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Her brow creases, but it doesn’t take long for the understanding to strike her too. “A few days ago. You think Elora arriving in the Shadow Realm and the change are linked?”
I climb the narrow stairs two at a time, annoyed to find Kaia waiting for me on the landing at the top.
“I think I want to find out.”
“She needs rest. She’s still recovering. Can’t this wait a few days?”
She holds my gaze for a long beat before ultimately relenting and stepping to the side. I wave my hand in front of the door. It shimmers as the wards dissolve, and then a set of three locks thunk open.
“Mind your manners,” she says before following me inside.
Elora isn’t in bed as I expect to find her. Instead she’s across the room, digging through the wardrobe. Gowns and cloaks and stockings and gloves strewn over the floor in her haste to find whatever it is she’s searching for.
Her brown hair is twisted into a thick braid hanging down her back to her waist, and when she spins to face me, her hand goes to her thigh, making me wonder if she usually has a weapon strapped there. Her eyes are defiant, her jaw set and determined. Neither of which I should find attractive.
I have the fleeting image of her underneath me and begging for more, but I banish it because she is the exact kind of tempting distraction I cannot afford right now.
Her gaze flits from me to Kaia and back, and she turns fully to face me when I stop in the center of the room.
“Redecorating?”
“I’m looking for my things. I want to leave.”
“You need rest,” Kaia says from behind me, drawing Elora’s gaze over my shoulder. “You still have healing to do yet.”
“I’m not taking your potion. I have no idea what’s in it.”
Kaia sighs. “It’s a healing drought with a little valerian root to help you sleep. We’re not going to hurt you.”
Shaking her head in disbelief, Elora crosses her arms over her chest and takes a step back, raking me with a frosty glare.
“I can’t stay here. I have responsibilities. My cabin, my horse. She must be frantic.”
I bark out a laugh. “It’s a horse. I’m sure it’s wandered off to find someone else to feed it by now.”
Elora’s mouth thins into a hard line. “My mistake in thinking the God of Death knows how to care for the living.”
“I’ll be sure your horse is seen to,” Kaia promises before I can hurl back a retort.
The silence in the room grows thick, and before I can stop myself, I give in to the desire to be alone with Elora.
“Get out, Kaia.”
Kaia hesitates, but ultimately her obedience is signaled by a ripple of power on the air. Elora drags wide eyes back to my face, but she doesn’t retreat from me when I take a step closer.
“You can’t keep me here.” Her chin ticks up in a show of defiance, and I find the simple act far more enticing than I want to.
“You are mistaken, little one.”
I unfurl my power by degrees. The familiar warmth of it wends slowly through my body until it fills every inch of me. Elora’s eyes drop to my feet and the black smoke that curls around my legs. Her face remains neutral, but she takes a single step back. Wise.
“I am the God of Death, and this is my realm. I can do whatever the fuck I please.”
Her green eyes are intent on mine, and her throat bobs when she swallows.
“What do you want from me?”
I reach out with my power and envelop her in it, propelling her forward until she is close enough to touch. But I don’t. I can’t. Not yet.
