Page 33 of Between Life and Death

“Yes, Little Goddess, bigger than that.”

“Gross.”

Von chuckled.

“I, uh—” I paused, fumbling with the words. “I heard the snake talk.”

Obsidian eyes met mine. “Is this your first time hearing an animal speak to you?”

“Yes.” I nodded. My thoughts skittered to a halt. “Wait, can you hear them too?”

“I can,” he said nonchalantly—as if it were normal.

“Von, animals don’t talk.”

“Don’t they?” he challenged.

I nibbled on my bottom lip, weighing and dissecting. “I have gone twenty-two years without hearing an animal speak. Why now?”

He shrugged. “The gods work in mysterious ways.”

“I guess,” I said, his reply about as helpful as a hungover Kaleb on a Sunday.

“What did it say to you?” Von asked, his tone plated with cool iron, the muscle feathering his jaw suggesting otherwise.

“A number of things I’d rather not go over again,” I replied, wrapping my arms around my bent knees.

Von didn’t press, but I wasn’t entirely done with the topic. “It said it could turn into a man.”

Von’s expression didn’t change; he just waited for me to continue. But I did not have anything to continue with—that was it. I wanted him to reply, to tell me if it was possible or not.

I sighed. “Well, is it possible?”

“It is,” he said, his body unnaturally still in that predatorial way of his.

Me? I nearly convulsed. “What?!” I exclaimed. I could hardly believe it—so I stated as much.

“Why is it so hard to believe?” Von asked. “You wield water and I wind. Magic exists in our world. Just because you have not experienced it before does not mean it isn’t possible.”

I suppose that made sense. Sort of. “It’s a lot,” I said, gently shaking my head.

“And it’s going to continue to be that way. Your world is about to get a lot bigger, Sage.” He held my gaze. “Are you prepared for that?”

“I have to be,” I replied honestly. I had no other option but to forge on, to walk the path I currently found myself on. I had to—for Kaleb. After a moment of silence, I said, “Thanks for, uh, saving me.” I struggled with the words even though my tongue was back to normal.

“It wasmypleasure,” he purred in that smooth, deep baritone, the kind of voice that could make a girl undress without realizing it.

I looked away, fighting the heat in my cheeks. “We should probably get back to camp.”

Von raised a black brow. “Is that what you really want to do, love? Or would you rather . . .” He shifted his weight onto his hand, leaning farther into me. “. . . stay here, with me?”

I swallowed, half inclined to take him up on his offer. But the other half of me won out and I pulled away from his intoxicating male pheromones. “Morning is well on the way and we have a long day of riding ahead of us. I’m already tired just thinking about it.”

Von chuckled. “Your excuses will only hold out for so long against me, and when they do run out, which they will, I will be sitting at the end of an exceptionally long table. And do you know what will be spread out in offering on the table before me?”

An indecent blush rose on my cheeks.Don’t ask. Don’t ask.“What?” Gods, my traitorous tongue.

A wicked, wicked grin. “You.”

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