Page 14 of A Cursed Heart

Ryan

Something about the way Mal stood up to my sister affected me in ways I didn’t have words to express. Though I was still low key reeling from waking up the way we did. It had me thinking all sorts of things.

No one had ever got me in my feelings the way Malacoda did, and he wasn’t even human! It shouldn’t be a thing. He was a demon. I barely knew him! Hell, it had been like half a day, and most importantly, he was a guy!

It had to be the bond, right? Except Mal said his magic wouldn’t affect me. Was the bond his magic? Looking deeper into myself, I didn’t think it was this magical chain that kept us together. This weird attraction was more about how he treated me.

The idea of crushing on a dude was a foreign concept.

All my life I’d been straight. Not once had I questioned my sexuality.

There hadn’t been a guy I’d been close to that I’d thought about kissing.

I mean, I was mostly in relationships throughout my teens.

Had a girlfriend for a few months, broke up, found a new girl to chase.

Rinse and repeat. I liked the stability of having someone.

After my split with Jasmine, I’d stayed single for the longest time in my life.

There had been a couple of hookups, but my time and energy had been focused on seeing Freya as much as possible and securing our future.

That meant working long hours on the days I didn’t have her.

When I did meet someone, it was to get off as quickly as possible, then sleep.

As Freya got a little older and had more of a set routine, I tried dating again.

There were a couple of women I really liked, just none of them worked out for whatever reason.

I knew Jasmine had tanked at least one of those relationships by telling my new girlfriend we were still sleeping together.

Even after I convinced her, with proof of course, she decided she didn’t want to have baby mama drama in her life. Honestly, I didn’t blame her.

Since filing for custody, I’d stayed away from the dating scene, wanting to show my life was stable, boring even, to social workers and lawyers. It had been a dull, lonely existence.

That’s what it was, I decided. Mal was fascinating. Literally not of this place. A demon with magic who had come blazing into my life. He was a curiosity, not something that would last. Whatever I felt about him would disappear when the shiny facade wore off.

“Daddy?” Freya’s voice pulled me out of my worrying about Mal’s hand.

Could he use magic to heal it? He said he had plenty of magic after sleeping in my bed…

my thoughts wandered back to waking up with Mal in my arms. The way he had felt there was unlike anything I’d experienced.

He was so warm, solid, angular instead of soft with curves.

Freya repeated her cry for me, her voice cracking with emotion. I hustled to her room to lift her into my arms. “Sorry, baby girl. Are you okay?”

“I’m hungry.” She snuggled into me, smelling all sleepy. Freya had always loved being held.

“Of course you are. It’s breakfast time. Let’s see what Auntie Liddy brought over.” My sister was always bringing food to my house. Part of her course was learning about proper nutrition, so she’d made meal plans for us when we were much more go with the flow.

By the time I got to the kitchen, Lydia was there making her weird pancakes, which were actually pretty tasty. Mal was cutting strawberries carefully, all signs of injury gone.

I sat Freya in her seat, nervous over how I was going to introduce my daughter to the demon I apparently owned. She didn’t need to know that side, at least. Mal wouldn’t hurt her, I knew that much about him.

“Hello Princess Freya. I’ve made you breakfast.” Mal’s voice was sweet and soft while he pushed a plate towards my daughter. She looked up at him, her brown eyes wide. I worried shit was going to hit the fan.

On her plate was a pancake in the shape of a crown. The strawberries were heart-shaped.

“Daddy?” Freya leaned closer to me, her voice trembling slightly.

“It’s okay. This is Daddy’s friend, Mal. He’s going to stay with us for a little while, alright?”

Mal, demonstrating a way with kids I didn’t expect, leaned down to her level, giving her plenty of space. “Your daddy said I have to get your permission to stay. Is it okay, Freya? We can draw after breakfast if you want?”

I couldn’t feel our bond, but it didn’t feel like he was using magic. I had to trust him not to. He said he wouldn’t.

Freya, in a rare show of trust, smiled. Kids had a sense about people, didn’t they? “Will you walk me to school with Daddy?”

“School? You must be very clever.” Freya beamed at the compliment. He was good. “Alright, we can walk together, but only if you eat your fruit. You need to grow strong.”

When Mal reached for his silverware, the t-shirt, an old one of mine, shifted, showing off the marks on his skin that looked like tattoos of a snake, or more accurately, like his tail.

“Daddy, Mal has patterns!” To Mal she asked. “Are you a demon?”

