Page 14 of Death Raiser

Sometimes the simplest answer was the most probable answer.

“Did you command all the spirits to haul me to the veil with them if I called them to the living realm?” I asked.

“I was motivated to see you again.” Leviathan shrugged as if it were no big deal. Maybe it wasn’t to him, but to me, it showed immense power that eclipsed my own. “You owe me a favour, after all.”

“Okay, I’m here.” I stepped back from Leviathan to give us more space. He was too close, and I was already mentally freaking out.

If Leviathan commanded the souls so easily, he could haul me to the veil anytime he wanted. Anytime. Death raisers raised the dead. I couldn’t and wouldn’t stop. It was like telling a caffeine addict to stop drinking coffee because one day, one cup might taste bad.

Okay…that was me, too. I was the caffeine addict.

“What would you like to discuss?” I asked.

“Our date, of course.”

My brain misfired. “I'm sorry, what?”

“I’d like to talk about our date.”

“We don’t have one.”

“We will soon. What would you like to do?”

I dropped my hands to my side and settled on blinking at the Lord of the Veil. Mom used to say when it rained, it poured, but this was unheard of. At least for me. First, Kang asked me out, finally, and now this guy?

“Why on Earth would you want to date me?” I blurted out.

“We’re not on Earth,” he pointed out.

This felt like all kinds of wrong. Leviathan might be attractive in the same way a dragon would be beautiful even as it burned my entire world down around me, but we’d only had a brief interaction in the past. I knew nothing about him aside from the cautionary bedtime stories and those were not exactly great recommendations. And then there was that pesky problem regarding his true motivations.

He didn’t want to date me for me. He couldn’t. He hadn’t had a chance to know me. And though I didn’t want to sell myself short in the looks department, I’d never been the striking, I’m-going-to-fall-for-you-at-first-sight kind of hot. If he wanted some arm candy, surely there were easier, more willing options.

Which meant my skills as a necromancer had something to do with his interest. I wasn’t a jackass, no matter what my brother said when he was angry. This guy wanted me at least partly, if not solely, because of my magic.

“I’m going to respectfully decline. Thank you,” I said and held my breath. During the last case, I’d brought the evil killing spirit to the veil and made a deal with Leviathan. He’d take care of the spirit and ensure it never travelled back to the living realm, and I’d owe him a favour. I hadn’t planned to return to the veil so soon, if at all, but now that I was here, now that he’d made a point of showing me he could bring me here pretty much whenever he wanted, I had to face the awful truth that he might call in the favour at any time and I’d be helpless to prevent it.

He cocked his head. Death magic swirled around us. “You’re saying no?”

“Well, you didn’t exactly phrase it as a question in the first place, which is part of the problem. Women usually like to be asked, not ordered.”

“From my experience, women like being told things,” he grumbled.

“Like what?” I placed my hands on my hips. Leviathan must be more isolated from reality than I originally thought, despite having access to a constant stream of incoming souls.

“They like being told they’re a good girl.” His lips quirked.

Okay, maybe he wasn’t isolated at all, but I wasn’t going to comment on that, even if my body shivered at the rumble of his words.

Last time I checked, I didn’t have a praise kink, but he made it sound like something I definitely wanted to hear again.

I just wanted someone else to say it.

“Have you visited the living realm in the last decade or two?” I asked, instead. Hoping he didn’t catch my physical reaction.

His gaze flashed and he leaned forward. The souls wailed around him and sped away in the wind. “I cannot walk through the portals I create. I can only visit when called and it has been a long time since my feet felt the hot soil under the sun.”

Guess that answered one of my questions.

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