“A gift?”
Oooooh. What kind of gift?
I tried not to let my excitement show. Clearly, I hadn’t been successful because his lip twitched.
“Yeah. You’ve been so good these last few days. I wanted to reward you with something other than an orgasm.” He smirked.
I snorted and rolled my eyes. “How generous of you.”
“Fine. If you don’t want it…” He moved to leave, and I grabbed his hand and tugged him back with a grin.
“Wait! I want it! What is it?” I was so curious. What could he possibly have gotten me?
He chuckled and leaned back against the table, manifesting a long, black velvet box.
“Here.” He handed it to me, and I took it from him, marveling at how heavy it was. It was too heavy to be jewelry. What could it possibly be?
“Open it.” That hesitant edge was back in his voice, and I almost giggled at the idea of him being nervous that I wouldn’t like it. It felt so out of character for him. It was almostcute.
Carefully, I flipped open the lid to find a delicate, golden dagger lying in a bed of liquid silk. There were strange symbols carved down the blade, and the hilt was wrapped in soft brown leather. A massive raw chunk of citrine was fastened to the end, and it glittered in the amorphous light of the catalog.
At first, all I felt was awe for the beauty of the blade. I ran my fingers over it gently, jumping as a spark of energy ignited beneath my fingers. It took a moment for me to realize the magnitude of what this gift meant. He was giving me a weapon.
He wasarmingme.
I glanced up at him in surprise. “Ramel…”
“Do you like it?” he asked, his expression serious and intense.
I nodded, biting my lip. “Yes, it’s beautiful. But why?”
“I want you to be able to defend yourself if you need to. You’re protected by the marriage bond, but Yahweh has the power to annul such bonds. If anything happens to Shem or me, I need to know that you’re not defenseless against them. AgainstHim.”
I glanced back down at the blade, still shocked that he had given me adagger,of all things.
“Aren’t you worried I’ll use this against you?” I asked before I could stop myself.
Fuck, Lilith. He’s going to chain you back up for sure…
Wincing, I glanced up at him but found he was just watching me carefully. He raised an elegant eyebrow in a way only the paranormal could.
“ShouldI be worried that you will use it against me?” he asked, his voice so low I felt it in my bones. I swallowed and gave him the only answer that wouldn’t lose me all my newfound privileges.
“No, of course not.”
He held my gaze for a long moment. There was no amusement in his eyes, no quirk to his mouth. He didn’t need to tell me what would happen if I tried to use the weapon against him. Remembering how disappointed he had been when I tried to run away with Art, I shuddered. Somehow, I didn’t think I would get off so easily if I tried to stab him.
Finally, he softened and manifested what looked like a thigh sheath. He took the dagger out of the box and slipped it into the brown leather sheath before handing it to me, hilt first.
“This blade is made of Aetherium. It has the power to cut both angelic and demonic flesh the same way steel cuts the flesh of mortals. Until Yahweh invented the scepters, Aetherium was the only known way to unmake immortals. Wounds inflicted by Aetherium take a long time to heal, and they scar. Very few weapons have ever been made with it for this reason. You’re holding one of only four blades ever crafted.”
My eyes widened at the magnitude of what had just been divulged. Onlyfour?I glanced down at the weapon, my heart hammering in my chest. I couldn’t believe he was giving this to me.
“I don’t even know how to use something like this,” I whispered.
“I’ll teach you. We’ll get up an hour or two earlier each day, and I’ll show you a few things. We don’t have enough time to turn you into an assassin by any means, but I can show you a few quick and easy moves that might come in handy if you have the element of surprise.”
“Thank you,” I breathed. He reached out and curled a finger under my chin, tilting my head up to face him.
