“Robin!”

The sharp noise pinged in my brain, so unexpected that I didn’t instantly react—then I leaped off my stool so fast I almost toppled it.

Zylas was yelling my name?

I sprinted into my bedroom, my heart in my throat and panic simmering.

Zylas was crouched in the middle of my room. I’d expected his shout to be related to the Vh’alyir Amulet, but he didn’t have the amulet. Instead, he was leaning over Socks. The half-grown kitten squatted low to the carpet, her sides heaving and a horrible wheezing noise scraping from her throat.

His wide eyes shot from the kitten to me. “What’s wrong with her?”

As I knelt beside him, Socks shook with a violent cough, made a throaty hacking sound, and swallowed a couple times. Licking her chops, she looked up at us and blinked her large green eyes.

Zylas and I stared down at her.

“I think it was a hairball,” I said after a moment.

“I do not know that word.”

“Cats lick their fur to stay clean. They end up swallowing bits of fur, and sometimes they cough it up.”

He looked between me and the cat, his forehead scrunched. “Coughing fur …” he muttered. “Do hh’ainun do this?”

I almost choked. “No. Not at all. It’s strictly a cat thing.”

“Hnn.”

His puzzled expression was too much for me. A giggle bubbled up my throat, and before I could stop myself, I burst into laughter. I sat back on my heels, a hand pressed to my mouth as I tried to stifle the sound.

He scowled. “Why are you laughing?”

“N-no reason,” I gasped. “Sorry.”

Grumbling irritably, he scooped Socks off the floor. Sitting cross-legged, he dropped her into his lap. She sprawled on her back, paws in the air, purring loudly. As he ran his fingers over her fluffy belly, faint crimson sparked over his fingertips.

My laughter died. He was checking her for unseen injuries, ensuring she was okay. He was worried about the kitten. Worried enough to call me over and to check her with his magic.

A strange tightness spread through my chest, and for a bizarre second, I felt like I might burst into tears.

“Socks is fine, Zylas.” My voice came out in an emotional hush. “Really. It’s a normal cat behavior.”

“She is so small.” He ruffled her fur. “Easy to break. More breakable than you.”

At least he considered me somewhat hardier than a five-pound kitten.

He rubbed her head and she swatted at his hand, all her claws extended. Amalia and I couldn’t play with her unless we used a toy; Zylas had unintentionally taught her that playtime meant claw-time. Her needlelike claws didn’t bother him thanks to his tough demon skin.

He watched her half hang from his hand in an attempt to wrestle it, then let out a long, weary breath. “Keeping small things alive is hard.”

Socks flopped back into his lap, rolled over, and meowed in complaint. With a jaunty flick of her tail, she waltzed off. Zylas wrinkled his nose the way he did when annoyed about a troublesome non-demon’s needy ways.

“Zylas …” I began.

When his softly glowing eyes turned to me, my voice dried up. I swallowed, no idea what to say … or if I wanted to say anything.

His thoughtful stare drifted over me—then a mischievous smirk appeared. My flash of alarm had barely registered before his hands closed over my upper arms and he dragged me onto his lap.

I gasped as he pulled me against his chest and wrapped his arms around me.

“Z-Zylas!” I yanked at his wrist. “What are you doing?”

He snugged his arms tighter. “You want me to hold you like the kitten.”

“What? No, I don’t!”

“Yes. I heard you. Jealous of the kitten, na?”

I made a high-pitched noise, tugging harder on his arm. “I’m not jealous of a cat. Now let me go!”

“But you like it, vayanin.” His face dipped close to my ear. “Don’t you?”

My mouth opened, but I couldn’t deny it—because he’d instantly call me out for lying. My cheeks burned.

He lifted his head, and I glimpsed his sharp grin before he pushed his fingers into my hair. Shivery gooseflesh ran down my spine.

“Do you like this too?” he crooned slyly.

“I’m not a cat,” I snapped, pretending my heart wasn’t slamming against my ribs. “I don’t want to be petted.”

“But you like it when I touch you.”

Why had I ever admitted that to him? I grabbed his wrist, fully intending to drag his hand out of my hair with sheer force of will—until he ducked his head. The tip of his nose brushed against the side of my neck.

At the feeling of his warm breath, my stomach dropped out of my body.

He nuzzled my throat, inhaling my scent. I didn’t move, my lungs locked. His nose trailed down my neck, then back up to the corner of my jaw. My skin tingled.

His mouth closed over the soft spot under my jaw, and heat plunged through my core. His tongue flicked across my skin, tasting my pulse—then the hot touch of his mouth disappeared.

I opened my eyes.

Amalia stood in my bedroom doorway.

She was frozen in place, disgusted horror twisting her features—and reality slammed through me at the sight. Her face said it all.

Disbelief.

Revulsion.

Condemnation.

The most intense shame I’d ever felt swelled through me like icy poison as she stared at me in the demon’s lap. She’d seen his mouth on my neck. She’d seen me enjoying it.

I wanted to die. Just die on the spot, right now.

Amalia stood there for a moment more, then turned on her heel and strode away.

Panic burst through me. Scrambling off Zylas, I jumped up and ran out of the room.

“Amalia, wait!” I raced across the living room and through her open bedroom door. “That—that wasn’t what it looked like—”

Halfway to her sewing desk, she whirled around and shouted, “He’s a demon!”

“It—it wasn’t—”

“Don’t lie to me, Robin! You weren’t resisting him. You were—” Repugnance contorted her face. “How far have you gone with him?”

Mortification filled my chest like hot lead. “I haven’t done anything like … that.”

Sagging with relief, she let out a huge breath, then straightened. “Look, I get that he’s kind of humanish and muscular and all that, but he’s a demon, Robin.”

I cringed. “I know that. I just …”

“You just what?”

“I … got … caught up in … in the moment.”

“In the moment?” Her voice rose again. “What kind of excuse is that? If you’re so freakin’ thirsty, we can go to any club and find you a muscular guy to throw down with.”

I recoiled. “That’s not why I was—”

“Then what? What possible reason could you have for allowing him to slobber on you like a dog? Why—”

“He’s not an animal!”

Her jaw clenched at my angry retort, then she swept past me, grabbed the door, and slammed it shut, enclosing us in her bedroom. Stepping in front of me, she put her hands on my shoulders.

“Robin. Listen to me.” She stared hard into my eyes. “What you’re doing is wrong and you know it.”