Page 80 of In Between Death and the Devil

“I fell down the stairs.” I winced as the healer, a woman, sat beside me. “Hurt my back.”

She set a satchel on the floor and rummaged through it, pulling out several vials.

“She was being chased,” Titus said. “Death has ordered she be detained.”

“Why?” Fen asked, his anger rising in our bond.

I glanced at the healer, but all three men nodded at me, indicating it was safe to speak in front of her. “She wanted me to sacrifice my soul to save the In Between. She offered me the judgment of Colt, and I saw—” I hissed as the healer gently pressed on my lower back. Fuck, that hurt.

“Saw what?” Fen’s voice was a low growl.

“She’s the one who hired Colt.” I met Fen’s gaze. “She knows what I am.”

His jaw worked as he took that in.

“I’m going to need you to lift your tunic so I can treat your injury,” the healer said, sorting through her vials.

“Lock the castle down,” Fen said. Shadows wreathed one of his hands.

Titus unbuttoned his shirt, baring his Tempter’s mark over his heart. It was in the shape of a pomegranate crossed with a rod, the Devil’s symbol.

Fen pressed his hand to it, the shadows sinking into the outline.

I heard Marcus hiss at the contact, as if his mark had been affected as well.

“Find Daphne. Escort any Judges out. I’ve sent out a summons to every Tempter. I want a full headcount, all Tempters and trainees accounted for. I wouldn’t put it past Death to capture and hold any of our people in her castle to try and get Maeve back.”

Marcus and Titus looked at each other as they headed for the door, some sort of silent exchange passing between them.

Fen approached the couch. He looked like he wanted to touch me but thought better of it at the last minute. “I’ll give you some privacy.” He followed Marcus and Titus out.

As soon as we were alone, the healer helped me lift my tunic and pull down my pants so she could apply something from one of her vials to my bruise. She also made me swallow a vile-tasting tonic to speed the repair of any internal damage. It only took a few minutes before the pain faded. I stood and took a few steps, still limping.

“You should be able to walk normally by tomorrow. It’ll take a day or so for your bruise to go away, but you shouldn’t have any more pain,” she said. “Don’t drag your back down a flight of stairs again, and you’ll be fine.”

I pressed my lips together so I wouldn’t quip that was exactly what I’d planned to do.

“Take it easy tonight and slow tomorrow. Come see me if the pain comes back.”

Fen slipped back inside as soon as she left, his eyes running over me anxiously.

“The pain’s gone. I’ll be back to normal tomorrow.”

He nodded. “What happened to make you run?”

I told him in detail about my encounter with Death, how she told me she’d figured out a way to bring the In Between back into balance and showed me Colt’s soul. “I looked into his eyes and saw his meeting with the cloaked figure we saw in his Soul Record. It was a Wraith.”

Fen’s hands twitched at that bit of information.

“I saw the contract—the terms and the signature. She offered him better circumstances in his next life if he framed me for his own murder.” I still couldn’t believe the lengths to which Death was willing to go to avoid moving on to the After. Even though I’d seen the effects on the In Between, now it was personal, and that made it somehow more real.

I also couldn’t believe Colt had been willing to die to get what he wanted. Things must have been dire for him to resort to such extreme measures.

“You used your powers to look into his soul,” Fen said.

I nodded. “She realized what I’d done, and that I knew that I’m her Successor. She was going to attack me, but I got away.”

He took two steps forward, as if he wanted to reach for me, and then he stopped himself. His hands fisted at his sides. “I’m not surprised. The things she’s done to stay…”