Chapter 80: The Best Thing Is

The best thing could be dying yet being given a second chance to live a better life this time.

Corrine stared at him. The rain outside fell in drizzles nonstop. But nothing bothered her more than the six feet two plus creature that towered over her as she sat dumbly on the bed to listen to his recount on what happened and who he truly was.

The second best thing is the people who made that second chance possible.

A doctor...surgeon...the paramedics...the policemen...a dog...hell, it could be just finding a good love or being surrounded by one.

We should always love and appreciate them no matter what.

Not stare suspiciously at them the way she did when he opened his mouth and said he was a demon. .

Demon?

Corrine not only found it hard to believe, but...

Her lips parted slightly in shock as she tried to process what that single word meant. Yet he had said it so casually, as though he had rehearsed this confession countless times before finally deciding to come clean.

’’So...’’ She began after a long, tense silence between them. She sat in the middle of the bed facing him, while he stood tall and rigid beside it. Her hands moved nervously on the dark bedsheets spread on her leg and surrounding her.

’’You’re...a demon...’’

His golden gaze flickered slightly. Even he wasn’t sure why he had confessed so easily to that but he couldn’t think of a better explanation except that. Though he tried to convince her that she didn’t die. They were just lucky enough to arrive a minute late and worked hard to do whatever they could to save her...but his love was very convinced she died...it could only be divine intervention if she survived such a great and hazardous fall, she told him and demanded he tell her what really happened.

Facing her now and after everything that has happened between them in the last...seventy-eight plus hours or so...? It was harder to keep lying to her to her face or keeping how she survived death from her.

’’....and Hell is a real place?’’

His right hand tightened, feeling his sincerity was going to be among the many reasons she was going to run from him this time. He said nothing but stared at her, noting every bit of reaction, every slight response or flicker of emotion that crossed her face as she faced the truth. So far, he had never been this nervous. Even if it was a once in a blue moon meeting with his father, hell, she made him so nervous with her calmness more than anything...he would prefer her screaming and jumping off the bed to run for her life.

But...she did none of that.

Which made him even more tense, wondering if this reaction was much better or irrevocably wrong?

Corrine’s dark green gaze stared around briefly, noting every rich piece of furniture around her, the golden lamps and lights, the luxurious view of the world below and the rich dark curtains before settling on him again.

He was so tense, avoiding eye contact with her as much as possible she wondered if revealing all these things to her was that convenient or...

’’So, you live here with others like you, but you are the prince. I died two nights ago and you did whatever you can to bring me back with the help of a special magical concoction you were chanced to find after searching all the four corners of this world?’’

His eyes moved, settling on her softly as she said the last parts with heavy disbelief. He never wants to lie to her but he was not ready yet to tell her the full truth about everything.

He didn’t want her to accept him simply because he gave up something of himself to bring her back. Hell, he didn’t want her to feel guilty about it or...

’’Yes,’’ he said finally and somewhere in the distance the thunder was gently in the clouds. She stared at him and he stared longer. Hoping she would believe it and not run from him.

Then her green gaze flickered from his head to his toe, noting the weird clothing he had on that seemed very distinguished and ancient royalty. The lovely golden pins that held that silky strand of his hair up in ways that could only appear enticing on him. Her eyes flickered down to his soft dark lips, the golden eyes he no longer hid and she had seen so many times but thought she imagined it.

Hell. He was so beautiful.

She found herself smiling softly but...

’’Do you really take me for an idiot?’’

...of course, she wasn’t going to believe anything that he said. Hell, she hardly believes that the earth indeed has some fixed shape or something.

But...demons?

Hell?

Magic that could make the dead live again?

Come on.

’’Do make it more believable when you try to lie in front of me.’’

He remained silent, studying her quietly.

She didn’t believe him.

Would she now believe him if he told her the full truth?

That he loved her so much enough to risk it all for her?

She wasn’t angry or wishing he disappeared from her sight. Hell, she was becoming even more accommodating being this long with her.

No dead looks or secret glares at him.

No threats to lock him up forever or get rid of him.

His eyes fluttered briefly at her.

Instead, she was too calm, too composed after everything that has happened and before the truth.

He became concerned, feeling as though he was standing right before someone completely different from the woman he knew and loved.

’’I’ll show you if you can handle it.’’

That was more than enough to pique her interest. Her eyes widened a bit as she sat straighter.

’’Show me?’’

☆☆☆

He led her inside a bathroom she thought was too big just for one person to use. It was larger than her entire apartment and looked more luxurious than the one she left behind when she left home.

She followed behind him, taking slow steps because of her weakness while wondering why he took her to his bathroom.

She trusted him enough to believe he wouldn’t try anything indecent.

Or...she wasn’t walking right into some trap he had prepared for her earlier?

Corrine began to overthink everything as she created enough distance between him and her in case he tried anything and she needed to run.

He paused before one of the large golden mirrors placed above a marble sinktop and turned slowly, looking as if he was about to reveal something forbidden to her.

Her eyes enlarged before him when he did nothing but stare at her—she looked back twice to confirm nothing was behind her just in case he might be trying anything funny with her.

He said he was a demon...not just any demon but a prince and he had the power to bring her back from the dead.

Though, she remembered long ago how he threatened to bring her back should anything irreversible happen to her.

Corrine felt her breath caught briefly in her throat, taking him more seriously now that he was ready to show her who he really was.

Who her intern really is and for the first time in her twenty-five years of existence, Corrine was going to experience something she could never have been mentally prepared for in a million years.