Page 4 of A Bond in Flames

My stomach was in barbed knots when we reached the second floor. I was his wife for all intents and purposes, and I’d made a deal to be with him. Nausea churned in my stomach.

You can survive this. Whatever happens next, you have to survive this. Jasmine needs you.

Wall sconces lit the way, making the stone hall gleam, and macabre shadows danced along the walls. Something scurried in the dark, and I had to bite back my shriek.

Death stepped in front of me, forcing me to stop suddenly. I stared up at him, fear in my throat so thick, it damn near choked me. Those glowing blue eyes watched me from under his hood as he reached out and shoved the door open beside me.

“Your quarters,” he said, and with every word, his voice vibrated with a rage that I didn’t understand. “This is where you will sleep. You may move freely throughout the castle. If you go outside, always stick to the path.” The words he said didn’t match the fury in his voice, which rolled off him in heavy waves. “There is no escape and nowhere to hide. Running is pointless. I will always find you.” Then he turned and walked away.

CHAPTER1

Zinnia

Eighteen months later

A roar echoeddown the hall, and I shot up in bed. It was deep and filled with agony and sent ice shooting down my spine. Hemlock scurried onto my lap; my familiar was the fiercest little rat in existence, but even he found those roars of pain unsettling. I ran my hand down his back to soothe us both.

The sound of Death’s bedroom door opening was closely followed by the heavy thud of his boots as he strode past my room and down to his brother.

Somnus, his twin and the personification of sleep, lived in the castle as well. I’d yet to see him awake, though, and sometimes, like tonight, he roared and made awful noises for hours, as if the god were being flayed alive in his dreams.

He was also how Death first visited me when I was just a teenager, so it was a good thing he stayed asleep because the god was not one of my favorite people.

Hemy ran up my arm and tucked himself against my neck. There’d be no sleep tonight for anyone, not with Somnus having one of his episodes.

Sliding my hand under the pillow, I grabbed my knife, scooped up Hemlock, and slipped out of bed. Easing the door open, I checked that the way was clear, then rushed down the hall.

Somnus’s door was ajar, and I could hear Death’s voice rumbling low from inside. Just hearing him talk used to make me tremble in fear and horror. Yes, there was still some fear, and on occasion, I was overcome by the volatile emotions that he was able to evoke in me, but I’d been coming and going from this place long enough now that I’d managed to gain some control over my responses to him. Well, I had until I arrived back a week ago. I’d gone to the library to let him know I’d returned as instructed and found Deathwithouthis cloak. I’d never seen him without it before and it wasn’t something I’d ever forget.

“You came,” he said, his voice rolling over me like thunder.

Words he said every single time. It took me several attempts to reply. I was having trouble catching my breath. “L-like I had a choice,” I said, like I always did, but this time, my voice shook.

He carefully placed his glass on the mantel and turned to me, firelight dancing across his features.

I took an abrupt step back. Mors was… terrifying, his features etched by violence and carved by death, and so utterly beautiful, it was hard to look at him.

His face was free of ink, and he had a prominent nose, high cheekbones, a strong jaw, and sensual dark crimson lips.

“Your robe?” I rasped.

“I no longer require it.”

He’d said it in that deep, terror-evoking voice, shaking me to the depths of my core, and offered nothing more. After eighteen months of not knowing what he looked like beneath that dark shroud that covered him from head to foot, it had been a major shock, and it was still taking some getting used to.

Before the cloak came off, all I knew was the brutal intensity and raw power that poured off him. I hadn’t been able to see the way he watched me or, goddess, feel the lightning strike when his glacial gaze pierced right through me. Every time that stare locked on mine, it caused shards of ice to shoot through my chest and down to my gut, and since finding him like that, I’d felt as off-balance as I had the first time I’d come here.

The god was inscrutable, watchful, stubborn, infuriating, and confusing as hell, and I didn’t know him any better now than I did that first cold, wintry night he’d brought me to his castle. In fact, somehow, I knew him even less.

Doing my best to ignore the constantly moving shadows and the weight of a multitude of invisible eyes watching me, I darted into the library, shut the door, and climbed into the massive leather chair that sat in front of the always-blazing fire. Curling up, I dragged the fur that Egon left draped over the wide arm for me across my lap while Hemy scurried down from his spot tucked against my neck, settling in under it as well. I didn’t know what it was about this room, but spending time in here was the closest thing to peace I’d found inside this castle. Maybe it was all the books, the smell of leather, that reminded me of home, of the library in Aunt Daisy’s house or the rows of spell and recipe books in Aunt Else’s workroom.

The book I’d been reading was still in its spot, on the deep mahogany table beside the chair, and I picked it up—

Somnus roared again, so loud that the windows rattled. Hemlock trembled, and a cold chill skated down my spine.

I covered Hemy’s back with my hand to calm him. I hadn’t known if it was safe for him here in Limbo the first time I came, so I’d left my tiny familiar at home. It’d been extremely hard on both of us.

But this was my life now.

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