Page 29 of To Hell and Back
He sighed as he used his magic to fix the damaged countertop. “I will try, but I can’t help hearing when you shout your thoughts at me.”
Okay, she was really going to have to stop doing that if she wanted to keep an ounce of her dignity intact. Then again, perhaps she should just embrace the inevitable and get used to embarrassing herself in front of her mate since it was bound to happen often.
But it was a trade-off to have a mate who could fix things at will.
“You will be able to as well,” he pointed out. “It might take a little longer for our connection to fully settle into place, but you now have access to some of my magic.”
She wanted to groan at that. Not only would she have to get used to having a powerful mate, she now possessed some of his magic. Considering she could barely handle her own measly witch powers, learning how to handle reaper magic was going to be a bitch.
“It won’t be that difficult once you scan my mind. You will be able to learn whatever you need to simply by accessing my memories. I have centuries of knowledge to share with you.”
“Finishing college should be a breeze, then,” she quipped, then her eyes widened. “I also gave you some of my magic when we bonded. I know it’s nothing compared to yours, but does that mean you got some of my luck?”
He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again as he considered the possibility. “I wonder if the six realms will be able to handle a lucky reaper on a revenge quest for his beloved mate.”
That thought was enough to make her shiver.
“I guess we will have to wait and see.”
Chapter Nine
As Killian watchedhis mate speaking with her best friend several feet away, he felt relieved that his sense of possessiveness had dimmed down a little. At least enough that he didn’t actively want to obliterate Shadow simply for being so close to his mate.
He considered that progress.
The two females were very close. That was obvious enough by the way they had laughed, cried, and hugged the moment they had seen each other. Shadow Warcloud was stronger than he had given her credit for. Instead of waiting for them in the private dining room like he had ordered her to, the demon-witch hybrid had remained in the hallway waiting for Seneca to appear.
By the worried glance she’d shot his way, she knew exactly who and what he was. But that hadn’t stopped her from standing her ground to make sure Seneca was okay. Because of that, she had earned his approval as his mate’s best friend. Of course, he still needed to do his own analysis of her in order to decide just how much she could be trusted, but it was a good start.
The sight of his mate in tears made Killian feel absolutely feral, but he hadn’t interrupted them. He understood their need to reconnect. The trauma Seneca had faced during her last life when her friends had been killed was still haunting her, and he would never interfere in anything she needed to reconcile her past. She needed to heal, and he would do whatever it took to ensure she could do that.
After all, nothing was more important than his mate’s health and happiness.
Time travel wasn’t a simple process. It took seriously powerful magic to even attempt such a thing. In fact, he’d only heard of a few people succeeding before. Even then, those people had still been alive at the time, and they hadn’t been able to travel back very far.
Sending someone’s soul back was unheard of.
Until now.
He wasn’t sure what he could do to make the transition between two lifetimes a little easier on her. It had to be confusing as fuck for her at times, but she was handling it pretty well. She hadn’t told them much about her meeting with the gods who had sent her back yet, but Killian wasn’t really worried about that. The most important factor was they had succeeded in giving her a second chance at life.
The rest could wait.
Leaving Seneca and Shadow huddled together in the corner, Killian sat back down at the table in the private room where a new male was doing his best to consume all the remaining food. When Arson introduced the newcomer as Thane Warcloud, it wasn’t a surprise. Killian could have guessed that by his resemblance to his sister, Shadow.
He was impressed by the way Thane didn’t seem afraid of him. Well, that wasn’t quite true. The male was intimidated, but he did a good job of masking it. Thane was an Olympic gold medalist and well known throughout the sports world, so he was used to being around powerful and famous humans but dealing with someone of Killian’s caliber was quite different.
As if guessing what he was thinking, Thane said, “So, you are Seneca’s new mate. Since she is like a sister to me, I should warn you not to hurt her. Of course, that’s not much of a threat since I know you are a powerful reaper who could crush me like an ant with a thought. However, there are a lot of people who love and care about her, so you won’t be dealing with just me if something happens to her.”
Killian had to commend his courage and loyalty, but the warning wasn’t necessary. In fact, he would have been insulted if he didn’t understand the sentiment behind those words.
Some people didn’t believe in love at first sight, nor did they fully trust the concept of fated mates. He wasn’t one of those people. Seneca belonged to him. She was more than just his mate or someone destiny had chosen for him. She was his heart and soul, his very reason for existing, and he would love and cherish her until the end of days.
If anyone tried to hurt her, he would kill them. If she wanted revenge? No problem. It would be his pleasure to take care of it for her. Whatever she wanted, he would provide. There was absolutely nothing that he wouldn’t do for her. Hell, he would fucking burn the world to ash just to keep her warm.
“That seems a little extreme,”she teased through their bond.“But also very sweet.”
“That is the first time I have ever been accused of being sweet.”
