Page 101 of Of Sins and Sacrifice

I shrug.

“You are my only ally here. Not only are you human and thus you have a better knowledge of this world, but you are also a part of the military. Given your superior rank, you have more freedoms than the average soldier, so that makes you quite a valuable asset,” I tell him objectively.

I might have thrown alittletantrum a while ago, but even I must recognize that my chances of defeating the greed demon are much better with Mine by my side.

“Is that everything I’m good for?” he asks in a quiet voice. “If I weren’t an asset to you in this fight, would you care whether I die or not?”

I regard him for a moment with narrowed eyes.

“Is this one of those rhetorical questions?”

“No. I would like an answer.”

“No,” I say with a shrug. “Why would I care whether a mortal lives or dies? It is your fate to die anyway. So what if you’re marginally more good-looking than your sad human lot? You’re still equally fragile and annoying.”

“You think I’m good-looking?” He chuckles.

“Is that all you got from what I said? I also mentioned you are fragile and annoying, which you are, you know. May I remind you that I am now without my powers because you forced me to help you save those mortals?”

“I forced you? Minnie, Minnie. I did not realize you’d have a faulty memory—with you being such a superior immortal being.”

I huff aloud at his implication.

“You guilted me into it. Same thing.”

“I did not put a gun to your forehead and said, help me or I will kill you.”

“You couldn’t kill me,” I fire back.

“So where is the coercion then? For that narrative to work, I’d need to have something over you. That you helped those mortals is solely becauseyouwanted.”

“I—” I clear my throat. “Back to the original topic. You cannot sleep on the ground or you will catch your death. Then I will be punished even more for interfering with your mortal fate.”

“What do you suggest then? As you’ve noted, there is only one bed.”

“Well…” I glance back at the bed. It’s not too big. “I will allow you to sleep on the bed. But”—I put my hand up—“we will sleep on opposite ends.”

He tilts his head to the side.

“Is that so?”

“It is the best solution. That way, it cannot be said that we are sharing a bed, since we are merely in each other’s proximity. After all, I will remind you I am a respectable unmarried lady,” I feel the need to remind him.

Though, perhaps I should be remindingmyself. Wouldn’t it be easier to dash back to my dorm and hide my injuries? The answer is…yes. But I blame my damn imagination for leading me astray. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be so curious about semi-sharing a bed with him.

Damn it, Minerva! How low you’ve fallen if your greatest dream is to share a bed with a mortal.

I bow my head toward my own stupidity, yet I cannot find it in me to go against it.

Just this once, all right?

“As you say, Minnie. As you say,” Mine replies.

He moves toward the bed and places one pillow at one end and one at the other. Then he grabs another blanket so that we don’t have to share one. Smart human.

When he’s done making the bed, I claim my spot. Getting in bed, I pull the blanket over my body with my right hand, careful not to jolt my left shoulder where my injury is still very much pulsing with pain. Damn it. I’ll likely have to sleep on one side only or on my back, which for someone who is quite the fussy sleeper that is going to be a nightmare.

I expect Mine is going to climb into his side of the bed, too, and my heart is in my throat as I wait for my imagination to become reality—well, close to it anyway.

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