Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 140462 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 702(@200wpm)___ 562(@250wpm)___ 468(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 140462 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 702(@200wpm)___ 562(@250wpm)___ 468(@300wpm)
That is blunt. Since getting banished to the human world, I’ve been busy establishing myself and finding my feet. The possibility of being intimate with someone hasn’t even occurred to me. I’m out of my depth and resort to what I know—shutting down a situation before it can overwhelm me. I despise not being in control, and this man is most definitely trying to pull the reins out of my hands.
“I’m afraid you can only buy food here. You must pay or leave.” I cringe on the inside at my own voice. Could I not have been nicer about it? More flirtatious? I bet I’ll be lying in bed tonight and coming up with hundreds of answers better than what I just said, but it is what it is.
The man deflates, but his smile doesn’t falter completely. “Sure. As I said, no obligations,” he adds and opens his wallet before placing paper bills and some change in front of me. As I take the money, he steps away from the window, triggering a motion-activated light that would have long ago switched on if he drove a car.
This time, it’s me who stares, because the stranger's handsome exterior and gravelly voice both pale in comparison to the beauty of the shadow he’s casting. Blacker than the depths of Grief Ocean, it radiates power I have never before seen concentrated in a single human’s darkness. It’s like a beast forced into a cage too small. Not only is it so potent it seems to pulse, but slim dark tendrils extend beyond its edges like abandoned children desperate to find a home. His shadow isn’t just more powerful than any I’ve seen. It’s feral and ripe for plucking, like he’s been bound to an elf before, but their bond was severed death.
“Wait!” I say, even though I know he will be awaiting his food anyway. I’m frantic and desperate to not lose sight of him. My heart pounds ever faster. “Are you… someone’s Dark Companion?”
He blinks but steps back to the window. “Ooh, is that some new slang I missed? I could definitely be your companion tonight. And we could do dark, dark things,” he says and winks at me.
He has no idea. Since I arrived among humans, I’ve not seen anyone whose shadow was accessible like his, practically begging for connection. I could bind his shadow to mine right now, and he’d be none the wiser. With such power as my crutch, I’d no longer be my family’s weakest link, the laughingstock of the Nocturne Court.
I reach out, expecting the shadow tendrils to accept the invitation and curl around my fingers, but they remain in place, as if I didn’t exist.
That’s right, the collar around my neck prevents me from using any shadowcraft.
I let out a helpless whine, which soon morphs into a sigh when the huge hand squeezes mine, encasing it in a warm, cozy cocoon.
“In case I wasn’t clear enough so far, I think you’re the prettiest twink I’ve seen in… forever.”
I’ve heard that word before, and while I’m not certain what it means, paired with ‘prettiest’ and the way he looks at me, I’m guessing he’s attempting to compliment me.
My fingers sizzle under his touch, and I breathe a little too fast as I glance from his eyes, to our fingers, to his shadow begging to be claimed. I don’t know how yet, but I will get the collar off and bind him to me.
My life would change completely if I had a Dark Companion like him. Banishment be damned, I’d claw my way back to the Nocturne Court somehow.
Only now I truly register what he meant and blush even more furiously. He thinks I’m pretty?
“I finish work in an hour. I’ll just get you your food, and… will you wait for me?” I ask, squeezing his hand, but at this point I’d be willing to break the rules and close early just to make sure he doesn’t wander off anywhere.
“Hell yes. I’d wait on this curb for a week for a pretty thing like you.” He lets out a raspy laugh and pulls out a little square wrapper from his wallet. There’s a ring-like shape inside, but I have no idea what that might be. “You have a place?”
He… doesn’t? Right. He doesn’t even seem to have a car. I have no idea who he is, but the packet looks a bit like the condiments we serve with takeout orders, so I’m guessing it’s food (?). I’m not used to spontaneous decisions, but if I let a shadow like that slip out of my grasp, I’ll never forgive myself.
But maybe this is a good thing that he wants to accompany me home? I’ll be able to keep an eye on him. Speaking of which… is that blood on his knuckles?