there was no logical reason for that. Nothing had happened between us, and to be honest, I was beginning to think the problem was in my head, that I’d imagined a thing between us. Still, the thought of being alone with him made me feel sick, because what the fuck would I say to him? What would we talk about? Luckily, I’d succeeded in avoiding alone time with the golden-haired, blue-eyed Dominus for the past month.
“Thanks.” I grabbed a bowl out of the cupboard. “Want to join me for a late lunch?”
Kiara looked torn. “I’d love to, but we’re running low on supplies, and I need to fly to the market before it closes.”
The last food delivery had been over a week ago by Drake and Carriage—huge, black, flying lizard creatures that pulled a carriage loaded up with supplies. It was usually an imp’s job to order the food, but Kiara had taken over while here. Wait … She was leaving the quarters … Did that mean she was leaving Conah behind?
Cora caught the panic on my face and, leaning back in her seat, tipped her head back to look at Kiara. “You and Conah have fun now.”
Kiara rolled her eyes. “Conah does not do shopping.”
Shit. Conah was staying back. My pulse kicked up. “Then wait, I’ll come with you.”
She bit her bottom lip, eyes smiling. “Fee, have you seen yourself?”
I looked down at my sweat-soaked T-shirt.
“Let me rephrase that. Have you smelled yourself?”
I winced. “That bad?”
“No, just … Demons have sensitive noses.”
There was no option but to bow out gracefully. “I guess a shower it is.” And then I’d lock my doors until it was time to head to Deadside.
Kiara blew me a kiss and retreated.
I sagged against the counter. Nowhere but my room was safe now. I quickly piled pasta onto my plate.
“You can’t hide forever,” Cora said with a sly smile. “Now’s the time to confront Conah about his lies.”
Tension gripped the back of my neck. “There were no lies.”
“Just omissions.”
“Nothing happened.”
“But he gave the impression he wanted it to.”
We’d been over this. “Cora, what’s gotten into you?”
She crossed her arms under her breasts. “I’m sick of you evading. Conah had no right to get your hopes up. He should have been upfront about his betrothal.”
“It never came up.”
“Because he hid it.” Cora’s eyes flashed. “You have a right to be pissed off.”
“Being angry at Conah takes energy away from being angry at the bad guys. In the grand scheme of things, an almost-romance hardly matters.”
“Fine. What about the mark on your chest? When are you going to deal with that? Don’t you think Azazel has a right to know?” She narrowed her eyes. “Just like you had a right to know Conah was engaged?”
Ooh, well-played. But I was sticking to my guns on this one. “No. No, I don’t.” I yanked the collar of my top down to expose the mark. “It’s fading. It’ll be gone soon, so shut up about it.”
She stared at the mark and pressed her lips together. “Fucksake, woman, that doesn’t change the fact that it was there. It doesn’t change the fact that Az is your soulmate.”
A shiver skated up my spine. “I don’t need a soulmate.”
The concept scared the shit out of me. Especially since Cora had done some sleuthing, and by sleuthing, I meant chatting up the locals to get the full deets on what a soul mark actually was. It turns out that a soul mark needed to be confirmed. You were literally binding your soul to another.
Both parties had to accept the bond in a special ceremony. I didn’t know what happened if you ignored the mark or failed to do the binding, but I figured it would just go away. I needed it to go away because the thought of being soul connected to anyone, especially someone as closed off and detached as Azazel, scared the shit out of me. I was a demon raised as a human, and I doubted I’d ever see things the way they did, and to be tethered to one …
They were either cold or full-on. They loved with no holds barred and hated with every fiber of their being. Compassion wasn’t a warrior trait. It was reserved for the hearth. But they did prize their brood mothers—nannies who took care of the demon spawn for the nobility.
It seemed all or nothing with very little gray, and for someone who was used to compromise, to finding the middle ground, it was