Chapter 11
CHAPTER ELEVEN
“You have outdone yourself, as always, Arachne.” Lilith gazed at her reflection in the mirror at the Black Widow Boutique. The dark blue, magical fabric clung to her curves like a second skin, and as she turned from side to side, the color shimmered like the midnight sky.
“It’s UPF one thousand,” the spider shifter replied, “and I know you don’t like hats, but if you’re going to be outside for long, you might consider wearing this.” She picked up a matching midnight blue sun hat with a wide brim.
Lilith accepted the item. Arachne created magical clothing for the citizens of The Underworld, and she always knew exactly what her customers needed, even when they didn’t know themselves. She put on the hat and the pair of black sunglasses Arachne handed to her.
“You look like a Hollywood star.” Arachne clipped a stray thread from the hem of Lilith’s shirt.
“Indeed, I do.”
“The outfit is missing something, though.” Arachne tapped a finger against her lips, and Herbie, her spikey little…
well, Lilith wasn’t sure what kind of creature he was…
skittered across the floor. The size of a house cat, Herbie had four beady eyes, and Lilith counted eight legs, so perhaps he was a spider.
“Of course. How could I forget?” Arachne lifted Esther from her spot on the small sofa and draped her over Lilith’s shoulders. “There we go. Totally Lilith.”
Percival cawed his approval from his perch, and Lilith stroked her hand down Esther’s scales.
Her familiar hadn’t fully recovered. Far from it, but a washed-out version of her natural color had returned and she was eating, so Lilith brought her on an errand run to spend some time with her oldest friend before she left.
“Spencer is going to want to rip these clothes off you the moment he sees you, but if there’s daylight around, you make him wait, understand? You’ll need all your strength the first time you do it with your soulmate. It’ll be mind-blowing.”
Lilith laughed. “I’m sure I can keep him in line.” Although, after the heat of their first kiss, she’d be the one wanting to rip clothes off.
The memory played in her mind, and she closed her eyes, relishing it. He had felt their bond; of that, she was certain. He would be her life partner, even if it took him some time to adjust to the idea.
Her heart sank at the thought. His life would be a nanosecond compared to her cursed eternity, and he had made it clear turning him into a vampire wasn’t an option.
“Is there something wrong with the clothes? You hate the hat, don’t you? Herbie said you’d hate the hat.” Arachne snatched it from her head and magically rewove it, tightening the stitches and narrowing the brim.
“No, the hat was fine as it was.” She took off the glasses and folded them, slipping them into a magical pocket.
The glasses seemed to disappear against her thigh, not disturbing her silhouette in the least. “You would make a fortune if you could sell these clothes topside. Human women would go nuts for pockets like these.”
Arachne laughed. “The world isn’t ready for that kind of magic.”
“Indeed, it isn’t.” Nor was Lilith ready to have her heart wrenched from her chest in forty years when Spencer’s body gave out on him. “Fate has played a cruel joke on me.”
Her expression turned serious. “Fate doesn’t play jokes on anyone.”
“Perhaps I am the exception.” She gazed into the mirror at Esther. Cruel prank or no, her time with Spencer was improving her familiar’s health. Saving her snake would be worth the heartbreak. “Do you have the other set of clothing I requested?”
“Of course.” Arachne handed her a box wrapped in a dark blue ribbon of the same fabric as her clothes.
“Please tell me this outfit doesn’t shimmer. Andrei prefers to blend in.”
She crossed her arms. “Do you really have to ask?”
“Thank you, old friend.” Lilith tucked the box under her arm and strode for the door.
“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” Arachne called as she stepped onto the sidewalk.
Lilith banished the depressing thoughts of Spencer’s short life from her mind and delivered Esther to Deirdre’s house before grabbing her suitcase and making her way to the bar.
Spencer sat at the same table as yesterday, and as his eyes met hers, he stood.
He wore jeans and a heather gray t-shirt.
His light brown hair was styled into a perfect mess, and the corners of his eyes crinkled when he smiled, making her heart thump hard in her chest. The fine hairs on her arms and the back of her neck stood on end, the draw of her soulmate so intense she could hardly bear it.
“You look amazing.” He stepped toward her and placed a sweet, tentative kiss on her cheek. He lingered there a moment, his breath warming her skin, and she rested her hand on his cheek, turning his face toward hers.
“How about a proper kiss?” She brushed her lips to his, and her entire body hummed from her core to the top of her head and the tips of her toes.
