Page 38 of Death God

“Have you heard what happened to the witch who tried to push me around yesterday?” I asked with a smirk.

“Yes,” the honey badger said without flinching. “And you also promised Commander Jay that you wouldn’t maim his soldiers.”

So she was sent by Going-gray.

I grinned wider. “He told you that? I didn’t exactly promise him that. I told him that his soldiers would be fine if they didn’t get in my way.”

“I’m not getting in your way. I’m but a messenger,” said the honey badger.

“Then watch your tone, honey badger, if you’re only a messenger. And if you know my reputation, you should know I hit messengers as well if they try to shove me around.”

“We all knew your reputation when you were in the Shifters Academy,” she said. “I won’t get in your way. I don’t plan to have my ear bitten off or my nose sliced off. It won’t look good on me. But you do eat, and the Alpha King has invited you to have breakfast. It’s always better to be polite than rude.”

I kind of liked this soldier who didn’t give a crap. The maids didn’t seem to be afraid of her like they were terrified of their witch mistress, which meant that this honey badger wasn’t too bad.

“Lady Pip,” the older maid who had once tried to defend me called in alarm. Her name was Ange. “You’re wearing wet clothes. You’ll catch a cold! We need to get you changed.”

“I’ll be fine,” I said. “I’ll go change, but I’m not putting on the clothes you brought.” I paused for a second. “You can help me with laundry, though. I’d appreciate it.”

The maids curtsied, and I strolled toward the bathroom. My clothes were in the backpack. I used my foot to kick the door shut.

I tossed the towel to the ground and peeled off the wet clothes. That was when I saw a glowing symbol on the skin below my belly button that hadn’t been there before—a red dragon perched on a skull, a poppy adorning each of the skull’s eye sockets.

It was the symbol of a hybrid of death and dragon.

Then, at my attention, the twin poppies fell from the skull’s eye sockets, revealing the deepest darkness that led to the door to the Underworld.

Letting out a yelp, I stumbled back, crashing into the mirror behind me.

I heard my name being called, then the honey badger shouldered the door open. I was quick enough to grab a towel and cover my front.

“What the fuck?” I glared at the shifter.

“I’m sorry, Lady Pip,” she said. “I thought—”

“You thought wrong!” I said. “I’m not the kind of damsel or prisoner you’re probably used to guarding. Didn’t I say not to get in my way?”

She closed the door before I could kick it shut.

“Lady Pip, we’re so sorry,” Ange said nervously outside the bathroom door. “If you make the king wait, all of us slaves, including your new guard, will be punished.”

CHAPTER 10

“I consider this our second date, Pip,” said the Alpha King, who sat across from me at the round table with an elegant lilac tablecloth. He smiled at me. “I know you like dates.”

I had pushed the chair back from the table to keep more distance between us. His hand rested on the table, and I didn’t want it to reach me in any way. Just the prospect of him touching me turned my stomach fiercely and made my skin crawl.

I didn’t eat any of the food on the table either, and I asked the servers to bring me a sealed bottle of water. That would be the only thing I’d drink.

The king’s minions had set the table in the palace’s rooftop garden that overlooked the dark ocean and the courtyard. I couldn’t see the field of tulips we had passed before flitting through the portal.

The horseman’s castle was completely sealed from the outside world.

I’d cloaked my mating bond carefully. Even without concealing it, I’d felt the bond growing fainter and weaker, affected by the black magic charging every atom in the air.

“It’s just breakfast,” I said. “You demanded I join you, so I came.”

“What do you consider a date then?” The Alpha King’s gaze roved over me. “I’ll make it happen. Anything you want, I’ll give you. You like fancy, and I’m rich beyond your imagination. Yet when I sent you expensive dresses and a collection of jewelry, you chose to wear a simple shirt, a pair of leather pants, and a hidden dagger in your left boot.”

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