Chapter 7
Chapter
Seven
“ A re you sure you don’t want to go to the hospital? You shouldn’t take chances with head wounds.” Logan reached up to touch the lump and growing bruise on my face, but stopped short and returned his hand to the gear shift between us.
“I’m sure. It’s just a bump. I’ll be fine.” I turned to smile at Lily in the back seat. “Are you okay now?”
The little girl nodded, her face still buried in her teddy bear’s neck. The bob of her pigtails was really the only indication she’d heard me. I wanted to soothe her again, but my face was throbbing and my head started to hurt. Her father would make sure she knew I wasn’t angry, and she wasn’t in trouble.
“If you start feeling sick or getting dizzy–”
“I’ll have someone take me to the emergency room. But it’ll be fine.” I could tell by his expression he didn’t believe me, and didn’t want to leave me alone in my house with a head injury. “Don’t worry, I have a friend staying with me at the moment. They’ll make sure I’m taken care of. ”
There was no telling what the demon’s version of care would look like. And it would amuse him to no end, knowing I’d called that beast my friend.
“Well, that makes me feel better.” I pushed open my door and grabbed my bag from the floor by my feet. “Take care of yourself. And go ahead and take Monday off. I’ve got some vacation time. I don’t want you pushing yourself too hard.”
“You really don’t have to.” I’d been planning on being with Lily to avoid the beast and his hoard of demons who had taken over my house.
“I really do.” His hand came up to brush my hair back and gently probe the lump over my eye. It was a sweet, gentle move that briefly had my stomach clenching. But even with my body physically reacting to his touch, I simply wasn’t attracted to him. “I’m so sorry this happened.”
“I’m sorry too,” came a small voice from the back seat. It was filled with tears and I wished I could make her believe it really was okay.
“It was an accident. No one was to blame.” Honestly, if anyone was to blame, it was me. I had no business being on roller skates. “Are you sure you’re okay to get my car back to me?”
Logan nodded and pointed to my car keys in the cup holder between us. “I’ll get someone to help me drive it over here. It’s the least we can do. Now go take care of yourself. I’ll check in later.”
I nodded and got out of the car, closing the door behind me. Logan sat idling at the curb as I walked the short path to my front door and got the key in the lock. I waved him off as I headed into the house.
Dropping my bag and house keys on the floor beside the door, I headed to the kitchen and the ice pack I knew was somewhere in my freezer. My face was throbbing. I hadn’t looked at it since we left the skating rink thirty minutes before, but I could feel the skin getting tight and just knew I was going to have a hell of a bruise.
“What the fuck?” Asmodeus said from behind me. My body was heavy as I slowly turned around, holding the ice pack to the lump above my right eye. “You’re hurt.”
“Powerful observation skills.” I said dryly, too tired to get into it with him. From the growl in his voice and the agitation in his stance, fighting is exactly what he had in mind. Leaning back against the counter, I held my ground as he stalked across the room to me.
“Who did this to you?” Asmodeus’ voice was a deep rumble I could feel in my chest. He reached a hand up to brush against the bruise on my face, the touch gentle on my skin. “Tell me who hurt you.”
“No one.” I brushed his hand away from my head. I didn’t want him to be nice to me. The part of me that loved reading dark romance loved being on the receiving end of a good “who hurt you,” I didn’t want it from Asmodeus. I wanted nothing from him.
“Violet,” his voice somehow, impossibly, got lower. “I’ll have their name.”
“Well, I don’t stop to ask the name of the pole I slammed my face into.” I prodded the growing lump and winced. As much from the embarrassment of falling face first into the handrail, as I was from the pain. I was counting down until I could take another dose of painkiller.
“Oh love, I’m as old as time. Do you think I haven’t heard every excuse in the book?” He grabbed my upper arms, his claws digging into my flesh. He brought his face close to mine and growled. Actually fucking growled at me. “Now tell me who did this.”
“It was an accident.” I gritted out at him. “Now take your damn hands off of me before you’re the one to put bruises on me.”
His claws immediately released me, and he clasped them behind his back. I rubbed my arms where he had gripped me. It hadn’t been hard enough to break the skin, but I could still feel the weight and heat of his paws.
I gentled my tone, trying to be the voice of reason, since Asmodeus clearly wasn’t reasonable.
“Look, I’m clumsy as fuck. And had no business being on roller skates. The little girl I was nannying lost her balance, knocked me over into a pole. There are about three dozen witnesses, to my shame, that will confirm no one laid a hand on me. It’s fine. Let it go.”
I rubbed a hand up and down his arm before reclaiming my ice pack off of the counter and heading out of the room. I’d made it a couple of steps before he grabbed my arm.
The move was gentle. I could have shaken him off at any point. Which was the only reason I stopped.
“I don’t like seeing marks on you. Especially not your face.” He brought his hand up to cup my cheek, claws sinking gently into my hair. “You are so lovely.”
I snorted, knowing full-well it was a line. I was short, about a hundred pounds overweight, and average-looking in every way. The single thing interesting about me was my hair, currently pink, and likely to change color again before the month was out. I wasn’t Quasimodo or anything, but I wasn’t someone who was ever going to stop traffic.
Asmodeus moved to stand in front of me. Both hands came up to cradle my face. “Do not dismiss me. I may be a demon, but I will not lie to you. From the moment I heard your call, I knew you would be mine. Your soul is a flame and I am but a moth.”
“I’m not yours.” I stepped back, shaking myself free from his grasp. My hands were shaking and my stomach was jittery, but I would not fall for his lines. “I don’t want anything from you.”