Page 10 of Demon Food

The demon’s teeth scraped over his lower lip as his irises flashed red. On the receiving end of their temper was a dangerous place to be.

But sometimes it was impossible to balance my regard for their hierarchy in the food chain against how deeply I hated them. Especially now. I fucking hated them.

“Corbyn, look at me, handsome,” Landry said, redirecting his face back to him. “You like kissing me, yes?”

Corbyn hesitated, still sorting through his grievances. But then he nodded, because of course, he did. Gaze falling to Landry’s mouth.

“Kiss me before you go. Take one more drink for the road.”

I forced my attention to the floor as they kissed. As the vilest creature on the planet fed on my little brother.

“I’ll be around tomorrow,” Landry said, leaning back to break the kiss as he gently nudged him toward the door. But not before offering him a wink. “Feel free to find me.”

Corbyn’s face split into a hopeful grin that made my blood burn hotter. With one last sidelong glance at me, he left, and all I could do was shut the door and lock it with an exaggerated click in hopes that he heard it and knew it was for him.

“What was that?” Landry asked. “Have you gone completely mad?”

I scraped my nails through my hair. Yes, possibly.

“You can be shocked, upset, whatever, but what were you thinking speaking to him that way? You could’ve gotten yourself hurt, Feloré.”

My piercing clinked as I skimmed my tongue over my teeth. “Oh, I could’ve? I could’ve gotten myself hurt just now?”

“Clearly.”

“And yet, you’re willingly giving your body to a creature who would hurt me for telling him to leave my home. Do I have that correct?”

He glowered.

“Do I have that correct, Landry?” I repeated, only louder.

“That’s not fair. You give your body to those same creatures every day.”

“Yes, but I do that so you don’t have to.” I jabbed a finger toward him. “I do that so you can have a life that exists outside of them. Do you have any idea how insulting it is to come home and see you with one of them? Again.”

His jaw tightened, a muscle in it dancing in the dim fire light. “What I do with my body has nothing to do with you.”

“Nothing to do?—you’re free, Landry. Because of the choices I’ve made. You’re not a whore. You’re not a field worker. You’re free to be with a human.”

A tense inhale expanded his chest. “Am I free?”

Dear gods. I rolled my eyes shut, because this argument was as tired as it was pointless.

“Because it’s not as if I get to do as I wish. Shouldn’t a free person get to live their own life?”

I shifted my attention to the wooden bucket collecting the rainwater from the ceiling. He couldn’t lift it; didn’t have the strength.

“Living your life would be finding a partner, Landry,” I said, grunting as I hoisted the bucket up by its wire handle to walk it to the balcony. “Starting a fucking family. You could be with a human being, and you goddamn squander it, just so you can be with a piece-of-shit vultus.”

Someone shouted obscenities from the sidewalk below when I tossed the water over the rail of our balcony.

“You know what they’d do if they caught me with another human?” I slammed the bucket onto the floor where it lived. “They’d pluck an eye from my skull.”

It was true. Concubines were the only humans strictly prohibited from engaging in relationships with other humans. That meant no courting. No marriage. No falling in love—not that I believed in love.

I’d never been with another human. They claimed it was to prevent us from spreading disease amongst ourselves, potentially killing ourselves off as the vultae were incapable of contracting sickness and therefore, naturally clean.

But I had a theory it was just another way to control us.