Demons Are Forever by Marianne Morea

Author:Marianne Morea [Morea, Marianne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Marianne Morea

Chapter Seven

I kept my eyes shut the whole time, hoping the rest of the plantation house assumed Daniel tugged me upstairs for a little afternoon delight.

He hip-opened the door to my room, and helped me to the edge of the bed. I sat with my eyes still closed, my fingers gripping the bedspread.

“Open your eyes, Linz.”

I didn’t answer.

“Linzie. Whatever it is, we’ll deal with it together.”

The words were ones I’d longed to hear forever. Of course, my hurt and anger always ended the fantasy with me frying Daniel’s ass, but the urge to do so now was nowhere to be found. I wanted Daniel’s support. I wanted his comforting arms around me. I wanted him.

He sat beside me, turning me slightly so he could see my whole face. “C’mon, killer. I know your baby blues are in there somewhere. We need to coax them out and your demony side in. I can’t do it without you, babe. In fact, I can’t do much without you. I’ve spent three years learning that the hard way.”

Taking my face in his hands, he didn’t take advantage or even try to kiss me. He simply waited. Patience. I had accused him of being impatient. It was true in the past, and yeah, that impatience had rooted our breakup, but I was wrong. There was no impatience. Only maturity, and he’d been showing me that since the airport.

I covered his hands with mine, and it felt right. Felt whole. Taking a steadying breath, I opened my eyes, half expecting Daniel to jerk back. He didn’t. His gaze locked with mine. No holy-shit-what-the-hell. No fear, and more importantly, no pity. Just Daniel looking at me and me looking at Daniel.

“Well?” I asked, not sure how to gauge my own body.

“Not bad. Your baby blues are a little gray, and there’s black around the edges, but it looks like they’re back from whatever took over.

He let go of my face, and I got up to go look in the mirror. I snapped on the bathroom light and leaned in, inspecting the residual. Daniel came in and stood behind me. He slid his hands onto my shoulders, kneading the bunched tension underneath.

“I lost it, Daniel.” I lifted one hand before letting it drop to the porcelain vanity. “I allowed him to get under my skin. It was like he knew exactly how to play me.” A guttural exhale punctuated my self-blame.

“Do you think maybe, just maybe, this was performative?” he asked, squeezing the knot balls on either side of my neck.

I looked at him in the mirror. “How do you mean?”

“Planned. Strategic. Whatever is happening on this island with witch’s blood is too big a money maker to keep small. Perhaps daddy dearest was testing your demon side and what it takes to trigger.”

I closed my eyes, squinching up my face. “And I gave him exactly what he wanted. Now he knows bashing my mother is a trigger. That his abandonment is a trigger. Wait until he finds out about you and me, I’m sure he’ll find a way to twist us to his own use as well.

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