I smirked beneath my mask. It wouldn’t be the first time.
An electricity ignited the air, shattering my thoughts. Every muscle in my body tightened. It was the influence of my ancient arcana, but it wasn’t coming from me.
I shot out of my seat, sending my tea and book clattering to the ground in an explosion of porcelain shards that scattered over the rug. The soul that had taken refuge in the tea cup fled in a blur of dim light.
On the next breath, blue flames ignited between the bookcases opposing my seating area. It morphed into the shape of a door, and Rayven appeared a moment later dragging something massive behind her.
For a second, I expected it to be the corpse of the soul she’d been sent to handle. But when the light caught the peculiar shape, I scrunched my nose.
Was that…a tree?
Relief lifted my chest and I surged forward. She released the tree, running toward me with tears in her eyes. “Belial!”
I flung my mask away, so eager to kiss my mate that I didn’t care if Cecil or Holga saw the marred face of my human form. Catching her in my arms, I spun her around and crushed my lips against hers.
It was relieving, the way she clung to me, as if we’d been parted for far longer than a single evening. I set her to her feet, keeping my arms wrapped around her waist with her chest flush to mine. She searched my eyes, her own full of adoration, as she reached up to trace my scars with her fingertips.
“Please forgive me.” I said, my tone hushed.
She blinked. “For what?”
“For ever questioning your devotion and love for me.” I trailed my fingers along her jaw, brushing my thumb over her supple bottom lip. “Tonight, I was weak.”
Her smile had a bolt of warmth spreading through my cold chest. “This was the furthest we’ve ever been apart since we met. I’m surprised you didn’t follow me and drag me back home after I took an hour longer than I said I would. I’m surprised you let me go alone at all.”
I swept her dark hair behind her ears, admiring her beauty. “The Queen of the Underworld should move as she pleases.”
She beamed at me with a tearful smile, and it was then that I realized she was trembling. “I did it. I claimed both souls.”
My head canted to the side, and I raised a brow at her. “I only sent you out to collect the necro-rapist’s soul.”
“The victim’s never left her body after she passed. It was stuck somewhere deep inside her, hiding.”
I gave a solemn nod. That happened sometimes when humans passed. If their soul didn’t feel safe to leave their body, I’d often have one of my ferrymen collect it.
Dismissing Cecil and Holga so that we could be alone, I scooped Rayven into my arms and carried her over to the seating area, sitting down with her tucked in my lap. With my magic, I poured a cup of steaming hot tea into the second cup Holga had provided, and brought it to Rayven’s lips.
“Drink,” I urged. “You’re freezing.”
She did as told, warmth coming back to her cheeks. “It’s winter on Earth, and it was snowing. I almost forgot what snow looked like.”
“You like the snow?”
She nodded as she took another sip of tea. “One of the few things I miss about it, actually. Well, Christmas in general."
“Is that why you brought the tree?” I eyed the spruce tree she’d dragged in. It still had odd, colorful bobbles attached to it, which stuck out wildly against the grays and browns of the library. She’d likely stolen it from the funeral home where she’d claimed the souls.
I couldn’t help but smile. She was my radiant Queen of Carrion, Mistress of the Underworld. But underneath all that, she’d always be my little thief.
“You did well, my treasure,” I praised, hugging her tighter against my chest as she sipped her tea.
A small smile curved her mouth before a furrow of frustration formed between her brows. “I almost shattered the funeral director’s soul.”
I leaned to nip at her jaw, pressing my lips against her skin. “I wouldn’t have been angry if you had.”
She shook her head. “No. He deserves to be tortured, slowly. For a long time.”
“We’ll send him down the River Styx then,” I mused through a bridled smile. She really was a brilliant queen. “And we can take the woman’s soul and make her a nice little heaven in the library here.”
