Sins of the Soul

“You’re a soul reaper. You can pass to the Underworld at will. You’ve been here before, haven’t you?”


“If by here, you mean the Underworld, then yes, many, many times. If you refer to Izanami’s realm, then I’m afraid I’ll have to disappoint.”

She digested that. Of course, it made sense. She knew that Topworlders were territorial. She imagined Underworlders were as well. There was really no reason he’d be familiar with realms other than Sutekh’s. “So you really have no idea what we’re up against? No idea what to expect?”

“None.”

“Dandy.”

“Think of it as an adventure.” He stared down at her, his jaw set, his eyes glittering. Then he reached out and caught her upper arm, dragged her against him and lowered his head until his mouth was inches from her own. Her heart skipped a beat, then raced.

“I thought you don’t like change,” she whispered. “I would have thought that means you don’t like adventure.”

“Depends on the adventure.” His mouth was on hers before she could even think to protest. Not that she was thinking of protesting. He kissed her like he wanted to own her, devour her, his tongue in her mouth, his lips hard on her own. Life sizzled through her. When he kissed her like this, it was like she’d never been kissed before.

She hadn’t.

Not the way Alastor kissed her.

Lifting up on her toes, she molded her body to his, feeling hard planes and ridges pressed against her breasts, her thighs.

Heat poured through her. Electric heat.

With a moan, she reached up, tunneled her fingers through his hair and shifted her lips against his.

Closing his hands around her waist, he held her a little away from him. He dipped his head so his lips pressed to the hollow where her neck met the curve of her shoulder. He was breathing hard, and she felt a kick of satisfaction at that. She wasn’t the only one affected.

He lifted his head and stared at her. Blue like the sky. Blue like the ocean. Blue like the heart of a flame, framed in those dark, thick, curling lashes.

“Before we go in again, I need an answer to a question, pet. And I need you to tell the truth.” Not a request, a demand. She nodded, but offered no promises. She’d wait until she heard the question before she decided whether or not to answer. “You were summoning a demon recently, yes?”

Unease skittered through her as she wondered if he’d been watching her every second since the night she’d shot Butcher. And then she sifted through the possibilities and realized he must have seen the salt and the candles that she’d left out. She hadn’t been expecting company.

“Yes,” she said.

“Why? You’re a Daughter of Aset. Why not go to the Asetian Guard if you need help with something?”

“It’s complicated.”

“Complicated is just another way of saying ‘none of your fucking business.’ I have no fondness for euphemisms.”

“Fine. I’ll say it outright. None of your fucking business.”

His eyes changed color. They were the blue of a glacier in the deepest Arctic now, pale and so cold they were almost gray.

“Oh, but it is, pet. Everything about you is my business. You’re trusting me to keep you safe in there, to get you in and get you back out. I need to know what surprises I might run into.”

She took a deep breath, let it out. Moment of truth. Only she didn’t need to share all her secrets, in all their ugly, tattered glory. She could share only what he truly needed to know.

And why was she so hesitant to reveal her truths? He was a soul reaper. He tore out hearts. No one could ever accuse him of being warm and fuzzy. He was certainly no better—or worse—than she. So why was she so afraid to reveal herself?

Because she’d seen the way his brother looked at Roxy Tam, and she’d coveted that look, that connection. She’d seen the faintest hint in Alastor’s eyes as he looked at her. She didn’t want to snuff that spark before it ever had a chance to grow.

And she’d seen what had happened to her parents. How the truth had driven them apart, driven her mother to leave all she loved behind.

So she offered a small truth in place of the larger. “I never took first blood. Do you know what that is?”

“Daughters of Aset pledge themselves by carving the dark mark in their skin, and fully claim their heritage by feeding off the life force of others. Usually by taking sips of human blood. First blood is the first taste, the taste that initiates.”

She was taken aback by how much he knew. “How—”

“You met Roxy.”

“Yes, but for her to divulge all of that to you…a soul reaper…that’s like the Russians telling the Americans their secrets during the Cold War.”