Knox (Monsters of Veridia #1)

Chapter 4

Chapter

Four

Adrian paced his room, listening to the faint sounds of Knox and his grandmother talking. How was Evelyn taking this so well while Adrian felt like he was losing his mind?

He pulled at his hair. He should probably call someone. The police? A contractor? A paranormal investigator?

"Yeah, right," he muttered to himself. "Hello, 911? My fictional crush just crashed through my roof and I think my grandmother is about to adopt him."

He couldn’t even begin to explain this to anyone.

He sank onto his desk chair, his gaze falling on his laptop. Without even thinking, he opened the lid, drawn to the familiar comfort of his online world.

"Hey, guys," he typed into the group chat he shared with his friends. "You’ll never guess what just happened."

Daniel, his most enthusiastically romantic friend, was the first to respond.

BookBoyfriendLover69: Spill the tea! What kind of chaos has befallen The Realistic Romantic tonight?

Adrian chewed on his lower lip, considering his options. Did he go for the full truth, the unbelievable, impossible truth? Or did he try to rationalize it, to downplay it to something vaguely believable?

LiteraryLion: Don’t leave us hanging! Did you finally give in to your grandma’s matchmaking and meet Mr. Lawyer?

Adrian snorted.

TheRealisticRomantic: Worse. Much worse.

BookBoyfriendLover69: Worse than a lawyer? Is that even possible?

Adrian took a deep breath, his fingers flying across the keyboard.

TheRealisticRomantic: So… remember that scene in the latest chapter of "Monsters of Veridia," the one where Knox shows up at the Shadow Court?

BookBoyfriendLover69: The one where he’s all brooding and powerful and promises to make the Shadow King beg for it? Yeah, I remember. fans self

LiteraryLion: That’s not what happened.

TheRealisticRomantic: Anyway… imagine that scene, but instead of the Shadow Court, it’s my bedroom. And instead of the Shadow King, it’s… my grandmother, except he’s not making her beg for anything. She made him tea.

LiteraryLion: Hold up. Are you saying…

TheRealisticRomantic: Knox just crashed through my skylight. Literally.

A beat of silence followed, the digital equivalent of his friends staring at him with wide eyes and open mouths.

Then, the chat exploded.

BookBoyfriendLover69: WHAT?!

LiteraryLion: No. Freaking. Way.

BookBoyfriendLover69: Pics or it didn’t happen!

Adrian stared at the screen, a nervous laugh escaping his lips. This was insane. He was actually talking about this like it was normal. Like it was something that happened to people on a Tuesday night.

TheRealisticRomantic: I’m serious! He’s here. In my apartment, chatting with my grandmother.

BookBoyfriendLover69: Omg omg omg! Is he like a really hot cosplayer? Details, Adrian! We need details!

LiteraryLion: This is either the best prank ever or you’ve officially lost your mind.

TheRealisticRomantic: I’m starting to think I’ve lost my mind too. But… he’s real. I mean, he looks real. He talks real. And he has these horns…

Adrian trailed off, the memory of Knox’s transformation flashing through his mind. The molten gold of his eyes, the heat radiating from his skin, the undeniable power that had pulsed through the room.

BookBoyfriendLover69: Horns?! Like, real horns?

TheRealisticRomantic: Real horns. And they’re… kind of amazing.

Adrian buried his face in his hands, his cheeks burning with shame. He was gushing about demon horns to his online friends. They must think he was losing his marbles.

LiteraryLion: Let me get this straight, a stranger crashed through your skylight, dressed up like Knox, and now he’s in your livingroom making nice with your grandmother?

Yeah, Adrian had to admit, that sounded awful.

TheRealisticRomantic: Actually, I think my grandmother has gone to sleep now.

LiteraryLion: Why are you letting this stranger stay at your place? Seriously, Adrian, this is fucked up.

LiteraryLion—his actual name was Leon—was probably right about that. Why was Adrian going along with all of this?

Adrian rubbed his face, mentally going over everything that had happened to him that night.

TheRealisticRomantic: I let him go earlier, but then he nearly got run over by a car, like he had no idea what the fuck a car is. He would have gotten himself killed out there!

BookBoyfriendLover69: Like he’s gonna get himself killed in the Shadow Realm?

TheRealisticRomantic: He’s got no plot armor to protect him in our world.

That was the crux of it, wasn’t it? Adrian couldn’t let Knox run around by himself. Besides, his friends hadn’t experienced the incubus’s power the way he had. Adrian couldn’t deny that Knox was real, even if there was no way to prove this to his friends.

BookBoyfriendLover69: I still want a picture.

