Demon Day (9 page)

I looked down at my hands, fisted on
my knees. “You should know what to say. Then again, that is not the
real problem, is it? The truth is you don’t know me well enough to
know what to say to make me feel better.” I frowned. “And I know
nothing about you. Not really.”

How could you feel such emotion toward
a person you knew nothing of? I had met him two days ago, and I
could not look forward and not see him. If I looked back there was
nothing before him. In my mind’s eye the world was surrounded by
darkness and he was shimmering silver light guiding me home,
keeping me safe until I could see again.

“
What do you want to
know?”

There was no impatience or mockery in
his tone, simply the need to please and reassure me. It made the
idea of asking him about himself seem okay.

“
I don’t know. Stuff,” I
said and waved my hands.

He cocked his head. “No. I don’t know.
You have to tell me.”

I resisted the urge to shrug. I was
drawing a blank. “You could offer some information. Like….”
Finally, Breandan and I were alone, and had time to talk yet I
could not think of one single question to ask him. I looked at his
face and thought of his lips. I looked in his eyes and marveled at
how they matched the silvery gray of the moon. So I looked down at
his stomach, let my gaze drift lower over the pale, smooth skin and
delineated muscle until it hovered around the tie of his
trousers.

“
Rae-love?”

I jumped and pressed my eyes shut. He
called me love. I giggled and flushed in pleasure. Peeking at him,
I took in his amused expression. “Have you ever been with a girl
before?” Once I heard the words and realized how they may be
interpreted, I blushed yet again, worried the blood rushing to my
head was the reason I felt light headed. “I mean, have you ever had
a steady?”

His lips twitched, eyes twinkled. “I
do not understand.”

Like hell he did not. “A girl who you
found special. Who you wanted to … you know?”

He made a small noise. “Ah, a lover?”
The words were spoken full of wonder and magic. They coiled around
me and stroked me silly. “No, I never found a female.” Ah, a lover?
The way he spoke was self assured and confident. Always so sure of
himself and what he was doing, what he had done.

My eyes darted to and from his. “Did
you look?”

A dull bronze bloomed across his
cheekbones. I watched the colour heighten, captivated by
him.

“
For a while, but I was not
suited to anyone.” He met my eyes. “The reason why I never did is
clear.”

My fingers danced across his shoulder.
I was dying to know all the gory details about any past
relationships, but reluctant to push too far in case he asked about
mine. Rather, the lack of mine.

“
You didn’t like them?” I
asked.

“
They did not like me. They
found me ugly.”

My mouth hit the floor. “Ugly?” I
smacked my palm on his forehead, scowling. “I know the rules, but
you have to be telling a lie.”

At first he was stumped, face blank
with shock. The slowly a look of pure mischief stole across his
expression. “You like the way I look?”

No way was I answering that bloody
question. Turning away from him slightly, I played with the skin on
my leg where the slash in my jeans used to be and was happy for the
change of direction it allowed my thoughts to grab onto. The dress
I wore was pretty, but I missed my own clothes. Where would I get
clothes from now? There was a factory behind the Wall that produced
clothes, of course, but I could hardly walk up to the handout
booth, smile toothily, and collect clothes anymore. Not that I
smiled much before I met Breandan.

Said boy had become stiff beneath me,
and it was uncomfortable to sit on someone who was as relaxed as a
plank of wood.

His eyes were fixated on my hand. I
realized then that my dress had ridden up to pool at the top of my
thighs, and my legs were completely bare. His hand had rested on my
thigh innocently, but now it flexed and tightened its hold on me. I
said nothing. His warm palm moved slowly up my leg, gently
kneading. I moaned, surprising myself with the urgency of my own
voice and buried my head in the crook of his neck, breathed in the
scent of him. I was sure it had imprinted itself on my brain.
Sunlight, rain and green things mixed with a spicy masculine smell
that was all his own. Touching was so much more revealing than
talking. Emotion flickered in my gut as I reached to trawl my
fingers over his scalp, loving the feel of the thick dark hair that
grew. It seemed his hair grew as fast as mine, and I could not wait
to see it longer. Would it be jet black like his eyebrows or be
shot through with streaks so dark they absorbed the light entirely
and glowed silver?

