Eyre felt the kiss and was instantly thrown into a state of confusion. His actions did not offer her any explanation and yet she still decided to ignore her questions. 

The way his body trembled was remarkable, it was as if he had just escaped a nightmare. It bothered her in a way, not because he seemed weak or defenceless, but because she did not want to see him suffer this way. 

For the moment she remained still and although her heart was jumping like crazy, there was just no room for her to care. Kai needed her right at this moment, and she could not deny him that support. 

With a loose grip on the sides of his coat, she carefully clenched her fists around the fabric. Had the fight been too much for him? or was it the long trip out here that had pushed him over the edge? She could not tell. 

By the time she noticed the sun had already set the lantern was the only dominant light source. 

The moment Kai loosened up again he let his hands run along her arms, there was a brief glimpse of relief on his face before it turned mellow and sad again. She wanted to voice her concern, but nothing happened. He picked up the lantern and reached out for her hand to guide her back to the house. 

The silence followed them both into the living room. Here Kai placed the lantern on a nearby table, so he could get the fireplace started. 

Eyre stood by and watched him for a moment before she finally broke the silence. 

“I’ll go and make the beds ready for the night,” she said and slowly backed up before turning around. 

He listened and followed her every move through the sounds of the wood giving in. 

Once the fire had started, he looked over his shoulder only to see that she had forgotten the lantern. He sighed in defeat before he stepped over and picked it up. He looked up the stairs and took note of the activities that were given away by the sounds. 

Eyre was shaking up the blankets and aligning the pillows in the first room on the right when he came up. 

The room was of similar quality to the one back in the port town, but it was also visibly smaller. 

The first thing he noticed was the curtains attached to the ceiling surrounding the bed. 

Eyre was busy tying up one of the sides to a rope that was attached to the wall and to his surprise she already had a lantern burning on the dresser. He left the one he brought on a shelf next to the door, which got her attention. She turned around to look at him as if she expected something and he paused with no immediate reaction. “I’m almost done,” she said, “I also need to tidy up the other room for you,” she added and went ahead to tie up the curtains on the other side of the bed as well. 

Kai was speechless. When he looked at Eyre, all he could see was the little girl that used to run around in the garden. 

As Eyre turned around and headed for the door, he extended his arm to prevent her from leaving the room. 

“We don’t need another bed,” Kai said. 

Eyre paused for a second before looking up at him. “W-What do you mean by that?” she asked and was taken aback by his sudden statement. 

“Have you forgotten?” he replied, which only added to her already growing confusion. 

“Forgotten… what?” she tried again, only to get turned around with a gentle push towards the bed. 

“Get changed, I’ll wait outside,” he sighed and left the room before she could object. The hallway was pitch black with only a dim sense of light coming from the fireplace downstairs. He could no longer tell right from wrong. 

All of Kai’s motives were flipped over and tossed to the side now that he knew. He did manage to achieve one thing; to escape the small port town and thus he could not complain. As for his promise to keep her alive, he had started to waver in faith. He and Eyre shared a bond coated in a twisted fate that none of them could escape. 

Kai leaned back against the wall before sliding down onto the floor. He hid his face in between his knees and took a deep breath. He needed to keep her safe. There was no way that she would be able to remember him. Eyre knew that her mother was killed by a demon but had no recollection of how she came to know about demons. The door to the bedroom went up and disrupted his train of thought. 

“Kai?” Eyre called.

He looked up with a stunned expression. She was dressed in a long white night gown and had braided her hair over one shoulder. 

He got up and regained his composure before he went back into the bedroom. “It’s late. Let us stop for the day and leave the rest for tomorrow,” he suggested while hanging up the coat on the hanger, and the moment he caught sight of himself in the mirror, he hid away his demonic features. 

“There is no need to hide, Kai, we are the only ones here,” she said. 

“I prefer it this way,” he dismissed and stepped back over to her side. 

As Eyre crawled back into bed, she noticed that he sat down in the armchair right next to the bed. She did not say anything at first, but it affected her. 

Kai leaned back in the chair with closed eyes and arms crossed, but Eyre could not help but fidget with the blanket as she watched him try to make himself comfortable. 

“Are you sure you don’t want me to make the other bed for you? It really won’t be a burden for me,” she asked. 

There was no way she could sleep in peace while looking at him this way. “It’s fine,” he sighed. “You didn’t want me to leave your side, remember?” he added, only to remind her of the way she begged him not to the previous night. 

The heat rushed to Eyre’s cheeks instantly and made her look the other way. “That was only because I was scared,” she explained, leaving him at fault for keeping up with it. 

Kai opened his eyes and watched her closely. “Are you telling me that you aren’t scared right now?” It somehow piqued his interest unusually. How could she be calm in his presence with the memory of her mother’s death? 

Kai got up from his chair and sat down on the bed with a hand on the other side of her to lean down. “You don’t have a reason not to fear for your life. You may not die by my hand, but that won’t stop the other demons from roaming around,” The way his words came out didn’t sit well with Eyre and he could see how she was visibly trembling from the imagination alone. 

Eyre tucked the blanket up under her chin before Kai let his free hand run along her hairline. “I trust you,” she said and glanced at him with her deep blue eyes. 

Kai’s heart sunk into his stomach, weighed down by the burden of her words. His expression softened up as he once again felt a sense of responsibility for her life. The heavy thunder that collided within his core made him aware of her ability to awaken his will to fight and protect. Of course, he was afraid of being a failure once again, but the desire to succeed gave him the confidence he needed to not run away.