Page 20

Chapter Twenty

Thanatos

M y shadows reacted too late. I found the redhead on the floor covered in blood seconds after her assailant fled. The sensation in the air told me it was Michael. She’d used her power to buy herself time to stab Asha. But it was clear she hadn’t managed to take her soul. Interesting. Was I the only one who could? My vengeance against Michael would be swift, but it wouldn’t change anything.

I was too fucking late to save my little raven.

Her eyes closed before she could entrust her soul with me. Before I could vow myself to her forever. I’d wasted time. I should’ve told her that I loved her. But she slipped away before I could.

Her soul lifted away from her lifeless form, glowing the way the ones marked for more were. But I couldn’t be sure what that mark entailed. Even the Horsemen weren’t sure how Counter Souls served their purpose. Typically, the ones that glowed the way she did were headed for Heaven. If I touched her, she could be swept away by an angel. Or she could be delivered to start the apocalypse. But she was mine. I refused to let her go. She’d be gone forever if she brought the end of the world. And she’d lose her memories of me should she go to Heaven. Either way, I…

No, I had to keep her somehow. Maybe I could guide her to my realm until I figured out how to bind her soul to mine.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

There had to be something I could do. I was Death. I ruled over shadows and ravens. I ushered souls to wherever I saw fit. If I had to, I could steal her soul. I could keep it, surely. If all this power had to amount to something, then taking one soul for myself had to be it.

The shadows around my body ached to touch her, but I kept them close, tied the wild things to my body, afraid of what they might unwittingly do should they reach out. I couldn’t lose her now after all I’d done to keep her.

I'd take my own soul first.

But the sensation in the air was magnetic. Electric. Explosive. Her soul reformed in a breathtaking way, naked and so goddamn beautiful. The sight of it hit me right in the chest. She was so fucking perfect. Her soul hovered over its prone human form, no longer attached to it.

But then her eyes met mine.

As if she was waking from a dream, my little raven stood in front of me, smiling in that heart-shattering way of hers. It hit harder than I expected to see her gorgeous soul ready to be collected. I didn’t think I could feel sadness or loss, but looking at my little raven this way destroyed me from the inside out.

Her hand reached out, waiting for me to take it. How the fuck could she be so willing to go? How could she think of leaving me now? Did I matter so little in the end? Was she happy to be free of me? What had our time meant to her?

I swallowed, terrible sensation crowding my throat in a way it never had. She was asking for permission. She was seeking my touch. I stepped back, but she followed. She chased for once. It was sickeningly ironic to think one day I’d be afraid of anyone.

“I won’t,” I growled. “You—don’t you want to save your friend? You can’t go now. Your soul is all that is needed to bring the end of the world, little raven.”

The dead didn’t speak, so I couldn’t hear her voice, but her smile said enough. She thought I was being ridiculous. Me, the Soul Eater. The Ruler Between Life and Death. And I couldn’t believe how even after she’d left her body, the cheeky woman could taunt me like this. But it was just another reason I refused to lose her. So, I did something I never thought I’d be capable of doing. I begged for her to stay.

“Come with me, Asha.” I sucked in a breath, closing my eyes. “Stay with me, little raven.”

When I opened my eyes, her soul was fucking sparkling. Her smile grew, then she reached out and took my hand before I could snatch it away. Emotions swelled in my chest when I thought that I’d lost her. I wasn’t given the chance to keep her. And I would never recover.

Who was I without her?

But instead of disappearing, Asha grew solid, and the shadows clinging to my body fled mine for hers. She was wrapped in them. A skin-tight dress formed around her naked body. The hand in mine became solid, weighted, and then before I could gather my wits, she wrapped her arms around me.

I stared down at her, hands eclipsing her pale face while her devastating green eyes lifted to mine. “How?”

She yanked me down, and our lips met in a heated kiss that could’ve lasted for the rest of time and it still wouldn’t have been enough. “I don’t know how I knew, but I just did. If I touched you, I’d be yours.”

I kissed her again, the words gone. All I could do to express the relief, the gratitude, the happiness that rushed through me all at once was to suck her lips and feel her subtle warmth. To inhale her sweet scent. Our tongues twined before I gathered the beauty into my arms and forced her legs to wrap around my waist.

Though it was clear that now her body shared the same attributes as mine, nothing had changed. She was still exactly as gorgeous as she’d always been. Perfect in every way.

And she was all mine.