“What the fuck are those?” Her voice is doubtful and I nod my head in puzzlement, apparently still too shell-shocked to process things in real time.
Seth’s eyes slide to the scissors in his hands and he shrugs. “They’re my soul reaping scissors.”
“What do you mean?” Trissa tilts her head, a pout forming on her pretty lips. Gods, I want to kiss those lips.
Seth clucks his tongue and sticks his hip out with attitude. “I mean I use them to sever souls.” As he speaks he opens and closes the scissors in the air in display.
“Soul reaping… scissors? Are you for real? Where’s the scythe?” Her brows shoot to her hairline and she squints her eyes, clearly unimpressed.
Seth scoffs and his eyes flare blue with annoyance. “Do you know how heavy a fucking scythe is? You know how tight I like my pants… where would I even put it?” He huffs with amusement. “Besides, the scissors are more personable. Now, shut up and get over here so I can harvest your soul.” He glances over his shoulder anxiously, clearly expecting to see guild members appear at any moment.
Trissa’s soul floats closer to me and she shakes her head, “No, you can’t. Cian has to.” Her eyes meet mine and she nods toward the key on the ground between my body and her corpse. “You need to use the blade on the key.”
I snap to attention and spring into action like I’ve been electrocuted. My fingers close around the key and I ask, “Is that all? Do I… need to say anything, or?” I raise the key to the soul thread coming from her chest and pause.
“Nope. Gran said you just have to cut the thread with the key. She… already did the spell and paid the debt for this.” Trissa’s voice is soft and I glance up to see her eyes soften with emotion. I swallow thickly as she nods, urging me to continue.
“Thank you.” I hold her gaze as I slice through the soul thread, putting as much love and feeling into those two simple words as I can manage, and binding us together… eternally.
Trissa’s soul-form flickers and she smiles as the key is pulled by an invisible force from my hand, to hover in the air between us. We all watch as a small stream of Trissa’s soul starts to float into the key, and I gasp as a ripple runs over me, my eyes widening with wonder as a stream of my own soul joins hers into the key.
Faint pops of sound come from behind Seth, and he turns away quickly to intercept whoever just showed up. The key starts to spin in the air, tangling our threads together until it’s impossible to tell whose is whose. It stops all at once as a bright flash fills the space between us. I blink and watch with awe as the threads of our souls turn a deeper shade of blue, looking almost purple as they slowly retreat from the key and return to each of us. By the time the end of the strands appear, the key has vanished, and instead of two separate soul threads, there’s just the one, joining us together.
Trissa’s soul-form glows brighter and I squint as the light slowly dissipates, and Trissa floats to the ground. As her feet touch, she shimmers and blinks into a corporeal form right next to her corpse. The soul tether between us winks out of sight, but I can still feel the connection. She smiles brilliantly at me for a moment before she jumps into my lap.
A laugh bubbles out of me and I wrap my arms around her waist as I pull us to our feet. My hands shake as I raise them to frame her beautiful face, and I lean forward until our foreheadstouch. She rubs her nose against mine and lets out a breathy laugh against my lips.
“Hi.” She presses a sweet kiss to my mouth before she smiles, our lips still touching.
I laugh on a shaky breath as my eyes and throat burn with feeling, “Hi.”
We’re pulled out of our stolen moment of bliss as a deep and agitated voice growls out, “Sephtis Drowgar… whatthe fuckhave you done?”
Chapter twenty-eight
Galaxy Pants
Trissa
“Imean it—I’m keeping them.” Seth sighs happily as he leans back against the arm of my couch, resting his hands on his torso as he adjusts his legs, which are haphazardly tangled with mine. Cian snorts from behind me and I smirk as I lean back into his arms and nudge Seth playfully with my foot.
“No, you’re not. They’re my fifth favorite pair! Besides, they don’t even fit you!” My voice is whiny and I jut out my bottom lip into an exaggerated pout, doing my best ‘puppy dog eyes’.
Seth’s eyes narrow and he sucks his teeth, “Fifth favorite? I’m yourfirstfavorite psychopomp… I’m your boyfriend’sfirstfavorite friend!” His voice increases in pitch and his brow ridges waggle dramatically, “And I literally just helped save your life and free your boo-thang from eternal limbo!” I roll my eyes, but he continues on unperturbed, “And, theydofit. Look how great they show off my crotch! I look like David Bowie in The Labyrinth.” Seth gestures to the very noticeable bulge in his nether region and Cian and I both groan.
“Please stop asking my girlfriend to check out your dick. Especially while you both insist that weallhave to sit on the same couch and have a ‘group cuddle’.” Cian’s tone is dry, but his eyes are sparkling with mirth as he berates our friend once again. After things calmed down and the Guild finally left, Seth decided to cash in on his requested pizza debt… and the new pants. Which he chose… frommycloset.
“Trissa almost died… well, I mean… technically shediddie! You almost winked out of existence, and I just got put on probation that’s likely to give the girl I’m seeing some homicidal inclinations, soexcuuuuse meif I want a cuddle with my closest pals.” Seth’s tone is light as he counts off his points on his fingers. Too light. I can feel Cian’s chest rise and fall as he sighs, before his fingers thread through my hair. I bite my lip against a moan as he starts mindlessly scratching my head and watch Seth out of the corner of my eye.
There’s a tightness around his eyes that isn’t usually there. He’s trying to act unaffected, but my heart aches at the knowledge that helping us has put him in such a shitty situation. There’s really nothing Cian and I can do to repay him… except help him pretend for a little while longer that everything is normal. At least until the exhaustion from the adrenaline crash wears off and he can face it with his usual crackhead energy. I sigh and pinch the bridge of my nose with mock offense.
“Seth… youcannotgo around in public wearingmygalaxy leggings. They’ll… arrest you for like… indecent exposure or something!” My eyes dart down to his crotch of their own accord and I choke on a laugh. He looks ridiculous—but they also do kind of work for his vibe. I shake my head looking back up, locking eyes with Seth. A blush heats my cheeks at being caught staring while Seth grins at me with uninhibited glee. The glow of his eyes softens somehow, like he knows what I’m doing, and he’s thankful for it.
His deep voice drawls, “That’s precisely the point, Trissa darling. Besides, they’re wasted on you. Your ass is voluptuous already—”
Cian huffs with annoyance and glares at Seth, but I nod in agreement. I do have a great ass.
“And these have some kind of shapewear magic. My ass has never looked as alluring. Have you seen it, look—”
