“I take that as a no,” he says dryly.
“She didn’t tell me about the guy she was with before you,” I protest.
“If she trusted you, she would’ve.”
I glower at him. “She trusts me enough to tell me about you. She wanted to go on a double date—”
“That wasn’t a double date unless you were dating yourself. Did you go back to your room and finger yourself? Because if you did, then maybe it could count as being a double date.”
I flinch and suppress the urge to smack him right in the kisser. I hate to think about Bay kissing those lips.
“You are here for one reason and one reason only,” he says. “You’re here to try to break up your sister and me, and the only reason why you want to do that is because I am a demon. You made up your mind about me, and—”
“No, that’s not why.”
He eyes me, and my stomach tightens.
“You don’t understand your sister at all, do you?” he asks. “I understand her in a way that you can never. She is like me. She’s more like me than she is like you, and it has nothing to do with your bodies and eyes and all of that. You and her aren’t alike.”
“You don’t know me.”
“Oh, but she’s told me about you. You court danger.”
“I do not!” I protest.
He lifts his eyebrows. “Fuck, girl. That’s a lie.”
“No, it isn’t.”
"Yes. You do. That Spring chick. Thistle. You run around all over the place, acting as if you're the shit, as if you can't die. You can. You know that? You can bleed."
“Do you love her?” I demand.
“Do you?” he counters.
“Of course I do!”
“If you could, would you convince her to stop dating me?”
I hesitate.
"She loves me. You would have her give me up, and for what? What can you offer her? You judge her all the time, and you find her lacking. Is that right? Is that fair?"
“I don’t judge her,” I protest, my voice cracking.
“Your actions say otherwise.”
“I never thought she could be involved with drugs. I have always fought for her, and yes, I will stand up and fight you if I think you aren’t right for her.”
“She’s happy, isn’t she?” he asks with a coy smile that sets my teeth on edge.
“Do you even know what love is?” I demand. “Do you care for her, or do you just fuck her?”
He claps his hands. “How did it feel to say that word? Did it feel good? Do you like that anger you’re feeling?”
“Leave me be.”
“No,” he says in a tight, controlled tone that makes me want to back away from him. Without moving, he seems to be invading my space to the point of suffocating me. “You came here to try to intimidate me, to control me. What do you think you can do? That you can stop me? That’s not how it works. I do what I want, and I want to be with your sister.”
“For now, isn’t that right? You don’t want to be with her long-term, do you?”
He laughs. “Who says she wants to be with me long-term?”
“Can you love? Can any demon?”
“Ah, that’s the question you most want answered, isn’t it? Because of that half-demon? The one your sister wants you to be with?”
“She wants me to be with Damon because she wants me to accept you.”
“So why can’t you be a good little sister and accept me?” he asks.
I say nothing and just glare at him.
"You have fire in you. I'll give you that. Might not be bad in bed. But do you have a wild side? Because that's what I like about your sister. She's experimenting, willing to try new things."
“In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not with Damon.”
“Oh, I know that, but you’re also cruel. Not choosing either boy. You might very well end up alone.”
Tears prickle my eyes. He knows just what to say to wound me, but I refuse to let those tears fall. Zoth won’t know that he’s succeeding.
“Leave, Rosemary. I won’t tell you anything you want to hear, and you won’t trap me into saying something that you can run back to your sister to try to convince her to break up with me. I like her. Her mind, her mouth, her sass, her ass, her pussy. We’re together whether you like it or approve or not.”
I fly off with a bitter taste in my mouth and a heavy lump for a heart. He likes her, yes, but I can’t help noticing two glaring omissions.
He didn’t say that he liked her heart or her soul.
Chapter 14
Beaten down, feeling the lowest I have ever felt, I slowly fly back to campus. I almost don’t even want to return to Light Fae Academy, and I debate going to the treehouse to see Mom and Dad. Of course I decide against that. Mom would ask too many prying questions instead of just being there for me when I need her the most.
I have no one to blame but myself for the downturn my life has taken. Confronting Zoth accomplished absolutely nothing. My fears are magnified, not lessened, and I don’t know what to do next, where to turn.
Somehow, I have to get my head on straight and fly straight, or else I'm going to fall behind on my classes. Considering I'm taking six this year, I cannot allow that to happen. Which means less time for friends and for the guys… if they will even talk to me.
If I’m not careful, I really will end up alone.
The very last thing I want is to upset anyone else. I’m just going to go to bed. Tomorrow is another day.
I fly to the cottage and enter my room. No one else is around, and it takes me a bit to realize that it’s dinner time. I’ve wasted so much time today, and the thought of food makes my stomach churn. Eating just isn’t going to happen tonight.
Pausing
