Chapter 33
Chapter Thirty-Three
Vhaena
TRUST
Don’t cry in front of a demon. Don’t show him weakness. He could just use it against you, Vhaena, I had told myself over and over as we continued to walk toward the river for hours.
“You hate demons?” he asked, breaking the tense silence between us.
“They killed my family. They kidnapped me and brought me here to hunt me down and kill me, too. So, yes, I hate demons.” I angrily swiped at the tears rolling down my cheek.
“All of them?”
“Yes. All of them!” What didn’t he get? In what world would I not? I pretty much hated everyone at this point.
“Even me?” His voice was low, and I paused.
Did I? Did I hate him?
At some point, I had stopped fully seeing him as a demon, and my mind had turned him into someone else. Maybe I was just becoming accustomed to the mask…
“I don’t trust you. But I don’t know you either.” Except there was something about him. Something familiar that I couldn’t place. Maybe it was his demeanor or the way he carried himself. The fierceness of him that made me think he was someone I knew. Someone I was once close to…
“And what if you did?” His head tilted to the side in that same way that triggered that familiarity. “What if I were someone you knew?”
“Are you?” I narrowed my eyes.
What would I do if he were someone I knew? I’d thought about it a dozen times, and I wondered if I knew who he was, if it would make me trust him more or less.
“I guess you’ll never know.” His tone didn’t change. “Revealing myself would only endanger you more after the Hunt. Knowing my identity will get you killed by the Umbra Ministry. And that’s the last thing either of us want.”
I swallowed then raised my chin before continuing on through the trees. I didn’t need to wait on him because I could hear the water from the river in the distance. Somehow, the entire day had passed without someone trying to kill me. A small miracle.
The sun had dipped below the horizon, leaving only a faint glow as darkness crept across the sky.
The river’s rush whispered in the air, guiding me through the maze of towering trees and brush until it was a dull roar.
I pushed through the low-hanging limbs and lost my breath when I stepped through just as the last of the daylight faded.
The surface of the river glowed with ethereal shades of blue, dancing and shifting as it rippled.
Soft sapphire light gleamed beneath the current as streaks of cobalt flowed through it like veins, while cerulean lapped against the stones along the bank.
It wasn’t just beautiful; it was mystical and awe-inspiring—unlike anything I had ever seen.
It carved through the land like a bleeding wound, dark and unstoppable.
I stopped at the edge. The river rocks shifted softly beneath my feet as I crouched on the bank. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the water. It was too peaceful, too alluring.
“The Leuch River.” The demon’s deep voice was low as he came up behind me.
I spared a quick glance toward him when he approached. “It’s unbelievable.”
He stood beside me at the water’s edge. The blue light illuminated his frame as he stared at the river. Without warning, he pulled his shirt over his head.
I tore my eyes away. I had learned my lesson last time. His body was too much of a distraction for me to think clearly, and that was dangerous in ways I couldn’t explain. It wasn’t just how he looked, but what he did to me altogether.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” he said after a long stretch of silence.
I didn’t speak, afraid of what would come out if I did.
“You still don’t trust me.” It wasn’t accusatory, more like…resigned.
I swallowed hard. “Trust isn’t that easy.” Why would I trust him?
Because he hasn’t given me a reason not to. Because he saved me. Because he made me feel safe enough to fall asleep with him watching over me. Because he reminded me of…
I didn’t look at him. I couldn’t.
Not just because I was still marveling at the sight before me, but because as more time passed, as I was near him more and more, I was beginning to suspect something I wasn’t ready for. That not only did I think I knew him, but that maybe I knew who he was.
Except it couldn’t be. Right?
There was nothing recognizable about him. His voice sounded different, and while I couldn’t see his face, nothing seemed the same. Yet, there was something deeper, something familiar about his presence that spoke to me.
But then again, I wasn’t looking for similarities to him specifically because it couldn’t be him.