Simultaneously, Lydia and I coughed and spluttered.

“Oh, you are clever? Would you be scared of me if I said yes?”

Freya shook her head. “No, Jinu is a good demon, he helped Rumi.”

Mal frowned. “I do not know these demons, but I promise to help you and your daddy.”

Happy with that, Freya continued to eat her breakfast. I shared a look with my sister, both of us completely disbelieving what had just happened.

Neither Mal nor Freya seemed upset. I decided to let it slide.

Netflix had done me a solid with that movie.

Freya had found it a bit later than most kids since she hadn’t been interested in the TV much until she hit pre-K.

Then it was a case of her catching up with the trends.

I wished they’d hurry up with the sequel though.

I tipped my cup at Mal to reheat my coffee once more, which he did with a smile. Magic was so fucking handy.

Any reservations I had about letting Mal stay out of the gem and in my apartment with my kid, all melted away at how the two of them interacted over the rest of breakfast. It was like I wasn’t there.

The two of them chatted away like old friends, with Freya telling Mal everything about her life in Daddy’s apartment and her new school.

She hadn’t talked so much in months. This was a glimpse of who she was months ago, before this all happened.

Back to how she was before Jasmine’s boyfriend entered her life and dulled her shine.

I loved it. They even swapped food back and forth, with Freya trying other fruits she’d wrinkled her nose at only days ago.

Mal shone next to her, occasionally shooting looks my way, as if checking it was okay to take up all of Freya’s attention. As I enjoyed my fourth cup of coffee that morning, I realized I could get used to it being like this.

“Look, I’m sure you know what you’re doing, just be careful, okay?

” Lydia warned before she took off for college.

She had classes in an hour and wanted to get back home to shower first. With how often she crashed in Freya’s room, I would have thought she would have left some clothes here.

Nope, she wanted it to remain our space where she was just a visitor.

“Do you think I’m making a mistake having Mal here?” Lydia’s intuition about people was better than mine.

Lydia barely thought about it. “No. He obviously cares about you, which means he’ll treat Freya well, too. Unlike some of those girlfriends you’ve had.” Lydia held a grudge, and I didn’t blame her. “His magic would be useful too. He was so cute with her over breakfast!”

“Yeah, he was.”

“I know I don’t need to tell you this, but maybe you need to hear it. It’s okay if you catch feelings for him. He’s hot.”

A burning sense of… envy? That was the wrong word. Jealousy, maybe? I couldn’t name it. Still, it scalded my insides like hot lava. I felt a lump of something vile in my throat and had to swallow it down.

“Do you want me to set—” I attempted to offer.

“Don’t even finish that sentence, Ry. He likes you. Barely noticed me.” Lydia didn’t even sound offended, just amused.

“But he’s a man…”

“So?” She gave a careless shrug. “No one cares. Love is love and all that.”

“What about Mom?”

Lydia scoffed. “Mom wouldn’t care as long as the person you love treats you well. The dude has literal magic! I think she would be happy to have a demon for a son-in-law!”

“You really don’t care?”

“Not at all. Just be careful with this Salvatore stuff and be open with how you feel.”

I huffed out a laugh. “I’m not even sure I’ve got feelings for him.”

“Then this conversation doesn’t matter. As long as you know me and Mom will accept any partner you have. You deserve happiness, Ry.”

“So do you, Liddy. Now get out of here before you’re late to class and blame me. I’ve got to get Freya ready for school.”

Lydia called out a goodbye to Freya and Mal, not that they were paying attention. Freya was showing Mal her favorite movie on the big TV, singing along to the songs while Mal grumbled, “Those aren’t demons,” under his breath.

“Come on, Frey, you need to get ready.”

Mal trailed us to her bedroom, where I searched for a Freya approved outfit for the day, then helped her dress. She was getting the hang of buttons, but some of the fastenings on her clothes could be tricky for little fingers.

People stared at us while we walked to the school. We must have looked weird, two dudes, one with waist-long fire-red hair tied in a neat braid, walking with a little girl mangling Korean pop songs between us. It was the best start to a day I’d had in a long time.

At the school, Freya’s teacher greeted us. “Morning, Ryan, Freya. Who’s this you’ve got with you today?”

“This is Daddy’s friend, Mal,” Freya said confidently, her joy shining from every pore. “He is going to draw with me after school.”

“Well, that’s lovely! Nice to meet you, Mal. I’m Ms. Matthews, Freya’s teacher.”