Taming Demons for Beginners (The Guild Codex: Demonized, #1)

by Annette Marie

I faced him again, my brow furrowed in puzzlement. “On the tree, it grows small …” He cupped his hands as though holding something. “… small fruits. The outside is poisonous, deadly, but inside is juicy and sweet. We fight over these trees. I have killed to take the fruit when it is ripe.” He picked up another s’more cookie. “These are better.” My heart swelled, but I waited warily. Whenever he said something nice, he always ruined it. Shoving the cookie in his mouth, he crunched it twice between his teeth, swallowed, then chose a pretzel cookie and bit it in half. No further comments. No insults or disparaging smirks. I quashed my wobbly smile and hurriedly started washing the dishes, afraid if I thanked him, he’d say something mean and ruin the moment. He thought my cookies were better than a fruit he’d killed to eat. My hands, submerged in soapy water, paused. I’d have to make sure no one ever tried to take food from him. It sounded dangerous. While I washed dishes, he devoured every last cookie, then wandered into the empty living room. A blanket was folded on the floor where I’d been reading earlier. Zylas stared around in a dazed sort of way, then sank down on the blanket. Hmm. That might have been too much sugar for him. Grinning goofily, I continued cleaning, periodically glancing over at the demon rapidly slipping into a sugar coma. He liked my cookies. I didn’t know why that revelation had sent me into a state of complete elation. Maybe it was because I hadn’t be...