Page 27 of Daman

“I know.” He kept drawing.

“Don’t you want to see them?”

“I’ve been with them for thousands of years. I’ve seen enough of them. And believe me, they’ve seen enough of me too.”

Why was he so detached? He’d said Envy made him jealous and bitter sometimes, but did the sin also give him an aversion to other people?

“I don’t believe that’s true. They wouldn’t be here if they felt that way.”

“They’re not really here for me. It’s just for appearances.” Daman lifted his head and brushed his bangs aside. As his green-eyed gaze landed on me, the center of my chest tightened and fluttered at the same time. “Are you going to just stand in the middle of the room like a weirdo, or do you wanna sit down?”

I sat in the chair beside him, focusing on the floor. Heat crawled up my neck and settled in my cheeks as I felt his eyes on me.

“You’re blushing,” he said.

“Am I?” Gods. My heart beat even faster. Harder. What was wrong with me?

“Yeah. Your rosy cheeks stand out against your pale skin.” He shifted his weight on the chair, bringing one leg down and turning toward me. “Do I make you nervous?”

“No.” Though, with the way my pulse quickened, I wasn’t sure if that was true or not.

“You know. It’s rude not to look at someone when they’re talking to you.”

“I apologize.” I met his stare. His eyes reminded me of grassy fields at dawn, green with lighter shades mixed in.

He’s so beautiful.

My attraction to him had come as a shock when I’d first seen him months ago. For six hundred years, I had put the kingdom before myself, never taking a lover or even dating. Truth was, I’d never met anyone Iwantedto be with.

Until now.

It was why I’d chosen him. No one else had ever made me react so strongly. However, I got the impression he didn’t feel the same about me.

“May I ask you a question?”

“I believe you just did.” Daman slumped in his chair and smirked at me before glancing back at the screen. “What is it?”

“The other morning when we spoke… did I say or do something wrong?”

“Huh? What makes you think that?”

“You’ve seemed upset over the past several days. And I’m not sure if I did anything to cause it.” I dropped my gaze to my hands, pressing my thumb in the center of my palm like I did when I was anxious. Facing an entire army of enemies was less nerve-racking than talking to Daman. “I’m not very social. I wake up, train, and come home. I read before bed and wake up the next day to do it all over again. Conversations can be difficult for me. I rarely know the right things to say.”

“That’s another thing we have in common,” Daman said, his tone lighter than before. I glanced at him, unsure of his meaning. He was the one to break eye contact that time. “I struggle talking to people too. Being by myself is easier.”

“Because of Envy?”

“Mostly, I guess. When I’m around large groups of people, it’s overwhelming. Part of mygift,as you call it,” he snorted before continuing, “is not only amIburdened with envious thoughts, but I can sense them in others as well. I feel their jealousy and their resentment. It’s like a poison that seeps into me.”

“I can’t imagine how hard that must be.”

“It was harder when I was a kid. I didn’t understand what was happening. The first time I experienced the flood of emotions and thoughts, I dropped to the ground and screamed for it to stop. People thought I was crazy. They didn’t hear or feel what I did.”

“Your parents didn’t help you understand?”

“I never knew either of them.” Daman moved the stylus along the screen. “My mom died when I was too young to remember her, and my father wasn’t in the picture. I grew up as an orphan and fended for myself. I didn’t even know I was a Nephilim until the day Lazarus came to take me away.”

“What about your wings? You never noticed them?”