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I stared at her open palm for a long while before finally shaking my head. “You don’t have to do anything. I can figure it out on my own.”
A knowing smile reached her lips. She expected-no, shewantedme to say that. I was tired of everyone trying to use me or trying to teach me something. Why couldn’t I just be handed something nice?
“You know what? Never mind.” I slapped my hand in hers. “Help me for once.”
Her eyes widened. A nervous laugh slipped out of her. She followed through on her offer, but I could tell there was some reluctance to it. She’d never really wanted to help. Everyone was banking on my stubborn insistence to do everything by myself.
That’s what was hindering us as a whole, too. We couldn’t do this alone.
I turned to Maddox. “Take me home. Please.”
He swept me up into his arms right as a portal opened before us. Persephone said nothing as we stepped through it and into my bathroom. My skin crawled as the portal closed behind us, sealing us off from the afterlife and the conduit of power that ran through it.
Grumbling, I had Maddox set me down so I could start running a bath and strip myself of my grimy clothes. They weren’t even the same clothes I’d left with. This body wasn’t the same body I’d left with.
Fear hit me. What if I put myself together wrong? I didn’t know as much about anatomy as I should. You would think my arcana would have taught me something about the way bodies were put together, but I never raised a corpse with intention unless I was breaking the rules of anatomy.
There was a strong chance I’d put my appendix where my bladder should be, and vice versa. Just the thought made me cling to Maddox while a torrent of concerns rushed through my mind.
“All right,” was all he said before lifting me and gently placing me into the tub of warm water. When he turned, he opened the cabinet beneath the sink. “You ladies all have stashes of bubble bath or…what are they called? Bath bombs?”
I lifted a shaking finger to point at the shelf cabinet over the toilet. Maddox stood, opened it, and grabbed a bath bomb in the shape of a witch’s hat. He gave it a curious look, sniffed it, and recoiled.
Voice hoarse he said, “I forget that I have a super sniffer now.”
A chuckle escaped me despite my swirling thoughts. Maddox cocked a silly grin and chucked the bath bomb into the tub. I cried out, my fear momentarily forgotten as I plucked the still-plastic-wrapped bath bomb from the water.
“What’s the—” Maddox’s voice trailed off when he saw the bath bomb fizzing at the corners of the package.
I fumbled with it. My wet hands slid feebly along the plastic. Though the air smelled of sandalwood and vanilla, I couldn’t free the bomb from its containment. Maddox plucked it from my hands and ran a long, curved claw down the plastic. The clear film fell away, letting Maddox drop the bath bomb back into the tub.
I watched the dark particles turn into glittering bubbles on the water’s surface. Warmth seeped into me and eased some of the fears still lingering in the back of my mind. If I’d done it wrong, would I still be breathing? Would my heart beat?
Besides, Persephone helped finish what I’d started. She would have made sure all my organs were in the right place.
Right?
Maddox’s shirt hit the floor along with his pants. He stepped into the tub, much to my surprise, and sank down opposite me. His knees poked out of the water, but he didn’t seem to mind so long as he was close to me. I savored his nearness, too.
I reached out and put a hand on his shin, but it wasn’t enough. I wasn’t happy until I shifted around to rest my back against his chest. Though I could feel the needy length of him pressing into my body, he made no move to start anything.
Instead, Maddox ran his hand up and down my arms. The movement was soothing until he fell prey to a flurry of sneezes.
“Damn women’s bath products,” he grumbled, wiping his nose. “Driving my sinuses crazy.”
I bit back a laugh. “At leastI’mnot driving you crazy.”
He muttered something under his breath.
I twisted and glared back at him. “Excuse me, sir?”
He lowered his eyes to my lips. The gesture highlighted his long lashes, and nearly distracted me from what he’d said. He tried to tenderly touch my cheek, but I grabbed his hand and leaned in closer.
“What. Did. You. Say?”
He pursed his lips, though I couldn’t tell if he was laughing or hiding a secret. It was hard to tell. I pushed his wrist above his head and pinned it against the wall behind him. However, that lifted me out of the water and put my breasts directly in his face.
His lips parted as he stared them down. I knew I’d won as the fight went out of him.
