Pandora's Box - Eve Newton Page 0,59

it empty. I cross over to the box and glare at it, popping a few crystals into my mouth.

I sit down on the floor and wait for oblivion, along with Belle and Elijah, wherever the fuck they are.

Chapter 29

Drescal

I pick at the food on the platter in front of me. Needing a bit of headspace, I escaped into the Dining Hall a few moments ago. I’m not used to living with so many creatures. It’s going to take a bit of getting used to.

“Oh. I’ll come back.”

I look up at Gregory’s voice. He walked into the Dining Hall and stopped dead, giving me a wary look. I don’t blame him. I was an ass to use my magick on him. I’d apologized to him briefly when we spoke with Devlin about his options, but he is still clearly cautious.

“No, sit, please,” I say, kicking out the chair to my left.

The scrape of the heavy wood on the stone floor echoes through the room.

“Okay,” he says and moves forward, sinking into the chair when he reaches it.

As soon as he sits down, a big silver platter appears in front of him with a domed lid over the top.

I’m curious to see what he ordered from the kitchen. I ordered a bunch of stuff I can pick at because I don’t really need to eat, I just wanted something to do.

I try not to gape at the massive sandwiches piled up. There is also a side salad, chips and chocolate cake.

“Hungry,” he says and dives in, picking up a sandwich and taking a big bite.

“Must be nice,” I say wistfully.

He looks at me, chewing thoughtfully. “You don’t get hungry?”

I shake my head. “I don’t enjoy food either. I always wondered what it would be like to eat all that…” I gesture at his platter, “and taste it, savor it, you know.”

He nods slowly. “It’s not the same, but I had this really shitty cold once, I couldn’t taste a thing.”

I snort in amusement as he caught me off guard with his humor. “No, not exactly the same,” I agree.

We fall into a comfortable silence as he eats.

He polishes off his first sandwich and looks at me again. “Want to talk about it?” he asks.

“What makes you think I have something to talk about?” I reply.

“It’s my job,” he retorts. “Here if you need to,” he adds and picks up his second sandwich.

I hesitate. I could do with someone to talk to. I remember that Killian went to him to ask him about how to handle Anna once before. Maybe this could throw up something that will, if not help me, make me feel less like the weight of the world is on my shoulders.

“It’s complicated,” I start.

He shrugs. “When is it not?”

I nod. That’s probably true.

“Just so we are clear, this stays between us, yeah?”

“Of course,” he says.

“Also, this isn’t me complaining,” I point out, stabbing my finger on the table so he gets that I’m being serious about that part.

“I get it,” he says lightly.

I sigh and sit back.

He goes back to eating and it helps that he doesn’t focus on me. I’m more inclined to blurt it out if he is looking at his sandwich.

“I’ve been an Incubus for nine hundred years,” I start.

He nods, but doesn’t say anything.

“I was made this way. Came through with my Reaper, recycled and here I am.”

He nods again.

“I loved being what I was. I was the best at it. I loved my life on Earth. I hated being recalled, hated what I was missing out on. But then I saw Anna from across the room, wrapped around Devlin and I wanted her. Really wanted her. I didn’t just want to fuck her. I didn’t want her to be another conquest, just another female in the hundreds of thousands that I’ve fucked…”

Gregory chokes slightly on that and I smile. I can’t help but wonder how many females are on his list. I wonder if Annabelle is one of them yet.

“I got to know her while I was here. She was fierce and full of fire. She had absolutely no inhibitions, she was up for anything. She fulfilled me on a level that I didn’t even know existed. Yet, I had to leave her, fuck Earth’s females, damn them to Hell, come back and see her, spend time with her, fall more in love with her, and then leave her again. It was a vicious cycle that tore me up. I knew that as soon