He groaned as if she had just asked him to do hours of hard physical labor. “Because.”
“Just tell me.”
“Because...” He blew out a breath. “Not all demons are like the ones you’ve seen. Some don’t look human, and they don’t act like it either. Some really are monsters, and it’s better for everyone if they’re kept on a leash.”
“So you’re saying...” Iris swallowed. “You’re like that? But...”
It didn’t make sense. Mist was still Mist whether he was in human, demon, or even mist form. His personality didn’t change. So if Meph had some monstrous demon form, wouldn’t he still share the same thoughts and emotions? Wouldn’t he still be himself?
He was staring pointedly at the wall. “Can we stop talking about this now?”
“Just answer one more question.”
“Maybe.”
“Are you still yourself in your demon form? Or does it change you somehow?”
He unlinked his hands from behind his head and sat up. “I gotta go.”
Whoa.She’d obviously touched a nerve. “No, you don’t.”
“Yeah, I do.”
“No, you don’t. Just answer the question.”
Meph’s eyes narrowed, the red flashing dangerously. “I’m not answering shit.” He shifted across the bed, legs swinging over the edge, but she caught his arm before he could stand. Faust continued to slumber peacefully next to her pillow, oblivious to the tension.
“Look, I’m not gonna judge you or use the information against you. I just want to understand.”
He glared at her over his shoulder. It was like she was looking at a different person. Even in the brief moments he wasn’t smiling, there was usually still a trace of humor in his eyes.
But right now... there was something else.
“Why do you even care?” His voice was low, ominously deep.
“I don’t know. I guess I—”
“Because if you’re going to start demanding shit from me now that we fucked, then I’m out of here. FYI, I’m not like Ash or Mist. I’m not looking for a human woman to solve my problems and heal my wounded soul.”
“Well, good,” Iris snapped, getting pissed now. “Because I am not in the market for another damaged man-child with daddy issues who expects me to fix his shit rather than dealing with it by his own damn self.”
“Don’t compare me to your pathetic human boyfriends,” Meph snapped, pinning her with that burning red gaze.
Had she been a lesser woman, she would have cowered beneath that stare. As it was, she only flinched. But her heart had started pounding.
Whatever demon lurked behind those red eyes was... frightening.
It went beyond the way Mist or Ash’s demon forms were scary—freaky monsters with weird-colored skin. Whatever Meph’s was, it was something dark.
It was the monster that lived under the bed or hid in the closet. The sound that scratched in the cellar. The creaking in the old house. It was the kind of fear that made the heart pound and the skin go clammy.
And suddenly, Iris understood.
Meph didn’t want that demon out of its cage any more than she did. He was just as scared of it as her.
In a second, her temper vanished, and she forgot what they’d been bickering about. Her voice dropped to a whisper as she said, “What is your demon form?”
The fire vanished from his gaze, and the eyes that stared back at her were suddenly haunted.
