Page 132 of Viper

Right then, the cell on her nightstand began to ring but she ignored it, her gaze turned inward as she let his hair sift through her fingers. “Even though you’re gone from my mind, I can still feel your ‘touch’ there. Your psychic fingerprints, for lack of a better term.”

“I had to be inside both your mind and body in order to reach your soul,” he explained, rolling them both onto their sides facing each other. “Our souls are now connected.” Satisfaction dripped from every word. He could not be more fucking content right now. It genuinely wasn’t possible.

“What does that mean for us?”

“Many things. Our hearts now beat in sync. You’ll age as I age. We’ll forever be connected—nothing could pry our souls apart.” Viper paused, suspecting she might not like what he said next. “And neither of us can exist without the other.”

She stiffened against him. “So if I died—”

“That won’t happen.”

“But if I did, despite how powerful you are, you’d die along with me?”

He dipped his chin.

She gaped at him in horror. “Why would you do that? Why would you make yourself vulnerable this way?”

“You’d be my one vulnerability either way, Ella. I’ve lived a very long life, but I neverfeltalive until you. Before, I followed and served and did extremely dark deeds. My entity was the only light I had, but then it lost its light when I fell.You’rethat for me. Without you, I’d be the living dead. I’d do terrible things once more. It’s better that you’d take me with you.”

Ella felt her throat thicken. He’d spoken so matter-of-factly, no hesitance in being so bluntly honest. And his words, oh, they hit her hard. “I … I don’t know what to say to that.”

One of his fingers traced the shell of her ear. “Just say you love me again.”

“Later. I’m too busy being mad that you’d essentially tie your lifespan to mine.” She loved that he’d claimed her; loved that they officially belonged to each other. But she didn’t like what it meant for him. Her demon didn’t particularly understand her problem, but it wasn’t in the habit of putting other people first, so …

“Not sure if you’ve considered this but, being half archangel, our baby is not going to have an average lifespan. Now, neither will you.”

“Youwon’t either if I die before you,” she pointed out.

His gaze turned severe. “Nothing is going to happen to you. I’d never allow it.”

She was about to remind him that he couldn’t control everything, but then her cell began to chime again. “I think it might be Luka. I can feel his psyche buzzing against mine.” He didn’t feel whatsoever happy.

“He might have felt my mind briefly fill yours,” mused Viper.

She nabbed her still-ringing phone from the nightstand. “Yeah, it’s him.” She answered, “Hello.”

“What just happened?” Luka demanded.

She bit down on her lower lip. “Uh, I got claimed by Viper.”

“What does that mean?”

“That we’re permanently bound together.”

Several Russian curses streamed down her ear. “This shit just keeps getting better and better,” he groused.

Pretending to misunderstand, she smiled and said, “Agreed.”

His response was a low growl. Then the line went dead.

Ella jerked away from her phone, frowning. “He just hung up on me.”

Viper nuzzled her neck. “What else would you expect? He hasn’t gotten used to me being in your life yet. He will, though.”

“He’d better,” she muttered, tossing her phone back on the nightstand. “But I’m not holding my breath.” Her eyes bled to black as her demon shoved its way to the surface and took over. “I do not want to talk about him anymore,” it told Viper.

“Okay. What do you want to do?”

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