TWENTY TWO

Elodie

Azeroth pulls away, searching my face. "Are you sure that's what you want now? We could wait. There might be a better solution."

I shake my head. "I trust you."

He sucks in a breath. "I'm not sure I deserve that. But if you want me to, I'll do it."

"I do. I want you to be free."

He watches me for another moment. I'm not sure what he's looking for. My body is so aware of all the places we're touching. Lips still conscious of his kisses. But I don't want to do anything else physical before we have this resolved.

"Tell me to end it."

"Azeroth, I want you to end the summoning."

He sighs. "Sit. Better still, lie down. Get comfortable." He leads me to the bed.

"Will it hurt?"

"No, sweet one. Not physically. Not if you give it to me willingly. I promise I'm going to take care of you."

I slip off my shoes and lay on the bed with my head on the pillow. He settles onto the other side and sits with his back against the headboard. I'm not sure what to expect. Something dramatic, perhaps. Chanting or candles.

Instead, he places a hand gently on my forehead. "Close your eyes."

I do. I'm waiting for something to happen. To feel something.

We're silent for a long time.

I'm tempted to open my eyes and watch his face. Or ask him if he has started, but instinct keeps me quiet. Instead, I focus on the warmth of his skin and the in-out of my breath.

An uneasy feeling rises in my belly. Probably nerves. The more I focus on it, the stronger it gets, tugging at my core and worrying at me.

A memory creeps up on me. Something vague at first. Barely even complete. Hazy images of being a small child and my grann telling me off for breaking a tiny china figure of a swan she had on the mantle. All I'd wanted to do was look at it, but when I tried to reach it, it fell and cracked on the tiles below the fireplace. It's thin neck broke and the head fell off and I cried and cried.

I haven't thought of that moment for years. It still makes a lump form in my throat. The worst part was knowing how sad it made her. Even though she fixed it and put it back on the shelf, it never looked the same again. Right up until the day we moved her into the nursing home, I avoided looking at it. Now she's gone, I have it tucked away in a little box, wrapped in a tissue because I still can't bear to look at it.

A wet tear trickles down from the corner of my eye and cools on my skin.

"Shh." Azeroth strokes my hair and I come back to the moment. "It's done."

I blink open my eyes. "It is?"

He nods. "Are you OK?"

I sniff. "Yeah, just sad. That's it? It's over? Can you leave now if you want to?"

"Oh, I can. But I'm not going anywhere, angel. Not until you feel better."

Before I can decide whether to try to sit up or move, he slides down until he's next to me. Scooping me into his arms, he presses me up against him with my back to his warm chest. Instantly my muscles relax and the numb cold that seeped into my bones fades.

"Did you take it?"

He kisses the back of my head. "Only a tiny part. Does it hurt still?"

I frown. It didn't hurt at all. Then, of course, I realize he means my heart. "Not much. Not with you holding me." And it doesn't. The memory has already lost its sting. Instead, I'm thinking about the way Grann held me afterward, both of us crying, me clutching the broken china swan and telling her I was sorry. The way she kissed me and told me I was forgiven and not to worry.

I remember the reassurance of discovering she really could keep loving me, even after what I'd done.

Azeroth makes a low rumbling sound deep in his chest. Pressed up against him like this, I feel it travel through my back. "Do you want to talk about it? What you saw?"

"Is that what always happens?"

"Usually. It's complicated. The more pure your soul, the more you have and the more it hurts when it's taken."

"What happens to it? Where does it go?"

He hesitates. His strong arms go stiff around me, so I turn to look at him, straining my neck to get a better look at his face. "Do you want to see it?"

"Can I?" I have no idea what to expect. What would a soul look like?

Azeroth lifts his hand, opening his palm. I see nothing at first. I'm about to ask, when a tiny glowing spot of light appears. As I watch, it grows, taking shape as if it's a gem, a laser-cut diamond shining so brightly I can hardly bear to look at it.

I reach out in wonder, curious to know if it has a physical form, if I can touch it.

He closes his hand around it quickly. "It will burn you if you touch it like that, cherie."

"What will you do with it?"

He sighs. "Do you really want to know?"

He looks distinctly uncomfortable. I wonder if I do. But this is clearly weighing on him, and I'd like to lessen that burden. At least a little. "Tell me."

A smile twitches the corner of his mouth. "It's currency. I use this to pay my debt. Are you disgusted with me?"

I think about this for a while. Perhaps I would be if it wasn't Azeroth. If it wasn't the guy I've come to know and who has taken such great care with me this whole time. Even now, I can't bring myself to feel anything but warm and connected. To him.

"No," I say eventually. "Could you take more, if you wanted to? What's to stop you taking all of it?"

His claws trail through my hair and down my back. "I wouldn't do that, cherie. Not to you. I take whatever I bargain for."

This makes me laugh. "Sounds awfully ethical for a demon."

He snorts. "Sure. Ethical. You might be the first person ever to think of it that way. Usually, they're too busy cursing my name."

"You are, though," I insist. "You always talk about yourself as if you're some kind of criminal, but that's hardly the case."

"Ah, you're very sweet, but I'm afraid I'm still a demon. Glad to see I haven't done too much damage and left you jaded."

"Well, I am a car-smashing criminal now, so maybe my moral compass is off."

He winces. "I wish I'd never let you do that."

I should feel bad about it, but at the end of the day, I know Dustin had that thing insured. No doubt, he'll end up with something even nicer, and I'm the idiot who made that possible. "I can own my own bad choices," I tell Azeroth. "Does it feel good to be free again?"

The hand stroking my back stills. "Do you want to leave? There's no need to stay if you don't want to."

I look at him. "You don't have to do what I say anymore, do you?"

"No."

"Then I'd like to stay, if that's OK."

He lets out a contented sigh. "Stay. Stay as long as you want. I like having you here."

We're quiet for a while, I relax more as he works out the tangles in my hair and traces mesmerizing patterns down my spine.

"Azeroth?"

"Mmm?"

"Tell me a story."

If he thinks my request is unusual, he doesn't comment. He just makes a low hum, the kind he makes when thinking. It makes me smile to know that about him.

"Once, there was a young demon, newly arrived in Venezia, the world at his fingertips. He was handsome, of course. Charming. Very intelligent."

I laugh. "Go on. I can tell I'm going to enjoy this one."