Page 84 of Mortal Desires

“Yes, kidnapping isn’t the nicest start for a marriage.” She smirked. “But my place is with you. You are the other half of my soul. You are the god of the underworld, and I am your queen.”

The breath coming out of me felt choppy, a relief I didn’t know I could feel.

She was here and she was mine.

For eternity.

I found Pilar looking at the window she insisted we should have, watching the wastelands in front of the palace.

She was worried, I could feel it. It came off her in waves.

She died one week ago today, and a lot had happened. No ghost could interact with the living, but my wife wasn’t a ghost, she was the queen.

She came and went as she pleased, even though when she was there, Marnie couldn’t see her. Yet, Pilar was resourceful and she found ways to interact with the TV and furniture, leaving messages to her sister and spooking the life out of her.

She probably liked it that way. After a lifetime of ghosts coming to her, I think she liked to be the one messing with things above.

At first, I was scared she’d grow to resent me for her death, but she seemed to be all right with it. She said that nothing really changed, she was always going to stay in the underworld. She never belonged… up there.

I grasped her shoulders with my hands, feeling her sigh. She still looked out the window but her body sagged against mine.

“Tell me what you’re thinking.”

“Marnie says there’s no word about our father. He’s not showing up anywhere with the crystal anymore. We think he learned how to camouflage.”

Or maybe he always knew and he let himself be found because he thought Elisa was looking for him.

“Is Marnie safe?” I asked.

She nodded.

I hugged her from behind, resting my chin over her head. “And she’ll stay like that.”

“We need to find the others,” she whispered. “As much as I don’t want to bring Elisa back while Dad is out there planning to take her down, we can’t do anything without her.”

What she didn’t say was they weren’t sure they could do anything even after Elisa was back. Pilar died. The coven breaks if one of them dies. Or so they thought.

Marnie wasn’t certain that happened. She still felt the power coming through their connection. Even as of right now, Pilar was more than a ghost. I could almost taste the magic surrounding her. I wasn’t sure how they managed to keep the circle alive with her death, but it was happening.

Maybe Pilar always belonged to the underworld, so it didn’t matter. I liked to think that way.

“I’m searching for them. I’ll find them for you,” I promised.

Reluctantly, I reached out to other territories asking if they had a Morales witch. I let it be known I mated with one of them and she was searching for her sisters. I tried to show good faith, letting them know I wasn’t looking to steal their mates, but I had no answers yet.

Pilar turned in my arms, her hands lacing behind my neck. “Thank you.” She kissed my jaw.

“You don’t need to thank me. I was created to serve you, my queen.”

She smiled and I arched an eyebrow. She liked me dominant and feral, but she liked me dedicated as well.

I liked her always.

“And if there’s a war?” she whispered. “If dad is planning something horrible? If the other gods don’t want to give my sisters back? What if—”

“I’ll tear worlds apart for you,” I interrupted her. “You say what you need, and I’ll get it done.”

“I have everything I’ve ever wanted.” She smiled like it was that easy. “We’ll kill my father when we find Elisa. That’s coming. But for me to be happy? All I need is you.”

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