Page 27 of In Death's Hands
Nathan jumps quickly to his feet, mumbling about a shower, and I am left facing the shit-eating grin on his sister’s face.
Shit.
“I—Uh…” I sigh. “I’ll make some coffee.”
Turan bursts out laughing and saunters to the kitchen alongside me, saying brightly, “You couldn’t make it even if you wanted to in this place, so I’ve brought it for you.” Right, no coffee machine. Just another example that this place is unreal.
I look at the to-go cup in her hand and smell the delicious scent emanating from it. I reach for the cup. “Bless y—” My thanks crash and burn when she quickly takes her hand and the offering away.
“Uh-uh. Wanna tell me about your night?”
I glare at her and imagine all the ways I could hurt this little woman. She seems to see all this and only laughs in response. Either she’s dumb enough not to realise how much danger she’s in by standing between me and my coffee or she’s certain Nathan would end me should anything happen to her.
I reach for the drink again only to have her dancing away, cackling.
“Nothing happened. We just happened to fall asleep on the couch.”
“You two seemed awfully cosy there.”
I was awfully cosy. Before she interrupted. So what? Can’t a girl enjoy waking up next to a half-naked guy who looks like sex on a stick?
A girl can. And a girl should.
Whether it’s smart for that girl to be me and the guy in question to be Death’s assistant, the jury is still out. Having coffee would help with the decision-making process, so when she looks up at the ceiling in her next bout of evil laughter, I jump and snatch the elixir of life right out of her hand.
She stops laughing right away to gape at me, and I swear I see respect in her eyes. I don’t spend another second dwelling onit, however, as I’m too busy chugging the black liquid like my life depends on it.
“Your girl got spirit,” Turan says to the overcharged presence I can feel at my back.
That was a quick shower. I look at him and note that his hair is wet and he’s wearing a black shirt that does things to my pulse as it stretches across his chest and shoulders.
“She does.” The deep voice, the implication of his words and the lack of denial from his lips have my throat closing, and I end up in a coughing fit, choking on my coffee. Elixir of life my ass. I’m lucky to still be breathing when I finally calm down enough to find Turan smirking knowingly at me.
I turn away and head for my bedroom to change into appropriate clothing, her laughter snapping at my heels all the way.
I take longer than I truly need to open the boxes and change into tight blue jeans and an old, too-large white sweater. I let my hair cascade down my back, not caring and certainly not having the energy to tidy it. I admire women who take time to do fancy updos and classy makeup. I’m usually too lazy to bother and always end up with free-falling hair or a messy bun to hide the fact that I should have washed it. It certainly never looks like the fancy, fake kind of messy you see in movies.
When I walk back out, I find Turan and Nathan, heads bent together, whispering animatedly. They both stop talking and turn my way.
I plop my hands against my hips. “So… what do we do?”
Turan sighs and shakes her head before letting herself drop rather unceremoniously onto the couch, right where I spent the night curled up against the man currently observing me with a concerned expression.
“We need to get a member of the Novensiles.”
“You want to capture one?” I ask, and Nathan nods. “Why?”
“I went searching for the Fates a long time ago, following their threads, but it led me in circles. The Novensiles claim to work for them, and since they seem intent on killing you”—his jaw ticks—“capturing one might provide a lead to finally finding the Fates.”
“You’ll need her permission,” says Turan.
“Whose permission?” I ask, although the way Nathan’s shoulders bunch tells me he knows who she’s talking about and doesn’t like it. Not one bit.
They both ignore me, however, preferring to stare at each other long enough for me to wonder if time has frozen.
Turan sighs. “You already need to apologise for keeping her in the dark so long. You need to present the facts and have her approve your plan.” Nathan looks ready to argue, but Turan continues, “If you don’t, you’ll be putting Liv at risk.”
Nathan snarls, and when the violence quickly turns to surrender, I’m left speechless.
