Because I Love You✔️

Chapter 8: Eyes like Stars

Chapter Eight: Eyes Like Stars

Ella was pissed.

Beyond pissed.

So pissed that she wanted to strangle someone, but the weirdest part was the fact that she didn't even know why she was so angry since this was a different type of rage than she was used to, and it hadn't set in until after she'd met the strange demon boy.

Letting out an irritated sigh, she set her chin down on the bar's counter, glaring at the wall.

All around her, the sound of laughing men and women filled the air, but instead of feeling comforting and warm like it usually did, the boisterous cheer only exacerbated her sour mood.

Directly in front of her, a redheaded man named Drake tended the bar, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and although his freckled face was warm, when she huffed again for the umpteenth time he finally looked up with an irritated expression.

Two pale blue eyes the color of ice studied her face.

"You know," he rasped in a deep, growling voice, "it's not good to bottle everything up, My Lady."

Ella glared at him with half-lidded eyes, then pulled the golden necklace her captive had dropped out of her cloak and looked at it yet again, trying to make sense of it.

"I'm not bottling anything up, Drake," she muttered. "It's just, a specific demon is causing me more issues than any of the others I've faced over the last few years, and I genuinely find myself struggling with how I should deal with it."

"Oh?" he asked, quirking a fiery eyebrow as he cleaned one of his mugs with a dishcloth. "A demon causing you problems? That's rare... is it a strong one?"

"I'm not sure. It doesn't seem or even look all that powerful," Ella snorted, lifting the beautiful necklace with grumpy eyes. "Then again, it did manage to disarm me once, so I'm not sure."

The man's eyes widened and his hand stilled.

"You?" he asked, looking seriously frightened. "A demon actually managed to disarm you?"

"Yes," she grumpily admitted, giving him a sour look. "For the first time since I finished my training, I was disarmed... but there's no need to fear, since I recovered like I usually do."

"My lady," he murmured, slowly returning to his business. "This is cause for worry. You're the countess of the southern region, so if something happens to you... the country will..."

"Nothing will happen," she rapped out. "Do not doubt my abilities!"

The man fell silent, cowed by the fire in her glare, but she had a good reason to be mad. 

After all, a strange demon had fearlessly waltzed up to her, disarmed her with literally no effort whatsoever, and had then lifted her into the air like a toy doll... but, that was also the reason she was so blasted confused: why had he embraced her? 

She'd been open to his whims, he could have easily killed her in that moment, or worse, but instead he'd swept her off the ground and into his arms.

Forget demonic, his actions had been almost princelike.

What was more, up until the flogging, the anger she'd felt towards him hadn't changed at all, not even when she'd watched him get kicked around by the villagers. It was true that she'd been disturbed to learn that the psychotic creature had a knack for mimicking human emotions straight down to the core of his eyes, but that hadn't made her angry, either.