With a hand on her hip, he tugged her closer, opening for her, his tongue tangling with hers. She closed her eyes and drank him in. Well, it wasn’t quite the kind of drinking she’d have liked, but kissing was good for now.
She broke the kiss and caught her bottom lip between her teeth. Spencer’s gaze dipped to her mouth, and his pupils dilated. Sweet Persephone, she couldn’t wait to taste him. “Shall we go? Andrei awaits.”
Spencer blinked as if coming out of a daze. “Yeah.” He grabbed a beige duffel bag and slung it over his shoulder. “Didn’t you say Andrei was a vampire?”
“I did.” She slipped her hand into his and led him out of the bar and into The Underworld.
“Why are we going so early in the day? Aren’t you weakest when the sun is out?”
“We are, but my gift for him requires sunlight. And he’s hosting a vampire ball tonight for which he must prepare.”
“A ball?” Nervous tension tightened his shoulders, and he adjusted his bag.
“Not to worry. No fangs, no ball. You and I will not be attending.”
His posture relaxed. “I don’t want to keep you from the fun.”
“I prefer your company over that of a bunch of crusty, old vampires any day.”
“Good to know. Whoa.” His eyes widened as he took in the environment. The “sky” appeared as midnight, complete with a crescent moon and twinkling stars, and artificial lights illuminated the streets and the quaint buildings surrounding them.
“First time in The Underworld?”
“Yeah. I know you said it was a village now, but I was expecting at least a little fire and brimstone.”
“That’s reserved for Hell these days. The damned still get to enjoy the heat.” She led him through the center of town and hung a left toward the portal. “This will lead us to Romania. Are you ready?”
Spencer eyed the glittering black abyss that would take them to their destination…with a little help from Lilith’s magic, of course. “Is it safe? I’m not going to end up melded with the castle wall, am I?”
“This isn’t the Philadelphia Experiment. I’ve been using portals for millennia.”
He leaned away from the gateway.
She pursed her lips and released his hand. “You don’t trust me yet. I understand.” And why should he? He’d only known her a week, and she wasn’t allowed to tell him he was her soulmate yet. “I will take you back to the bar, and you can see if you can catch a flight.”
“Actually…” He took her hand again. “I do trust you. It’s a feeling I’m not used to, but I do.”
Her blood seemed to fizz in her veins, and she smiled. “Good. Percival?” Her crow swooped down and landed on her shoulder. “Shall we?”
He inhaled deeply, looking from her to the portal. “Let’s do it.”
“You’ll feel a little tickle.” She tugged him through, the magic of the portal vibrating across her skin a moment before they landed on Andrei’s doorstep.
Spencer panted, and his mouth hung open in a most adorable way. He clutched his arms, his legs, the top of his head before muttering, “Holy shit.”
“It wasn’t so bad, was it?” She set her suitcase and Andrei’s gift at her feet.
“That was incredible!” He peered up at the massive castle doors, then turned in a circle, taking in his surroundings. “We’re in Romania? Just like that?”
She laughed. “Just like that.”
“Is this how you found me in Costa Rica? You walked through a portal, and there I was?” The light in his eyes reminded her of a child the first time he saw the ocean, and her chest gave a squeeze. Everything about him was endearing.
“Venus found you for me, but yes, this is exactly how I showed up on your ghost hunt.” She chuckled. “I might have scared the daylights out of your friends at first.”
“I can imagine the looks on their faces when you suddenly appeared. I…” He moistened his lips, and that little swipe of tongue made heat pool below her navel. Oh, the places she’d let him lick…
He gazed into her eyes, and she looked back at him, and it felt like they were different poles of a magnet being drawn together by an invisible force that was impossible to resist. This soulmate bind didn’t mess around.
Hell, she’d have sworn Spencer had glamour magic because the rest of the world seemed to dissolve away until he and she were the only things left in the universe.
She’d never felt like this with Adam. Not once. Not even close. Why in all of Lucifer’s realm would her creator force them together yet deny them this bond that she now felt with Spencer? Why would fate make her wait thousands of years to experience what so many already had?
A spark of anger ignited in her chest, and she closed her eyes.
The bitterness she’d lived with for millennia expanded in her chest, fanning the flame, but when she looked into Spencer’s eyes once more, it was like a firehose blasted in her chest, washing away the resentment.
She was with him now, and that was what mattered.
Please, universe, don’t let this be a cruel joke.