As she should. I’m lying through my fucking teeth.
In all honesty, I already told her what brought me here:her.When we were at Morgenstern Manor, I planted a tracker on her. I’d been so enraptured by her undiluted desire to kiss me, I nearly forgot to dropthe tiny device in her jacket pocket. Since then, I’ve been obsessively monitoring her location. When I saw she was here, I left work early and blew through every red light to shave the hour-long ride in half. Haunted the whole time by the entwined memories of her being choked to death and getting her skull slammed into a wall.
But she doesn’t need to know any of that.
Shrugging off her suspicion, I step closer and steal her vape to break her concentration. A decadent crimson flushes her cheeks as she watches me drag deep and breathe lavender smoke in her face. Satisfied to have dodged her interrogation, I pass the vape back and lean against a casket across from her.
“So, what now?”
“I don’t know.” Poppy plucks a skull from the shelf beside her and drags her knife through the layers of dirt crusted on the bone. “The way I see it, we’re at another dead end.”
I nod, having no words of comfort to offer. She knows she’s on the wrong side of a losing battle. Nothing will change that except the death of her invisible foe.
“What are those symbols?” She taps her own knuckles, where ink is mirrored on mine. “Are they runes? Nordic?”
“…You’re asking me about my tattoos?”
“I’m sorry, is that not allowed? Are we limited to talking only about my life deteriorating into an absolute shitshow? Or can we take a mental break for one fucking moment while we’re cramped in with the dead and talk about something mundane?”
I smear a palm over my smile, amused by her fire that never banks. “Put the teeth away,Petit Diable.They’re Gothic, not Nordic.”
“Do they mean something? A prayer for heavenly protection? A secret phrase to a holy ritual?”
“Why the hell would they be either of those things?”
“You’re kidding, right?” She drops to her feet and hooks a finger beneath the sleeve of my jacket, tugging it up to reveal the weeping angel surrounded by laughing demons. “You’recoveredin biblical beings. No one does that to themselves without a reason.”
“People get full bodysuits with no meaning all the time.”
She drums her knife on the skull with an expectant pout.
I sigh through my nose. “The right spells wrath. The left, pride.”
“Two of the seven deadly sins. Sounds like there’s a story behind them.”
“Oui:What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”
“I see.” Poppy sets the skull aside and lifts a hand between us, skimming her palm over my chest. I don’t make a move to stop her, letting her touch me as my heart thunders in my throat. Her hand halts just atop that raging beast, her skin as warm as hot coals. “What about the angels and demons?”
“An ode to my mother’s passion for the ethereal and the everlasting juxtaposition between heaven and hell. Two sides of the same coin.”
“Good and evil?”
“Paradise and punishment.”
Poppy nods, tracing the designs with a fingernail. She could so easily fist my shirt and yank me down to her. I could frame her face with my hands and kiss her like I’ve wanted for too damn long. Apologize for saying what I have to the contrary, show her how much I regret knifing her with my words over and over again.
I wouldn’t push her away this time. Not after these months of stumbling through the dark and finding my way only when she’s near. As I watch her peruse my ink with innocent curiosity, I slowly realize that I’d risk it. I’d risk becoming the person I used to be. She’s worth every last drop of that danger.
A tightening knot of want writhes in my core, urging me to take the plunge.
“When did you get them?” Poppy glances up at me from beneath long lashes. “Before or after Salem?”
Suspicion curls its claws into my skull. I know she craves the pieces of my past that I have yet to give. But there’s a reason I haven’t indulged; Dantë wasn’t lying when he said Margot was frightened by our history in this world’s underbelly.
“I applaud your attempt at seduction, but you’re sorely mistaken if you think I’m dumb enough to fall for it.”
She scoffs, confirming my hunch. “You haven’t once attempted to hide your familiarity with Leviathan. Now would be a good time to share with the class.”
