Page 100 of Bride of Death

I don’t.

I know that.

Which is why I huff a laugh at the stupid letter, ball it up, and toss it on the floor—where it lands beside a pair of silver heels.

I glare at them. “He would make me wear heels.”

They’re a special form of torture, especially ones like those with the pointed ends and four inches of height.

I roll my eyes.Fine. Whatever. I’ll wear the damn outfit if it appeases him. It’s the least I can do, I guess.

“Sera?” Maliki asks, his voice right behind me. He looks around me to see the dress, his brow pinching. “You don’t have to do anything he asks, you know. You can tell him to fuck off.”

“Says the man he hired to convince me to marry him,” I return, arching my brow.

Maliki sighs. “He didn’thireme. He just gave me the task. But like you, I can also tell him no.”

“Have you ever told him no?” I ask, curious. “Have you ever declined an assignment?”

He shakes his head. “No, I haven’t. But he’s never given me one I disagree with… until now.”

My eyebrow lifts a little higher. “You disagree with your current assignment?” The question comes out slowly, the air between us seeming to thicken with some sort of foreign tension.

“I disagree with convincing you to do something you don’t want to do,” he replies, taking a step toward me. “And I disagree with this situation. I know you feel obligated now that you’velearned what Persephone did to him.” He shifts even closer to me, his palm cradling my cheek. “But you’re not Persephone.”

Oh, how I wish that were true.

But it’s not.

And there’s one simple way to explain why. So I ask him, “Can an entity survive without a soul?”

He stares down at me, his chest brushing mine as he closes the remaining gap between us.

“Should an innocent entity be held liable for the sins of a past life?” he counters, his gaze falling to my mouth. “Should an eternal bond between souls impact potential claims on any and all future reincarnations? Even when it’s clear said reincarnation is not only unmarked but also untouched?”

My lashes flutter, his soft words seeming to swirl around me in a kiss of forbidden energy. “Once a soul is assigned to an entity, is there even such a concept of freedom or choice? Or is it all dictated by fate?”

His forehead touches mine. “I refuse to believe that fate would be this cruel,” he whispers. “You don’t deserve to pay for Persephone’s sins, Serapina. And I’m going to ensure you don’t have to.”

I pull back to look up at him. “What do you mean?”

But he just shakes his head, his jaw clenched tight. “All of your things from the hut should be here. If anything was missed, let me know and I’ll retrieve it personally.”

I frown, confused by our abrupt conversation switch. As well as his sudden aloofness. “Maliki…”

“I’ll be back to check on you in a bit,” he says, not looking at me. “And I’ll ask for some food to be sent up as well.”

With that chilling line, he vanishes, leaving me staring at my closet with a mixture of bewilderment and annoyance.

And a tiny bit of frustration.

Because for a second, I thought he might kiss me.

My thumb brushes my lower lip, my mind conjuring sensations and fantasies of what it may have been like. And I suddenly find myself craving something I shouldn’t.

A real first kiss.

Not in a dream.