A bead of sweat rolled down Raea’s forehead as she let out a groan. Her eyes were closed, and she squeezed Cleo’s body tighter, causing the lizardman to let out a yelp in her sleep. Raea’s eyes shot open as she released Cleo and sat upright. Her robe was damp with sweat, and her heart raced as she took deep breaths. There was a sharp pain in her back every time she inhaled.

“Raea?” Cleo mumbled as she yawned. She sat up and rubbed her eyes with the backs of her hands. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” Raea said and exhaled while wincing. “Go back to sleep. I need to pee.” She stood up and wrapped the blanket around Cleo before exiting the cave. It was then that she noticed her chest wasn’t glowing with the familiar blue light that signaled Palan’s meditation. She frowned as she stared at the spot where Palan should’ve been but wasn’t. The yellow moon hung overhead, bathing the forest floor in a soft glow.

A rustling sound caught Raea’s attention, causing her to whirl her head around. She inhaled through her nose and found a source of heat moving within the trees. She figured it was Palan and headed towards him. Her footsteps echoed through the forest as her feet crunched across fallen leaves and twigs. “Palan?” she called out as she got closer to the heat source. There was no response as it moved further away. Her brow furrowed as she held her hand out, summoning a ball of black flames in front of her palm. The surroundings were lit up with a blood-red glow.

She walked deeper into the forest, following the source of heat. She was expecting more trees, but to her surprise, there was a clearing with a hill in the center. Palan was walking up the base of the hill with a shiny film covering his body—greed—and Raea put her flames out as she followed after him, using the moon’s light to discern where to walk. Once she reached the top of the hill, she found Palan sitting and staring at the moon with his legs stretched out in front of himself, the powers of greed no longer covering his body.

Raea folded her wings against her body and sat next to Palan. Clearly, he knew she was coming because he didn’t react. “That’s Eljiam,” Palan said after a moment of silence. “It looks so small from here.”

“Does Div’Nya look like that from Eljiam?” Raea asked, turning her head away from the moon to stare at the side of Palan’s face.

“It’s blue and green with some white, but the size is the same,” Palan said as he narrowed his eyes at Eljiam. Andrea was somewhere on that circle in the sky. At least he was confident in her wellbeing. An archangel like Abaddon wouldn’t throw away his life to mistreat a little girl.

“Do you miss your sister?” Raea asked, placing her hand on top of Palan’s.

“It feels strange not having to worry about her,” Palan said. “Like a burden’s been lifted, but at the same time, it feels like something’s missing.”

“You’re that confident in her ability to survive?” Raea asked and furrowed her brow. That wasn’t the answer she was expecting from him.

“She’ll be fine,” Palan said and snorted. The lack of lightning strikes made Raea question whether he was just that confident or if he had a reason to believe she’d survive.

“How do you know?” she asked and leaned her head against his shoulder.

Palan didn’t answer. His tail yawned and coiled itself into a pile on the ground behind the two as they sat in silence. Palan turned his head to eye the girl on his shoulder and asked, “Why are you getting so close to me?”

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“What do you mean?” Raea asked as she sat up and turned her whole body to face him while crossing her legs. She placed her hands on her ankles as her wings unfurled and hung loosely to the ground.

“Aren’t you afraid I’d eat you once our contract completes?” Palan asked, his face expressionless. “You essentially forced me into a pact of servitude. You’re not worried about me holding a grudge?”

“Why are you asking me this?” Raea’s brow furrowed.

“Because I don’t understand,” Palan said. “People only come together because of benefits. What are you trying to gain from me? At first, I thought it was because you wanted a slave to order around, but that didn’t happen. Maybe it was the side effects of me evolving to grant you power, but you didn’t seem elated at all when it occurred. I thought you wanted me to help you get merits to return to the capital, but you abandoned that route. So I’ll ask you again: Why?”

Raea pursed her lips and lowered her head. She didn’t answer for a while, enduring Palan’s gaze. Her head raised to make eye contact with him. “What benefit do you gain from your sister?” Raea asked. “Wouldn’t it be easier for you to survive if you didn’t have to take care of her?”

“That’s different,” Palan said.

“How?”

“She’s my sister,” Palan said.

“Then what about your parents?” Raea asked. “They should be as close to you as your sister. Even if they didn’t bring much benefits, you were happy when they died, weren’t you? But they’re still family, just like your sister.”

“That’s different,” Palan said again as he furrowed his brow.

“Why?” Raea asked. “I’m asking you why it’s different. Why do you take care of your sister? Clearly, it’s not because she’s family. There’s a different reason.”

Palan lowered his head as wrinkles appeared on his brow. Raea waited for him to think, playing with the feathers on her wings. It relaxed her when her fingers stroked her feathers—no wonder why birds preened themselves. When Palan opened his mouth, Raea raised her head, but instead of speaking, he spat out a tooth and remained silent with his head still lowered.

After a long while, Palan finally raised his head. “She makes me happy,” he said. “When she smiles, I smile. It’s a different pleasure than hunting. I feel alive, but it’s a … softer kind of feeling.” He knit his brow.

A smile bloomed on Raea’s face. “Can’t it be the same for me?” she asked. “You make me happy, even though there are times when you make me beyond frustrated or, you know, allow my sister to be brutally murdered, I still enjoy being around you. I guess that makes me kind of stupid, doesn’t it?”

“It does,” Palan said and nodded. Raea punched his shoulder and snorted.

“At first, I really did just want to use you to help me,” Raea said. “I’ve always heard about demons in fairytale-like settings—reality was much different—and I wanted to experience it for myself. As time passed, I don’t know when it happened, but I found myself caring more about you than myself. I never had many friends, unless you count books, and I was always neglected by my parents because I was unremarkable.” She sighed and mumbled, “Love really does make people blind.”

Palan raised an eyebrow. “I never thought I’d see the day when someone other than my sister tells me they’re happy to see me,” he said and smirked. “Usually people run away while screaming before they die.”

“I’m sure Cleo and Sally are happy to see you too … maybe not Sally as much as Cleo,” Raea said.

Palan tilted his head. “Then does this make me your brother?” he asked.

“Brother, my ass,” Raea said and tackled him, knocking him onto his back. She pinned him by placing her hands on his shoulders while straddling his stomach. Heat flowed through her body, almost scorching Palan. “I confessed to you, and I refuse to be relegated to a sister. Don’t tell me you don’t feel anything when I do this.” Her hair tickled his shoulder as her head lowered. Her lips brushed along his neck before she tilted her head to bite his ear.

Palan’s eyes widened, and Raea placed his left hand on her hip. His right hand snaked up her lower back, brushing past her wings, until it reached the base of her neck where his fingers curled around her hair, the strands coiling around his hand. Raea let out a whimper as her hands slid off Palan’s shoulders and wrapped around the back of his head, lifting his head off the ground as she brought her face closer to his.

***

Cleo yawned and blinked. Her eyes narrowed as she glanced around the empty cave. The moon was still out, and the fire was still going strong. Raea was taking an awfully long time to use the bathroom. Maybe she was constipated. Cleo shrugged and went back to sleep.