inside. Other than the bird, there was no decorations, just old fashioned furniture that probably came with the place. The bird seemed content to gnaw on its nut so I just focused back on Eli.
“Sit,” he ordered softly but made no further movements to come near me. I sat on the sofa he directed me to and watched the emotions play over his face as he stood in the doorway. “Please promise me you won’t just run. Promise that you’ll hear me out first and then if you want to leave, I’ll let you.”
I nodded and said, “Yes. I promise.” I tried to be as calm as I could muster and he took a deep breath before speaking.
“Now, I lied to you when we met about my parents living with me. They are alive but I won’t live with them, though I see them from time to time even if I don’t want to. My parents and my brother and sister live a different life than mine. They’re cruel and sadistic. I couldn’t live like that, so I ran away.” He looked down at the floor and then back to me without lifting his head. “I ran away...one hundred and twenty three years ago.”
I gulped and clasped my hands in my lap. Oh boy... He continued.
“I know you can believe in the supernatural. We share Reveries. I know you know that’s real. Well there’s lots of things in this world that you never knew existed. Supernatural things, and I’m one of them. My kind are called Devourers. My family are as well but they choose to live true to their nature and I fight mine,” he spat and I could tell he truly believed what he was saying, crazy as it was. “See...we scare people, in Reveries mostly, and feed off their emotions. I don’t sleep, none of us do, but I can feel every dark emotion that runs through any person I am in proximity to. Hate, jealousy, greed, pain, anger... lust. I have lived and fed on these emotions my entire life. But then you...” He shook his head and took a step forward but thought better of it. “I could feel your sorrow from across the park that day. It was unlike anything I’d ever felt before because not only could I feel your pain at your loss but when I got closer to you, I could feel your calm and contentment too; the way you were just lying there looking at the clouds made you happy. I have never in my entire existence felt those emotions before. I had no idea what was happening but then you glanced at me and looked me over...I could feel your attraction.” I felt my eyes go wide and my cheeks heat but he continued. “Clara, I had to know you. I only planned to stay here a few weeks, like I usually do when I pass through a town. But you...I had to know this girl who was still happy and sweet even though she had apparently suffered so much.”
I bit my lip as I looked at him. He was coiled, ready for me to take flight and bolt. His eyes begged me so I pulled it together and decided to ask questions so I could seem like I was believing until I could get out of there.
“So, you scared me that night? To feed yourself?”
“I only did it that once. I needed to see if I affected you or not but I promise you I’ll never do that again. I only feed on the emotions that people feel without my interference. I don’t elicit those feelings in them like my family does. Not anymore,” he said sadly.
“So you can make people feel fright?”
“Yes, I can, but I don’t,” he insisted quickly. “Our kind can make you feel fright, hurt, sorrow, lust...but the most potent emotion is terror. It fills us up like nothing else, until I met you. Your...when you...” He actually chuckled like he was embarrassed and it was cute even though he was clearly insane. Maybe I could get him some help. “Your attraction to me, it feeds me like nothing else in this world ever has. There were rumors about your mate being able to feed you on their emotions alone but I never believed it. Until now.”
“Mate?” I said, blushing furiously.
“I know, it’s a dumb
“Sit,” he ordered softly but made no further movements to come near me. I sat on the sofa he directed me to and watched the emotions play over his face as he stood in the doorway. “Please promise me you won’t just run. Promise that you’ll hear me out first and then if you want to leave, I’ll let you.”
I nodded and said, “Yes. I promise.” I tried to be as calm as I could muster and he took a deep breath before speaking.
“Now, I lied to you when we met about my parents living with me. They are alive but I won’t live with them, though I see them from time to time even if I don’t want to. My parents and my brother and sister live a different life than mine. They’re cruel and sadistic. I couldn’t live like that, so I ran away.” He looked down at the floor and then back to me without lifting his head. “I ran away...one hundred and twenty three years ago.”
I gulped and clasped my hands in my lap. Oh boy... He continued.
“I know you can believe in the supernatural. We share Reveries. I know you know that’s real. Well there’s lots of things in this world that you never knew existed. Supernatural things, and I’m one of them. My kind are called Devourers. My family are as well but they choose to live true to their nature and I fight mine,” he spat and I could tell he truly believed what he was saying, crazy as it was. “See...we scare people, in Reveries mostly, and feed off their emotions. I don’t sleep, none of us do, but I can feel every dark emotion that runs through any person I am in proximity to. Hate, jealousy, greed, pain, anger... lust. I have lived and fed on these emotions my entire life. But then you...” He shook his head and took a step forward but thought better of it. “I could feel your sorrow from across the park that day. It was unlike anything I’d ever felt before because not only could I feel your pain at your loss but when I got closer to you, I could feel your calm and contentment too; the way you were just lying there looking at the clouds made you happy. I have never in my entire existence felt those emotions before. I had no idea what was happening but then you glanced at me and looked me over...I could feel your attraction.” I felt my eyes go wide and my cheeks heat but he continued. “Clara, I had to know you. I only planned to stay here a few weeks, like I usually do when I pass through a town. But you...I had to know this girl who was still happy and sweet even though she had apparently suffered so much.”
I bit my lip as I looked at him. He was coiled, ready for me to take flight and bolt. His eyes begged me so I pulled it together and decided to ask questions so I could seem like I was believing until I could get out of there.
“So, you scared me that night? To feed yourself?”
“I only did it that once. I needed to see if I affected you or not but I promise you I’ll never do that again. I only feed on the emotions that people feel without my interference. I don’t elicit those feelings in them like my family does. Not anymore,” he said sadly.
“So you can make people feel fright?”
“Yes, I can, but I don’t,” he insisted quickly. “Our kind can make you feel fright, hurt, sorrow, lust...but the most potent emotion is terror. It fills us up like nothing else, until I met you. Your...when you...” He actually chuckled like he was embarrassed and it was cute even though he was clearly insane. Maybe I could get him some help. “Your attraction to me, it feeds me like nothing else in this world ever has. There were rumors about your mate being able to feed you on their emotions alone but I never believed it. Until now.”
“Mate?” I said, blushing furiously.
“I know, it’s a dumb
Similar Books
