Page 37 of Death God

Then I felt something stuck in my hair. I threaded my fingers into my tangled hair and found it. When it fell to my palm, I saw a pine needle. There were pine needles in the tree house.

A sob choked in my throat. I’d truly met and mated with Marlowe in that tree house he built for me a century ago. How could it be? But then, my spirit had once escaped this castle and travelled to the outside world. So, with the mating bond between us, who said that we couldn’t connect in another realm? No magic could snuff out the true mating bond. Our desperate need for each other had bridged the distance and brought us together.

If I could figure out how to link to him again and get the soundtrack to work, I could tell him where I was.

I turned off the cold water, not wanting Marlowe’s scent to be washed off. I coiled up in the tub, willing myself to find and reach Marlowe again if I didn’t move an inch. But he did not come back, no matter how hard I tried to concentrate and picture him.

The horseman’s warded castle that brimmed with foul magic was blocking me. That one time with Marlowe had been a miracle.

Then my eyes brightened as an idea hit me. I’d once gotten to Danielle, Paris, and Shade via fire magic. I could do it again. I sat up straight, closed my eyes, and concentrated, giving all I had to reach for Marlowe.

I summoned the flame inside me, just as the light mages had taught me. I felt a sputter of fire, an ember rising from the ash, and willed it to spread, to engulf me, and turn me to flame. The spark flickered a few times and winked out. When I tried again, excruciating pain pierced my head. I fought against the pain to keep reaching for Marlowe until my nose started to bleed. I was sure it wouldn’t stop bleeding if I didn’t cease my effort.

I let out a sob, knowing it was futile to keep trying. I couldn’t use magic to reach the world outside this damn castle. The cuffs around my wrists also made sure of it.

I leaned my head against the wall of the bathtub and fell asleep in my wet clothes until shouts pounded in my ears.

I jerked awake and shot to my feet.

I was disoriented for a second or two before I steadied myself. My muscles ached from sleeping in the tub and sitting like that the whole night. My heart ached at the absence of my mate. It was a physical pain.

My sensitive ears caught a second knock on the door. I cloaked my mating bond to Marlowe swiftly before I stepped stiffly out of the tub.

The spirits had informed me the maids were waiting outside the door.

Finding a towel, I wrapped it around my wet clothes and strode out.

The curtains in the room were half-drawn. Light sifted through the window. Even the light here was tainted with black magic, unlike the bright sunshine in Walla Walla.

A few more knocks, then the knob turned. Four of the maids who had cleaned my room before filed in, their eyes downcast. In their hands were makeup kits and boxes of clothes and jewelry.

“You can look at me,” I told them. “I’m not like them.”

They curtsied.

“You don’t need to do that either,” I said. “I’m not exactly a lady.”

As if on cue, another woman strutted in. She was strongly built and taller than me. Her posture marked her as a soldier. She had a broad forehead and silver eyes. Her hair was woven into one long braid down to her waist. This woman carried an electric shocker, a gun, and a sword. For her sake, this chick should quit thinking that she could intimidate me.

She was a shifter, yet not a wolf. I sniffed again. Huh, a honey badger, one of the most vicious animals.

“Who assigned you to me, the Alpha King or the commander?” I asked.

“Does it matter?” she answered. “I’m here to do my job. No more and no less.”

She slammed the door behind her, almost hitting Shorty—the guard who didn’t like me, who tried to poke his head in.

“No witches anymore?” I asked. “I kind of miss them.”

The maids looked at me in alarm.

“I was being sarcastic,” I told them.

“They’re here to get you ready, Lady Pip,” the honey badger cut in. “The Alpha King requests your presence.”

“Or demands my presence,” I said.

“I don’t see the relevance,” said the honey badger. “But you’ll join him for breakfast.”

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