Cain tilted his head and inspected my face. I knew what he was thinking. He got this overly serious expression when he was deep in thought. It was subtle, but I noticed it. I saw it as I saw the glimmer of something sadder. His range of emotion may not have been the same, and his urges may have been deemed sick, but under it all, he was still just a man looking for the same things the rest of us were—a place where he belonged and someone to share it with.

“I wouldn’t know what love is, but I can say that from the first moment I saw you, I knew you were different and that feeling has only grown into something more persistent.”

“So you never loved anyone? Not your parents or a girlfriend or even your brother,” I asked, genuinely curious.

“Not my parents. I watched my father die and let it happen. That only brought me joy.” My eyebrows shot up as I sucked in a deep breath. I couldn’t picture killing my father, even with the separation, him moving away, and us growing apart. “Don’t look so shocked. My urges started young, and although I’ve harnessed them into what you see now, I wasn’t always as contained. As for loving my mother, I didn’t love her either.”

“Did you kill her?”

“No, Abel did, but if you want me to be honest with you, I was planning on killing her at some point. There was no motherly attachment between us.” He said and moved a piece of hair away from my face. He was always a contradiction.

“This got dark fast.” Cain smirked, and I wasn’t sure what was funny, but I found myself smirking along with him.

“That’s good, Sunshine. Let it out. Let the world see the real you. If you want to laugh, then laugh. If you want to cry, then cry, but don’t be fake anymore. Not with me.” His eyes were so penetrating that I couldn’t help but wiggle under his stare. “I’ve never had a girlfriend, and as far as my brother goes…I guess I do love him. I mean, I only want to kill him when he gets on my nerves, but that is fleeting, and I’ve always felt protective of him.”

The chain rattled, reminding me I was still tied up as I moved my arm toward Cain’s face. I looked at my wrist and sighed, letting my arm drop before I touched him, but he grabbed my hand and laid it on his cheek. The gesture was so simple, such a little thing, but maybe because of who and what he was, it felt like it held more weight. Could the monster really learn to love? Could he be more than what he’d been for years?