He couldn’t kill anyone, and this demon clearly could. He wasn’t dark and violent. I had known him for nearly my entire life, and there was no way he was a demon. I would have known. Vosten would have known.
“Why don’t you?”
“It’s kind of hard when you look just like all the other demons out here.” I tossed a stone in the water, watching the glowing surface disappear around it momentarily before swallowing it whole and filling the gap with the soft light once again.
“I can’t change how you see me.”
“You could start by taking off the mask and looking less demonic.” I did want him to stop looking like a demon, but I also wanted to be able to either ease the worry bubbling inside me or confirm what I feared. I just didn’t know which one I wished for more.
When he didn’t respond right away, I finally looked up at him. He was staring right at me, as if contemplating whether to do it or not.
“No.” His tone was resolute.
“I don’t understand why I can’t see you.” I raised my hand when he took a breath to speak. “I know. I know. It’s a danger to me after the Hunt,” I said in a low tone to mimic his voice. “But what does it matter? I’m probably just going to die here anyway.”
His head snapped to mine, and I could feel his glare filled with something dark and unforgiving. “I won’t fucking allow it.”
His unyielding tone made a shiver tingle down my spine. It was a threat—a warning to the dangers of this place. It was a promise.
And something in me made me want to believe him even if I shouldn’t.
“Fine, but the mask is…intimidating. And honestly, it scares me. It’s hard to trust something you fear.”
He glanced at the river for a moment, and I could see his mind working.
“I have an idea.” He bent down, reached inside my skirt pocket, and pulled out the slip of fabric before I could even react. “But it requires you to trust me a little bit.”
I jumped to my feet just as he unraveled the fabric into a long strip, holding it out in front of me toward my face. I leaned back when I realized what he was suggesting.
“No—”
“I’ve saved you from certain death multiple times.
I’ve carried you to safety, provided protection, pulled venom from your veins, and led you away from the dangers of the island.
I haven’t hurt you. Not once. That, at least, should earn me some amount of trust. So, do as I say, and let me put this on. ”
There wasn’t a single lie in his words.
I forced the tension in my shoulders to loosen, and I nodded slowly, my voice coming out barely a whisper. “Okay.”
He stepped forward, and I let him wrap the fabric over my eyes, winding it around my head before tying it at the back. My breath hitched when it went dark and all the light from the luminescent river disappeared behind the blindfold.
“There.” His breath brushed against the shell of my ear, and I didn’t know if it was the sensation or being unable to see him that made me shiver. “Now, don’t move.”
I couldn’t see him. I couldn’t even guess what he was about to do. My heart pounded against my chest, but…it wasn’t out of fear. At least, not just that. Something else made my pulse race. Even fully clothed, I felt exposed and vulnerable.
He hadn’t touched me, but I could feel how close he was. The heat of his body brushed against me. His breath ghosted along my face. And I hated that part of me wished he were closer.
What is wrong with me?
Tensing, I forced myself to remain completely still. The silence between us coiled up until it was so taut that I was afraid that breaking it would be deafening. My throat was dry, and I rubbed my sweaty palms against my skirt.
What was I thinking? Why was I considering trusting him? Why had I let him blindfold me? Why was I trembling, not with terror, but with something far more treacherous?
A moment later, I heard the rustling of fabric and the clank of metal before his hand wrapped around my wrist. He lifted my hand until my fingers pressed against flesh.
His face.
“You wanted to see me,” he murmured, letting go of my wrist. “I can’t let you with your eyes, but with your hands… Maybe you’ll see me better this way.”
I hesitated, but for only a moment, because I wanted this.
I brought up my other hand, and my fingers began to move. I traced his hairline then the curve of his brows. My fingers lightly brushed down his closed eyes, feeling the tickle of his lashes, then the slope of his nose, the angle of his cheekbones across to his ears. His jaw. His mouth.
His lips parted, and a soft exhalation slipped through them.
My pulse thrummed as I mapped his face with my fingertips.
