Daevas -I- ✔️

Chapter 17.3: Trick or Treat

"Why is it that you look at me with such mistrust? Have you encountered demons before me with terrible intentions?" Ari stayed silent. "It is better to be cheated once than to mistrust everyone."

The room smelled of magnolias and sweet peas although it was well into the winter months. Ari liked the scent which distracted him from Nis' nonchalance. Ari surveyed the room some more, taking in the luxurious craftsmanship of the wooden tables and bookshelves. All along the walls were columns of bookshelves filled with toppled over books. He could not see many of them from the distance he was at, but he could tell that they were treated with such meticulous care.

Ari did not think of Nis as much of a reader. The more he looked the more he noticed the piles of books lain open and sprawled haphazardly across the floor. Books littered the bed and the tables and anywhere else that had free space. He never seen so many. The Khaeo only maybe had twenty or so. The books outside of their teachings were considered sins punishable by the severity of the offense. This made him curious. More than curious.

He turned his head back to Nis who only gave him a soft smile and kind eyes. "So I take it you like to read?"

"I... I cannot say I do," Ari mumbled.

"Do you know how to read?"

"These scripts are foreign to me."

"I can teach you."

Ari loomed closer. "You say not to mistrust, but why must I trust someone who puts me to sleep and asks for my name while knowing the meaning behind it if I do?"

Nis' smile grew. "Well, should I hide it from you then? Perhaps, you are not used to being around someone who is forward."

"No, I do not trust you is all... "

"Trust is earned not given, I understand." Nis wrapped his fingers around some of his long strands of red hair as if in deep thought. "The way I went about bringing you here was a bit... dramatic, but I meant well by it."

"Is that so? Would you think so if our roles were reversed?" Ari said as he bent down near his face. He had such long lashes and pink coated lips that reminded him of a pink camellia. His slender nose complimented his facial features. And those gray eyes. They were alluring and deep like the ocean. When Nis blinked Ari came out of his daze. Ari became flustered and he did not want it to show, so he hid it well with an air of nonchalance that Nis had down to near perfection.

"Roles were reversed? Heh, that would not happen. I would come quite willingly." Nis trailed a finger down his chin to his throat and smirked.

Ari grabbed his hand feeling his warmth and its softness. It reminded him of Auovin's. His heart squeezed and twisted at the thought. He could not let himself be distracted. He had a clear goal. He would not let anyone lead him astray.

Still, Ari could not help but notice the little things. The color of Nis' nails matched the color on his painted cheeks — a soft red. It was a pretty color that Ari liked. He did not realize how nice it would look on a person. All the Khaeo ever wore was black and the same went for Auovin and Cyrus. Maybe that was why his gaze would linger on Nis so often. He was something new to him and, whether he wanted to admit to it or not, he was quite gorgeous as well.

"Valy was concerned about you so much so he had no care for self and thought to leave. So I thought to do him a favor and look after you and lucky that I did. That baker is a demon hunter," Nis said.

"I know."

Nis laughed. "You are nothing but a thing filled with ignorance and little truth. Naïveté will get you nowhere in this town but to an early grave. That hunter knows just how to do it."