15. Raia
RAIA
My intuition is a heedless thing. When Lucen leaves for work the following morning, I find myself slinking after him, certain that he’s going to fold away at any moment and I’ll never be able to follow.
Imagine my surprise when he doesn’t. Instead, he walks several blocks away, wearing a tense look on his face, gathering his thoughts perhaps, before he disappears between an alleyway and down a set of stairs.
Several females and two imposing males loiter at the entryway, a few of them smoking an elongated pipe, decorating the chilly, late-morning air with plumes of purplish smoke. The scent of dreamweed itches my nose.
A familiar, lithe figure dressed in a burgundy silk robe rises from the steps. She speaks with the other females, and they soon disappear down the staircase. Widow turns, her eyes meeting mine, and I nearly have a fucking heart attack.
She offers me a sad smile before returning down the steps.
The slanted metal cellar door swings shut behind her.
I venture forward anyway, trying to examine the back of the tall building.
It has no discernible features that would suggest what this building is, outside of the stench of old alcohol, the ammonia of urine, and the general detritus lining the alleyway.
Perhaps Lucen owns a bar?
Though by the looks of the building, it looks far seedier than I would have ever imagined for him.
“You never told me exactly what kind of businesses your family owns,” I ask, trying to sound as casual as possible as I attempt to make dinner. Lucen is back earlier than usual. He seems distracted; his energy is tense and, once again, hidden behind a discomfiting smile.
“They own a lot of businesses, but as I told you before, mainly imports and exports. Antiques, and such.”
I nod as my frustration and anxiety multiply. “That’s a little vague.”
Lucen returns to my side, bending to press a kiss to the top of my head. The action relaxes my shoulders a little. “Is everything okay?”
No.
“Yes... I just want to know more about you. Every time I try to ask, you’re elusive.”
“Well, outside of the importing and exporting, they also own a number of hospitality companies.”
My muscles relax further, the anxiety in my gut dissipating, even if only slightly. “Oh... like restaurants and stuff?”
Lucen hums in affirmation, pressing a kiss to my shoulder before he takes the wooden spoon I’m stirring tomato sauce with, sets it on the ceramic spoon-holder, and turns me to face him.
His eyes study mine, suddenly looking very serious.
“I want to ask you something.”
I rear back slightly as he wills a petite, purple velvet, oval-shaped gift box into one hand.
“I know we haven’t known each other that long, but…”
He pries open the box, and I draw in a sharp gasp.
“Akash almighty.”
Diamonds and rubies twinkle within a teardrop setting.
Lucen grins. “Will you share this life with me?”
I shake my head in disbelief as the fortress of my mind crumbles.
Surely, this male must be my soulbound.
He is not.
Shut. Up.
I violently shove away the quiet yet infuriatingly persistent voice in favor of this joy. “Yes.”
Lucen draws the engagement ring out of its box to slide it over my ring finger, sending a subtle magic prickling over my skin. My pestering intuition raises a distant bell of alarm, but I stifle it.
“It’s enchanted…”
“Of course. For your protection.”
Gratitude shines through my eyes as I stare up at him.
“It’s beautiful.”
A smile that doesn’t quite meet his eyes tilts his lips. It sends another tendril of unease through me. “Not nearly as beautiful as you.”
My eyes search his, and it takes a moment for me to recognize the emotion I find there. Remorse.
Lucen’s hands clasp my shoulders.
“Raia, I need you to do me a favor…”
My smile collapses as I try to stifle the panic seeking an escape. Sensing my unease, he ushers me into his bedroom, sits me down on the edge of his bed, and kneels at my feet.
Lucen takes my hands in his as he stares up at me with those dark blue eyes I fell in love with from the moment I saw him.
Now, they make me want to jump out of my fucking skin.
“I have a friend... Whom you already met. That night at The Basileion.”
The God of Death and Ending’s face immediately fills my mind.
“Azrael.”
My gut twists. And if I actually listened to my intuition, it’d be telling me to run for my life—and not merely from Azrael.
“You remember him?”
My expression is grim. “Unfortunately.”
“He’s not so bad, sweetling. He’s popular among my employees.”
Lucen draws in a steady breath as if he’s bracing himself on my behalf. Or perhaps for my reaction.
“He’s an important client of mine and my family’s.”
“And?”
Please, don’t answer that question.
“And, he wants to spend a little time with you.”
My brows pinch together as a boulder of dread plummets to the pit of my stomach. “I’m sorry... What?”
“He’s done a lot for me. For us. And... I owe him. A lot.”
Pulling my hands out of his, I stand, shaking them out to quell the trembling.
“I don’t understand why I have to be dragged into this—what do you owe him? Can’t you just give him money?”
Lucen hangs his head for a moment before rising to his feet. Frustration lines his features. “You don’t understand. A male like him isn’t interested in more money. He’s interested in people. Things. Experiences... I tried to offer him everything else I have or can do. He’s... adamant.”
Akash almighty, what is happening?
“I don’t care that he’s adamant! Tell him no!”
Lucen shakes his head as he grabs me by my shoulders. “You don’t understand. A male like him doesn’t take no for an answer.”
I stare up into Lucen’s face, and it suddenly feels like I’m looking into the face of a stranger.
“What does that even mean? What could he possibly do if you tell him no? It’s not like he’s going to kill you!”
The words ring false even as I say them. Lucen’s features tighten in a way that is both helpless and desperate.
“He’s the God of Death, Raia. He very well could.”
“What?”
“He’s dangerous. Impulsive. Whatever horrifying rumours you’ve heard about him, I can promise you they’re true.”
I have heard rumors. They are... cruel.
“And you want to give me to him? Are we really having this conversation?”
“I’m not giving you to him. You’ll be in public with him. You would just be going out to dinner and…”
Lucen’s words fade as if he can’t even bear to say them himself.
“Lucen... there has to be another way.”
Lucen scrubs a hand over his beard. “There isn’t, sweetling. I’ve tried.”
The endearment ‘sweetling’ makes my stomach churn as I shake my head in disbelief.
Just when life had begun to redeem itself.
“I can’t, Lucen.”
I can barely leave the house on my own, much less go out on a fucking date and do Akash-knows-what with a god even more notorious than my wretched father.
Lucen’s expression hardens. “Raia, I saved your life when I barely knew you, and I risked my own life to do so. I’ve given you a place to stay... Given you a comfortable life. What we have is beautiful. I want to spend the rest of our lives together, and we can’t do that if I’m dead.”
Tears stream down my cheeks.
A bizarre and unfamiliar melange of guilt, heartbreak, and betrayal winds through me, and I have no idea how to even process it. Outside, my nervous system causes me to shiver even though Lucen’s bedroom is warm. “And if I say no?”
“Then I will be forced to pay the consequences—to what degree I don’t know—but he will come for both of us…”