Page 104 of In Between Death and the Devil

Fen stalked past him, disappearing into the hall without a word.

Leaning weakly against the desk, a potent mixture of shame, fear and anger roared in my veins. I was surprised I wasn’t glowing like a lantern, but my magic was quiet. I regretted probing Fen’s emotions through our bond; I hated that he was right about my need for certainty, and I still wanted to know what he was keeping from me, why he was being so cagey about it. We were supposed to trust each other. The literal realm depended on it.

“Lovers’ quarrel?” Titus asked, stepping inside.

“Something like that,” I grumbled, rubbing my forehead. It wasn’t even noon yet and all I wanted to do was crawl into bed and try to forget what had happened. Instead, I gave Titus an abbreviated version of the last hour. I left out the part about trying to pry Fen’s real emotions out of him. I was practically shouting by the end.

Titus looked at me thoughtfully, as if assessing what I needed. I expected judgment or a stream of questions, but instead all he said was: “Want to do something to take your mind off it?”

“If it involves using my powers, no.” I felt far too raw for that.

“It won’t. I promise.” He ushered me towards the door.

“What do you have in mind?”

“You’ll see.” His smile was bright and a bit mischievous. “It’ll make you feel better.”

I didn’t argue, just followed him out of Fen’s office. His concern was touching, but I wasn’t sure anything could make me feel better. Not until I figured out what was going on with Fen.

CHAPTER 28

“You have to beat it harder. Put your back into it.” Titus demanded.

“I’m trying.” I paused whipping the cream in the bowl in front of me to glare at him. “If it’s so easy for you, why don’t you do it?”

“Because I’m busy with the potatoes.” He scooped the potatoes he’d chopped into a pot of water and set it on the stove. “Come on. We need stiff peaks. Keep going.”

I considered tossing the contents of the bowl in his face but thought better of it when he arched one eyebrow at me with an expression that said try it. “You still haven’t told me what we’re making.”

“I said it’s a surprise, but it won’t be if I tell you what it is.”

With a sigh, I went back to whipping.

We were in a corner of the kitchens, a massive space near the center of the castle on the ground floor. While the equipment was familiar in shape, it was unlike anything I’d seen in the World of the Living. All-black metal that looked a lot like hardened shadows, flames of pink and blue instead of orange and yellow—it should have made the room feel dark and ominous, but it didn’t. Instead, it looked elegant against light stone floors and walls, the only room I’d seen where the walls weren’t mostly shadows. Clustered balls of light bathed everything in a warm glow, making it inviting.

Tempters bustled around, fixing lunch. All the tasks in Fen’s castle were handled communally on a rotating basis, with everyone taking turns helping to prepare food, tend the gardens, clean, and do laundry, except for Titus who I learned always found someone who wasn’t Daphne or Marcus to switch with him.

Titus had taken me first to a series of interconnected greenhouses, much like the ones in Death’s castle, where he’d shoved a basket into my arms. I’d followed him through the rows of beds growing all manner of produce and herbs. At least they looked familiar. Titus had explained that everything in the In Between was a facsimile of things in the World of the Living. Our bodies were not the same as the ones we’d had when we were alive, and these plants weren’t the same as their real-life counterparts. They offered us a similar experience, which helped us stay connected to what it was like to be human, but if you looked closely at them, they were just a little different. Like the apples that were a little too brightly colored or the herbs that almost glittered when they were cut.

We’d collected an armful of vegetables and herbs before Titus led me to the kitchens where he commandeered a stove, oven, sink and counter space for us in one corner with ease. Everyone knew him, and it was immediately clear that he was comfortable in the space.

“Cooking relaxes me,” he said with a shrug when I asked if he spent a lot of time here.

It may have taken his mind off things, but it didn’t have the same effect on me. No matter how much I chopped or stirred or whipped I couldn’t stop thinking about my fight with Fen. How he’d refused to talk about Talia, dismissing the fact that they’d slept together—Gods, I hated that—as unimportant, even though she’d been a Tempter and was now a Judge. I’d been so focused on what he was keeping from me, I hadn’t asked him how that was possible.

My eyes flicked to Titus across the counter. He’d said nothing when I told him what had happened, but he hadn’t been surprised. “Did you know Talia when she was a Tempter?”

Titus froze. He stood at the stove, his back to me. “Yes.” He fiddled with the burner on the stove before turning to me. “She was a part of Fen’s inner circle with Daphne, Marcus and me a few decades after he took over as Devil.” He grimaced, as if the memory caused him pain.

I stopped whipping, my stomach knotting. That meant Talia had known Fen in a deeper way than she would have from just sleeping with him. “Do you know what happened between them?”

Titus’s jaw clenched. He looked into my bowl. “I’ll finish that.” He reached across the counter and took it from me. Then he slid a knife, a bundle of herbs and a clean bowl towards me. “Chop these as fine as you can manage, we want a paste consistency, and I’ll tell you what I know.”

With a nod, I reached for the herbs. They had a familiar citrus smell that had my shoulders relaxing a fraction. I started chopping, trying to keep my fingers away from the sharp edge.

“Talia arrived in the In Between a couple of years ahead of me,” Titus said, expertly whipping the cream he’d taken over in small, smooth strokes. “Daphne and Marcus were already here and working closely with Fen. When I was brought into the circle, Talia had been with them for a few years. They were close, like a family. It was nice at first, being part of that, but the dynamics changed when I joined them.”

He set the bowl down and turned to the pot on the stove. “Marcus and I had been lovers for over a year at that point. Daphne got involved first with me and then with Marcus. I think Talia felt left out.”