Daimon (Guardians of Hades #6) - Felicity Heaton Page 0,10
to the bikes staying, but would want them moved to a place where they wouldn’t ruin the aesthetic of the garden he loved so much.
Daimon paused on a steppingstone, his eyes drifting over the front of the mansion, tracing the line of the roof where it swept over the porch and the contrast of the slate-grey tiles against the blue sky.
The single-storey house was enormous, but it felt too small with Cass in it. He couldn’t seem to escape her. The only time he was safe from the sorceress was when he was with Aiko, trying to keep her spirits, and his, up. Cass didn’t seem to know how to respond to Aiko, usually made herself scarce when it all became too much for the young Japanese woman and she broke down.
If it weren’t for the fact Daimon had seen how much Cass cared about Marinda, he would have thought Cass was the one with a cold heart.
But it was him.
He knew that.
He had closed it off long ago, had hardened himself and pushed away everyone except his family.
He didn’t want to feel anything. Not anymore. His heart was ice now. No trace of feeling left in it.
It was ice now.
He told himself that as Cass appeared on the porch, drawing his gaze to her. She wiped her hands on a cloth, looking like a bizarre combination of housewife and glamourous jetsetter. Her long black dress that hugged her curves like a second-skin, her polished onyx nails and perfectly preened tumbling waves of her jet hair, were all at odds with the dirty rag she held.
Her aquamarine eyes settled on him. Not piercing, nor probing. Not anything.
But her presence still rankled him.
“What’s your problem?” he snapped, unable to keep the bite out of his voice or stop himself from reacting to her.
She arched a fine black eyebrow at him and tipped her chin up in that haughty way that made him want to snarl at her.
“Good morning to you too,” she said, her tone whisper-soft, her words lashing at him.
He hated it when she did that, responding to him in a civilised manner when he couldn’t bring himself to be the same towards her. He couldn’t help it. He was constantly on his guard around her and it was her fault. She had made it clear more than enough times that she was determined to strip down his walls.
And he had made it clear he was determined she wouldn’t.
So now they were at war, locked in a battle he was going to win.
She lowered the cloth to her side and smoothed her glossy black hair, luring his gaze back to her face. He cursed her.
And then cursed her again when she spoke.
“Aiko made some food for those of us who sleep eludes, and I just wanted to tell you.” She looked down at the rag she held. For a moment, he thought she would leave it at that and leave him alone, but then she lifted her head and locked gazes with him. “You need to eat.”
Those words were stern. Commanding.
Irritating.
“I don’t need to eat.” His stomach grumbled, calling him a liar.
Fine, he did need to eat but he had no appetite.
He stood there, a thousand thoughts and feelings colliding inside him, and the weight on his shoulders felt too heavy to bear.
He was drowning again.
He tried to hold back the tide, looked away from her thinking that was a good place to start, but he ended up staring at the mansion.
The weight on his shoulders dropped right through him, tore a gaping hole inside him as he remembered all the good times, before everything had gone to hell.
He absently lifted his hand and rubbed the aching spot above his heart.
“If you need to talk—”
He cut Cass off with a vicious snarl, baring emerging fangs at her. “If I need to talk, it won’t be you that I’m talking to. I’m fine.”
“You’re not fine.” She took a hard step towards the edge of the porch, her eyes glittering like ice as she narrowed them on him. “I haven’t known you long, but it’s obvious you share a bond with Esher, and with Esher—”
“Esher is coming back,” he cut her off again, that hole inside him filling with acid that scoured his insides, with darkness and pain—and despair. His voice dropped to a whisper, losing all strength as it all crashed over him. “He’ll come back. He has to come back.”