Page 166 of In Between Death and the Devil

He immediately threaded his fingers through mine.

Alec frowned, but he nodded his head respectfully. “It’s an admirable wish, but we don’t have the resources. With the new rubric, it’s all we can do to judge souls. We can barely manage the trainees we have now.”

After the challenge, I announced there would be a new method for judging souls. Much like when Fen had ascended, we lost a quarter of my Judges, all electing to go to their final rest in the After instead of serving under me. It meant the remaining Judges had more souls to weigh. We’d been using Tempters to fill the gap, but those Judges that remained were resistant.

I understood. We’d all been running ourselves ragged trying to keep things going. Trying to change things was hard when it was all we could do to keep up with the flow of souls, but it needed to happen. Otherwise, it never would.

“All the more reason for us to change our training program.” My tone was mild, but my expression was not.

“I still don’t understand how Tempters are going to train Judges,” Alec said.

I bit back a retort. We’d had this same conversation ten times at this point.

“You don’t have to,” Daphne said. “You’re in charge of weighing souls.”

“What if the new Judges aren’t up to the task?”

Fen’s thumb began to draw circles on the back of my hand. The movement went straight to my nipples, which hardened in anticipation and made me ready to be done with the conversation.

“Alec,” I said, my voice sharp. “Have you changed your mind? About staying?”

“No.” He looked stricken at my question.

“Then you need to trust us. If there are issues with our new systems, we’ll deal with them. But this is happening.”

“Of course.” He bowed his head again.

“How many servants have expressed interest?” I asked.

“Three quarters of them,” Bea said, looking at the list in her hand. “The rest are happy where they are.”

“I’ll meet with them tomorrow,” Daphne said.

“Is that everything?” I asked, anxious to be done.

“Yes.” Daphne and Bea gave us a knowing look as they ushered Alec out of the room.

Fen pulled me in the direction of our rooms, but I resisted.

“Wait. How are your cravings?” I hadn’t had a chance to ask him that yet today, and I didn’t want to miss my chance.

His expression went somber, and shame and anxiety buzzed in our bond, like they always did when we talked about his addiction. “They’re manageable. Three out of ten.”

I nodded. I could sense when they got bad through our bond, but I always asked him rather than assume. In order for us to help him, he had to willingly participate. He no longer siphoned pain from souls at all, but on the days he rated his craving over five out of ten, he stayed out of the Dungeon completely. Even though we were short-handed. We all agreed; the temptation wasn’t worth it.

“Thank you.” I squeezed his hand. Talking about it was never easy. I was proud of both of us that we didn’t shrink from it. “Come. I have something to show you.”

His brow furrowed, but he followed me across the room. “Did you have any trouble moving our furniture?”

“No. Everything’s in place.” Lifting my skirts, I pulled him up the stairs to the balcony. “Titus and Marcus put the new Training Room in order, so you’ll be able to pummel each other to your heart’s content.”

“As long as you and I can christen it first.”

I laughed. “Don’t tell Titus and Marcus that.”

“What they don’t know won’t hurt them. Besides, Titus would probably insist they get to take a turn with Daphne if I did.”

When we reached the top, Fen drew me back against him, his arm banding across my waist as he nuzzled a spot behind my ear that he knew made me go molten. “And our bedroom?”