Page 33 of Crazy as Hell

That made him laugh. “No, I want you to eat the fruit so it will help you stay alive until we can find a way to make you whole.”

She nodded. “That works for me.”

“Hold onto me, mate,” he said out loud. “Let me take you for a ride.”

Naomi wrapped her arms around his waist and gasped in delight when he released his majestic black wings. He spread his wings wide, letting them fan the air until they were lifted right off their feet. It only took a few seconds to fly over to the island, but it was enough to lighten her mood.

As soon as their feet touched down on the ground, she reached out and stroked her hand over his wing. She felt it flutter beneath her palm, and smiled up at him.

“That was awesome.”

“I will take you flying any time you wish.”

“I’ll hold you to that.”

Taking his hand in hers, she walked with him toward the Tree of Life. It was far bigger up close, and as they disappeared under the canopy, she felt a pleasant warmth surrounding her.

“How do I do this?”

“I think you should just be honest. Explain why we need it, and ask it for a piece of fruit.”

Staring up at the tree, she took a deep breath before saying, “Hello, Tree. My name is Naomi Locke, and this is my mate, Viktor Ze. I’m here to ask you to grant me a piece of fruit to help prevent me from dying again.”

She felt a little silly, but began telling the tree her entire story. She’d only been speaking for a minute or two when the tree began to glow brighter, and a large luminous piece of fruit lowered itself in front of her.

Wide-eyed, she glanced over at her mate. “Does that mean it approves? Is it really giving it to me?”

He stroked a hand over her hair. “Perhaps it is simply bribing you to stop talking.” He laughed lightly when she elbowed him in the side. “Hold your hands out, love.”

Naomi did as he suggested, and the large piece of fruit fell into her waiting hands. Stunned, she stared down at it in awe. She felt honored by the gift bestowed upon her.

“Thank you,” she whispered to the tree.

“Go ahead. Try it.”

Lifting it, she held the piece of fruit between them. “We should both eat it.”

He smiled. “To life.”

“To life.”

Together, they took a bite, and for the first time, Naomi finally felt real hope for the future.

Chapter Eleven

Several months later…

“Let me see if I understand this correctly. You are stuck in a death loop that keeps you dying over and over again because your dad accidentally killed you, then he stuck your soul in a jar in order to try to bring you back to life,” Braxton Lightbringer, Prince of Hell and the newly appointed God of Souls, recapped.

Naomi nodded. “Pretty much.”

“The soul in the jar is actually from a different lifetime,” Viktor reminded helpfully.

Naomi realized she was gripping his hand too tight, and slowly relaxed her grip a little. She’d told her story to dozens of people over the past several months, so she should have been used to it. But for some reason, she was nervous as hell. Probably because she had never imagined sitting across the table from the God of Souls, his mate, Devon, who was known as the Goddess of Technology, and Lucifer, the King of Hell himself.

No matter how many times Viktor had tried to reassure her that everything would be fine, she wasn’t convinced. She couldn’t think of the dark god most people within the six realms feared as just her mate’s old friend.

Even though she was a powerful goddess herself now, she still had trouble thinking of herself as being on the same level as other gods. Because of that, she usually liked to avoid them. Part of that was the survival instinct. She had died far too many times to simply ignore danger.