Yes. Yes, I wanted this. I was unsure
of everything else, but this. I wanted to lie in his arms and to
love him. I wanted him to hold onto me and to love me.

My fingertips traced the lines of his
nose and mouth. I kissed him. His eyes were open and bored into
mine as he kissed me back. Then my mouth parted and his tongue
slipped out to slide across the seam of my lips. I tingled all over
and my eyes drifted closed. His tongue was slow, explorative and
tasted sweet. Running his hands down the length of my body, he
sighed, and I gripped his shoulders. I waited for the next kiss …
but nothing happened. Opening my eyes – drunk on lust – reality
filtered through my happy haze. Breandan was looking at me
strangely, his mouth pulled into a thin line. Sliding me away from
him, he jumped up gracefully, turning away so I got a tantalizing
view of his bare shoulders and broad back.

The marks on this side of his body
were bolder, more ominous in design. If I had to sum them up in a
word, I would have chosen ‘nefarious’. I shivered slightly, and not
from the sensations he ignited under my skin with his touch. Why
did Breandan – the one person in the entire world I was sure had no
darkness – have tattoos like that?

Confused as to why we were no longer
touching I surged up, stood on my tail, and then sunk to my knees
rubbing it. Tears pricking the corner of my eyes for it hurt, and a
faint echo of the pain shot up my spine.

Breandan spared me a glance and shook
his head. He paced the floor in front of me. Eventually after
pondering gods knows what he settled for stalking back over and
yanking my head back. The pressure of his mouth crushing mine
almost hurt.

“
Let’s go see if we can
help Conall pick up the trail,” he said and left me there, already
a silvery blur in the distance.

Watching his retreating back
irrational rage replaced desire.

Was I supposed to understand what had
just happened?

I jumped up and stumbled behind him.
He sprinted across the Pride green, the waist length grass crushed
beneath his boots. I chased him, as fast as he, and my rage was
powerful. I sped up until he was at arm’s length. Before I had the
thought, I was pushing off the ground and soaring, latching myself
onto his back. I dug my fingers into his bare shoulders, dragging
my nails across his skin until I drew blood. He snagged one of my
legs and hauled me off him, throwing me to the mossy ground. He
pinned me, leaning his weight. He loomed over me; skin pulsing and
eyes sparking like an avenging angel. I would have felt the need to
prostrate myself on the ground before him if I did not feel so
pissed off. Too angry to be shocked at my feral actions I bared my
teeth.

Face a mask of rage he leaned down
further. “Behave!”

“
If you’re disgusted with
the way I behave why don’t you just say it?” I tried to push him
off. “I’m not proud of how I react when I’m with you but I can’t
help it.”

He let go of my wrists and paced away,
his hands clasped behind his head. I sat up – my knees bent – and
wiped the leaves and dirt from my hair and clothes in forceful
sweeps. It ground into my dress, and the rubbing made it worse. I
was a bloody mess.

Breandan spun, fists clenched. “Why
can’t you see how I feel?” His voice drifted over to me soft-as-ash
and filled with longing. “I have left my home and turned my back on
my family. Everything I have done I’ve done for you.” Stunned I
stared at him. My eyes were wide and my mouth open. He half smiled
at the look on my face. “The moment I revealed myself to you I made
peace with what I was to do, of what I would be giving up. I belong
to you. I choose you, I always will, but you have to understand
that everything is not what it seems. And when I pull away from you
it’s because I want nothing more than to be close to you. You know
how your family and mine feel about us. Why do you continue to
doubt me?”

