Page 12 of In Between Death and the Devil

“Pull your shoulders back so you’re not hunched over.” The voice was deep and commanding and male.

I latched onto it and tried to do as he said. The pressure in my chest eased a little.

“Good. Now, I’m going to count and you’re going to breathe in for four.” He was firm as I shook my head. “Do it. One. Two. Three. Four.”

I struggled to follow his instructions but the breath I managed was deeper than any I’d taken in minutes.

“Now breathe out for four. Slowly. One. Two. Three. Four.”

My body obeyed his commands.

“Good. Again.” He stood with me, counting as I breathed, until my pulse stopped racing and I was steady on my feet. “There you go.”

I looked into his face and my lips parted. The noise from the party faded until I could only hear my breath and the blood rushing in my ears. “It’s you.”

The man from my vision had his hands on my arms, brushing small soothing circles on my bare skin with his thumbs. He looked exactly as I remembered. Brown eyes with gold flecks that swirled through his irises, regarded me steadily. Almost a head taller than me, his dark curly hair was short and perfectly tousled, while his beard was neatly trimmed and his sleeveless tunic showcased his broad shoulders and muscled arms. I was momentarily mesmerized by the way they minutely flexed as his fingers moved. This close they looked even larger than they had before. He looked like he had the kind of strength to hold anything. Even me.

Something stirred in my chest, along with hope and dread. I’d never had a vision where someone didn’t die before, and I didn’t understand what it meant that I’d seen him. Were we connected somehow? Now that he was standing in front of me, I could ask him. My fear of him responding in anger because of the pain he’d felt faded as he smiled, eyebrows raised as if waiting for me to elaborate.

I searched his gaze, looking for a spark of recognition, but there wasn’t one. My stomach sank. He had no idea who I was or what I was talking about. My vision must have been one-sided, which left me more confused than ever.

My face heated. “Sorry. You look like someone I used to know,” I lied. “I got disoriented with the panic and all. Thank you for your help.” If he hadn’t seen what I saw, I wasn’t going to tell him about it. Visions were never a good thing, even here.

“My pleasure. I’m glad you’re okay.” He let me go and I had to stop myself from swaying forward, chasing his warmth.

Instead, I nodded. “The party. It’s a lot.”

He nodded. “I can relate. They’re not my thing.”

“Not mine either.” The tension in my shoulders eased. “Not a fan of castle colors?” He was wearing all black, so I couldn’t tell which castle he belonged to.

“Black makes it easier to blend in up here, so I can avoid all of that.” He gestured at a group of Tempters below.

“The party or the Tempters?”

“Both.”

“So, you’re a Judge?”

“I judge souls, yes.” He looked amused and my shoulders relaxed further.

“I’ll have to remember the all-black trick for next time.”

The smile he gave me made my stomach flutter in a way it hadn’t since Colt.

I dropped my gaze as the butterflies turned to lead. Nothing good came from that feeling. Needing space, I walked to the balcony railing to consider my next move. The party looked just as wild from up here as it had in the middle of it.

“Something besides the party is troubling you.” The man in black joined me at the railing but stood a respectful distance away.

“Is it that obvious?”

“Yes.”

I huffed a laugh at his frankness. “I don’t understand how people can lose themselves like this,” I nodded to the crowd below, “after what we’ve been through. What we’re here to do.”

“Some seek the oblivion of pleasure because they can’t face it yet. There’s no shame in that.”

“Maybe because they have nothing to be ashamed of.” My words were quiet enough I didn’t think he’d hear me, but he did.