Dev! Have you been watching like a total creep?
I mean, yes? But in my defense, it’s not like I can just close my eyes.
We’re going to need to learn boundaries, Dev. And if you’re such a little peeping tom and like Drake the most, why aren’t you okay with me using you as my safe word with him, huh?
Before she could answer, my attention moved to Andrei as he asked, “Hey, baby girl?” I hummed in answer, prompting him to continue, “Did it work? Are you connected to Devorare now?”
Tell him I’m here and stuck to you like herpes. There is no cure.
If I’d had control over my body right now, I’d be bent over on the floor, tears streaming down my face with laughter. How did I end up with the sassiest and nastiest soul weapon?How do you even know what herpes is?
In our shared, conscious state I know what you know.
My throat felt like it was slick with sludge, but I managed to nod and croak out, “Yes, she says hello.”
No I fucking didn’t. Tell him what I actually said.
No.
“Wow,” he breathed out as we made our way into my room. The light was dim, allowing me to fully open my eyes. “So she’s like her own entity inside you?”
He makes it sound so dirty. What a weirdo.
I really don’t think you have room to talk, perv.
“Yes,” I murmured. “She’s definitely her own person.”
Understatement of the century.
“That’s pretty neat, baby girl,” he answered as he gently deposited me onto the bed. “I’m going to fill up the bathtub really quickly. I’ll be right back.”
As I watched him go, I took the moment alone to ask Dev one of the questions that had been burning in my mind.
Dev, you mentioned watching your brethren come and go as you waited for me.
Yeah, talk about boring.
How did you not have any other matches before me?
Fate is a funny thing, Alina. We are each created when destiny is set, and the person who needs us is set to become a part of the world. I was created specifically for you. Who knows what Fate has in store for me after our story. Perhaps I will have another user after you.
It warmed my heart, hearing that she was specifically created for me. It made sense, with how well we were meshing already. But she’d made it seem like she’d been waiting around forever for me. There’s no way that destiny was set that long ago.
Wait, but how long ago were you created?
Mmm, time is irrelevant for us as we wait, but if I had to guess and put a number to it, I’d say three hundred years ago.
I choked on the spit I was trying hard to swallow, sending me into a coughing fit that had Andrei back at my side in an instant. He helped pull me into a sitting position and patted me on the back to try to help clear it. “Easy there, baby girl.”
How was I destined to be born and have you as my weapon three hundred years ago? That’s insanity. There had to have been so many little choices my ancestors had to make for me to even be here. You’d basically be declaring that none of us actually have a choice in the paths we take.
Not at all. Fate just knows what path you are going to choose—always.
I wasn’t ready to accept that at all.
My breaths slowed and deepened as I began to relax. Andrei gently tugged my tattered clothing from my body and discarded the pieces carelessly on the floor. His arms enveloped me as he carried me to the steam-filled tub and slowly lowered me into its depths. The hot water soothed my skin, and I moaned in pleasure as the bubbles caressed me.
“Can you straighten your legs to touch the end of the tub, baby girl?” he murmured, helping position my back to lean at the perfect angle to allow my head to rest on the cushion on the rim. My arms shook, the muscles burning as I tried to put them on the edge as well. He quickly moved to help me, settling my arms and hands down softly as I did as he asked with my legs. My feet touched the edge, anchoring me in place.
