“But then I thought maybe your soul would fit nicely in the hole where mine used to be.”
He bent and then folded all the way down so he was sitting crossed-legged at my shoulder. “You know that sounds kind of dirty.”
I shut my eyes and shook my head.
“I think my soul would fit very nicely in your soul hole.” I could hear the laughter in his voice. I didn’t need him to poke me in the shoulder, but he did anyway. “Get it?” he asked. “You know, because we’ve already figured out that we fit pretty great in a lot of other ways.”
“Shut up.”
“I’ve got a really big soul, Delaney, all the ladies say so. Happy to share.”
“This is not funny.”
“It isn’t. But you’re smiling.”
I was? I drew my fingers up to my mouth. Yep. Opened my eyes.
He was leaning down over me his grin pressing lines at the edges of his eyes. I wanted to touch him. Kiss him.
“If you want a little piece of my soul, I’m all for it, but we’ll have to be quiet. Vampires and werewolves have good hearing.”
I shoved at his arm and he moved back so I could sit, crossed-legged facing him, our knees touching.
“You have to promise me you won’t let me eat your soul.”
“We’re talking about soul-soul here, and not sexy-soul, right? Because I can think of all sorts of sexy things involving your mouth and my soul.”
“Ryder. I’m not joking.”
He took my hands in his. Mine were cold and a little clammy. I wondered if my body went through the emotions I could no longer feel, or if I was just clammy because this whole no-soul thing was making me a little sick to my stomach.
His hands were warm and dry and calloused at the thumb and bases of his fingers. He had working hands, capable hands.
“I’m right here with you, Delaney. Soul or no soul, it doesn’t change my feelings for you. If sharing a part of my soul with you makes this better, then that’s what I’m going to do. At least until we get your soul back, because make no mistake, this is temporary. There are ways out of your contract with that demon. There are ways to get your soul back. I am not going to let you live the rest of your life missing a piece of yourself.”
“You know how to get my soul back?”
“No. Not yet. But my boss is the god of contracts. He also knows all the ways to break one.”
“He doesn’t like me.”
“That won’t matter.”
It would. I’d known Mithra for most my life, and he not only didn’t like me, he didn’t like my family much either. He knew how to hold a grudge that lasted through the generations and had always wanted to be the overseer of Ordinary’s laws and rules instead of the Reed family. It was why he’d made Ryder the warden. Mithra was looking for a way to control this town, and the gods and creatures within it.
I didn’t like the idea of giving him power over the state of my soul, but didn’t say that to Ryder. Maybe it was a possibility I’d have to consider. Maybe being soulless would get bad enough I’d make a deal with anything just to change it.
“Awful lot going through your head,” Ryder said softly. “Want to talk about it?”
“No. Just.” I huffed out something that might have been a laugh, but was really just a random sound. “I want this to be done. Want Ben home and safe. And want Lavius gone. Permanently.”
“Dead, you mean?”
“Yeah. If we can kill an ancient like him, however we kill a monster like that, yes. Dead would be best.”
“I’ve sent some feelers out to the DoPP.”
“And?”
