He stepped forward, and the stare he gave was so intense a tickle at the back of my brain made me shudder. His encroachment on my personal space was uncomfortable.
"I don't like people so close," I told him and stepped away.
Boldly, he stepped forward again and reached for my hand. "Come with me," he said softly and as an afterthought half a beat later added, "Please?"
A warning from my intuition fired in my head, and I yanked my hand away before he clasped it. "I have to get back."
I looked over toward Bayou, conscious a demon was waiting for me, but couldn't help but stay still, and keep trying to find that elusive obvious thing. There was something about Devlin I was missing. I just knew it. Usually, if I didn't want to talk to someone I could ignore or drown them out, but when Devlin asked me a question I felt I had to answer. When he spoke it was like I had to listen.
"Breandan warned me away from you," I said quietly. I backed up, wanting much, much more distance between us and watched his face for signs of falsehood. "If you were a fairy informant, why would he do that? Wouldn't he trust you?"
"I told you had me wrong, you came to that conclusion by yourself. Regardless, trust is a complicated thing."
"He trusted you enough to leave me here, but not enough to warn me about you."
I struggled to understand where my thoughts were headed. It felt like I was trying to lead myself somewhere, but failing to use the clues I already knew to finish the riddle. Come on brain, do your job and work.
"Of course he would. The idea of competition for your affection will frighten him now. He's terrified you may choose to go another way. The right way." He gave me a quick fire grin, happy and out of place. Now I thought about it, everything about him was out of place.
Tired of standing so still, and tense, I shifted and I stumbled over my own foot. I scowled at them before remembering I had more pressing issues than my own clumsiness. My eyes darted to the dorm and back to Devlin's face. His white-blonde hair did that weird shimmering thing and his eyes sparkled, even in the dark.
It clicked.
"No, no, no, you too," I said, surprised and pointed at him. "You're a demon too."
He said nothing and that was more than answer enough for me. I reverted back to my original plan. I turned and ran.
"I didn't want to have to do this," he called.
The next moment he was in front of me, sighing. I stopped before I slammed into him, my arms flapping either side of me. My knees knocked together and I squeaked in alarm.
Oh gods. How could I have not seen this coming?
He moved, body blurring to close the distance between us. Crying out, I brought my hand up to ward off an attack, but he halted, and pushed against my palm until all between our bodies touching was my hand. The steady thump of his heart pounded against me and the sweet scent of his body made me dizzy. Then I felt something cool and hard pressed against my chest. There was a subtle vibration, a prickle of energy rolling outwards. A tingle ran down my body and I wiggled. Looking down, I couldn't see anything, our bodies were pressed too tightly together, but I was sure his pendant was pressed against mine through the layers of our clothes.
"Don't worry, you're safe," he said and cupped my cheek. The touch was not romantic, but somehow authoritative and belittling. "You're coming home with me. Okay? Your real home."
"No," I said so quietly it was more a squeak. I raised my voice and it was strong this time, "No."
The world spun and disappeared inch by inch the longer he was close, swallowed by the dark. He was shorter than Breandan, and I stared into his eyes without craning my neck. Fixed in place by the presence of him, the ability to move left me though the urge remained. I tried to focus on anything apart from how close he was.
"Please," I said. "Please move back. I can'tI can't think straight."
Devlin's hand trailed across my face and caused a squirm. "I can see you're confused, frightened. I can make it all go away." His hand moved down my neck and across my collarbone. His finger hooked around the leather tie that held my pendant, and pulled it up so it slipped out from under the neck of my tee, and swung between our faces. There was a wicked gleam in his eye. "All you have to do, to make it all go away is come with me. Or, give me your necklace."
