Chapter 1028

"I love you, Jesse," Midnight whispers, watching him, her little mouth trembling, her entire body feeling weak.

"I love you too, Mids," he replies. "Always."

She nods once. And then disappears.

Midnight fights hard against her emotions as she flits through the castle, moving back and forth between the Land of Darkness and the halls, using her shadows to disguise her progress. She barely concentrates on the push and the pull of the magic, so instinctual is it to her. Instead, her emotions are almost fully drawn to her sweet wolf, who howls so miserably in her soul.

"I know, pup," Midnight says aloud, sniffing hard. "We'll go lay down soon. Just... one more thing."

She appears outside the door she's looking for, low and deep in the castle, and then takes one last breath, flitting to Darkness and then stepping forward so she can appear in the seamstress's room.

Daphne shrieks when the demon appears. She skitters back and falls out of the little chair in front of the sewing table.

"Well, that's a little dramatic," Midnight says, frowning.

Daphne just pants, scuttling backwards like a crab, pressing herself up against the bed. Midnight sighs and rolls her eyes a little, deeply unsure as to why Jesse likes this one so much.

"Look, your boyfriend is on the roof and he's all sad," Midnight says, crossing her arms and looking up at the ceiling. She swallows hard, doing her best to appear very brash and tough so the girl won't see that she's been crying. "Also, I'm sorry I called you a whore. I've been assured that you're...very nice. I hope we can be friends and that you'll make me lots of uniforms."

Daphne just continues to heave ragged breaths, staring terrified at the demon in her room.

"Okay well, I'm going to go," Midnight says, pointing over her shoulder at the door. "But I rejected him, so he's really upset. You should probably go to him to make sure he doesn't throw himself off the roof or something."noveldrama

"What!?" the girl sputters, staring at Midnight like she's the insane one now.

"I am very busy, I have to go learn Chemistree," Midnight says, turning before she starts crying again. "Go find your boy!" She vanishes and starts off into the night, wanting very much to go to her bed and starting the long process of putting back together the shattered pieces of her soul.

Daphne continues to pant for a moment, staring at the empty space on the floor where the demon-girl stood just a moment ago, wondering if...if she just imagined it. But then she gasps as her mind gets over its terror and finally processes what the girl just told her.

"Shit," Daphne whispers, pushing herself to her feet and stumbling to the door, yanking it open and dashing down the hall.

Ten long minutes later, she pushes open the window at the top of the library and scrambles out of it, gasping in fear.

Jesse sniffs hard and turns his head towards the noise, going still when he sees her kneeling there, gasping for air, her hands pressed flat against the tiles. "Daph?"

"She -" Daphne says, staring at him, aghast and completely out of breath. "She -

she said you were going to jump off the roof -"

"What?" Jesse asks, starting to sit up. But then he groans, the physical pain of rejection radiating through him. "Oh, geeze."

"Jesse!" Daphne cries, crawling over to him. "Are you okay!?"

He sighs, closing his eyes and wiping at the tears on his cheeks, not wanting her

to see them. "I'm all good."

She snarls and smacks him on the shoulder.

He laughs and turns his head to her, giving her that dashing smile.

"You are not," Daphne growls, glaring at him. "Are you going to jump off the roof?"

"No, Daphne, I'm not going to jump off the roof," Jesse says, sighing and shaking his head, letting his eyes fall shut again. "But thank you for coming to stop me, if you thought I was going to. Means a lot

She groans this time, collapsing to the tiles next to him, letting her own eyes fall shut. "I'm not athletic

enough for this kind of ove

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"That's okay,” Jesse murmurs. "You have other charms."

She laughs a little and shakes her head, relief running through her, her wolf howling with happiness that he's safe and okay.

"Will you sit here with me?" Jesse asks softly. "Just...just until I can walk again?"

"Sure," Daphne says.

He smiles and reaches out, slipping his hand over hers.