My Beautiful One

23. A new era

"Which book are you on?" Sebastian asked absentmindedly. He was acting at about the most casual I'd seen him- padding around the kitchen seemingly aimlessly in bare feet without so much as a dagger for protection.

"Book six." I replied, setting Paradise Lost down on the coffee table, and turning to look at him. "It's weird, you know. The longer I read this book, the harder I find it to believe that Milton was a Shadowhunter, let alone a Christian."

Sebastian sat down on the arm of the sofa, and looked down at me, smiling. "How so?"

"I feel so much more drawn to the character of Satan than to God." I stretched my foot out and nudged the book with my toe. "He's so much more interesting."

"You know, I do believe you said the same thing about me." The Shadowhunter remarked, a glitter of amusement in his eyes.

I sighed dramatically. "I guess I just have a thing for villains."

Sebastian's smile turned into a full-blown evil grin, and he snatched me off the sofa and pulled me into his lap. There was once a time when even a single touch would have made me want to kill him, but a new era had dawned: one in which every moment we spent together felt new and awesome and exciting.

But I still didn't want him to think I'd changed so dramatically, so I put up a little mock-struggle, pushing at him and trying to twist away whilst giggling like a little girl. Owing to Sebastian's precarious position on the arm of the sofa, my struggles made him overbalance, and we both toppled off the arm and onto the floor. 

My landing was soft for the exact reason that Sebastian's was just about the opposite, because while he crashed onto the floor, I landed on him. I quickly hopped off to let him breathe, but scurried round to sit by his head and grin teasingly while he groggily opened his eyes.

"You're a villain too, Silver." He said, looking up at me like he was pleased by that fact.

I shrugged. "I've lived with you for five weeks. It's been hard to avoid."

"When you get the sudden urge to pillage villages and light your cigarettes with orphans, let me know."

I laughed, and blew on his face, which made him scrunch up his eyes and wrinkle his nose, which was somewhat cute. "I don't smoke."

He opened one eye. "Neither do I. I've found that one can be perfectly villainous without taking up such habits."

I ran a hand through his hair, relishing in the action as the silvery-white strands tickled my fingertips. Things had changed between us since three days ago, the day Sebastian had opened up to me and I'd kissed him: Sebastian had lost all (well, most) of his tendency towards sarcastic mocking, I was no longer on a mission to get out of the apartment or die trying, and neither of us carried weapons around the house anymore. But those were just  the little things: the bigger picture, the one that included my feelings for him... that was locked up in a part of my head for when I had the time or will to figure out exactly what it was.

"What perfectly villainous things have you done?" I asked. Sebastian sat up, sitting so close to me I could see the loops of silver in his dark eyes

"I stole you." He said.

"What a grand heist." I smiled ruefully. While mundane villains stole jewellery or money, Sebastian stole people. "Do you ever plan on returning me?"

"I will only truly have succeeded in stealing you when you no longer wish to be returned." Was his response. His voice lowered to a lulling murmur. "Do you still want to go, Amari?"

"I don't want to leave you." I said. "But I still want to live my life. Why can't I do both, Sebastian?"

He sighed. "Let's not talk about that now, okay? I've just planned another major heist."