TheRealisticRomantic: He looks exactly like he does in the official artwork. Except that he claims to be ‘bigger.’

Adrian had to add that because the fact wouldn’t leave his mind. He glanced at the body pillow. The drawing still didn’t look ‘small’ to him. How could Knox be bigger than that in reality?

Not that his bigger size would be an issue.

He possessed incubus magic to help his chosen targets… accommodate him.

Adrian grew hot all over, just thinking about it.

Getting up from his desk, he took a picture of his broken skylight, another one of all the shards of glass on his floor. He really should get that cleaned up. He had to be so careful not to step on any of it as he walked around.

He uploaded the images to the group chat.

LiteraryLion: That looks bad, holy shit.

BookBoyfriendLover69: I want a picture of the hot guy. Where are you hiding him?

Adrian typed: In the living room. I don’t want to go in there now.

But he didn’t hit Send .

He didn’t want to admit that he was scared. He wanted to be the kind of person his online friends thought he was. The cool and collected rational thinker who wasn’t afraid of anything, least of all hot guys.

Adrian looked at the faint light shining under his door. There was still a lamp burning in the living room. He could not hear any sounds, though.

Slowly, he pushed open the door, his heart thudding against his ribs. The small table lamp on the coffee table cast a warm glow over the room. Knox lay on the sofa bed, his head resting on the pillow Evelyn had placed there. His eyes were closed, his chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm.

Asleep?

But why hadn’t he turned off the light? Did he not know how to?

Adrian crept closer, each step hesitant, but Knox didn’t stir. He looked almost… peaceful. Peaceful and too hot for words.

Adrian took out his phone and aimed the camera at Knox, his finger hovering over the button. What was he doing? This was insane.

He took the picture.

His phone processed for half a second and then it was done.

Adrian stared at the picture on his screen. There, captured in perfect detail, was Knox. His dark hair was tousled around his horns, resting on the pillow. His lips were slightly parted. He looked real. Solid. Not like a figment of Adrian’s imagination.

He hit upload and sent the picture into the group chat.

And just as he was starting to feel victorious and self-confident, Knox stirred and looked at him. A small smile curved the demon’s lips.

"Are you joining me in bed after all?"

Adrian damn near jumped out of his skin. Fuck! He’d thought the incubus was asleep.

"I, uh…" Adrian stammered, his carefully constructed composure crumbling under Knox’s intense gaze. He’d been so focused on his friends’ reactions, so caught up in proving Knox’s existence, that he’d forgotten how utterly unnerving the man could be.

Knox shifted slightly, propping himself up on one elbow, shooting him a look that might have made Adrian’s knees go weak—if the movement hadn’t caused the thin blanket to fall off his shoulder and reveal the clothes he was wearing.

Baby blue pajamas with bright yellow rubber ducks on them.

Adrian burst out laughing.

He couldn’t help it. The sight of Knox, the fearsome incubus warrior, trying to look seductive in ducky pajamas was too much.

Knox frowned, looking down at himself. "Oh," he muttered, realizing his defeat. "Of course."

Adrian laughed harder. "Where did you even get those?" He struggled to form the words between fits of amusement.

"Your grandmother." Knox tugged at the pajama top self-consciously, as if he could somehow will the ducks away.

Adrian had to bite his lip to keep from laughing again.

"They’re… nice," Adrian finally managed, wiping a tear from his eye. "Very… you."

Knox shot him a look that said he knew that was bullshit. "I assure you, ducks are not my usual attire." In spite of the way he looked, the low rumble of his voice sent a shiver down Adrian’s spine. Even in those ridiculous pajamas, he managed to regain his composure rather quickly.

He was a demon born to be attractive, after all, and Adrian was not immune to his charms in the least.

"Right," Adrian said, finally stifling his laughter.

Knox shifted on the bed, settling his gaze on Adrian. Adrian looked away, but even so, he was intensely aware of Knox’s presence in the room. He’d often pictured the other man, the monster who could make people fall for him with a single glance. Adrian wasn’t surprised by his good looks, but the books had failed to describe just how good he smelled. The faint scent of rain and something else—something spicy and musky—lingered in the air.

It was a comforting smell, a scent that made Adrian want to cuddle up under the blankets with the man who’d fallen into his life.

A thought that was scary and intoxicating all at once.

"I should probably thank you," Knox said, drawing Adrian’s gaze back to him. "For… well, for not turning me away. I realize this is all rather… unexpected."

Unexpected was an understatement. Adrian wanted to scream, to laugh, to run and hide—all at the same time. Instead, he forced himself to look into Knox’s storm-cloud eyes. They held a sincerity that startled him, a flicker of something that looked like real emotion.

