Page 40 of In Between Death and the Devil

The bridge hadn’t just cracked. If they hadn’t intervened, it would have been destroyed.

“Can anything be done to stop it?” I asked.

“I’m working on something that should rebalance things, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to finish. We’re running out of time, much faster than I thought.” She scrubbed her face with her hands, the most human gesture I’d seen her make.

I felt the blood drain from my face. “What do you mean?”

“Cracks have been appearing around the castles for decades, slowly increasing in frequency and size, but this is the first time the realm has threatened to come apart. The bridge is more than a passageway between buildings. It links our purposes. If that link were to be severed, the realm could shatter. That didn’t happen because the Devil’s power increased again. Something has changed and thrown the realm more out of balance.” She fixed her gaze on me. “Something new.”

It took everything I had not to freeze or blanch, to keep my expression the right blend of horrified, curious, and confused. Even as I wanted to sink into the ground.

I was something new. Me and my curse. Or powers. I couldn’t deny the possibility that that was what they were after how they’d responded on the bridge. Because a human soul with the powers of a god should not exist. If that’s what I was, it made sense that I could tip the scales of the In Between even further out of balance. Enough to almost destroy it.

Except, the idea that I could have something like Death’s powers seemed so far-fetched. I’d never heard of such a thing. Maybe I didn’t have powers, and my curse was something else entirely, and it was just a coincidence that this was happening not long after I’d arrived in the In Between. Doubt wormed its way in, and I seized it. I didn’t want to be the problem. I wanted there to be another explanation.

The Devil knew something. I was sure of it. Tonight, I’d demand he tell me. And pray there was a way to fix it.

Death’s gaze on me didn’t falter, and my already shaky confidence wavered. Did she think it was me? The Devil was sure she didn’t know about my curse, but I wasn’t so sure.

“Do you know what it is? What’s new?” My mouth was dry as a desert.

“No.”

My hand gripped the counter behind me to keep me upright.

“I will find out. And I will take care of it. I will see the In Between balanced again, no matter what it takes.” The finality in her tone made me shiver.

CHAPTER 12

Titus found me in my room later that night.

I’d been pacing, trying to relieve the tension that had plagued me all day.

“Something has changed and thrown the realm more out of balance. Something new.”

“I will find out. And I will take care of it.”

My throat tightened. If I’d doubted before that I was on borrowed time, Death’s words confirmed it. Even if by some miracle she didn’t sniff me out and end me herself, the In Between was unraveling, putting all the realms in danger.

I was cursed, regardless of what the Devil thought. I just wish I knew why. What had I done in a past life to deserve this?

When Titus opened the door, my stomach dropped. “No. He can’t cancel.” I strode forward, shoving my finger in Titus’s chest. “I need to see him tonight.”

“You will.” Titus held up his hands. “He sent me to change the meeting place.”

“Oh.” My shoulders lowered. That was sensible, given what had happened on the bridge earlier. “Where?”

“The Great Hall of our castle. Same time.”

I nodded and stepped back. “Thanks.”

“You’re a fiery one, aren’t you?” He cocked his head as he looked at me, his blond hair glinting in the firelight.

I bristled. “You know nothing about me.”

“I didn’t mean it as a bad thing. Fire equals passion, and you know what they say about passionate people.” His eyebrows flicked upwards in a suggestive manner.

I rolled my eyes. “They make great partners in the bedroom?”