Wish Upon A Demon

28.

CHAPTER - TWENTY EIGHT

I was eighteen years old.

For an eighteen-year-old girl, the events of this year were too much to handle. I’d accepted the entry of a demon into my life. I’d accepted being turned into a demon without my consent. I’d accepted the demon boy’s very unpredictable behavior towards me. But this was unexpected. Verona King had surprised me by saying the most cliché and unacceptable words I had ever heard. It was surprising considering she was a queen and I would have hoped that she would put a bit of thought into her words, but she didn’t. She spoke out words that every young girl at me would faint at.

You have to get married.

If Verona King thought I would listen to that, she was dead wrong. I wanted to go to college, I wanted to get a job, I wanted to live my life like any other girl my age would do and dammit, I couldn’t do that if I was tied down to a supernatural creature who didn’t know what he was doing. Speaking of Verona King, the same Queen stared back at me as I opened my eyes again from darkness, for the second time today. “Here,” She offers me a hand, letting me get into an upright, sitting position. My back aches slightly, making me wonder how hard I fell from the chair.

“I’m sorry for being so blunt, darling.” She says, brushing my hair back. “You should know that there is no sort of pressure on you. I understand you have dreams, goals to accomplish, and we will never force you into anything.” Verona continues. My eyes fall onto Zylen whose eyes are gazing at me intensely, no words escape from his mouth and he doesn’t make a sound, making his presence unknown in the room. I quickly avert my eyes.

Verona notices my lack of response and heavy silence in the room and gets up from the bed. “I’ll be back, I need to speak with Orlando.” She mutters as she leaves the room. I’m left alone once again with Zylen who doesn’t move from his spot. I don’t move either; afraid he’ll hold onto my ankle and have me underneath him again. But for some reason, though we don’t move or speak, my eyes never leave him. And with that intense fire blazing in his hazel orbs, he looks as though he’s daring me to break eye contact. I’ve seen that intensity in his eyes one time before, and that was right before my clothes came off and I was trapped in a trance.

I didn’t want to be locked in that trance again, so I try to avert my eyes. I try, but when I can’t, I know I’m sucked into the trance he puts me in that leads me to submit. His lips pull up into the familiar smirk sensing my thoughts that lead back to a certain night which I spent experiencing the best time of my life. I think I liked it better when he didn’t smirk because when he did, I knew he had something else on his mind, which I wouldn’t be able to interpret till it was put to action and I would find myself against him. He finally got his back off the wall and began taking small steps towards me.

I didn’t crawl back. I kept my eyes in level with as he leaned down on the side of the bed, over me. “Zylen, your father wants to speak to you, and Faye.” Verona’s voice comes from the other side of the door. She doesn’t enter the room nor does she say anything further and a second later, I hear her soft footsteps padding away. It seems Zylen King didn’t like disobeying his father because he was of me in a second, the smirk gone with no trace of it being there. Instead, his jaw is slightly clenched and his carefree attitude changes to a more stern, strict one.

I was lead into an office, wherein the middle sat the king of this particular kingdom, Orlando King. His surname matched his position and so did his personality and frame. I was intimidated just looking at him, and I knew where Zylen had got his captivating hazel eyes. “Nice to finally meet you, Miss Martin. I would have requested your presence earlier, but I was quite busy.” Orlando King says in a smooth voice. I see Verona rolling her eyes beside me, “Oh, don’t be intimidated honey, Orlando is a little shy when it comes to meeting new people.” She says.

The King glares at the Queen, and she all but smiles at him.

“I reckon my wife has already explained what we require of you.” He says, signaling for us to take our seats. Zylen keeps quiet, taking his seat and so do I. Verona doesn’t sit, down stands next to her husband, hand on his shoulder, squeezing it like she’s signaling him to be nice to us. “With all due respect...sir-” I see Zylen smirk a bit, sensing my uneasiness. It’s not just him though, the King and the Queen, mostly the Queen seems to be amused as well. “-I don’t think I can agree to what you’re asking me to do,” I say, not sure how to frame my sentence. I didn’t know to speak to Royalty. It wasn’t like I spent my whole life speaking to them or being guided how to do so.

“So, you refuse?” Zylen’s father asks, and I see Verona’s hand tightening slightly on his shoulder. Even Zylen’s gaze is on me, all the three of them looking at me waiting for my final answer, “Yes...?” I say, and I know I made the wrong choice because Zylen’s father looks disappointed and so does Verona. Zylen’s face, however, just goes blank. “I thought you would agree to it, considering Elvive had made the promise, but now that you refuse, I need some time to discuss it with my wife.” He says, and I know it’s time for me to leave. “You, too, Zylen. Leave.” His father says, and Zylen follows me out.

“Why did you refuse?” Zylen asks. Honestly, I don’t even know why he asks me that question. I thought he would understand why I made the decision. I had a life and just because I had turned immortal overnight, it didn’t mean that I would get married as soon as someone proposed the idea of it. Besides, marriage was incomplete without love; at least that was what my mother used to say. I knew I craved Zylen, I knew I wanted him, I knew I liked him more in comparison to others, but I wasn’t deeply in love with him. He knew that, and I knew that he wouldn’t fall in love with me either.

What happened the other night was wrong, it was unpredicted and it was stupid of me to give in to desire. Whatever Zylen had that night could have bought out his feelings for me, considering he showed up at my doorstep and kissed me with all he had, but it could have also just made him lose control and heightened what he felt for me, which led him to think that showing at my doorstep was the right thing.

Nevertheless, this was the age where I completed school assignments, not get married.

“I’m surprised that you think I would say yes,” I say as we step into the room. “Why not?” He asks. “Zylen, I’m eighteen. I have to finish school projects, and here I am stuck in a different world being asked if I wanted to get married to one of their kind.” I say, grabbing a blue hair tie from several of them, which were sent to me by Verona and spread across a vanity table, which again, Verona sent. “Why the hell not? You get to become Queen, you’ll finally be able to access all your powers and also, you’ll be my wife.” He forgot to say the part where he finally becomes king. “As tempting as that sounds...I decline.” I tie my hair, dropping to the couch, where I had been sleeping.

Zylen never offered me the bed, and I didn’t ask for it either.

“Also, Zylen, do you want to live your married life like this? Sleeping separately, quarreling about silly things, hating each other and never getting to hear that three lettered phrase that will make our day better?” I ask, making myself comfortable on the couch.

It was still mid-day, but I wanted to rest my still aching back. “It’s better you find someone you love and go marry her,” I say, closing my eyes. I feel the couch dip, and my outstretched legs are pulled on Zylen’s lap. I open my eyes again, “There’s a perfectly good bed right there, and you decide to come here?” I ask, trying to pull my legs away and get into an upright position.

“Yes.” Zylen doesn’t say anything further. “Well, if you’re not using the bed, I will,” I say, swinging my legs off the couch. I head over to the bed, and flop on it, my body bouncing back. A second later, I feel the bed dip as well, and I resist the urge to roll my eyes. “Really?” I question, eyes closed and hand on my forehead. I feel demon boy dangerously close to me now. I don’t open my eyes, not wanting to react to anything, but when his lips brush by my ear, I shudder and I know he understands that his proximity does have an effect on me.

“For the record, Faye...” He starts, close to my ear. “Hmm...” I say unconsciously, urging him to continue what he had begun to say. “I don’t regret what happened the other night, I’m only disappointed that it didn’t happen at the right time because if it did, I wouldn’t want to stop there.” My breath hitches. He’s off the bed in a second. The door closes softly.

I’m left in the room, again, with closed eyelids and a racing heart.