A Demon Made Me Do It(59)

Slowly, I wander back to where he sits, and kneel beside him. Close—but not touching.

The three moons of Illyria float side by side, soon to be one. The Sirens are silent. So are we.

“I’m sorry,” I finally whisper.

“Me too.”

Still staring out over the valley, he moves his hand just slightly so that it rests on mine.





Chapter 13. Liora


It takes a few seconds for my last memories to surface, but once they do, I wish to God they hadn’t.

“Oh, no. No, no, no!” I groan, flinging the blanket over my head. Kieron. Oh, God, oh no…

Moaning, I bury my face in my pillow, wishing it could block out the world. What happened after I left? What did Lucky do? Does Kieron hate me? Is he okay? Is he even still alive?

I replay those final seconds over and over in my mind, each new memory puncturing a fresh hole in my heart: My failed escape; the man with the gun; falling asleep in Kieron’s arms as he looked at me with such sweet concern…

It’s over. It is so all over for me. There is no way anything good happened after I left. There is no best case scenario, only differing degrees of horrible.

The only question is, how bad is it? I can’t bear to consider the answer.

I scream into my pillow, the down filling muffling my cries. I hate this so much. Every single second of it. Life is not supposed to be like this, even for a demion. Especially for a demion. I’m supposed to have the world at my feet, not half-exist as a pathetic, sniveling nobody held hostage by the night and perpetually tormented by an unseen enemy.

Tatiana lightly taps on the bedroom door and lets herself in.

“Good morning, Liora, dear. Are you going to join the world today?”

“No,” I respond into my pillow.

“What is the matter?” She sits at the end of the bed and places her hand on my calf.

“I’m sick. I’m not going to school. I’m going to sleep all day.”

She clucks disapprovingly and smooths her long, grey hair behind her ear. “You are not sick, my dear. Something is bothering you. Either tell me what it is or please get ready for school.”

I bolt up and throw off the blankets, my fiery eyes fixing on her opaque ones. “What does it even matter what I do? Don’t you see? It doesn’t matter if I’m late or not there at all! None of this matters! I am a fraud…a fake. I don’t even exist. Not really. This life…this life…it sucks Tattie, it really does. I hate it! I hate everything about everything!” Angry tears spill down my cheeks.

She leans forward, wrapping her frail arms around me as sobs wrack through my body, her unconditional love making me feel doubly horrible. I hadn’t meant to take my anger out on her. She’s always been the one person I can count on; the one person who’s always been there for me. But right now she’s the only target I have for my frustration.

“There, there… don’t be so sad, my sweet Liora. Things aren’t always as bleak as they appear to be,” she coos, patting my back.

I pull away from her embrace and flop back on the bed. I’ve only been awake a few minutes but already my body is totally exhausted and my mind drained. I curl up in the covers again.

“Please just let me sleep,” I beg her, sniffling loudly under the blankets.

She stands up. “Do you plan to hide in here for the rest of your life?”

“Yes.” I nestle myself in further.

“And you think that will make you feel better?”

“Yes.”

She sighs. “So be it. But it saddens me to think that I raised a young woman who would quit so easily. You are the strongest person I know, and giving up without a fight is not like you.”

I turn over and remove the cover from my face to see her gazing down on me with concern. “I don’t even know who I am anymore,” I say, my voice softer.

“Yes, you do. And instead of focusing on all the things that are going wrong for you, why don’t you try opening your eyes to all that is good?” She has a hint of a smile on her face.

I sit up, propping myself against some pillows. “Like what? Name one thing that’s good. I hate school, I barely have any friends, I don’t even have...” I picture Kieron’s face and have to fight back a fresh wave of tears. “She’s ruined everything…”

“I have an idea,” she says, reaching down to stroke my hair. “Why don’t you go out and find just one good thing you like about your life. It is there, waiting to be discovered. But you cannot find the goodness if you hide from the light. You must seek it, even when the darkness surrounds you.”

“I can’t—”

“Yes, you can. Please…just this once. For me…”