Page 75 of Death Raiser

Levi tapped his nose. “This man must’ve been the one you were thinking about just now. Does your heart already belong to him?” He rose to his knees and now studied me at eye level. “Or can I steal it?”

“My heart?”

“Yes. If he has a piece of it, I wish to steal it away.” He leaned forward. “I wish to make you mine.”

“It will take more than books.”

“I have more to offer than books.” His lips quirked and he raised his arm to cup my face and run his thumb over my lips. My heartbeat sped up at the promise in his gaze. Warmth flooded my body and Levi’s pupils dilated. His grin widened. “Maybe, I can steal your heart after all.”

He released his magic, and it curled around me to strum my skin and stir heat from within. I closed my eyes and pleasure danced along my limbs and brushed my nerves. I bit back a moan.

My eyes popped open, and I found Leviathan leaning over me. He closed the distance and pressed his deliciously full lips on mine. I expected power and intensity, what I got was gentle and seductive. He teased my lips, tasting my mouth as his magic made my body purr. Heat pooled between my legs, and I reached out to grip his shirt.

This was wrong.

Magic-induced passion…

Despite the potency of his power and how he made me feel, I didn’t want the Lord of the Veil. Another man’s presence flooded my mind and I gently pushed Levi away. He leaned back, his gaze smouldered with more promise. My body hummed with need to continue the kiss, to give in and let him do incredibly dirty, yet delicious things to me.

Before I could process exactly what had happened between us, a man barged into the library. With light brown hair, fair skin, and blue eyes, his familiar face jolted me out of the little fairy tale moment.

Ice clamped my spine, and I froze where I sat.

“There you are.” Hudson halted in his tracks when his gaze landed on me. He wore the same thing he had on during our “date” when he tricked me into retrieving the Book of the Dead and taking him to the veil—a fitted T-shirt, jeans, and white runners.

When I’d used Gregor’s bond to flee that night, I’d left Hudson behind, but he didn’t look like he spent any time suffering. Or dying, for that matter.

My heart thundered while my stomach twisted in a knot. To think I spent a hot second feeling guilty for leaving this guy in the veil.

“I thought you were dead,” I blurted.

“Umm…” Hudson took a step back. “I’ll uh…find you later.”

When I’d first met Hudson, he seemed so normal, so mortal and different from anything else in my life. A drab. Turned out, he was far more complicated than I’d anticipated.

Levi sighed and stood up. “You may as well come in. There’s no point hiding what Lark is sure to find out.”

I stiffened in my seat. “Find out what?” I folded my arms over my chest. The answer was staring me right in my face. “You two were working together?” I pointed at Hudson. “You always intended to hand over the book to Levi.” I pointed at my chest. “And I’m the biggest fucking chump.”

Neither of these men wanted to date me.

Okay, wow. I could wallow in my personal feelings later. I knew a man who really did want to date me and even if he didn’t, I didn’t need or want a man’s attention to justify my existence or provide me with validation.

I was a strong independent woman, dammit.

Focus, Lark.

Hudson grimaced. His gaze dropped to my hands. “Your nails…”

I shoved my hands under the blanket. I had no wish for my talons to become the main topic. I still didn’t know why the talons appeared and now seeing Hudson look completely normal in the veil, I had to accept that my talons weren’t a typical necromancer thing. I already suspected, but inspecting Hudson now, another necromancer, my last hopes of being a regular run-of-the-mill death raiser fled.

Hudson leaned forward. “Your eyes…”

What was wrong with my eyes?

“Beautiful, aren’t they?” Levi studied my face before winking.

Apparently, he hadn’t given up trying to seduce me, even though I had confirmation he wanted something other than my heart.

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