Page 17 of Once Upon a Demon’s Heart

Oh, now I remember him. He was wearing the apprentice’s cloak earlier. A matching taupe color to his mentor, Mav.

“A healer? That must be a difficult practice to learn.” I take a reluctant sip of the soup and force it down. It tastes amazing, salty and thick with vegetables, beef, and broth, but I have little appetite for it.

Nikolai nods, smiling like he’s reminiscing on his early training days.

“It’s taken me twenty years just to become an apprentice.

Difficult is an understatement.” He chuckles, the sound is light and inviting.

I find myself smiling easily with him and relaxing my shoulders.

I hadn’t even realized how tense they were.

“Twenty years? How old are you? You look so young,” I tease. I know demons can live as long as demigods, some probably longer. There may even be a few that are immortal like the gods.

“I’m ninety-two. My bloodline stops aging at the age of twenty-five, so we all look young.

My parents and grandparents could be my siblings,” he says with amusement.

“How about you, Alira? I’m fascinated with the demigods.

I’ve always wanted to pick their brains about their ways of life and all the gritty details, but as I’m sure you know, most are willing to cut off their tongues rather than speak with a demon.

” His soft features grim as he says the latter.

I wonder what they do with the stolen demigods. None have returned home. Does Kalel consume them until they breathe their last breaths? Part of me doesn’t want to know. But it will be inevitable, I fear.

“I’m not surprised. We’re raised to know better than to open up to demons.

” The hope in Nikolai’s eyes falters. “But I’m betrothed to a demon now, so I’m not sure those rules apply to me anymore.

” I wink and Nikolai lights up again. “I’m thirty-eight, demigods typically stop aging around thirty.

We can live a few centuries, but with the war there aren’t many older half-gods left. ”

His eyes grow wide. “Wow, you’re only thirty-eight? You’re just five years younger than the commander. He’s barely even begun the long life ahead of him.”

I lean forward with interest and take another sip of the savory soup. “Really? How long does a Devourer live? We actually don’t know much about the demons either,” I admit sheepishly.

Nikolai’s eyes sparkle with eagerness. “This is amazing. I’ve wanted to learn about you for so long, and to find out you know so little about us as well is truly astounding.”

“Astounding? I don’t know if I would go that far.”

He eagerly nods. “We always thought the demigods were superior beings to us. I mean, Neptune almighty, you are half gods. It never dawned on me, or anyone I think, that you were just as in the dark as we are.”

I take another small sip before setting the bowl down, my stomach isn’t pleased that I consumed even a tiny amount of it.

“Devourers are the few breeds of demon that are immortal. As I’m sure you’re aware, they can eat normal food, but they require the blood of demigods to survive.

Well, there’s a reason it has to be deity blood.

” He shuffles his feet uncomfortably, glancing toward Kalel’s tent to make sure he’s not coming out.

“They siphon life from those they feed on. Demigods are the only creatures that cannot be depleted due to the gods’ blood in your veins. ”

Kalel is immortal. For some reason that makes my heart ache, yet I do not understand why.

“Well, we aren’t immortal. At least, not anymore.

Our lifespans are around three hundred years if our parents are strong deities.

Very few of us reach immortality. It can only be bestowed on us if we prove ourselves to Jupiter as being worthy, but the gods have forsaken us and have left us to slowly disappear. ”

His expression grims. “That’s awfully bleak.”

I lift a shoulder and drop it before grabbing the bowl and offer the remaining contents to Nikolai since he’s been gawking at it. “Care to finish it?”

He nods greedily with a large smile. “Gods, I was hoping you’d offer. The rations are always smaller on the way home from battle. I keep telling King Achill that we need to increase the stock we bring. Are you sure you’re not hungry?”

I shake my head. “I’m fine. Just promise me you’ll tell Kalel I ate the whole bowl if he asks.” Nikolai’s brows pinch with concern, but he nods.

“Alright, but I’m making sure that you eat breakfast in the morning.” He extends his hand to me. I lift a brow. What is he doing? “You don’t know what a handshake is?” he says disbelievingly.

My lips flatten. “No.”

Nikolai laughs and reaches for my hand. I jolt at the motion and freeze when he grips it tightly, shaking it up and down a few times. His brown eyes flicker and his cheeks flush red at the contact. He studies my face like he’s seeing me differently.

“It means: deal. The mortals do this all the time. We picked up on it years ago.” He slowly lets go of my hand.

“Demons are strange,” I mutter with a grin. Tessa and Nikolai give me a sliver of hope for my new life. Maybe I won’t have to do this alone after all.

The tent is dark when I return.

Kalel is sitting at his desk, writing a note before sealing it into the canister on his hawk’s leg. It’s the same one from King Borlin’s study the day we received the news that they agreed to take me as an offering.

Kalel’s eyes lift to mine. He waits a moment, staring at me with that unreadable gaze before standing and moving past me to release the bird from the tent.

“Did you eat?” He assesses me like he won’t believe me either way.

“Yes, Tessa saved some for me.”

Kalel grunts and moves to the edge of his bed, offering his hand to me.

I go to him and sit on his left side. He gently moves my hair from my neck and leans in close.

Inhaling deeply over my scent glands before stroking his tongue across my skin, lighting every inch of where he touches me on fire.

My hands curl into the sheets as his fangs brush down the side of my neck until he finds the spot he likes. His teeth enter my bloodstream.

The muscles in my back shut down, he was ready for it though with his hand wrapped around my lower spine.

The venom in his bite that causes the sudden relaxed state isn’t so bad now that I’m used to it.

A slightly unsettling thought, because if he ever truly wanted to kill me it’d be easy for him to.

The bite feels more like a small discomfort. I listen to the sound of him feasting from me. He seems hungrier today, his pulls are fervent and his grip is tight on my back.

“Mhm,” he growls, the sound hitting me like an axe to the chest. His teeth sink in further, pulling a cry from my lips.

“ Ow , that hurts.” I gasp as he readjusts his hold on me, moving a heavy hand to my thigh and squeezing hard. My pulse leaps with adrenaline, and he must taste it because he pauses before quickly releasing me.

His breaths are staggered. Those golden eyes are filled with shock for a second before he blinks it away and drags his sleeve over his bloody face.

He’s never been this messy with it before.

Was he really that hungry? Fear trickles through me.

I lift my hand and press it to my throat hesitantly.

The gash is much larger than usual. Gold liquid stains my sleeve.

“Go to bed,” he snaps, turning his back to me and running his hand through his hair.

“What was that?” I ask with a trembling voice. Was he losing control of his hunger? What happens if he lets go? Gods, I don’t want to even think about it.

His shoulders tense. “I said go to bed, little godling.”