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His arms pressed against my stomach, my back to his chest. I rested my wet arms atop his.
“How do you feel?” he asked softly into my ear. His nose brushed it lightly.
“Take me home,” I requested.
“Very well,” he said. His body shifted. One arm held my back, and the other held up my legs so I was being carried like a baby. I was a bigger girl, but he tossed me in his arms like I was feather-light.
The move sprayed water from me everywhere, but he was dry. His magic must have kept the water off him. He should teach me how to do that.
“Why not just teleport?” I asked, resting my head against his chest. Shadows wafted around us in a protective orb, so we were in our own private bubble.
“You’re sick,” he said quietly. “It would only disorient you more.”
I narrowed my brows, focusing hard. “My head hurts.”
“I know, sick seraphim.” He pressed a kiss to my forehead. His voice dropped, filled with dark rage. “Trust that I will rip your abuser limb from limb for this.”
His breath smelled like him, too. Cocoa and jasmine.
“I am not yours,” I said. “You count as an abuser, too. I chose the lesser of the evils,” I pouted.
“I had a purpose,” he said. “I needed to test an old prophecy.”
“What was it?”
He chuckled. “It will not come true if I reveal it to you.”
His body moved as if supernatural sculptors carved it from obsidian. Hard, unrelenting, ancient.
“You’re so gorgeous,” I said, running my fingers along his chest. “You’re strong.”
“Indeed.” I can hear how pleased he was. Vain demon.
“For this favor, I request a truth,” he said between steps. “Do you hate me?”
His voice hitched. There was something young and chaste in how he asked that. Like he was afraid to hear the answer.
“I should hate you.” There was a long silence, and he resumed walking. “But I can be a version of myself around you that I can’t be with anyone else. I’m not trying to impress someone with you. I don’t have to hold back my attitude and behave. I can be exactly as unhinged as I want to be, and you wouldn’t be scared of it.”
My shadows stirred in my chest. They wanted to come out. Reveal themselves. Show off to this man.
As if on cue, Reaper’s own shadows broke off from the orb to sit atop my head. Like a little black crown.
“Does the bargain make me like you more?” I asked him.
He hugged me impossibly closer to his chest.
“No. Any hopes, desires, or dreams you have of me are entirely your own.”
ChapterEighteen
THE ORACLE MUSINGS
The second House leader has perished! Unlike past victims, this one was found dismembered in approximately 200 pieces, each cut in an organized, methodical fashion. Has our mystery killer become civilized?
Not only that, but our fearless Siren House leader left a lengthy confession list behind, naming every child he’s sired and every heinous crime against women.
Very bottom-tier behavior, Sirens.
