Our Demons {Kai Parker Book 1}

eleven: in which she returns

His hands were bleeding.

A shard of glass dug deep into his right cheek and the rest of the glass countertop was shattered onto the floor. The tables were flipped over, chairs were thrown across the room, shelves pushed; the room was a disaster but Kai was still driven by rage.

She had left him, Kai was certain of this.

He ran seconds after she left the yard, but she had disappeared. Not a sign of where she was and although he screamed her name Ria never came back.

He had to accept that she was terrified of him. Any sane person would be, and she was acting as a normal person would if they came to understand the only person they were with was a remorseless killer.

He could have killed her.

"What the hell did you do?"

He whipped around hearing her voice, breathless and tense. Was this a figment of his imagination? He couldn't be sure, his vision was blurred and a ringing sounded in his ear. But then she came closer, she held his arms and peered into his eyes.

Her hands were warm.

She was really here.

"I leave for a couple hours and this is what you do? Wait, is this what you do in your spare time?"

"I'm fine," his voice was hoarse, eyes refusing to look anywhere else in fear that she'd disappear.

"Well, you don't look fine."

"Then stop looking."

Ria ignored his wit and pulled him out of the room, upstairs to the bathroom. She had him sit on the tub's edge as she found a first aid kit in the drawer.

She sat beside him, legs straddling the tub edge so she could better help him.

The glass was etched deep into his cheek, and she didn't need to ask to know that he had smashed his face against the glass cabinet.

"This is going to sting," her fingers held the shard of glass and with her other hand, she held his skin down. Kai's gaze never left hers but she focused on ripping it out as fast as possible to minimalize the pain.

"Gah," he closed his eyes when the weight on his cheek was gone. He feels blood oozing out of the cut but She wipes it away.

"That's going to need stitches, but I haven't got the closest idea of how to do that so, we'll improvise."

She poured some alcohol onto a cotton ball and cleaned the cut, apologizing when Kai winced in pain. She then placed a large band-aid on his cheek.

They sat there for moments, staring into each other's eyes but the moment wasn't awkward or challenging.

She had left because she needed time to herself. She thought back and came to agree that her sudden departure would have scared anyone and she should have been more clear. She should have told him she'd be back in a little bit.

Ria looks down and finds that his hands were also bloody, knuckles ripped. Without a word, she cleaned the blood and wrapped a gauze around his fists.

"I feel like a boxer," He smiled and punched the air jokingly.

"Yeah, let's just hope you don't make a career out of it." She stood up, avoiding his gaze and beginning to put away the kit.

She washed her hands and then stood by the sink, staring at her own reflection. Then he came up, standing behind her. He stared at her in the mirror.

"You didn't leave."

She never had any intention to. "I promised to help get you out of here. I don't break my promises."

"So my story didn't scare you? The story of Kai the psycho killer. You aren't afraid that when I get out I'll just go on another killing spree?"

Ria turned around, trapped between the sink and Kai who caged her in between his arms.

"No, I'm not."

Her time alone allowed her to understand and accept Kai Parker as a flawed person due to circumstances beyond his control.

She believed she could help Kai find good in his life, to become happy. "Maybe because I trust too easily or maybe because I see something more in you. You're not a bad person Kai, you just reacted in terrible ways to situations that shouldn't have even happened to you. Look, I know whatever I say means nothing to you. But I do see goodness in you, I see someone who wants to show his Coven that they were wrong in casting him out, that he is great and capable of leading. Everyone does bad, everyone has an evil part of them but that doesn't define who they are. People change, and I know you can change too."

An alien feeling stirred in his chest.

He was sure she'd be afraid of him. He prepared to tape her down again, but she was taking the news better than he could have imagined.

Ria placed her hand on his chest and him back. "I'll see you in the morning,"

"Wait," he grabbed her hand, interlocking their fingers and surprising himself with how right it felt. "Could we sleep in the same room tonight? I'll take the chair."

She opened her mouth but no words come out. Exhausted from the entire day of wandering and thinking over the information he shared with her, she nodded a yes and tugged his hand, pulling him to the bedroom.