Death Lord

13

“You think they’re the ones who are getting the shifters? I guess that would make sense.” She tapped her finger on her lips as she thought, and I found myself looking at them again, wondering what they tasted like.

“Where were you in the dream?” I asked, trying to tear my own thoughts away from her allure.

“There was this old roller coaster that looked like it hadn’t been used in years. It was in a theme park, and the whole thing was abandoned. There was a big pond or lake at the edge of it, and the Furies rose out of that.”

I nodded slowly. “Sounds like Jazzland. It was an amusement park on the edge of New Orleans that was abandoned after it was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.”

“Sounds creepy,” Eira said, shuddering.

“Very. It’s rumored to be haunted, but then again, what isn’t haunted in New Orleans?”

Eira shrugged at that and followed me from my bedroom to the living room. She didn’t seem to be interested in going back to sleep, so I headed for the kitchen and started the coffee maker. Through the windows, the horizon was starting to lighten, and the sun would be coming up soon.

Eira sat at the island counter while the coffee began brewing. I stood over the sink and stared out the window at the city as it woke up, though it would still be hours before it really got moving. I’d never even considered that another Elder God might be loose, let alone two. f*****g hell.

My guest didn’t speak either, her eyes staring off into space as though she was reliving the horrors of the dream. A fierce protective urge settled over me at the thought of the Furies targeting her, and I found myself pulling out some old cereal from my cupboard and pouring it into a bowl for her. I didn’t have much food in my place anymore, but she needed to eat something. I added some milk, which I kept for my coffee, and then slid it in front of her.

“What’s this?” she asked, blinking at it.

“Breakfast.” I poured her a cup of coffee next. “How do you like your coffee? Black like your heart?”

She scowled at me, but at least the vacant look in her eyes was gone. “With lots of sugar and milk, actually.”

“Ah, you’re one of those types who likes coffee that doesn’t taste like coffee.”

“Exactly,” she said, as she poured a ridiculous amount of stuff into her mug. “Why would the Furies be luring shifters to them?”

“I don’t know, but it can’t be good. The Furies are incredibly dangerous.” I took a swig of coffee before continuing. “Like all Elder Gods, they embody primordial elements of the universe and can’t be completely destroyed. They were originally good, seeking to take out the evil of the world, but they got bloodthirsty and decided that all humans needed to be punished.”

Eira snorted as she stirred her cereal. “Sounds a lot like what you’re doing.”

I leaned forward on the counter, my eyes narrowing at her. “I only kill those who have hurt others. People who need to be stopped, who the police can’t or won’t deal with.”

Eira shrugged. “You’re still a murderer. No matter how you try to justify it.”

“You were going to murder me too, where you not?”

“That’s different,” she said. “I was stopping you from killing someone else.”

“Exactly the same thing I was doing,” I muttered, but I knew she wouldn’t listen. She was too damn stubborn and had already created this narrative in her head where I was the bad guy. Okay, fine, I’d killed her father, but he’d needed to be stopped before he destroyed the whole freaking world.

“Go get dressed,” I said curtly as I set my mug in the sink. “We’re going to Jazzland to figure out why you’re dreaming about it.”

“We’re going now?” Eira asked as she slid off the stool. I carefully didn’t look at her exposed legs. I didn’t need to tempt myself any more than I already was. It was clear that we weren’t going to be anything more than reluctant allies, but that didn’t seem to matter to my d**k.

“Why wait?” I asked with a shrug.

“Fine with me,” she said, rubbing at her stomach with a frown. “The need to go there is getting stronger every minute.”

“Even more reason to go sooner than later. You can have the first shower.”

She headed for the bathroom, and I watched the door long after she had disappeared behind it. The sound of the shower turned on and desire raged inside of me, as unquenchable as my thirst for death. I wanted to follow her into the bathroom, to see what would happen if I climbed in with her and began soaping that smooth skin or slid my fingers between those lush thighs.

Instead, I stomped back into my room and slammed the door, then grabbed my c**k in my pants and jerked it hard, trying to relieve the pressure there. I pictured Eira soaping herself, running her hands along her body, as my hand slid along my c**k, faster and faster. Then I imagined myself bending her over and f*****g her from behind as the water sprayed onto us, while she cried my name and begged for more. The thought had me coming hard into my hand, but when I was done, I only wanted more. Only she could truly sate me.

Fuck. This non-stop pull toward Eira was becoming a real problem. Even worse, I had a feeling I knew what it was. I’d been trying to deny it ever since we met, but the urge to mate was only growing stronger by the minute. Soon I feared it would become overwhelming, and we’d be unable to stop what was coming next.

I knew this, because I’d lived through it once before—and this time it felt even stronger. Was it possible to have a second fated mate?

And how could I have one at all, when I had no soul?