章 58: A night full of sighs: Part One

And here, she started to believe she and Niko were friends, yet he replied so coldly to her. Esme's face hardened, hiding the pain his words stirred in her; she stared back at him as her body went numb again. Maybe it was better this way? 

Niko was attacked last night, and she was sure now it was because of her. Yet, she could not blame his hate towards her. She deceived him, and to find out that she used to be a Hellhound, of all things, was similar to finding out a human was a hunter. 

Esme lowered her gaze and nodded in response, accepting his hate. She started to turn around and halted in shock as Niko pulled her into a near bone-crushing embrace. She tilted her head up and out of his stone-hard shoulders and gasped for air. "Niko?" He didn't respond, so she tried again though her lungs were burning and straining to breathe. "Are .. you.. trying to.. kill me.. through a-a hug?" She gasped, and he released her body.