Chapter Seven #2
“That’s beside the point.” He set the pot on the stove and flicked his hand, using magic to light the burner before salting the water.
“Where did you live before arriving in Bremloc? And how were you able to conceal yourself from Nocturne all this time? With their ability to track your life force, they would have been able to find you even from across the sea.”
Seemed the day to have the whole ‘I was sent here from another world’ conversation with him had come a lot sooner than I’d anticipated. Which left me with two options.
Tell Onyx everything. About my old life in a contemporary world, meeting Lupin, waking up in the field outside the dark wood, and all that happened after, leading me to that very moment with him in the castle kitchen.
Or…
“I’m a muffin of mystery, what can I say?” I sidled up to him at the stove. There was a ton of crap he hadn’t told me yet either, so it was only fair for me to keep some details to myself. For now. At least until I knew where our relationship stood. “If you’re good, maybe I’ll tell you one day.”
“If I’m good?” He peered down at me.
“Yep. Which will be difficult for you, I know. So, there’s a chance you might never know the truth. How unfortunate.”
The side of his mouth crinkled. Almost a smile but not quite. He waited for the pot of water to come to a boil before adding the rice.
“Need any help?” I drummed my fingers on the counter. The long stretch of silence had amped up my nerves again.
He shook his head. “Just stand there and look pretty. Isn’t that what you told me to do the morning I offered to help with the muffins?”
Warmth flooded the center of my chest at the memory. “A lot’s happened since then. New powers, my uncle’s death, and being attacked by an adorable tree demon.”
And falling for another, much more stubborn demon.
“Speaking of your powers…” Onyx added some ginger and garlic to the pot, and the aroma made my mouth water. “I spoke to Phantasia on your behalf. She is well-versed in magic of all types and can help you tap into your powers. To understand them.”
“Really?” I asked, taken aback by the offer. “Why would you want to help me with them? Aren’t you worried I’ll use them against you?”
“No.” His answer came without hesitation. “You are no threat to me nor anyone else in my realm.”
“That’s not what you said on the balcony,” I mumbled, still sore by his accusations. “You thought I was sent here as a ploy to destroy you or whatever.”
The demon lord seemed amused but said nothing. The jerk.
I took it as another good sign though. If he was truly suspicious of me, he wouldn’t be offering to help me with unlocking my powers.
“What are you cooking anyway?” I asked, needing a distraction from all the confusion.
“Rice porridge.” His expression softened. “My mother used to cook it for me when I was a child.”
I brought to mind the painting I’d seen of his parents while roaming the castle once. His mom had been beautiful. Silver hair and red eyes. Eyes she’d passed down to her son. Not only her eyes either. Also a love of reading… and how to cook rice porridge, it seemed.
“Why are you making it right now?” I asked, trying to figure him out. “Had a late-night craving for it?”
“The porridge is for you,” he said, seemingly self-conscious. “You drank a lot of ale at dinner, and it has upset your stomach. This will be easy on your body and help calm any nausea.”
He was making it… for me? Damn if the shock didn’t nearly make me fall over.
But then that shock turned into something else. A type of frustrating perplexity I didn’t know how to process, especially not while hungover.
“I don’t understand you, Onyx.” I scrubbed my hands over my face, rubbing at my eyes, then my temples. “You act so cold toward me. You throw up a wall any time I start getting too close. But now you’re cooking me porridge and being so freaking sweet I don’t know whether to thank you or cry.”
“Why would you cry?” he asked, sincere in his confusion. He had no idea how maddening he could be sometimes.
“It’s like dangling a carrot in front of a rabbit,” I explained, equal parts touched by his kind gesture and exasperated by it. “Letting the carrot get close enough for the rabbit to think it has a chance before yanking it away. Then doing it again. That’s you.”
“I’m a… carrot?” Onyx frowned. Which only made me want to shake him.
How could he be so oblivious?
“Never mind.” I groaned under my breath and rubbed at my temples again. “Forget it. I’m going back to bed. Hopefully everything will magically make sense in the morning. And if not, at least there’s coffee to look forward to.”
I turned from the stove to leave.
A light touch on my bicep stopped me. Made my insides freeze right along with it, lungs and heart alike. Shocked, I peered back at him.
“Evan, I…” Onyx wet his lips, his gaze boring into mine. “Don’t go.”
