As I pushed open the door, the last of the night’s moonlight spilling through the window and across his wide desk, outlining it all in rose-tinted silver, and I found myself crossing the room to sit in his leather chair. Clicking on the small lamp revealed a messy desktop strewn with papers. I told myself it wasn’t snooping if I didn’t go through his drawers. Besides, there was enough to read lying right here on top.
Feeling only mildly guilty, I walked my fingers across the file on the desk, but it was nothing terribly interesting, just a case investigating a business partner for fraud. Under that was an invitation printed on expensive black paper for a soul auction, whatever that was. And at the bottom…
My heart lurched to a stop when my eyes fell on a copy ofThe Mischief Dailyat the bottom of the pile. There was a post-it note stuck on it that said:Told you!I’d never paid much attention to the gossip rag, usually displayed at the grocery store checkout, but it was open to a large photo with the headline:Is Valleywood’s Hottest Bachelor Off the Market?The hottest bachelor in question was apparently the district attorney, Rue’s friend Mal. The photo showed the man looking darkly serious in a sexy way in a bespoke suit, but that wasn’t what drew my attention. My eyes were glued to the man he was with. Rue. My mate. Smiling at the DA from across a table where they were sharing an intimate meal.
I scanned the brief article, speculating about the hotshot lawyer’s new beau, seen sharing a cozy breakfast together, “the sexual tension palpable.” I found it hard to swallow. It was probably years old—but when I checked the date on the paper, it was from just last month. My chest got tighter. It was just gossip, that didn’t make it true. Maybe it was AI? It looked real, but what did that even mean these days?
Stomach churning and acid burning the back of my throat, I put it all back the way I’d found it and shuffled back to bed. My mind lingered on the way Rue affectionately called him Mal, how he’d been smiling at him in the magazine photo. Rue had said he didn’t love Mal, and I’d believed him, but that didn’t mean they hadn’t been physical.
I groaned, clenching my eyes tight. Gods, I hated myself so much right now. Why couldn’t I let myself be happy? Just because I’d been betrayed before—again and again—that didn’t mean it would happen now. I needed to trust my mate. He deserved that for how much trust he’d placed in me.
My skin was chilled with a clammy sweat, and as I crawled back under the sheets, Rue rolled over and reached for me without even opening his eyes. “There you are…” he murmured in his sleep, tucking me in against him.
It’s real,I repeated to myself.What we have is real.
I lay there, clinging to his arm draped around my waist, without even bothering to try for sleep. I was still awake half an hour later when there was a knock at the front door. Who would be coming by this early? “Rue?” I whispered, nudging his shoulder. He grunted, so I tried again. “Rue, there’s someone at the door.”
His eyes peeled open, deep green in this dim light, grounding me instantly. “What time is it?”
“Almost six.”
Nodding, he rolled out of bed. “Stay here,” he said, pulling on a pair of sweats. He left the door open just a crack, and I sat up in bed, listening. It wouldn’t be Apate, I reasoned. She wouldn’t bother to knock. But that didn’t mean it was safe.
Through the house, I heard the lock disengage, the door pulled open. Then a murmur of voices. Whoever it was, they didn’t sound angry. More familiar. Intimate, even.
Assuming it was safe, I moved from the bed to the doorway, opening it wide enough that I could stick my head out into the hall and listen.
“…leveled the whole block. Three deaths reported so far, but as firefighters put out the blaze, they’re expecting that number to go up.” I knew that voice. It was Lagamal. He sighed. “We don’t even know where she got the material to make the bomb, but if she has more, things could escalate pretty quickly.”
“Fuck. This is bad, Mal. It seems she isn’t as content as we thought to lie low.”
“No shit,” he murmured tightly, and I pictured the man, his handsome face chiseled with concern. “The police are completely useless against a goddess, and if we’re not careful, you know the government will end up getting involved, which never ends well for the humans caught in the crossfire. Even if we hire supernaturals to deal with her, she’s too hard to track down. We can’t just wait for her to screw up. We need to lure her out somehow, flush her out.”
“How the fuck—?” Ruadan snapped, before wrestling his voice into a harsh whisper. “We don’t even know what she wants!”
“That’s your job,” Lagamal said harshly. “You’re the gods-blessed spy, aren’t you? So prove it.” And in the silence that followed, I could sense the pressure my mate was taking on. The burden of responsibility.
As they said their farewells, I tucked myself back into bed, making myself as small as I could, arms curled around my knees. Apate was a threat. People were dying, and she needed to be stopped.
Ruadan came back to bed and slipped in behind me, tugging me across the mattress to wrap his body around mine. “You should get some more sleep,” he murmured, kissing the back of my neck. “Our baby will take a lot out of you.”
“What did Lagamal have to say?” I asked, inviting a conversation about everything he’d heard.
Instead of sharing the burden with me, though, he said, “Nothing to worry about. Mal and I will handle it. We always do.” If I hadn’t overheard their conversation, I would never have guessed there was anything wrong. His face was relaxed as he ran his hands languidly through my hair.
A practiced liar, I realized with sinking unease.
“You and Lagamal…” I began. “You’ve known each other a long time?”
“Oh, you know, just a millennium or so.”
“And nothing ever… you know, grew between you?”
“What? Like, romantically?” He seemed genuinely confused by my question, and if I hadn’t just seen him lie without blinking, I might’ve felt guilty for even asking. “No, never. What makes you ask that? Feeling a little jealous?”
I let my gaze drift down to his chest where I played with his hair. “I’m sorry, I just… Is it too early in my pregnancy to blame hormones?”
He laughed and pulled me closer. “You can ask anything you like. Always.”