I lifted onto my toes to run my hands over the top of his head.
He tilted it back ever so slightly, as if he couldn’t help leaning into my touch as my fingers pulled down to the back of his neck and dragged around the strong column of his throat.
I stilled when my fingers reached his collarbone, where the fabric of his shirt should have been only to remember he had taken it off. I went to pull away, but he placed his hands over mine.
“I’m not so different from a man,” he said.
“I think you are,” I whispered.
He pulled my hand down to his chest, directly over his heart. “I’m not empty inside. I’m not a monster.”
No, he wasn’t. His heart thudded against my palm, warm, alive, beating through skin and muscle.
“I know.” My breath shook. “Because men can be monsters, too.”
I’d seen him covered in blood, knowing he’d killed and maimed. But it didn’t make him a soulless beast. Not to me. Not when he did it to protect me. Not when he had had every opportunity to take my life and chose instead to save it. Even after I had shoved him away over and over.
He sucked in a breath and removed his hands from over mine.
Something in me surrendered, and I flattened my palms against his chest. I leaned into him as my hands roved over his body.
His muscles twitched, reacting to my touch, as my fingers trailed through the dips of the muscles across his stomach to his hips, where they paused.
We stood there with my hands on his sides for a long moment.
I felt him. I saw him. Not as a demon or just a man. But as someone else…
His hands found mine again, intertwining our fingers together as he guided me forward.
“You’re going to need to trust me just a little bit more.”
I nodded, unable to form words.
“I won’t let anything happen to you.” The soft assurance had me following without question, trusting the honesty in his voice.
This island could very well become my resting place despite him forbidding it. I knew that. I might not see the sun rise again. I might never go home. This moment might be the last time I even felt peace.
And if this was to be my grave, I didn’t want the man whose lies had led me here to be the last one to touch me. I didn’t want my last memory of touch to be a monster’s before the end.
The demon standing before me reminded me so much of Daemon. Even though he couldn’t be. Daemon was quiet and careful, while this demon was rough and a killer. But there were small things that made me think of him—small gestures, fragments of memory. All distorted by pain and time.
Still, I wanted to pretend. I wanted to pretend he had always wanted me just as I had always wanted him. Just for one night, I could give in to the longing I never acted on. I could pretend he was Daemon. Even if he wasn’t.
Even if he was…
I realized he was leading me toward the water, and I quickly tossed aside the spoon and slipped off my shoes, leaving everything else on.
The smooth rocks shifted beneath my feet as I stepped into the river.
The water licked at my ankles. Then my calves, my thighs, all the way up to my chest, until I couldn’t touch the bottom anymore.
But he held me by my arms so my head was suspended above the surface, steadying me against the gentle current.
With how firmly he held me, his feet had to be touching the bottom.
One arm wrapped around my waist, and his other hand came to the back of my head.
Despite the chill of the water, my skin was on fire everywhere he touched.
“Tell me you trust me,” he demanded.
My only answer was allowing him to tip me back.
The water closed around me, rushing past my ears and cocooning me in its soothing rhythm. I felt weightless as I floated on top of the river.
The demon’s arm left my waist, and the lack of support had me instinctively wrapping my legs around him.
But his hand behind my head held firm, holding me steady as his other hand went to my hair.
He pulled out the tie at the end, undoing my braid, and ran his fingers through the strands.
My shoulders relaxed while the river rinsed through my hair.
Then, he drew me back up. Lifting my head above the surface, water trickled down my face and neck. I shivered—but not from the chill.
His warm breath brushed across my lips, lingering there with unspoken temptation. All it would take was leaning forward an inch, and our lips would meet. And why did that thought, that image, make my stomach flip with excitement rather than fear?
No rumors. No death. No island. No Hunt. Just this moment. It may be the last I have.
I didn’t think. I didn’t question it. My arms wrapped around his neck, and I leaned forward, pressing my lips against his.