why is he even still here? It’s clear which one of us he wants, and it’s not me.
Kieron places his hand on my knee. It feels good, but I brush it away. He sighs.
“Lucky, I had no idea that you weren’t…with us…today. That it was either one or the other—you or her. I kept waiting for her to say something—anything—that gave any indication she knew who I was. But she never did. Honestly, some of the things she said confused the hell out of me.” He pauses, appraising me. I look away, but can still feel his intense gaze.
“At first I couldn’t figure out why you…she was acting the way she was,” he continues, “but then I finally decided that maybe it was just your way; how you cope with what you are…you play a different role during the day than you do at night. I admit I thought it was sort of extreme, but I figured you had your reasons, and if you weren’t going to say anything than neither was I.”
“I’m not playing. This is not a game for me.” Why is he still talking?
“I know that now. I mean…I knew something was up when she became so worried about the dark. I didn’t realize that’s when you’d ‘trade places’— that part was quite unexpected. But when I saw her run, well, no demon would run that slow. And earlier she slipped and fell. No demion would ever do that.”
“So you solved the great puzzle. Congratulations.” I stare up at the twinkling stars and make a wish for one to fall on my head and put me out of my misery.
“Lucky,” he says my name so tenderly it wakes up the butterflies in my stomach again, “I meant what I said earlier. Although you may think of yourselves as different identities, I only see you as one. I cannot distinguish the difference.”
“Then you’re beyond blind.” And stupid.
“No, just the opposite. I see you better than you see yourself. And I like what I see. A lot. I…really like you. All of you.”
I roll my eyes. Typical guy. Why settle for one girl when you can have two? “So you want to be with us both, is that what you’re trying to say? You think you can have two girls for the price of one?”
He lets out a low chuckle. “I’m thinking it may be more along the lines of ‘one girl for the price of two’…but…I...I want us to be friends. I want to be able to get to know you better…all of you…both of you. I may not do everything right, but I’d like to try. Are you willing to at least give us a shot and see where it takes us?” He gently returns his hand to my knee. This time I don’t push it away.