I whispered, flinching.
His hand snapped up and I twitched in response, until he dug his fingers into his hair, making it stand at adorable angles as he stared out into the hall.
“The others are patrolling. You can...come with me to the chapel. There’s someone who usually comes in about this time. But you have to stay out of sight and you can’t just wander.”
I nodded eagerly. “I promise.”
“When the guys get back, we’ll discuss your boundaries before we change shifts,” Zach said, chest puffing up and shoulders squaring, taking on some of Kais’ natural authority. “If you disappear, Deyva, I swear—”
“You tell me where to sit and that’s where I’ll be. I just need more space,” I said. It was a little more than I wanted to admit, but it did the trick. Another flare of sympathy.
I didn’t want to share those things, the ugliness of the recent years with Kimaris in Hell, especially not with these three men who had only ever been precious, perfect moments. But this wasn’t dreaming anymore. If they could suffer through the reality of me, I might as well give them whatever honesty I could spare.
6
Anger and Lust
Deyva
“Do you think I can sit up on the balcony? Kais let me go up there last night.”
Zach whipped around to face me in the center of the hallway. His frustration with me was peppered with other flavors—attraction, annoyance, and a small dash of fear.
“I thought I said where you could sit,” he ground out, nostrils flaring.
“I’m just throwing out suggestions.” I shrugged. “People won’t be able to see me up there, but I won’t be confined like a child.” Or a pet.
“I need to be able to see where you are at all times.” Zach’s grumpiness rivaled Kais’ in that moment, and I not-so-secretly delighted in getting under his skin too. “The answer is no.”
He turned to continue down the hall and I followed, letting out a dramatic, wistful little sigh. His broad shoulders bristled at the sound but otherwise didn’t react.
So prickly, these pious virgins.
When we reached the door to the chapel, he stuck his head through and looked around before opening it fully.
“Just stay behind the pulpit,” he muttered. “I have to talk to some people, but one of the others should be here soon.”
“Yes, Father.” I tossed him a smirk, leaning against the short staircase leading up to the platform.
Zach turned a delicious shade of red and jumped the staircase in two long strides. I heard the murmurings of people as he went to address them, and quickly tuned them out. Souls and salvation, yawn.
Now utterly bored, I paced back and forth along the back of the pulpit. Soreness and fatigue shot up my feet as I walked—I wouldn’t last much longer without an actual feeding and the priests needed to know. Their safety—and that of their people—would be at risk if I came close to starvation.
If only I had gotten any actual sustenance from that breakfast sandwich. It certainly tasted good enough. I licked my lips, my tongue finding tiny remnants of breadcrumbs in the corners of my mouth. Humans had no idea how easy they had it, just being able to put things in their mouths to live another day.
Not that I wouldn’t mind putting something else in my mouth, I thought, glancing at Zach and smirking to myself.
Zach wasn’t leading a sermon this morning, so there was no collective swell of faith for me to siphon from. The handful of people in the church were calm without huge spikes in their emotional state, so that didn’t do much for me either.
I paused in my pacing, already feeling drained as I leaned against a wall. The temptation was strong to just pop onto the pulpit and feed on the shock and fear of people seeing me, not to mention seeing the pricelessness of Zach’s reaction. It would be better than nothing.
But I had to listen, to do as I was told, if I wanted a snowball’s chance of surviving. Kimaris would be forming a plan to get me back by now, most likely under King Belial’s nose.
My eyes closed halfway, my body starting to sway on my feet. I just needed a little taste of something to feel alert. Maybe Zach would…
“Devya?”
A hand, warm and firm, squeezed around my shoulder. My eyes focused to find the man in question blinking at me.
“Hi, Zach.” A tight smile pulled at my lips as I forced myself not to feed from that physical touch,