Page 71 of In Between Death and the Devil

“You need to push harder, Fen,” Daphne said as I approached. “We’re running out of time. Failure isn’t an option.”

“You’re wrong. Pushing isn’t working.” Fen raked his hands through his hair.

“Then try something else.”

“Maybe I need a minute, Daph. Ever think of that?”

“You’re not—” She broke off when she saw him stiffen.

My heart sank. He’d caught sight of me. I couldn’t blame him for not being happy to see me after how we’d left things.

“Do you need something?” he asked. His cold, dark god mask settled over his features, and our bond stayed quiet.

“I have a message for Daphne.” Forcing my feet to move, I stepped into the room and held out Death’s note.

Daphne grimaced but accepted it, cracking open the seal and unfolding it. It bore an asterisk next to Daphne’s name, indicating it required an immediate answer.

“Anything else?” he asked when I didn’t leave.

I licked my lips. “I need to talk to you.”

Daphne looked between us, her eyes bouncing back and forth as she read the mood.

“Alone,” I added when she didn’t move. “Please.”

She looked to Fen for his approval before turning towards the door. “Make it quick. We’ve got a bunch of Judge trainees here. If you stay too long, we’ll need to sneak you out. I’ll wait outside.”

“Thanks.” The fluttering in my stomach turned to churning as the door closed and I faced Fen.

There was no softness in him. No warmth.

I tried not to wilt as I gathered my courage. “I’m sorry. For not trusting you. For demanding proof that I could.”

The tiniest of softening around his eyes spurred me on.

“You were right. It wouldn’t be enough to assuage my doubt, but that has nothing to do with you,” I hastened to add as his lips flattened. “Trusting anyone is hard for me. I expect people not to have good intentions. I don’t even trust myself.”

His shoulders dropped a fraction as understanding crept into his gaze.

“But I want to. I want to try. To learn to trust you.” Heat crept up my neck as I tried to find the words to express myself. “Part of me already does.”

I could hear the pounding of my heart in the silence that fell between us.

His eyes searched mine, as if searching for truth.

I didn’t shrink from his gaze, even though I wanted to, but I knew what he was looking for wasn’t in my face. With a steadying breath, I opened my end of the connection between us and let my feelings flow towards him. It took every ounce of courage I had to stay open and let him feel the mess roiling inside of me.

The understanding on his face turned to acceptance, and my knees nearly buckled in relief.

“Does this mean you’re willing to work with me to take down Death?” he asked.

My mouth went dry at the idea. Working on trusting him was one thing, taking on Death was entirely different. It was like climbing a small hill versus a steep mountain.

His face fell as my emotions hit him.

“I’m not saying no indefinitely. I just…” I swallowed. “I’m not ready for that. It’s⁠—”

A distant scream cut me off.