Page 37 of Beasts of Shadows #1

It still jolts me, even now—the sight of him alive and well after years of knowing I killed him.

He’s leaning against the gatepost, arms folded, shirtsleeves rolled to the elbows, collar undone just enough to be infuriating. His dark eyes meet mine—steady, unreadable.

He straightens when I stop walking.

“Nari.”

The sound of my name on his lips still does strange things to me. I can’t help it. I remember everything—his hands, his breath, the way he used to say it like a promise.

But I can’t move. Not yet.

Because he’s still looking at me. Not like a god. Not like a professor. Just… him. The boy I loved.

“Mornin’, Mutt,” he says, voice low and familiar—too familiar.

Then he leans in and presses a kiss to the side of my neck.

I freeze.

It’s unexpectedly erotic, especially when his teeth graze that sensitive spot over my pulse.

A sharp inhale escapes me before I can stop it. Deities, I’m melting.

My brain catches up a breath too late.

“You’re in an interesting mood,” I say, hoping I don’t sound completely breathless.

His smile is crooked, unreadable. “Old habits.”

“Down, Professor Hot Bod,” Cat chirps.

“I’ll catch up to you guys later.”

“Lame.”

I wait until they’re gone before facing Ravi. He’s smiling—playful, familiar—like the boy he was, not the god he became.

I ruffle his curls.

“You need a haircut.”

“It’s not nearly as long as it was that last year of middle school,” he retorts, catching my hand midair and pressing a kiss to my palm.

It’s a small gesture, but devastatingly precise.

Old Ravi wouldn’t have bothered with something so simple. But this Ravi—this god —seems to understand exactly how to unravel a woman.

I know I should bring it up—the conversation he had with Nikolai. The warning. The way he inserted himself into something that wasn’t his business.

But… not right now.

He’s smiling like he used to, all crooked confidence and easy charm. Like I didn’t leave him floating in the river. Like he’s not the reason everything got so complicated.

And maybe I should be angry. Maybe I should call him out.

But gods, it’s been a long week.

And it’s so easy to slip into the rhythm of him—this version of him, warmer, bolder, with that divine edge that makes everything feel a little more dangerous.

So I let it go.

“To what do I owe such a delightful greeting?” I wonder. “For the record, you’re a much better boyfriend when we’re not together.”

Ravi chuckles, low and unbothered. “That’s because you don’t expect anything from me now.”

I raise a brow. “I think very few people expect to be bitten in public by the reclusive Strategic Warfare and Ethics professor. Not very ethical of you, by the way.”

He shrugs. “Fair. I’ve spent quite a bit of time outside my lair, now that you know the truth.”

Gods, he’s impossible. And far too good at this.

“Seriously,” I say, softening despite myself. “What’s with the mood?”

His smile lingers, but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “Can’t I just be happy to see you?”

“Old Ravi would’ve smacked my ass without even offering me half his granola bar.”

“Not true. Sometimes I offered crumbs.”

“You had zero boundaries.”

He takes a step back, but his thumb brushes his lower lip—like he remembers the feel of mine there.

“And you liked me anyway.”

I pretend not to hear that part.

Why is he being so flirty? Surely he doesn’t expect us to pick up wherever we left off—after I killed him and all.

“Something’s different.”

A beat of silence. His gaze flickers past me, like he’s weighing whether to say something or bury it.

I decide to go first.

“Picca mentioned that some of the Shadow Realm crew want Thantos to take over when Calea’s gone.”

That kills his vibe. The teasing fades like mist, and what’s left behind is sharper. Older. A god.

“I saw a prophecy last night,” I say. “It said Thantos can’t be freed until three seals are broken.”

Ravi tangles his fingers into his hair, looking out over the stone fence separating the academic and training schools.

“Is there a question?”

“Was your curse the second seal?”

He hesitates, forces a dry chuckle.

“Yes.”

The word is dragged unwillingly from his lips.

“So the first seal—.”

“A demigod has been born. Yes. Sometime before you killed me. I don’t know who—or if it even matters. It was long before I remembered who I was. But Calea has spies everywhere. You can’t just blurt this out like it’s gossip at brunch.”

“What are you, sixty?”

“Seventy. My wisdom keeps me sexy.”

Despite my teasing, I puzzle through it. I’d assumed we didn’t have to worry about Thantos yet.

“Well, clearly it’s Nikolai.” I cross my arms, ignoring the way Ravi’s jaw tightens. “He and his ‘mom’ look too much alike for it to be a coincidence.”

“Perhaps,” he says, too quickly. Then adds, with a tight shrug, “But I really don’t think it matters who the demigod is. Just that there’s fresh divinity in the realm. It means change is coming.”

I don’t miss the flicker in his voice. The way he talks about Nikolai like he’s a curse he’s trying not to spit.

“What about Thantos’ bride? That’s the last part, right? She kills Calea?”

Ravi doesn’t answer right away. His gaze drops to the moss-covered stones beneath our feet. For a moment, I think he’s going to dodge the question. Pretend he didn’t hear me.

But then he sighs—low and tired—and drags a hand down his face.

“That’s the theory.”

“You don’t sound convinced.”

“It’s prophecy,” he mutters. “A bunch of useless nonsense that no one understands for sure until it’s too late.”

“But you believe it’s true.”

He doesn’t meet my eyes. “I believe the seals are real. I know Thantos is bound, and when those seals break, something unstoppable will wake up.”

“And the bride?”

Another pause. Then, quietly:

“I believe she’s already here.”

The words send a chill down my spine, even in the early morning light.

I laugh—because the alternative is letting it sink in. “You can’t possibly think it’s me.”

His silence says everything.

“You do,” I breathe.

“I don’t want to,” he says, voice tight. “Gods, Nari. I don’t want to.”

Something hot and sick coils in my chest. “But?”

“You killed me to break the second. Thantos is the god of death . Buried in the sea. You basically sacrificed me to him. And all the material I’ve read suggests the third seal must be broken by Calea’s daughter, which Bea was.”

I take a step back, pulse thudding. “That’s not fate. That’s coincidence.”

“Is it?”

His voice is too soft. Too careful.

“Nari, please—just do your training, keep your head down, stay alive.” His throat works as he swallows. “You don’t have to solve this. Let someone else carry it.”

“Have you even known me to let things go?”

“A man can dream.”

He leans in again—but this time, there’s no kiss. Just a gentle brush of his forehead against mine, like a goodbye he doesn’t want to speak out loud.

“I’ll see you around, Mutt.”

And then he’s gone, coat flaring behind him, shadows folding around his footsteps like they were always waiting.

I stand alone at the gates, breath catching on the edge of something I don’t have the words for.

Maybe I am the third seal.

But if they want to use me to wake Death?

They’ll have to survive me first.