Sympathy for the Demons (Promised to the Demons #1) - Lidiya Foxglove Page 0,17

he loved me, and I was Jenny because I loved him too, but he had never said anything so cruel to me. He must feel betrayed that I was here, of course, but…

I felt betrayal too. I couldn’t seem to help the clenching sensation of both pain and anger that left me reeling.

“Hey!” Bevan’s witch actually stepped in front of me and held an arm out to protect me from my own warlock. “She’s trying to escape you because apparently you’re an asshole!”

“She’s my familiar,” Bernard said. “She knows what her job is.”

I was shivering from head to toe, shocked into paralysis as Bernard lashed at Helena, trying to get to me. Helena barely blocked him. He was strong, and he’d grown strong without me.

I forced myself to snap out of it when I heard Helena make a grunt of effort.

“I have to go to him,” I said. “He’ll kill you if I don’t. I’m sorry.” I looked at Helena. “Thank you for being so kind.”

Now even Graham leapt forward, trying to stop me. “Don’t go back to him!” It only made me feel worse that all these strangers wanted to help me.

I changed into toad form and moved to Bernard. He looked so furious that it terrified me. I had never felt afraid of him as I did in this moment.

I needed to make it right. I had to apologize and promise to never leave again. When I looked up at his cold eyes, looming far above me, I saw a stranger. I needed to say something that would turn him back into my warlock. My Bernard.

“Bernard, I—“

He pointed his wand at me and a blast of bright light blinded me, and the pain came not even a second later. It was worse than the hit I took before. I felt like I was dying. I couldn’t see. I couldn’t move. As my consciousness faded, I heard him say the most terrible words any familiar could ever hear.

“I can never trust you again.”

Chapter Seven

Jenny

I didn’t want to wake up. I knew I would be back home, but it would never be the same again, because I had ruined it. I would be stuck with Bernard, and he would hate me.

Useless toad.

I wished I could just sleep forever. Maybe I would die. I felt like I was dying. But as I thought this, I also started to think the reason I felt like I was dying was because I was waking up. I was weak, my head pounding, but I was returning to the world.

“No,” I whispered.

“Jenny? Jenny. Talk to me. Can you turn human?”

Oh my god. That isn’t Bernard. Where am I?

It was another voice, very close to me, sounding concerned and intimate. Now I wondered if I was having a wonderful dream. I tried to speak and my throat cracked. My head felt too fuzzy to think straight. I could hardly remember what had happened that had me so scared Bernard would hate me.

“Mouth dry…,” I managed.

“Oh—hold on.” A handsome young man who felt very familiar to me pressed a wet rag to my mouth, and I sucked a little water out of it. I was in a cottage, with small cozy rooms and the smell of herbs.

I tried to turn human. I wasn’t sure if it would work, and then I think I overcompensated and sort of exploded. I almost fell off the table. The man’s arms caught me and then he carried me to a soft bed and quickly pulled a blanket over me. I was in awe of him, and so happy that it was probably a good thing I was also so weak or I might have threw my arms around him. I glanced past him and saw we were alone, as far as I could tell, although I was afraid to ask. My head still hurt and I was struggling to remember. “Where am I?” I murmured. “Who are you?”

“Bevan. I’m a familiar, like you. This is my home. You came here a week ago.”

“A week ago?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“You were escaping your master. You don’t remember?”

Yes. I did remember that. And now I was starting to remember Bevan, too. As I started to remember him, I was flooded with a warm feeling and I realized why I didn’t want to remember him, why it was easier for my brain to block all my memories of the past week.

I liked him so much that it scared me. I thought if he was kind to me now,