Page 30 of A Cursed Heart
Feelings Make Things Complicated
Ryan
SomethingaboutthewayMal stood up to my sister affected me in ways I didn’t have words to express. Though I was still low key reeling from waking up the way we did. It had me thinking all sorts of things.
No one had ever got me in my feelings the way Malacoda did, and he wasn’t even human! It shouldn’t be a thing. He was ademon. I barely knew him! Hell, it had been like half a day, and most importantly, he was a guy!
It had to be the bond, right? Except Mal said his magic wouldn’t affect me. Was the bond his magic? Looking deeper into myself, I didn’t think it was this magical chain that kept us together. This weird attraction was more about how he treated me.
The idea of crushing on a dude was a foreign concept. All my life I’d been straight. Not once had I questioned my sexuality. There hadn’t been a guy I’d been close to that I’d thought about kissing. I mean, I was mostly in relationships throughout my teens. Had a girlfriend for a few months, broke up, found a new girl to chase. Rinse and repeat. I liked the stability of having someone.
After my split with Jasmine, I’d stayed single for the longest time in my life. There had been a couple of hookups, but my time and energy had been focused on seeing Freya as much as possible and securing our future. That meant working long hours on the days I didn’t have her. When I did meet someone, it was to get off as quickly as possible, then sleep.
As Freya got a little older and had more of a set routine, I tried dating again. There were a couple of women I really liked, just none of them worked out for whatever reason. I knew Jasmine had tanked at least one of those relationships by telling my new girlfriend we were still sleeping together. Even after I convinced her, with proof of course, she decided she didn’t want to have baby mama drama in her life. Honestly, I didn’t blame her.
Since filing for custody, I’d stayed away from the dating scene, wanting to show my life was stable, boring even, to social workers and lawyers. It had been a dull, lonely existence.
That’s what it was, I decided. Mal was fascinating. Literally not of this place. A demon with magic who had come blazing into mylife. He was a curiosity, not something that would last. Whatever I felt about him would disappear when the shiny facade wore off.
“Daddy?” Freya’s voice pulled me out of my worrying about Mal’s hand. Could he use magic to heal it? He said he had plenty of magic after sleeping in my bed… my thoughts wandered back to waking up with Mal in my arms. The way he had felt there was unlike anything I’d experienced. He was so warm, solid, angular instead of soft with curves.
Freya repeated her cry for me, her voice cracking with emotion. I hustled to her room to lift her into my arms. “Sorry, baby girl. Are you okay?”
“I’m hungry.” She snuggled into me, smelling all sleepy. Freya had always loved being held.
“Of course you are. It’s breakfast time. Let’s see what Auntie Liddy brought over.” My sister was always bringing food to my house. Part of her course was learning about proper nutrition, so she’d made meal plans for us when we were much more go with the flow.
By the time I got to the kitchen, Lydia was there making her weird pancakes, which were actually pretty tasty. Mal was cutting strawberries carefully, all signs of injury gone.
I sat Freya in her seat, nervous over how I was going to introduce my daughter to the demon I apparently owned. She didn’t need to know that side, at least. Mal wouldn’t hurt her, I knew that much about him.
“Hello Princess Freya. I’ve made you breakfast.” Mal’s voice was sweet and soft while he pushed a plate towards my daughter. She looked up at him, her brown eyes wide. I worried shit was going to hit the fan.
On her plate was a pancake in the shape of a crown. The strawberries were heart-shaped.
“Daddy?” Freya leaned closer to me, her voice trembling slightly.
“It’s okay. This is Daddy’s friend, Mal. He’s going to stay with us for a little while, alright?”
Mal, demonstrating a way with kids I didn’t expect, leaned down to her level, giving her plenty of space. “Your daddy said I have to get your permission to stay. Is it okay, Freya? We can draw after breakfast if you want?”
I couldn’t feel our bond, but it didn’t feel like he was using magic. I had to trust him not to. He said he wouldn’t.
Freya, in a rare show of trust, smiled. Kids had a sense about people, didn’t they? “Will you walk me to school with Daddy?”
“School? You must be very clever.” Freya beamed at the compliment. He was good. “Alright, we can walk together, but only if you eat your fruit. You need to grow strong.”
When Mal reached for his silverware, the t-shirt, an old one of mine, shifted, showing off the marks on his skin that looked like tattoos of a snake, or more accurately, like his tail.
“Daddy, Mal has patterns!” To Mal she asked. “Are you a demon?”
Simultaneously, Lydia and I coughed and spluttered.
“Oh, you are clever? Would you be scared of me if I said yes?”
Freya shook her head. “No, Jinu is a good demon, he helped Rumi.”
Mal frowned. “I do not know these demons, but I promise to help you and your daddy.”
