A Demon Made Me Do It(89)

I give him a look out of the corner of my eye. I don’t want to talk about Kieron, especially since he made me feel and look like such a fool. I still can’t believe I’d had all these ridiculous feelings for someone who’d only been using me. How stupid could I be to possibly think for even one moment Kieron was someone who actually cared about me? The award for Dumbest Demion of the Year goes to…

“I’m just glad I get to kill him next time I see him,” Bones finishes.

“You need to get in line behind me for that one,” I say, taking another sip. “But it’s not just him I’m mad at…I’m also pissed the Amazèa are too far outside my range for me to hunt them myself. Thanks to lame-ass Liora and her insistence at showing up at dawn…”

“Yeah… kinda hard to have such a limited time frame to work with, huh?”

I don’t say anything. I just stare at the back of Gyan’s head and think of poor Cody.

Bones casually leans his arm over the back of my chair. “I know you hate it when I say this, but I’ll say it anyway,” he continues, “I’m glad it’s him hunting the Amazèa and not you.”

I’m too drained inside to argue. “He’s not hunting them, he’s saving them,” I mutter. I gulp down the last of my drink and slam the glass on the counter.

“That’s pretty impressive, though, that he works for the Supreme Legionary. I’ve never met one of their bounty hunters before. I expected him to be…I dunno…bigger maybe.”

I pick up the fresh glass Gyan has set down and aimlessly swish it with my fingers as Bones babbles on. “I wonder what the Amazèa did, anyway. It must have been something pretty crazy for them to get a contract on their heads. I heard they were the ones responsible for killing a bunch of Sapies recently, but I don’t know why the Legionare would care about that. Doesn’t it make you feel any better that they’ll be punished, even if it is for something else?”

“No.”

“Think about it, Lucky…with the exception of the immortals, we’ll all die at some point. True, some of us live longer than others, but we’ll extinguish eventually, one way or another. If you kill the Amazèa now, where is their suffering? Where is their pain? It doesn’t seem they would be punished as much by dying as they would be if they were stripped of their powers and banished to the Wasteland for eternity. I mean, can you imagine anything worse?”

“Yes, I can,” I grumble.

Bones rolls his eyes. “Hurry up and finish so we can go outside. I want to talk with you about something.”

I glance around the sparsely populated Bar. “So talk.”

“Not here. We need privacy. Just finish,” he instructs, flashing a devastating smile. In spite of my supposed immunity to his demonic seductive powers, he still hasn’t lost the ability to charm me whenever he wants to. Drives me nuts.

I begrudgingly finish my drink and stand up. “After you,” I say, waving my arm with lavish flair.

Bones hops off his chair wearing a cocky grin and grabs my hand. I shouldn’t be surprised at how pleasurable it feels having his fingers wrapped around mine, but I am. It’s almost as if I’d forgotten how good Bones makes me feel… like being wrapped in a snug, familiar blanket. It’s different than the way I felt when Kieron held me. With Kieron, I felt thrilled, alive, and totally at peace, all at once. With Bones, I just feel comforted—like a little girl who’s fallen down and scraped her knee and is given ice cream and a kiss. Bones is my solace.

Hand in hand, we dodge through the narrow trees, sprinting deeper into the Faerie Forest. Bones is taking me to his private spot. He’s brought me here several times before, yet I’ve never brought him to mine. No one has ever been there except me…and Kieron. Realizing this makes me feel even worse. I’ve allowed my sacred place to be spoiled by a traitor, but someone as awesome and loving as Bones has never been invited. I make a quick mental note to take him there soon.

Like my private grove, Bones’ spot is high on a mountainside. But instead of being out in the open like mine is, Bones’ lair is tucked away inside a cave. He easily tosses aside the enormous boulders covering the entrance as if they’re tiny pebbles, and throws some logs in a pile. “Do you mind?” he asks with a coy grin.

I step forward and release a small reddish-orange stream of heat from my fingertips. The firepit casts a serene and inviting glow along the walls of the cave.

Bones sits down beside the fire and opens up his arms. I immediately nestle into them, my back to his chest, his body wrapped around me lovingly as he rests his chin on top of my head. Together, we stare at the flames as they sparkle and dance; I feel myself relaxing more and more within his soothing, hypnotic embrace.