Page 27 of Crazy as Hell

She hadn’t mentioned it, but since he had access to her mind now, she hadn’t had to say it out loud.

“Did we mess it up somehow?”

He chuckled. “No, my little pessimist. Usually, it doesn’t take much to complete the bond, but we exchanged a lot of magic. Perhaps that is why it is brighter.”

“If you had a shadow of the mark in this life because of my magic, do you think the mark will still be there in the next cycle?”

He ran his fingers through her wet hair under the gentle cascade of water while he considered that. “Maybe. We might have to activate it again before it works, though.”

“That makes sense. Let’s hope we don’t have to prove that soon.”

She stroked her hands up and down his back, surreptitiously searching for any indication of where his wings expanded from. She had always admired angels and shifters for being able to transform. It seemed like such a cool ability. She really wanted to see his wings in all their glory, but it seemed impolite to simply ask him to whip them out for her viewing pleasure.

He smiled. “Would you like me to release them?”

She did, but not in the shower.

That would just be weird.

“Later. So, you are a dark angel? That must mean you personally know Lucifer, right?” After he nodded, she said, “I figured he might be a good person to ask about my situation. I’ve been trying to get in contact with him for several cycles now, but haven’t managed it yet. He’s a difficult supernatural to pin down, and when I actually managed to arrange an introduction, I ended up dying before we had a chance to meet. I took that as a sign to avoid him.”

“Maybe it simply wasn’t the right time. Lucifer would be particularly interested in meeting a new goddess who is trapped in a death loop.”

Startled, she blinked at him. “A new goddess?”

He slowly nodded. “There is no doubt that you have god powers.”

“But…but…how can that be? I was just a witch before!”

“That was before.”

Okay, that was fair enough. A lot had changed since her original death date. But her, a god? The very notion of that seemed laughable. If he said she had god powers, she believed him. Still, she wasn’t sure if she was comfortable with that particular title.

“That means you have god powers too now, right?”

Grinning, he nodded. “Yes, thank you for that. Perhaps we should go visit Lucifer soon since he is already on your list. He might have some insight into your…should we call it a curse?”

“That’s accurate enough. He’s on my list. I usually write out a journal of important things I learned in previous cycles. I include a list of people I wanted to meet, and notes on the key individuals I’ve already connected with.”

“That sounds very helpful.”

“It can be. When you’ve lived as many lifetimes as I have, it gets hard to keep everything straight. But I didn’t get a chance this time since I was kind of in a hurry to make sure I found you before Sybil carted you away to her dungeon.”

“My savior,” he murmured, leaning down to press his lips against hers.

Smiling into the kiss, Naomi wrapped her arms around his neck and decided talking about her curse could wait. They made love under a cascade of hot water, their slick bodies moving in unison. Once they were done, she shoved him out of the shower so she could wash her hair and finish boiling under the hot water in peace.

“Don’t worry. I haven’t slipped and died in the shower in a long time.”

“By the gods, I don’t want to think about that,” he moaned weakly as he wrapped a towel around his waist. “I’m going to have to wrap you up in cotton.”

Peaking around the half stone wall that separated the shower from the rest of the bathroom, she called out, “You know, I was strangled to death with a scarf once when one of the ends got caught in the elevator door.”

Viktor groaned at her antics as he left the bathroom to get dressed. He wasn’t sure his heart could take any more of her dark humor at the moment. Not when the nightmare he’d just had was still lingering in his head. He was going to have to get used to it, though. The fact that she could laugh about what she’d been through was a testament to her perseverance.

Dressed in a soft black shirt and matching pants, he laid out a similar outfit on the bed for Naomi before making his way down to the kitchen to prepare the meal she had been craving. Of course, it only took a few seconds using his magic, but it was the thought that counted.

He recalculated the amount of food to prepare when he felt guests arrive on the beach. Since only his close friends knew how to find his island and where to arrive in order to avoid the countless safeguards he had in place, he wasn’t worried. He relaxed as soon as he sensed exactly who was walking toward the villa.