The Demon's Half

Chapter 31

The swing in my backyard creaked in the wind.
Alexander dropped onto the seat, I was going to kill this cabrón.
Thank the gods Alilla had taught me to control my fire, or my entire house would've been ashes in a blink.

"Don't ever come to Elena's house again."

He laughed completely unbothered. "Ah. So that's what has you in a fit. And here I was about to congratulate you. Fire suits you."

"You made me look like a pendeja," I snapped. "I had to stand between you and mi novio."

The word tasted like rust... Logan probably wasn't my boyfriend anymore.

"I didn't ask you to," he shrugged.

"As if I had a choice! He was going to kill you—"

"Just admit you care about me."

Pendejo ególatra.

"Don't flatter yourself." I pointed at him like he was a cockroach I wanted to crush. "We share a soul, that's it. And if I hadn't stepped in, you would've done something awful."

He clutched his chest in fake agony. "Oh, love, you know me so well."

"You're such an asshole."

"Most definitely."

I opened my mouth. Shut it. The anger was smoke in my lungs, impossible to breathe around. "I don't even know how I'm going to face him."

"He doesn't even know you."

I laughed, bitter. "And you do?"

"I do."

I turned away from him. "Being inside my head isn't the same as knowing me," I said over my shoulder.

But he appeared right in front of me, making me stumble back.

"Does he know how you tap your foot when you're nervous? That little bounce in your step, like you're trying to shake it off?" He moved closer. "That you like to curse in your mother tongue because it feels like an armor?"

His hand brushed my cheek, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.

"That you scratch your nose when you're overthinking—which, by the way, is so often that your nose is always red." His voice was a velvet rope, and I sucked in my lips. "That your lips go like that—" his thumb traced my mouth, "—when you're about to say something you know you'll regret. Or when you're lying."

I shoved his hand away. "He doesn't need to know that."

"Why? Because he knows your favorite color's black?" His laughter was anything but genuine. "Real deep. Especially since you wear it every fucking day."

"He knows enough to love me."

"Do you love him?"

I bristled. "Don't change the—"

"Do. You. Love. Him?"

My gaze went to the tree. "Of course I love him. You wouldn't understand. You don't even have a beating heart."

"I don't need a muscle to love—"
The words rang in my skull, but I blocked him out before he could finish.

"The first guy to tell you you're pretty and you melt?" Alexander leaned back against the wall, looking disgusted. "I thought you were smarter than that."

"Right, because the guy who actually wants to protect me is such a terrible choice."

"Protect you? That idiot's caging you," he said.

"He takes care of me."

"What are you, a child?" He chuckled. "You don't need someone to care for you. You've never needed anyone. You've clawed your way through hell alone. You're stronger than any of them. Yet you keep performing this fragile little damsel act."