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“I. Did. Not.”
Her outrage holds not a hint of fear. It’s part of what drew me to her in the first place. Humans resist when a reaper comes for them. They can’t win, but they try. Oh, do they try. Survival instinct combined with terror makes them fight or freeze. But not Hayden. She looked at me as though puzzling out who I was—who Ireallywas.
Not a reaper come to collect her soul.
Not a monster.
But a man.
A mate.
It’s as intoxicating now as it was ten years ago, as it has been every night I’ve visited her and teased her to pleasure in fantasies when I couldn’t in reality. No, I can’t think of how she looks when she comes undone beneath me. Not until we have this dreadful, necessary conversation.
“Does the name Theodopolis mean anything to you?” I ask.
“No.” She scrunches her nose in the most adorable expression. “Wait, Theo? The corporate rep who was here to meet me? He’s a demon?”
“He’s crown prince of the hell dimensions.”
“I knew there had to be something shady about a company calling itself Underworld, but they offered to give a ton of money to charity so I figured how bad could it be? I read the contract in advance, and there was nothing weird.”
“Are you sure it was the same contract that you signed?”
She tenses against me. “No. With the headache…”
“You don’t need to explain.” Spending every night together for ten years means we shared more than sex. We shared secrets. I know this woman as well as I know myself. “He tricked you. That’s what demons do.”
“Butwhy? Why would he need a social media influencer to tell him the history of the house? Why run a contest?”
“To lure you in. It’s my fault, actually,” I admit. “I should have warned you sooner. I would have if I’d had any idea he would dare bring you into this danger.”
“What danger? And how could this be your fault?”
I stay quiet until we reach her van and the wards I set around it before dawn. “See these markings?”
She glances down to the intricate salt, iron, and amethyst design I burned into the ground. “Oh, wow, this was hidden by the fog earlier. A mandala inside a pentagram.” My mate squirms in my shadows, leaning for a closer look, and I have to tighten my hold on her to keep her upright.
Her trust in me is touching, and I vow to myself to spend each day earning it.
“What is it?” she asks.
“It’s a protection ward.”
“Such radial symmetry and geometric harmony. Did you draw this?”
Of course she would be as fascinated by the artistry as she might be by the magical properties. “I did, and as long as you’re inside it, the revenants can’t get to you.”
“I’m in favor of the scary ghost beasts not being able to eat me.”
I tangle a shadow through her hair, letting the silky strands slide over my darkness rather than through it. “They wouldn’t devour you. Although I could go for a taste of you right now.”
She wiggles against me. “Okay, Shadow…” Her eyes go wide, and a flush steals over her brown skin.
“Yes, my beauty?” Because she’s the most beautiful vision—both inside and out—I’ve beheld in the years I’ve roamed between realms. I’ve known it from the first moment we met when I could see the threads of her soul reaching for me, drawing me in.
She sucks in a breath, and gods, how I wish to hear that sweet sound again when I sink between her legs. “I can’t say that out loud,” she mumbles. “I mean, what I call you in my dreams, I don’t know if I can…”
“You did last night in front of the demon.”
