Page 96
“I asked her, and she said I’ll marry you anyway. Prophecies tend not to be wrong, but if we know about them, if we’re clever enough, we can control the outcome.” Vann took a breath and looked ahead. Not at the sliver of ocean in front of the neighboring house. Not at the windblown trees that separated the house from the lane.
“Why would you be like, huh, okay, once we get married she’s going to die, but that’s cool, the important thing is that we got married? You don’t strike me as that kind of guy. And that’s a pretty dedicated tradwife, to sign on for certain death.”
Realization dug deep into his gut.
Was it a vision, a hunch, or just logical?
“Um. Fuck. If what’s left of your soul is bound to mine, she can’t get to it.”
“How do you know?”
“I don’t.”
Restless, furious, Vann stood up and rubbed his fingertips in his hair.
His abdomen tightened protectively, the healing wounds threatening to tear back open if he pushed too hard.
“But I do. It won’t just be yours anymore, it will be bound to mine, and mine bound to yours, so she’ll have to come for me, too, to get the rest of your soul.”
“I don’t have a whole lot of soul left, so I can’t just give it to you.” She stood up and gripped the handrail, looking out over his rooftop at the ocean. “Couldn’t that kill me? My soul getting so… I don’t know, divided?”
An absurd laugh rattled his chest, and he turned to meet her look. Eye to eye as he stood on the step below her. “Thankfully, that’s not how demon marriage works. It’s more like sharing. Your soul will still be yours, but bound to mine, and my soul is still mine, but bound to yours. We’ll be linked. It’s a demon thing, and weird, I know, but it’s handy.”
“Very weird.”
“Falling in love is an obsession, right? Humans are biologically wired to become foolish for each other. To obsess over each other. To bond and share a life together.”
“True, I guess.”
“Hunters live a few centuries, and demons can be so diverse in their abilities, so part of the whole deal with demon marriages, with hunters specifically, is we share our ability to heal. Share our lifespans, so we can grow old together. Raise a family together. Have a life together. I can’t share everything, as a human wouldn’t be able to handle it. Although, Archer was a rare exception, but, yeah. That’s a story for another day. But having a spouse who can survive at my side through my entire long lifespan?” A laugh bubbled in his chest as he described the absurdity of his life to a medical professional. “It’s another perk of having to live with being half-demon, I guess. Like I can eat a whole pizza and drink a growler of beer and not feel like shit after.”
“Ha.” She teased her fingertips in her hair. “I, too, can eat an entire pizza and most of a pitcher of beer and still feel good. There are a few perks to being a little bit demon.”
“You’re already strong. Fast. Function on very little sleep. And you don’t even have her full power,” he said, puzzling a look at her and feeling the first glimmer of hope in way too fucking long.
Her gaze dropped to her hands. She twiddled her thumbs on the railing. “You have power to fight to save lives. This fucked-up, soul-sucking power I have is worse than murder.”
“Vampires crave blood. Werewolves crave shifting into the wolf, to run and do wolf stuff, and they bask in the full moon like a cat in the sun. Demon hunters are inherently violent, and it honestly takes a lot of self-control to not knock a demon out without asking questions first. Fuck, I hope you’re not like a vampire and need to feed on souls to live.”
“Run that by me again?”
“Vampires don’t just crave blood; they need it. Animal blood isn’t as satisfying, but it does the job. Werewolves don’t actually need to shift, and they don’t need the moon; it just makes them feel good. Let’s hope death is a want and not a need for you. Like smashing demon skulls is a want for me, not a need.”
“If it’s a need, promise me that you’ll kill me.”
“I promise.”
Eryn searched into each of his eyes, back and forth, a smile twitching at the corners of her lips. “Should I be concerned, that you didn’t hesitate?”
19
You’ll marry her anyway .
His grandmother’s words flashed through his mind again and again.
Behind him, as his best man, his father reached up and squeezed Vann’s shoulder.
Stormy outside, but the curtains were closed, so their enemy couldn’t spy and pick up on their plan. A fire in the hearth. Every new candle he owned was glowing and flickering, bathing the house in an ancient amber glow.