“Why not?” Something sharp gnawed at my sternum. “So you can keep jerking me around and giving me false hope? It’s confusing.”
He lowered his hand from my arm. “Confusing you isn’t my intention.”
“Then what is your intention?” I asked, the ache in my heart spreading out like the roots of a large tree, burrowing deeper into my muscles and bones. “Because I’m at a loss here. I can’t figure out what you want.”
“That makes two of us.” He swallowed. “I steel myself against these feelings and convince myself I have no desire for you, yet the moment I see you, that resolve is ripped apart.”
My chin wobbled. “It’s our fated mate bond. It draws us together whether you choose to accept it or not.”
“And I choose not to accept it,” he said. “Doing so would be a grave mistake.”
“Why are you so against the idea of being with me?” I lifted a hand to his chest, my pulse quickening. “Fate brought me to you, Onyx. We’re destined to be together.”
“Or we’re meant to be each other’s biggest regret,” he said, snaking his fingers around my wrist. He didn’t force my hand away though. Instead, he held it against his heart. “Destiny doesn’t always mean love.”
Pressure enclosed my sternum. “I don’t want to accept that.”
“Nor do I.” He pressed closer, bringing his smoky scent with him. It reminded me of a warm fire on a cold winter’s night. A unique fragrance that proved he was my fated mate, regardless of his refusal to accept it. “Yet, as I said once before, fate can be a cruel mistress.”
“Because love will only end in tragedy?” I asked, recalling his words from before. “What if you’re wrong? What if we can be happy together?”
“You and I are not destined for love nor happiness, little bird.” Onyx lowered his face to my neck. The soft exhale of his breath against my skin made me shiver. “But gods, how I wish we were.”
“Why can’t we?” I ran my fingers over his silky black hair. “I know emotions can be scary. Hell, I’ve been with Maddox and the others for a while and still panic that I’ll lose them. But it’s a risk worth taking.”
Onyx stayed against me for a handful of seconds, face buried in the crease of my neck. He pulled away from me. “I need to check the porridge.”
The sudden absence of his body caused chills along my arms. That coldness seeped below my skin too, sinking deep into my bones. I stared at his profile, noting the scrunch of his brow as he focused on the pot of rice.
“Talk to me, Onyx.” I stepped closer to him, wishing the emotional distance could be closed as easily. “Please.”
“What do you wish for me to say?” he softly asked.
“The truth.” My earlier frustration returned, burrowing into my gut. “You seem so sure that we’ll crash and burn but won’t give me a reason why.”
A mask slid over his expression as he stirred the rice. “Do you like green onion?”
“What I like, my lord, is communication. Something you sorely lack.”
He regarded me like a parent watching a child throw a tantrum.
A stretch of silence passed where we stared at each other, me with my hands on my hips and him with that cold indifference. He turned away and stirred the rice before tasting it and adding a touch more seasoning.
“See?” I gestured toward him. “This is exactly what I was talking about earlier. You’re up, then down. Frigid like the Atlantic one second, then scorching hot the next. You’re like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and I never know which one of you I’m gonna get.”
“Who?” he asked.
“Doesn’t matter.” I released a heavy breath. “My point is, your moods are unpredictable. You can be flirting with me one moment and then glaring at me four seconds later like you want to throw that pot at me.”
“I would never throw this pot at you,” he said, gaze narrowing. “Now, go sit at the table like a good boy. The porridge should be ready soon.”
“I’m not hungry anymore.” Annoyance prickled at my skull. “I think you should eat it instead. The entire pot. Maybe it can fill that empty hole in your chest.”
There was a tic in his jaw. “You’re behaving like an insolent child.”
“And you’re behaving like a jerk popsicle,” I fired back, full of snark and sass.
The twitch in his jaw traveled up to the corner of his eye. “A what?”
“It’s you. That’s what.”
As he raked his gaze over me, some of his ice chipped away, visible in the sudden glint in his red eyes. Not enough to thaw him completely though. That insufferable mask of his remained in place as he busied himself with chopping a stick of green onion.
“God, you’re so frustrating, Onyx.” I rubbed at my temples.
“The feeling is mutual,” he responded, scooping rice into the bowl and sprinkling the garnish on top. “Since the moment you arrived in my realm, I’ve endured quite the headache, one irritation after another. I once said you were a curse unlike any other, and I stand by that statement.”