Chapter 12
Caiden
“Do you think there’s someone we could talk to?
I don’t even know exactly what we’re trying to do anymore, Soul.
” After we’d finally come down from Soul’s need to fuck me until I couldn’t move and cleaned up, reality started to set back in.
As much as I wanted to spend the rest of my afterlife with him buried inside me, growling how much I belonged to him in my ear… I knew we couldn’t do that.
So I needed to come up with a solution… and in the end, my mind went back to the man in the alley—well, not exactly a man.
I was starting to realize that a lot of the people I ran into weren’t exactly people.
I wondered if it had been that way when I was alive, and I just hadn’t been able to tell.
Corvin could have passed for human if he didn’t have red eyes and sharp teeth…
“We’re trying to figure out how I can change back…
” He fed me the answer automatically, and then frowned.
“Or… no. We’re trying to figure out how I can keep you safe.
” Soul sat with that for a second and then nodded, like he was waiting to make sure his own words were satisfactory.
“Yes, we’re figuring out how I can keep you. ”
His first answer stuck with me. I didn’t want him giving up who he was, what he was, just to make sure I didn’t get dragged back to the Lake.
I had defied nature coming out of it—him bringing me back was just a job.
But… “I think we could do both. After all…” I grinned, nudging him with my shoulder.
“I’m pretty sure whatever you can turn into is big and scary. You’d protect me, right?”
I was just teasing, but the serious expression that stole along his features was enough to stop me in my tracks.
His hand in mine pulled me around until I was standing in front of him, and his fingers lifted, cupping my chin and forcing my head up so I had to look him in the eyes when he spoke.
“I’ll always protect you, Caiden. Never question that. ”
Shit, I honestly wasn’t sure if he could be any more perfect.
After what had happened in the restaurant, how he’d claimed me and the way he’d seemed so achingly desperate for it…
the way it had felt better than anything I’d ever experienced in my entire life…
what else could I say but the truth? “I believe you.”
Those three words meant more than I had space to say. I wasn’t sure if he understood it. I’d never actually thought someone could protect me before, could keep me safe. I’d never let anyone try, because I didn’t want them to blame themselves when they couldn’t succeed. With Soul I felt…
I felt like I could look forward to tomorrow. It was strange and beautiful—something I wanted to protect too.
Soul’s fingers in mine squeezed, and he nodded.
“Good. I don’t lie. And to answer your question…
I’m not sure who we could ask. I mean…” The corner of his mouth lifted into the slightest bit of a grin, like the idea that came to him was something he’d be more than happy to act out.
“We could always stake out the graveyard until the little cupid there came out. I’m not sure if he’d be able to do anything, but he obviously knows people, since he made an entire barrier around his home. I could shake an answer out of him.”
My brows snapped together at the pure glee in his voice from the prospect of violence. It really was so odd, seeing the duality that was Soul. He was such a puppy when it came to me, but with everyone else, he seemed more bite than bark.
“Maybe I could just talk to him… if he can see me? If he has some kind of barrier, we could just stay behind that until we figure out what’s going on.
” It sounded like a better idea than taking someone hostage until they coughed up the location of someone who could…
what? Cast a magic spell to turn Soul back?
Who could do something that would stop Death from wanting me to go back to the Lake?
Damn, were there even people who could cast spells? I was learning about things one little piece at a time, and it made me feel woefully under prepared.
“That doesn’t sound as fun.” When I glanced at Soul, his full lower lip was actually sticking out.
Death’s hound was pouting, and I was pretty sure I’d never seen anything quite as cute in my life.
“Listen… I know you want to play fetch with people’s bones or whatever—”
“Their souls,” he corrected gently, like I’d actually forgotten.
“Right. Souls. But I think it would be a better idea if we…” I trailed off, the sudden swimming sensation in my head stealing my words away.
We’d been walking idly along the same pathways that we’d taken before, heading in the vague direction of the graveyard again, like it was a foregone conclusion that we’d go with Soul’s idea.
But the feeling in my chest stole my ability to move. My ability to think…
I heard him before I saw him, but I was pretty sure my heart realized it before that.
“Cole.” His name spilled from my lips, my fingers breaking free of Soul’s hold so I could turn. It was Cole… and he was doing something that I hadn’t seen in such a long, long time as I rounded the corner and spotted him in the distance.
He was smiling.
His slender frame leaned against the tall Reaper I’d met that night in the hospital room, and he was smiling up at him like he’d found a light in the darkness that had threatened to tear him down for so long.
“I know him,” Soul’s voice came from beside me, though I saw the way his dark brows were drawn together. “Him and the Reaper he’s with. They made some kind of deal with Death so they could live their life together.”
“That’s my brother,” I said almost mutely—my eyes were locked on Cole’s face, on his smile. I’d never really realized how much my illness must have been weighing on him. I’d seen the beginnings of it when I met him in his dreams in that field, but he was completely different now.
Warm. Happy. Like the weight of everything had fallen off his shoulders.
Or maybe it was just that the tall man beside him had lifted it so my brother could finally breathe.
“I miss him,” I whispered, already aware of what I was going to do. I’d been outside his window before and he hadn’t been able to see me. But things were different now.
I was different.
And I had Soul. Maybe we could…
“I don’t know what will happen if Sephtis sees me.” Soul was frowning when I looked up at him. “He fought us before, trying to keep your brother safe. He might try again—or he might think this is some trick from Death to bring them home early.”
“But Cole… he’s…”
Soul’s warm fingers slid along my jawline, finally tearing my gaze away from my brother’s face so I could look at him.
“If you want, I’ll risk it. If you want your brother that much, I’ll go take him for you right now.
” The way he said it was more than enough to tell me he was breaking some kind of rule with just the suggestion.
The fact that he was so willing to give me whatever I wanted, to do whatever he thought would make me happy, made me ache.
It made me want to see Cole even more, because I wanted him to know—I wanted him to see that I’d found someone to make me happy too. Maybe it wasn’t a field of red flowers, but it was still exactly what I needed.
Knowing I was okay, that I could still find that kind of happiness even in death, would mean something to him. The indecision was still writhing in my chest, and then I heard him laugh again.
He was so different.
He was so close.
“Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if it was just a few minutes? I just…” I barely managed to tear my eyes away from Cole to look back at Soul. “I… I miss him so much.”
Soul’s gaze was soft, and if he was torn about a decision that broke his rules, it didn’t show in his expression. “I’d give you every soul in the Lake if that was what you wanted, Caiden. It’s fine. We’ll just be quick.”
I wondered if I could be quick. If I actually got to see Cole, if he could see me this time and I could wrap my arms around him in more than just a dream…
Fuck, was I going to be able to let go?
I wasn’t sure, but I knew now that the opportunity was here, I was going to find out.
A hand on my shoulder pulled me back just as I started to call out. I had a second, a flash where his head lifted as if he’d heard me.
Like he could tell I was here too.
And then I was jerked around to face a tall, slender man with eyes that shifted, prismatic in the low light of the alley. His voice was teasing and lyrical when he spoke…
“The dead shouldn’t interfere with the peace of the living, Caiden. I thought you knew better than that.”