"Don’t mention it," Adrian said, his voice a little rougher than usual. He cleared his throat. "It’s not like I could just leave you out there in the rain."

"Perhaps not," Knox murmured. He ran a hand through his hair. "Though I imagine it would make for an interesting chapter in your… what was it? A fictional tale?"

Adrian felt a flush creep up his neck. "It’s a novel, published in installments. A new chapter every week."

Knox nodded with a troubled look on his face. "And you enjoy this story?"

Adrian’s skin grew hotter. "It’s just a hobby."

A hobby that involved spending countless hours obsessing over a fictional demon who was now lying on his sofa bed in a pair of ducky pajamas. The absurdity of the situation threatened to overwhelm him.

"A hobby?" Knox tilted his head, studying Adrian with an intensity that made him squirm. "You have so many painting and other… what did you call it? Merchandise?"

"It’s a good story," Adrian mumbled, avoiding Knox’s gaze. "Most of the time."

He thought of the latest chapter, the one where Knox had marched into the Shadow Court, seemingly oblivious to the danger. The memory made him bristle with a mixture of annoyance and concern—a bizarre cocktail of emotions given that the object of his frustration was currently occupying his living room.

He glanced at Knox, who had a thoughtful frown creasing his brow. The silence stretched between them, thick with unspoken tension and the faint hum of the refrigerator in the kitchen.

"What the hell were you thinking marching into the Shadow Court like that?" Adrian asked finally.

Knox’s eyebrows rose. "What do you mean?"

Adrian flushed so hard he thought he was going to burn up, but he couldn’t retreat now. "The last chapter ends with you planning to confront the Shadow King without any real plan."

"Caelen is my responsibility. I’m the one who has to stop him."

Adrian saw the conviction in the demon’s eyes. The man was willing to risk his life in order to stop the Shadow King from taking over any more towns. "I know you can’t let Caelen conquer more of Veridia, but you didn’t have to go to him without a good plan."

Knox scoffed. "I had a plan. Maybe your author wasn’t privy to it." His gaze narrowed. "Who is writing this story?"

Adrian stopped with his mouth open. He wanted to give Knox the answer, except he didn’t have it. "I don’t know." The author was using an internet handle. "They go by N.N."

"What does that stand for?"

Adrian shrugged. "I can do some research in the morning if you’d like." He didn’t think that he’d turn up much because he’d tried to unveil N.N’s identity before—unsuccessfully.

"I would appreciate that," Knox said. "They must be in possession of powerful magic to be able to transcribe my life from another realm."

Was that what Knox thought was happening? That someone was writing his story down rather than creating it?

The idea was probably easier to stomach than the concept of being nothing more than a fictional character. This way, Knox might still be real. If magic was real—which it had to be for Knox to be here in the first place.

Adrian’s head hurt contemplating that.

"I shall try to sleep again if you don’t mind," Knox said. "I don’t think that I’ll have much luck but I need to save my strength. This is a very strange world you live in."

To Knox, it had to appear that way. Adrian felt a pang of sympathy—enough for him to take a few steps closer and sit on the edge of the couch. "It might help if you turn the light off. Here, let me show you." He reached over to the lamp on the coffee table and pointed out the switch at the base. "Like this."

He turned the light off and the room was bathed in darkness. After a moment, though, his eyes adjusted to the faint shine of the streetlight coming in from outside. No one had thought to draw the curtains.

"It’s like magic," Knox mused, "but it’s not. It doesn’t feel like magic."

"It’s technology. The lamp runs on electricity. Many things in this world do."

"Electricity." Knox sounded out the word.

"It’s like lightning. Imagine you’re harvesting the energy of a lightning strike and using it to power all sorts of mechanisms."

"You caught lightning in that lamp?" The incubus seemed mildly impressed. "Can it be used as a weapon?"

A smile formed on Adrian’s face. "Not like you think, but I suppose you could hit someone over the head with it."

Knox rubbed his chin. "I see. Thank you for turning it off, in any case. Though the light was not what troubled me."

Adrian licked his lips. Should he ask? "What does trouble you?"

Knox didn’t respond immediately, as if he wasn’t sure whether or not he wanted to share what was on his mind. Somehow, his hesitation made him more human. This whole time, Adrian had viewed him only as an impossibility, a demon who could not be. He’d been so focused on his own anxieties that he hadn’t considered how difficult all of this must be for Knox.

Without conscious thought, he inched a little closer to the incubus. "You can tell me. I won’t judge." A statement Knox would likely not believe for a second if he ever got to read Adrian’s blog which dissected every decision Knox had ever made throughout his journey described in Monsters of Veridia .

