Page 55 of Villainous Greed

“No,” I said.

“What?”

“You’re a Reaper now. You need some black. I never want to see you in that type of dress again.” I materialized a pair of black jeans and a shirt on her. “How do those feel?”

“It’s softer than I thought.” She smoothed her fingers over the pants. “If you were going to complain, you should have just done it yourself. The dresses are all I’ve ever known.”

My heart sank. Of course I should have. I was fucking up already!

“I didn’t say it to upset you,” Nova said. “Your world is new to me. You used to want to show it to me. Well, you have the chance to show me now.”

_____

My fingers ached to touch Nova’s dried curls. They bounced and swayed as she walked. I tagged along behind her as she explored the castle.

When we stepped into the woods, she finally said, “Now that Harvest doesn’t have me, Derrick has no reason to work for him. Harvest might not let him go so easily, though.”

“We’ll end Derrick,” I promised as I stared. Her legs looked great in those pants, and the slight curve to her ass as her hips swayed had me salivating. “I could look at you every second of each day and never grow tired.”

Her stumbling was the only sign she might have heard me because she said, “I know where most of Harvest’s hideouts are. Even if we don’t find him, we can get rid of his foot soldiers and his creations.”

“Good idea.” I stepped closer and touched her hair. “I’d like to hold your hand, please?”

Nova quirked a brow, but otherwise, ignored my question and pointed to the orange-black sky. “What is this place? How is it bright and dark at the same time? And why doeseverythingglow? It’s so different from the darkness of the Underworld.” She lowered her head. “It’s so weird that you grew up here.”

“That’s how Grim made this place. We might wear black, but he’s a big fan of color in everything else.” Lifting a curl, I twisted it around my finger. “Do you think the boys would have liked this place?”

“Yeah. They would have tried eating these strange leaves.” Nova strode over to one of the small pink bushes.

I smirked. “Youwould have, too.”

She shrugged. “Probably.” As she plucked off a leaf, her nose wrinkled. “So, you can’t eat it?”

“No.” I materialized a giant lollipop in her hand in place of the leaf she held. “But try a lollipop.”

Her eyes widened. “How? It’s almost as big as my head.”

“You don’t bite it. You lick it.”

She flinched as if in shock. “How does this satisfy hunger?”

“The sucker has no nutritional value.”

“Then what’s the point?”

“Many people like sweet things for the fun of it. If you try the candy, you might understand.” Moving toward her, I bent down and licked one side of the lollipop. “Why did you tell the kids those stories back then?”

“Because they liked them.”

“Be prepared to discover the thingsyoulike,” I told her, raising the sucker to her mouth.

When Nova’s tongue darted out, my stomach heated, and I swallowed heavily. Maybe it was a bad idea to go with a sucker.

There was a sparkle in her eyes as she met my stare. “It’s—”

“Sweet,” I finished.

Nova’s face softened. “Sweet.”

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