Chapter 66 Chapter 66
The lamp above her head kept flickering, turning on and off. She glanced up and gritted her teeth in annoyance. If Maxwell wasn’t the cause of this crap, then maybe Mochi was responsible. She glared at the demon, but it was asleep on a chair and didn’t even notice what was happening.
“What the hell, am I living in a madhouse?” she groaned. “If the stupid bulb is broken or there’s a problem with the electricity, I need to fix it soon.”
When the food was finished, she sat down at the kitchen table and dug in. It was quiet in her flat, only the soft purrs of the cat could be heard. Valerie felt a little uneasy, and couldn't shake off the sense that something was wrong. She was getting paranoid… all this crap with Uriel had probably triggered her so much that she couldn’t calm down anymore.
As soon as she was done eating dinner, she put the dishes in the dishwasher and trudged to the living room, turning on the TV to watch a random show that was on. She propped her chin up on her knee, hugging her shin with her arms.
After the lamp in the kitchen had flickered constantly, now it was the one in the living room that didn’t stop acting like a strobe on steroids. It annoyed her so much, she contemplated just turning the damn thing off.
At around ten pm, she finally heard the front door open. Impatiently, she waited for Maxwell to come into the living room, but to her astonishment, he didn’t. He must have heard the TV, though. He walked into the bathroom and soon after, the shower was running.
She sighed, wondering why he didn’t even say hello first, but didn’t think too much of it. Her attention went back to the show she was watching, curling up in her blanket on the sofa. Again, the light flickered, and again she groaned in annoyance. Damn demons, always messing with her.
Ten minutes later, she heard footsteps coming closer, and then he finally showed himself. His white hair was still damp, the shirt he was wearing clinging to his toned body, not leaving much to the imagination. He sported a loose pair of sweatpants and, of course, his beloved silver chain that he never took off.
Valerie noted that he appeared different than normal. There was a foreign coldness in his aura that made the hair on the back of her neck rise. Even his blue eyes were strangely cool all of a sudden, appearing darker and clouded with a strong emotion she could not place.
“Hello, Maxwell,” she said when he never spoke, standing in the room unmoving like a ghost. “Where did you come from?”
His eyes flickered to her, taking her in, moving from her tangled hair over her brown eyes and slender nose to her lips and further down to the blanket with the cat sleeping on it. He stayed quiet for a few heartbeats, clearly thinking twice about his answer.
“I took care of something,” he muttered lowly, not giving her much insight.
“And what would that be?” she asked.
“Nothing too important. Just took the trash out,” he said, his lips twitching. He was hiding something, she just knew it. The question was, what?
“I see,” she replied reluctantly, his behavior prompting her to get uneasy, but she hid it behind a smile. “I made dinner earlier. There’s some left for you. Want to reheat it?”
He contemplated only for a second before he walked off to the kitchen. She heard him rummaging, dishes clinking, and then he returned with a full plate, joining her on the sofa to watch TV. They were enveloped in silence, and Valerie kept her eyes on the TV.
Maxwell’s attention was drawn to her every few minutes. He kept glancing at her, maybe thinking she would not notice, but she did. When he finished his food, he put the plate on the table and leaned sideways against the backrest of the sofa, his gleaming blue eyes creepily staring at her.
“What’s up, Maxwell? You’ve not been acting yourself today. Um, did you have a bad day?”
He laughed, the malicious tone of his voice sending shivers down her spine. “Not at all. I’ve had a lot of fun, you can’t even imagine,” he said with an unsettling smirk on his lips.
“I’m guessing it was demon business again?” she mumbled, not liking the peculiar spark in his eyes.
“Indeed,” he answered. “What did you do while I was gone?”
“Nothing much, I slept for a while and later made dinner. Then I just sat in front of the tv with Mochi.”
“You seem uneasy,” he remarked, raising his eyebrows as he scrutinized her.
“Really?” she said, trying her hardest to hide her anxiousness.
“Yes,” he drawled. “Something you want to talk about?”
“No.”
“Stubborn as always,” he said, and finally the strange coldness in his eyes faded, making way for a familiar teasing spark. He inched closer to her until their bodies were touching, wrapping an arm around her smaller form to pull her in. She leaned her head on his shoulder, looking up at his face in surprise.
“Like you’re one to talk,” she replied cheekily, closing her eyes as she rested her body against his, feeling his fingers ghost over her arm until they reached her left wrist. He took it in his hand and moved it closer to him. She felt his warm breath fan over her skin, and then he planted a soft kiss on the star-shaped mark.
The gesture astounded her since he had never done that before. A warm tingling spread over her wrist, and she smiled, snuggling up to him. “What are you doing?” she mumbled, her words nearly incomprehensible since she was hiding her face at his chest.
“Nothing at all, sugar,” he replied mischievously.
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The next day started slowly for Valerie. She worked on turning her recorded interview with Jackson into a text, writing everything down neatly. She was concentrated and hunched over her laptop in the kitchen, never noticing the demon walking in to observe her. He didn’t say anything and let her finish her work, deciding to go play a random game on his PS4.
When Valerie was done, she sent her work to Thorne, who had been excited to read the interview. He was satisfied with her questions and praised her for her writing, making her very happy. She was grinning like a lunatic when she walked back to her bedroom, putting her laptop on the desk next to her bed. It was eleven am now, and soon it would be time for her to decide what to make for lunch. Perhaps she should let Maxwell pick something since he had grown to like the food that humans ate. Valerie was extremely amused by his love for strawberry cake. That was something he never refused. Never.