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That was one way to put it, only it wasn’t God’s face that I disrespected today. It was Hel’s, and I would do it all over again if she tried the same trick. Next time, I would use that great sea of power inside me and see if the coffin could be shattered from the inside.
The thought reminded me of Paige and how she’d come to my aid. I snuck a glance at Maddox. Though I wanted to tell him that I’d met his ex-wife, I wasn’t quite sure how he would handle it.
“Out,” I said, standing. “All of you. I need to shower and get dressed. I feel like I’ve been sitting in my own filth for days.”
Ryder snorted. “You’re not wrong. Maddox changed your clothes, but that didn’t stop you from smelling like you’ve spent the last month out in the wilderness.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. As if driven by my animosity, Potato jumped up and clung to Ryder’s back. Her claws sank into his skin before she propelled herself off, onto the bed. Ryder guffawed at the small beast.
“Did that thing just use me as a launching board?”
I smothered my laugh behind my hand.
“Yes, and she’ll do it again if you don’t leave,” Maddox said flatly as his hand curled possessively around the back of my thigh.
Ryder sighed and rolled his eyes. He gestured for Bianca to follow him, but her attention was on us. The way she squinted made me squirm uncomfortably. She lifted her hand to point at us accusingly.
“Are you performing soul magic?” she asked, a cold note in her voice.
I never thought Bianca, of all people, would be upset over soul magic. While it was highly taboo and absolutely awful, soul magic seemed like the kind of trade Bianca would enjoy if only for the level of power over everyone else that it would grant her.
I shook my head, then paused. It was true that I could destroy souls. I could also beckon them back into the world of the living to reanimate a corpse. If that counted as soul magic, then I was guilty. However, what I knew of soul magic was often dark and abusive. I wasn’t hurting anyone.
“You bound this man’s soul to yourself. Does he know?” After accusing me, Bianca locked eyes with Maddox. “How do you feel now that you’re a human familiar? You should be mad about this. No one deserves to be bound to another like that.”
Maddox took several breaths to respond. His expression was unreadable, perhaps learned from long nights in interrogation rooms.
It wasn’t like I’d meant to take his soul. It’d happened rather inexplicably. Something about Maddox’s change and my arcana had bound us. Maybe we’d been too close when Alvin bit him. My arcana could have been a little too greedy. I had no way of knowing because there was no precedent for anything like this—and Hel wasn’t exactly the most forthcoming deity.
Finally, he said, “Addie had my permission the whole time. This wasn’t against my will.”
Bianca’s hand dropped back down to her side. Still, she glared at us like we were pulling the wool over her eyes. I understood why she was bothered by this. When community members performed magics like that, they often put the rest of the community at risk.
Even worse, they could endanger the entire world.
Vince had been the single stray thread that’d nearly unraveled the entire world. Someone in Boston had used his soul for their magic and left him corrupted. Unleashed upon the world, he’d spread that corruption, allowing it to tear holes into fate.
Hel feared that Maddox would do the same. I stole a glance at his hollow face and worried that there would be a day when I wouldn’t be able to help him.
What then? What would he become?
He squeezed my thigh reassuringly. It was such a tender touch, one natural to only lovers. Were we more than I’d assumed? I mean, he had gone into the afterlife to save me like a love-struck hero from Greek legends. That had to mean something. Right?
“Bianca,” Ryder said in warning.
Her nose wrinkled. To her credit, even in anger, she was still beautiful. I wanted to run to the bathroom and hide in my filth when next to her. It was amazing that Maddox was still willing to touch me.
“This is happening inyourjurisdiction,” Bianca snapped at Ryder. “Even I know better than to dabble in soul magic. First, you allowed the antichrist to do it. Now you’re waving a white flag for this one, too?”
No. I was done with this.
I marched up to Bianca and jammed my finger into her chest. She was a bit taller than me, so she had to look down at me with her wide eyes full of shock. I glared up at her while the cool chill of my arcana rolled across my skin.
“You do not get to tell me how my arcana works.” I lifted a brow in challenge to see if she had anything else to say.
As expected, Bianca lashed out with her wards. For a moment, my skin crawled with the sensation of a million bugs. It reminded me of one of those mummy curses I’d seen in a movie. It lasted barely a heartbeat before my arcana rushed over my skin, freezing the ward in its tracks.
“My domain is death. I am the natural conclusion of all things. Even you, if you keep pushing me.” That had to be, hands down, the coldest thing I’d ever said.
