Chapter 27: Not What You Need

Blaze’s POV

The minute Riley walked through the door, I knew something was wrong. She wouldn’t look at me. Wouldn’t speak to me. In fact, I was pretty sure she was about to cry.

Getting up, I followed her to her room, where she shut the door in my face. Interesting. This was new.

Taking a breath, I half ass wish Petra was still here with me. I didn’t know how to handle Riley. My usual scare tactics didn’t work with her. She had already been broken. I might be a demon, but I wasn’t a complete asshole.

Deciding we were past knocking on doors, I walked in, pausing when I saw her sitting down on her bed. She had her face in her hands and even though I couldn’t hear her, I knew that she was crying.

“Riley?”

She looked up at me, and I saw nothing but defeat in her eyes. I don’t know if it was the angel’s blood that ran through my veins, or if I had just gotten attached to her, but I couldn’t stand to see her look so helpless. She was stronger than she knew.

“What happened?” I asked, slowly walking in the room toward her.

Shaking her head, Riley looked down, still avoiding my eyes. Frowning, I wondered what Lakyn had said or done to her that would have sent her home in this state. “What did she do, Riley?” I asked, trying to keep my anger at bay.

Riley let out a deep breath, shaking her head. “She didn’t do anything. She talked to me. That’s it. We just talked.”

I knew Riley was hiding something from me and as much as I wanted to demand she tell me, I knew I had to take things easier with her. For some reason, I had yet to understand, she trusted me. She was a fool, but she did.

Deciding to change tactics, I switched subjects. “Were you able to get anything out of her?”

Riley’s eyes darted up to mine, then back down again. What could Lakyn have told her that could have upset her so much she didn’t want to face me? I sighed. Lakyn had probably filled her head up with a whole lot of half truths about demons.

“Riley, it’s ok if you didn’t find out anything. I just was curious about…”

“That’s the problem. I found out too much.”

I frowned, looking down at her. “What do you mean, you found out too much?”

Riley sighed, wiping her eyes. “I don’t want to tell you, but I know I have to.”

“Tell me what?” I pressed, curious now what she could have found out that she would want to keep from me. Riley remained silent. “Little witch, I need you to talk to me.”

Shaking her head, Riley started crying again.

“Remember last night when you asked me to get some rest for you?” I asked her, waiting until she nodded before I continued. “Then I need you to tell me what she told you. Do this for me, my little witch.”

Riley took a shaky breath, her hands shaking as she brought them up to hide her face again. “She told me her grandmother knew a little about demons. That her grandmother’s family had been obsessed with learning all they could about them.”

Pausing, Riley looked up at me. I nodded at her, urging her to keep going. “Her grandmother’s family is from Wales. They changed their last name when they moved to America, but still have relatives overseas.”

It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop in the room.

“Her family is the Wumberts.”

Anger rose through me so fast I almost lost control of it. She knew. She knew, and she had wanted to keep this from me? “You didn’t want to tell me this?”

Riley looked down. “I don’t want you leaving me,” she said, barely above a whisper.

It was like somebody threw a bucket of cold water over me. My anger died down so fast even I wasn’t prepared for it. Tears didn’t move me. Anyone could summon tears. But hers. There was something about seeing her so broken that made me want to pick her up and take her far away from this madness.

Demons thrived off of fear. Fed off of depression. But I couldn’t take from her. Was it because my name was tattooed into her very flesh? Or had my imprisonment softened me?

“Who says I’m leaving, little witch?” I asked, kneeling down in front of her.

“You,” Riley whispered, trying her best to wipe her tears away, but the more she wiped away, the more replaced them.

I laughed, “my stupid little witch. Even if I manage to break the bond with the Wumbert’s, I’m still bound to you.” I took her hand, rubbing my thumb over my name on her. She shivered at my touch and I had to admit I didn’t so much mind my sigil on her.

“Don’t leave me, Blaze,” she said, looking up at me.

I knew I needed to be an asshole. I needed to make her hate me. Hell, I needed her to remember who the fuck I was. I was a mother fucking demon, not some guardian angel.

“I’m here, little witch.” Pulling her toward me, I caught her in my arms as she fell forward off of her bed. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t break her more and I hated myself for it.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t be what she needed. I could never be who she needed. Demons didn’t fix broken things, they destroyed them.

Wrapping my arms tighter around Riley, I rested my chin on the top of her head as she burred her face into my chest. Fuck, I had never in my life wanted to be something I wasn’t. Not until now.

“Come with me. I want to show you something,” I said as I reached down and pulled her chin up so that she had no other choice but to look at me.

Riley shook her head, but I didn’t give her a choice. Standing up, I brought her with me, fully prepared to carry her if she refused to walk. Tucking her arm under mine, I lead her outside, opening the sliding glass door.

The dogs darted outside in front of us as we made our way to the middle of her tiny backyard. Looking up, I pointed at a set of constellations. Do you know what that is?”

When Riley shook her head no, I started telling her everything I knew about the constellations. I knew most of them. Hell, I’d been around since before some of them were even named. She stood beside me, taking in everything I said.

Her tears had stopped, and I had to laugh at her when she pointed out the Little Dipper and Big Dipper to me. Little by little, I could almost see her sadness melt away.

She had just given me the biggest clue I had ever received and instead of following it, I was outside showing her the stars. The Wumbert’s could wait. Riley couldn’t. I refused to be the reason her light went out.

Not her.

Seeing her shiver, I pulled her into my arms. “Are you ok now, little witch?”

Riley looked up at me and, like an idiot, I leaned down, capturing her lips with mine. I knew better. She damn well should know better. Yet it didn’t seem like either of us cared as I deepened our kiss.

With one of my hands, I grab her jaw, tilting it up, while the other shook her hair free from the braid she had it in. I wanted to feel it running through my fingers. Riley’s hands were on my chest, as if she couldn’t decide if she wanted to push me away or not.

I need her to push. I need her to shove me so hard I fell.

She doesn’t

My tongue brushes against her teeth, forcing my tongue deeper into her mouth. A soft moan escaped her lips, and I knew then that if I wanted her, I had her.

It was I who stopped our kiss stepping back. “I’m not what you want, little witch.”

The look of hurt quickly made its way back to her face. “How do you know what I want?” she asked, looking down at her feet.

“It’s not me.”

“It might be,” she whispered.

Fuck.

“You are so much stronger than you know, little witch. Not everyone could have lived through what Petra did to you.” I was avoiding her. I knew it and she knew it.

“It’s ok,” she said, turning to walk away from me.

Before she even had a chance to walk away, I reached out, grabbing her and pulled her back to me. I didn’t have time to be infatuated with some human. I wasn’t the person she needed me to be. I didn’t know how to fix her.

Riley looked up at me, and I knew I was fucked. She was mine. Like it or not. I had tried to deny it, but I wanted her. She was afraid that I would leave her, but she should have been more worried that I would never let her go.

“This will only end badly,” I said, looking down at her.

Riley nodded, a tear falling from her eyes. I sighed, reaching out and wiping it up with my fingers before bringing it up to my mouth and tasting the salty tear.

Fuck. What the hell was I supposed to do with a human?