Page 9

A knock on the door shook her from her thoughts.

Naomi’s heart skipped a beat when Kilean’s silhouette appeared in the window, surprised he had come back. She opened the door and found him staring down at the floor, looking like a giant, defeated puppy.

She wordlessly gestured for him to come in, and he passed her with his shoulders hunched, trying to make himself smaller. Snow was caught in his fur, as if he had tried to wash himself with it, but some blood stains still remained.

Kilean sat on a couch. Unsure , Naomi sat on the other one, giving him space.

“ I … don’t know what to say,” Kilean spoke, sounding distraught. “ I’m so sorry for scaring you. I let my anger overtake me. I wish you hadn’t seen me like that.”

“ I was just surprised.”

It was the truth, but he wasn’t convinced. He shook his head.

“ I frightened you.”

Naomi sighed, defeated. “ Yes , you scared me, but it was just the violent nature of the situation, and the fact that you do look kind of scary on a daily basis. It’s just that you’ve been so calm and kind around me that I had momentarily forgotten you’re indeed a demon.”

He eyed her neck, such deep concern in his eyes that it made her heart ache.

“ Are you deeply hurt?”

“ Just a few cuts and bruises. I’ll be okay.” She waved it away. “ What about you?”

“ I’m okay. The injuries are healing already.”

She nodded, finally feeling like she could breathe again.

“ You should take a shower, clean yourself properly. We can continue this later.”

He stared at her, eyes wide. “ You’re still okay with me being in your house?”

“ I’m not worried about you hurting me, and I’m not scared of you anymore,” she told him confidently. “ Please go take care of yourself. We’ll talk more later.”

She sat comfortably on the couch as he left to clean himself, her head leaning against the backrest. She sighed deeply and closed her eyes, the exhaustion catching up to her.

Naomi was glad that he had returned, that he hadn’t disappeared without a word.

If she really wouldn’t have seen him again after that, she might have lost it.

She forced herself to stay awake when she heard his footsteps coming in the living room, all clean once more. She patted the space next to her. “ Come here.”

He hesitated. “ Are you sure?”

“ Yes .”

His steps were tentative as he approached her, and while he did sit next to her, he still kept some distance. Naomi looked at him from head to toe to check if he was okay, but his gaze moved away when her eyes returned to his face.

Her body felt even heavier now when she moved—the emotional chaos and constant surprises completely tiring her. Kilean tensed when she reached her hand out to him. Eyes full of confusion, he frowned and refused to look at her.

“ Kilean ,” she called quietly, but it did nothing. “ Kilean , look at me.”

Again , he didn’t move, so Naomi cupped his cheek with her hand and gently moved his face towards her.

“ I’m sorry,” Kilean whispered, defeated. “ I brought him to you.”

“ I’m the one that took you to my house, so technically that’s my fault,” she replied, a hint of humor in her voice.

He shook his head. “ I’m sorry.”

“ Listen , I won’t lie and tell you that I’m happy with how things went, but I’m not mad. As scary as you looked in your demon mode, you saved my life. You were violent, yes, but you did it to help me, and I’m grateful for that.”

“ If it hadn’t been for me, you wouldn’t have been in danger in the first place.”

“ You took care of it. You kept me safe.”

His eyes lowered to her neck again, and he reached out with his hand, tentative, stopping a few times as if trying to hold himself back. Eventually , his fingers touched her bruised skin, gently brushing against her injuries.

“ I’ll be okay. We’ll be okay.”

“ I didn’t want to stay,” he blurted out.

That shut her up for a second, taking her by surprise. Naomi dropped her hand from his face as if burned.

“ What do you mean?”

“ After you saved my life, I didn’t want to stay here.”

Her heart fell. Had she somehow pressured him into staying with her? She had just wanted to make sure he was okay, she hadn’t realized he didn’t want to be there.

“ I knew it would put you in danger,” he explained. “ I thought one of my superiors would be tracking me down, but it was him instead. He was way less powerful than them, yet look how much damage he did.”

Oh .

That was what he meant. He was just worried about her.

“ Am I scared about the prospect of someone even worse showing up at my doorstep? Yes , I am,” she said, watching as his shoulders tensed.

“ Does that make me want to kick you out and treat you terribly to avoid that scenario? No , it doesn’t.

I feel like we’re becoming friends, Kilean , and I care for my friends.

I like having you around and I wanted to take care of you.

If that makes me foolish, then so be it. ”

“ I’m very grateful for your help and hospitality,” he quietly admitted. “ I don’t want you to think I didn’t enjoy being here. I just don’t like that my presence puts you in danger.”

“ We have dealt with it just fine, haven’t we? There’s no need to sour the good memories with one bad moment.”

Kilean seemed to really think about it, the deep frown on his face never leaving, and eventually, he nodded.

“ Now , would you be okay with cuddling with me?”

He might have been okay with it in a normal situation, but shaken as he was after that fight, she had a feeling he might not want to. He silently watched her with confused eyes, as if he couldn’t understand why she still felt safe with him.

“ You want to cuddle with me?”

Naomi nodded. “ I’m still shaken from what happened. I might feel better if you hold me for a while, and maybe it’ll help you feel better, too?”

Thousands of emotions passed through his eyes, so mixed with each other that they were impossible to decipher. When he realized Naomi was serious—and confident—about her proposal, he nodded.

She sat sideways on his lap, pressing against his plump belly, and leaned her head on his shoulder, her body finally relaxing. Kilean was still tense, but he wrapped his arms around her.

“ I’m sorry for what he said to you,” she whispered, suddenly feeling extremely vulnerable.

“ It doesn’t bother me.”

“ I hate that characters like that exist between demons, too. As if humans weren’t already bad enough.”

His big hand took her smaller one, brushing his thumb over it. “ Unfortunately , rotten apples can be found in any group.”

“ He mentioned absorbing magic,” she asked, too curious to let it pass. “ Did you absorb his when you killed him?”

“ No , I think there’s a specific spell for that.

” Kilean’s tone was almost defeated, as if part of him had wished it were so easy.

“ I’m not sure that what he said would even be possible.

Even with more power, our higher-ups would still be hard to beat.

It feels like more of a death sentence than anything else. ”

Naomi sighed, her little bit of hope crumbling. She pulled herself closer, brushing her face against his fur, trying to lose herself in the feel of him. He felt so warm and solid— safe .

“ Thank you again for saving me.”

“ You’ve done the same for me,” he immediately replied.

She chuckled quietly. “ It wasn’t really the same.”

“ You saved my life. It’s the same.”

She smiled sadly at the conviction in his statement. Currently , both of them were a mess, neither having expected such a violent encounter, but it helped to be with each other. Naomi hoped they’d both feel better soon.

Kilean started playing with her fingers, and it seemed to slowly calm him down, his tension slipping. Eventually , she was lulled to sleep by the rhythmic movement of his chest.

When she woke up later that evening, there was no trace of Kilean anywhere. Not in the house, not in the shed, not in the woods.