The feeling that overflowed in my
chest was euphoric, but tinged with shame. I did not feel good
enough for him and it was frustrating. It was like I wore big
boots, but my feet were pitifully small, and no matter how hard I
tried to run in them without tripping over they were simply too big
for me. Tears trickled down the side of my nose. Why was I not
brave, honest, and selfless? Maybe there was something broken
inside making me selfish and devious.

Breandan dropped to his knees, taking
my head in his hands. Disgruntled I tried to pull away, but he held
fast and sighed, brushed my tears away. “I do not like to see you
cry. Be calm, Rae-love, we will be together. We are together.
Alright?”

“
I don’t feel
like–”

Eyes turning from pained to scary
alert his head snapped to the side and he peered across the plain.
Seeing nothing in the solid dark I started again, needing to
confess everything, how I felt about him.

“
Breandan, I–”

“
Silence.” He placed a
finger to my lips and closed his eyes. He nodded, satisfied. “We
are in a shield. We cannot be seen as long as we stay still.” I
peered into the gloom wondering what he hid us from. “A demon is
close,” he said into my ear as I curled against his
chest.

Breathing in deeply I extended myself.
Since I had become a fairy, what I could perceive had changed
immensely. My consciousness could feel further than just a few
feet. My mind could seek life forces miles away and that is what I
did, pushing myself to the limit. I started. Someone two natured
was nearby, a male. He was coming closer, curious, and wary. He did
not want to hurt us; it was his job to check we were
friendly.

I opened my eyes and glanced around.
My sight was keen and I had paid little attention to our
surroundings other than how pretty it was at a glance. Now, I
focused then saw a line of the grass moving in the opposite
direction of the rest.

“
The wind blows east and
carries our scent into the Pride,” Breandan explained and pointed
to the grass. “It is not polite to run in another’s territory
without permission, even if you mean peace. Before we reveal
ourselves I want to be sure he means us no harm.”

The scream of a cat echoed across the
Pride, and the soft stomping of heavy paws drawing closer found us
through the silence. A panther raced into view. He weaved through
the grass, unerringly in our direction.

Oddly enough, I relaxed, and my knees
went weak with relief.

Breandan secured my waist and slid me
behind him as the panther slid to a stop and exposed his sharp
teeth in a vicious snarl and hissed menacingly.

Conall simply appeared from thin air,
and held up his hands to both Breandan and the shifter; thank gods
because it seemed like they would have torn into each other had he
not. He shook his head, exasperated. “It is a good thing I decided
not to scout too far ahead. Always are you in trouble,
Rae.”

I curled my lip at him. How unfair.
Like this was in any way my fault.

Roaring, the panther leapt forward a
bound. His ears were flat to his head and his claws scratched up
the earth. He was huge, coal black, and I found myself wondering
how the hell I had not seen him in the green grass. It was taller
than him, coming up to just below my breast, but still. After his
display of dominance, he turned his head to look at me, and
blinked. His beautiful eyes were the trigger that revealed I did
indeed have a memory of him.

I laughed and held out my hand.
Breandan pushed it back. “Wait,” he ordered and watched the cat
carefully. He was not taking any more chances after our last
encounter.

“
Hai,” I whispered to the
panther. “It might sound crazy, but it’s good to see
you.”

He padded over cautiously, whiskers
quivering when Breandan hissed a warning. The panther slinked low,
under Breandan’s restraining arm. Keeping his eyes trained on my
fairy-boy he pushed his hand into my hand. His eyes slid closed and
purred.

I was strangely touched that he
remembered me too.

“
You know this hunter?”
Conall asked a hint of pride in his tone.

Breandan shifted and the panther’s
eyes shot open. He growled then settled on his haunches, tongue
lolling to the side. I rubbed him behind the ears and he grumbled
happily.

Breandan relaxed. He sat back and
inclined his head. “How?” His raised eyebrow was enough to tell me
he was surprised, but then he pulled his face into a neutral
expression, his thoughts hidden from me. “How did you know it was
him?”