Page 80 of Wicked Prince of Frost

“You helped a demon?” Joon asks slowly.

I shrug. “I don’t make a habit of it, but I couldn’t just leave them there like that.”

They are so small… I suppose a baby demon is still a baby.

“Demons deal in bargains and trades. But it seems you have made a friend by doing them a kindness and asking for nothing in return.”

The demon stretches their neck out as if asking me to pet them, so I do. Their charred-like skin stretches over elongated limbs with joints that bend at painful angles, but they are smooth to the touch.

This demon is identical to the three who attacked me. Yet, their small size, puppy-like demeanor, and intelligence make it easy to see them as a wholly different creature. One that I need not fear.

“Come, it’s late and you should get your rest.”

“What about them?” I ask.

“They can go back outside, where they belong.”

The demon sits back on their haunches and looks at Joon with a sad expression reminiscent of a puppy, then chatters their teeth.

I bite down on my bottom lip to keep from laughing. “Youwould toss a poor, defenseless baby demon out on such a cold night?”

“Demons do not have babies,” Imugi snaps.

I blink up at them. “Oh.”

Well, there goes that theory.

“It’s a wonder humans manage to survive as long as they do when they know nothing about demons,” the demon grumbles to themselves.

“You might as well keep them near you,” Joon relents with a sigh. “Otherworld knows they will continue to follow you. Just make sure no one else sees them.”

“Other than Mingi and Iseul?”

“Of course.”

As we walk through the halls, I can’t keep myself from glancing back over my shoulder at the demon prancing happily along as they trail us.

They really are like a puppy.

When a patrolling guard turns the corner, the demon zips forward, hiding under the folds of my skirt. I choke on a sound somewhere between a gasp and a whimper.

Joon presses his lips in a tight line, trying—and failing—to contain a snort of laughter.

I shoot him a glare. I doubt he’d enjoy a demon hiding inside his clothes.

Even after we are alone again, the demon refuses to leave their hiding place until we reach my apartments.

As soon as the door opens, they dart out and race over to the bed, leaping up, then curling into a shadowy ball in the center.

Joon follows me further in. I’m relieved. Perhaps more than I should be.

All the energy that kept me going until now drains away in the span of a breath. I drop down onto the foot of my bed.

“What were you doing outside alone?”

I frown. “Your note said to meet at the Garden of Stars.”

He shakes his head. “I never left you a note.”