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My breathing turned jagged, desperate.
I flinched when I was turned from the wall, the hands on my body gentle but alien. Tears and water veiled my vision but I snapped my head up, staring—
“Death?” I asked in a small voice.
“I’m here,” he said, drawing me into the safety of his arms and holding me so tight that I couldn’t speak, could only sob brokenly. “It’s okay, little one, it’s okay.”
Hot tears burned their way out of my eyes. I brought my arms up and clung to him, not caring that I’d only known him for days, or that a curse was the only thing that linked us. He was familiar and comforting and safe. It was a relief to be held while I cried, a relief to have someone hold together the jagged pieces I’d become.
Warm lips pressed to my forehead and he lifted a hand from my back only to turn the water to a more comfortable temperature, replacing it in the same spot, splayed against my hip while he hugged me as close as possible.
“You’re okay now,” he murmured against my temple. “You’re okay, Daddy’s here now.”
I screwed my eyes shut, a desperate sound in the back of my throat. I didn’t know how he knew what I needed; maybe the death gods were all psychic, maybe Death had taken one look at me and known I was both submissive and little. I didn’t care. I was grateful for whatever brought him here, promising I was safe over and over, his body like a shield between me and the world.
I knew it couldn’t last forever, but I clung to him, my head on his chest, listening to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat and marvelling at the fact his heart beat at all.
Kisses rained gently down my face and across my head, each one accompanied by a murmur of reassurance.
I’m here.
I won’t let anyone hurt you.
You’re my little bride.
You’re safe now.
I’ll take care of you, Cat.
Whoever made you cry will die screaming.
His words wrapped around my soul until I pulled my breathing back under my control, until my frantic sobs softened to hitching breaths, until I wasn’t sure if the water on my face was tears or from the shower.
“How did you know?” I asked hoarsely when I was sure I could speak.
“How did I know you needed me?” Death clarified in a low, comforting rumble. “Tor mentioned your car was at the garage. I came to tell you I’d returned it to the garage on Ford’s grounds.” He kissed my temple. “I didn’t know I’d find you like this.”
“Sorry,” I mumbled.
Death squeezed me to him, his body clad in a tight black shirt and jeans that were now soaked through. “No apology needed, pussy cat.”
I groaned, which seemed to be his intention; I felt his smile against my forehead.
“I’ll always be here when you need me.” Another kiss to my temple. Then my neck. My shoulder. He froze there and his body—muscular but languid, fluid—hardened to steel. His spine stiffened in an instant. “Who did this to you?” he asked very, very quietly, barely audible over the shower.
“What?” I drew back with a frown, a tremor of nerves in my belly at the complete shift in his body language and tone. Danger throbbed from him in waves, quickening my heart.
Death splayed a hand at the base of my spine, keeping me against him, and trailed the fingertips of his other hand over my shoulder, pressing them carefully, gently.
“Oh,” I breathed when his fingers wrapped around my shoulder, aligning with what must have been bruises from this morning. “It’s nothing. It won’t happen again.”
I wouldn’t go anywhere alone; I wasn’t stupid enough to go running in the graveyard. If I needed to run tomorrow morning, I’d drag Honey with me or just run in the public areas where other people were. Alastor had proved he wouldn’t hurt me in front of an audience.
“Nothing,” Death repeated, and I became very aware of the fact he was clothed and I was entirely naked, on full display before him. But the way he was looking at me, his eyes black from edge to edge in a way that made my breath catch, was far from the way Tor had looked at me this morning. “There are fingerprints on your shoulders, Cat, that is not nothing. I want a name.”
I swallowed. “I can’t.”
He inhaled slowly, nostrils flaring. “Whoever did this deserves to die a horrific death, my bride. There are consequences for hurting my wife.”