Fortunately, Knox didn’t know anything about Adrian’s blog.

"I’m worried about my companions," he said. "We were separated when I was… yanked here. Either they’re facing the Shadow King by themselves or they’re stranded in this world the same as I am. I don’t know which of these possibilities is worse."

Adrian’s heart clenched unexpectedly. "I’m sure they’re fine," he said, trying to sound reassuring, though he had no idea if that was true. "Zev is quite capable and so is Lyrian."

"You know my friends?" Knox shook his head. "Of course you do."

"They’ll be able to hold their own against the Shadow King somehow, and if they’re stranded here instead they’re probably fine… just confused."

Like Knox was. Like Adrian was.

In the darkness of the room, Knox’s gaze met his and Adrian felt himself drawn toward him, wanting to be a source of comfort for the other man in a way he hadn’t wanted to be there for anyone since his breakup.

Was that a hint of Knox’s incubus charm working on him?

Or was it because of all those fantasies Adrian had entertained himself with during his loneliest hours?

"I hope you’re right," Knox said softly. He reached out, his hand hovering just above the blanket, as if he wanted to touch Adrian but was hesitant.

"I hope so too," Adrian replied, holding his breath as he watched Knox’s hand slowly withdraw.

The air crackled between them, charged with a tension that was both electric and unsettling. It was the kind of tension that Adrian usually only encountered in the pages of a book—the kind that promised both danger and a thrilling, forbidden kind of pleasure.

And for the first time since Knox had crashed into his life, Adrian wasn’t sure if he wanted to run away or move closer.

Knox cursed himself silently. He shouldn’t have reached out.

The desire to touch Adrian, to taste that vulnerability, to lose himself in the intoxicating chaos of Adrian’s emotions, was a constant hum beneath his skin.

He wanted to trace the line of Adrian’s jaw, to feel the pulse of his fear beneath his fingertips. He wanted to whisper promises of pleasure, to weave illusions of comfort, to drown them both in a sea of sensation where nothing else mattered.

But Adrian was scared of him.

Adrian, who had welcomed him into his home, offered him tea, and even attempted to explain the workings of this baffling, magicless world.

Knox would not take advantage of him.

And, in any case, perhaps this sudden surge of desire was just a reaction to being displaced, a desperate attempt to reclaim a sense of control in a world that felt alien and unsettling. Maybe he was reverting to what was familiar, to what had always been his source of strength, even if it meant exploiting this human.

No.

Knox would not give in to baser instincts.

"Adrian," Knox said, "I realize this is all… overwhelming. But I won’t harm you. And I certainly won’t force you to share a bed with me." He gestured to the sofa bed where he’d been trying (and failing) to find rest. "But your room is… well, it seems to have suffered some structural damage. If you choose to rest here next to me, I give you my word, I won’t touch you." Even as Knox spoke the words, he knew this night would test him—and his will to be better than the creature he’d been born as.

Adrian’s expression shifted from apprehension to something akin to cautious curiosity. Knox watched him intently. The room was dark, but darkness didn’t impede Knox’s vision.

The silence stretched between them, thick with unspoken tension, and for a moment, Knox allowed himself to imagine what it would be like to bridge that gap, to feel Adrian’s warmth against him, to taste his desire for him.

He pushed those thoughts away, focusing instead on the faint, steady beat of Adrian’s heart. He sensed the struggle within the other man.

"I promise nothing will happen between us," he tried.

"You made the same promise to Lysandra," Adrian pointed out, reminding Knox of an incident he hadn’t thought of in years.

It was the strangest thing that this human knew so much about his life while Knox knew nothing about Adrian. It gave the man an unfair advantage, and frankly, it annoyed Knox a little.

"Nothing that happened between me and Lysandra happened without her consent."

"Can one really consent to an incubus? You are the literal embodiment of temptation. How is any human supposed to resist you?"

"Lysandra is not human."

"I am!" Adrian’s voice rose a little.

Knox shifted on the sofa, moving away from Adrian. He was starting to understand what Adrian was worried about. Not that Knox would touch him unbidden, but that he himself would end up asking for it in spite of his better judgment.

It was a reasonable fear to have around an incubus, Knox had to give him that.

"In that case," Knox said, "I promise not to touch you even if you ask me to."

Somehow, Adrian didn’t seem as happy with that idea as he should have. After a moment, though, he nodded. "Okay," he said. "Let me just get ready."

The human left the room, and Knox lay back down. He closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep when Adrian came back. He didn’t know what had happened to the man, what made him so scared, but Knox didn’t need to know either. He wasn’t going to stay here long enough for it to matter.

In time, he would either find a way back to his world or a more willing human to feed off.