Demon's Vengeance The Complete - Jocelynn Drake Page 0,9
bowl in the fridge. Stepping out of the kitchen, I surveyed the apartment one last time. The place was mostly clean and anything that wasn’t had been shoved in a closet or under the bed. Candles flickered on the card table covered with a new heavy linen tablecloth.
I frowned as I looked at the setup. The whole thing screamed “forgive me.” It was what I was going for, but it didn’t need to be this damn obvious. For other couples, it might have passed for romantic, but I wasn’t known for grand romantic gestures. Romance was usually offering to pick up the pizza while she chose the movie we’d watch.
Two days had passed since my talk with Ellen and I needed to live up to my promise to her and myself. I couldn’t put if off any longer. Trixie had to know, but I wasn’t looking forward to the conversation.
A sharp knock at the door sounded through the apartment and I nearly jumped. This was not a good sign. I needed to relax, reassure her that everything was okay, but some part deep down knew it wasn’t. There had been no fights, no shouting match where words bounced off our thick skulls. But the silence was getting deeper and I could feel a distance between us that hadn’t been there months ago.
Smoothing the worry from my face, I forced a broad smile and opened the door. Trixie smiled weakly back, looking tired but lovely. She still wore her glamour cloak, making her appear as a brown-haired human rather than the blonde elf that I loved so much. She didn’t need the disguise any longer now that the king of the Summer Court was bound to his wife, but the people of Low Town had come to know her as the brunette, so the disguise stayed for the sake of time and ease.
“Mmmmm. Something smells good,” she said as she kissed me. I stepped back to let her enter. “Did you order from—” Her words broke off sharply and I found her staring openmouthed at the table. “You cooked,” she finished in wonder.
I snorted, shutting the door. “Don’t get your hopes up too high. It’s spaghetti. You know, boil water. Don’t burn the bread.”
Trixie dropped her purse on the coffee table and tossed her heavy wool coat on the couch. “What did you do?”
“What do you mean?” I quickly replied. A little too quickly.
“You don’t cook. I honestly thought your oven was broken. You never clean. And is that an air freshener I smell? You’re either breaking up with me or you did something you need to apologize for.”
For a couple of seconds, I thought about teasing her and batting her questions away but I’d only prove her right in the end. Why insult her intelligence?
I sighed. “There is something we need to discuss, but I think any potential breaking up will be in your hands.”
Trixie took an involuntary step backward, fear flooding her wide eyes. “You’re going to tell me what happened in the Towers that night.” Her vibrant voice had become dull and flat, as if she had already started to steel herself against the horror of my words. I couldn’t tell if she was asking or making a statement so I just nodded. She had never asked about that night beyond checking on my physical well-being and I never volunteered any information. Of course, it had taken about a month for me to get past the impotent rage and hopelessness that consumed me.
“How bad is it?” She had wrapped her arms around her stomach and pulled in as if to protect herself against what I was going to tell her. I felt like shit and I had yet to open my mouth. This was going to be a bad night.
“It depends on a lot of things. Why don’t we eat and relax for a little while? Then we can talk.”
She shook her head. “I’m not hungry.”
I had a feeling this would happen. “Sit. I’ll be right back.” As she moved to the sofa, I jumped into the kitchen to turn off the spaghetti sauce, cover the bread, and grab two beers out of the fridge. Trixie frowned as she saw me approach.
“Can I just have water?”
Spinning on my left heel, I put one beer back and grabbed a bottle of water instead. When I sat on the couch, I was on the far end from her despite the fact that I’d have rather pulled her into my lap