Friends with the King of the Underworld | Book 1

Chapter Twenty-Six

I watched Damien, unable to move.

I couldn't look away from his amethyst eyes.

His eyes scanned me, waiting.

My mind raced a million miles a minute as he watched me and, through it all, I still couldn't form words.

There was no way–no way–that he was telling the truth.

He was waiting for me to say something.

I opened my mouth then shut it again.

I couldn't form words.

"Damn it, Em." He sighed, running a shaking hand through his hair. "Say something."

I looked at his shaking hands. Shaking? Was he nervous? No. He couldn't be nervous from just speaking to me.

The moment was surreal, ridiculous. It couldn't be happening.

After a long pause, I asked the only question that I could come up with. It was the only conclusion my mind could come to with what he just said. "Are you making fun of me?"

He exhaled sharply, shifting in his stance. "Gods." A favorite word of his he'd use often followed by a curse word.

"I-I-Is this some sort of joke?" I stammered but I didn't care. "Because if it is, it isn't funny."

"No!" He sighed. "Gods, Em, I would never-" He stopped, shaking his head. His hands dropped at his sides in defeat. "I'm not making fun of you. I'm telling you the truth."

I shook my head and repeated. "Is this a joke?"

This time, he shook his head. "No, love, I am not that cruel."

Love.

He called me 'love'.

I covered my mouth with both hands. "Oh, my God. Oh, my God."

He chuckled as he gently brushed a piece of hair away from my face. "A man professes his love for you and that's all you can say?"

I almost jumped out of my skin at his gesture, instead I shook my head, trying to clear up the fog. This had to be a mistake. A big, monumental mistake.

"But you're in love with Leah!"

He sighed again-- I'd never heard him sigh so much before. He ran the same hand through his hair. "I-I never said I was."

I blinked as I ran through the events of the past couple of days. He was right, he never said it–I assumed it. But people that loved each other got married. Didn't they?

I shook my head to get rid of the thought. "But you're getting married."

He groaned as if in anger and rolled his perfect eyes. "Don't remind me."

My mind couldn't wrap itself around the concept–I kept coming up against a mental wall. "But you're getting married, Damien!"

This couldn't be happening. The King of the Underworld could not have fallen in love with a meek, normal human. Not with me.

No.

No way.

He gently placed his hands on my shoulders and looked me right in the eyes, making it impossible to look anywhere else. "And I am in love with you, Emylin. You clueless, wonderful creature."

That was what did it, what finally broke through my mental shock. Finally, I could form coherent sentences. "Was it when you kissed me the other day?"