Bel closed his eyes and thought of Lily’s hands on his face instead. She’d touched him so delicately, as if he were some precious, fragile thing instead of a demon and a warrior. No one had ever done that. Looked at him with such tenderness. Lily saw him. Saw the warrior, yes, but she saw the rest of him too, and she hadn’t curled her lip in disgust or treated him as less than. There’d been no pity in her eyes. Just understanding. One warrior to another. You are more than enough.
