A Legacy of the Damned: Daughter of Astaroth

Chapter 26 - My demon Half

"My favorite childhood memory..." I tap a finger on my bottom lip, thinking. His eyes follow the movement.

"My nanny, Freyja used to bring me a glass of milk and chocolate chip cookies whenever I was upset." Or on one of those days after daddy beat me up. "We would dunk our cookies in the milk and eat them and then she would say, "Oh, look, mina älsklingar, it is now chocolate milk!" and then we would drink our chocolate milk together." I pause, remembering. I remember Freyja's face, her smile, and her hugs, but as strong as my memory is, I can't recall the sound of her voice anymore. "She was Swedish, my nanny. She was young and very pretty. She looked after me since I was a baby."

"How old were you when she quit?"

"Seven," I say. "And she didn't...she didn't quit."

His eyes look thoughtful as they stare into mine. Then his jaw tightens at the implication of what I'm telling him sinks in. I can see that he wants to ask more questions about how my nanny died, but I'm thankful that he doesn't.

We've abandoned all the pretense of watching the movie a while ago and all we're doing is talking. I never liked talking. Or rather nobody really wanted to listen to me before. I mean, really listen. They pretended to listen but they're not really interested in what I have to say. They wanted me for my looks and body or be my friends for my father's wealth or to get close to my brothers or because I was their ticket to get into the best parties but they're not truly interested to get to know me. Not really.

But with him, it's different. There's this strong connection between us right from the start. An attraction. But it's not just physical. I can feel it. He listens as though he's genuinely interested to get to know me. He listens to words spoken and unspoken. His eyes are intense on me and his body is leaning toward me as though he doesn't want to miss a word. Our conversation is fun and exciting and sometimes...intense. Mainly because he's exciting and I want to know about him too.

Besides, I need something to tell my father. So far, no matter what I ask, his answer is freely given but hasn't given me anything of any value for Astaroth to use against him.

"Now, tell me something that not many people know about you," I say, trying to lighten things up. When he still seems tense, I add, "Preferably something embarrassing."

His lips slowly curl up into a smile. His tie is gone, his hair is sexily tousled, and a few buttons of his shirt are undone. He slides his gaze to the tv even though I know his mind is on something else. One arm is resting along the back of the sofa. His fingers are idly playing with a lock of my hair.

"My great aunt, Tata Bijou still has a nude picture of me when I was a toddler," he announces a while later.

"What?" I sputter before I burst out laughing. "No way!"

"Yes, way," he confirms with a nod. "I'm talking about full-frontal nudity." His eyes are still fixed on the tv and his mouth quirks up at the corners despite his best effort not to smile.

"Oh, my God! Why?"

"As a blackmail material. She keeps reminding me about it and threatens to post it on the internet whenever I misbehave," he replies, fully grinning by now. "Thank goodness, she hasn't shown it to anyone outside the family... yet."

"Well, now I have to see it."

"Why do you want to see my nude baby picture when you can look at the real thing now?" he teases.

My eyes fly up. They clash with his bright hazel ones and hold. And just like that, the air between us feels electrified again and I'm fully aware of how we're almost touching. I'm aware of the heat of his body next to mine and his hand near my neck.