Page 63 of Temple of Magic and Bone

Vanth kissed her, hot and brief. "Now I am. Let me know when you want me, princess."

"I always want you." Elektra took a dagger from her boot and began to draw the sigil she had been studying from Eiline's book.

Vanth closed his eyes while she worked, letting the magic of the Veil mix with his. It felt like belonging. Like he could just disappear and become a part of it...

"Tarael! Don't get lost in it," Elektra called, and his eyes snapped open. She was standing in the center of the circle she had drawn, her magic a living cloak of starlight around her. It looked like she had cut a swathe of night sky, and it moved around her with life as she began to chant. The lines of the sigil lit up as if silver starlight had been poured into them. The Veil shuddered around them, and she turned her glowing eyes to him.

"Give me your magic, Tarael," she commanded, her voice lost in the magical working. Vanth stepped into the working and took her outstretched hands.

"Together," she said.

"Together," he replied, and let his power loose. It wrapped around them, the gray of it turning to the more lavender color of the Veil itself. Vanth held onto her as the currents around them turned into an angry gale.

In his mind's eye, he reached for the top of the tear and began to tug it down like a great zipper. As the sides drew close enough together, the threads of power that made the barrier wove into each other and sealed.

They could have been there for seconds or for a lifetime, but Vanth didn't stop until the final threads had been attached. The wind died down around them, and the Veil lit up in a pale silvery blue.

"We… We did it," Elektra whispered and collapsed into his arms, her head pressing against his chest. "Oh, gods, we actually did it."

"Never a doubt in my mind," Vanth said, and neither one of them mentioned how much he was shaking as he held her close to him.

Azhdaha gave them a slow clap. "Well done. Perhaps now that you have taken control of your birthright, you'll do something more useful with your abilities than clean up other people's messes, godling."

"Get the citadel to drop their bounties on me, and I'll think about it."

"Aim higher than a cleaning service, and I will," the dragon replied. A golden light began to swirl around him, the change coming.

Vanth couldn't resist asking, "I don't suppose you will give us a ride back to Inferno?"

"Absolutely not." Azhdaha shifted back into his dragon form and launched himself in the air, sending chunks of dirt and fuck knew what all over them.

"Dragons are such dicks," Vanth complained.

Elektra only laughed and pulled his mouth to hers.

36

Two days later, Vanth and Elektra were sitting in one of the library's alcoves with a pot of steaming tea beside them. Elektra was sitting between his legs, her back resting against his chest as they both read. Vanth knew he had to go back to Inferno, but he was enjoying the unexpected time off.

"I don't know what to do," Elektra said, drawing him out of his thoughts.

"About what?" he asked, closing his book and drawing her closer.

Elektra turned to look at him with her stormy gray eyes. "The temple needs rebuilding. There are only thirty left that we know of, and I don't know where that leaves us. I didn't expect you."

"I didn't expect you either. You should know I'm not a good team player. I don't think I could permanently fit in a place like this," Vanth said, his stomach bottoming out. He didn't like where this conversation was going.

"That's the problem. I don't think I fit in here anymore either. I still want to help the dead. I still feel a duty to protect them, but I feel like I shouldn't be hiding from the world here and only going out when I need to," Elektra said, her fingers toying withthe necklace he was still wearing. She still wore the other half, and it felt like an inheritance of sorts.

Vanth ran his fingers over her arm. "Come back to Inferno with me, and we can figure it out. There's always going to be work there for a reaper for hire. I wouldn't be surprised if the city had been filled with ghosts again by now. It's just that kind of place. We can stay friendly with the temple and do jobs for them if they need it. We will just…freelance?"

"Freelance," Elektra said, turning the word over slowly.

"If you want. I can try this place out if you really want to stay. I'd probably make everyone hate me in less than a month," Vanth mused. "But I would still try for you. Just like we are trying out being mates."

"Trying out?" Elektra said, her eyebrows shooting up.

"Yeah, to see if we both want it," Vanth replied, trying to keep his face straight.

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