Page 31 of The Tenth Muse

Reaper knelt and untied one boot, kicking it off before doing the same to the other. Their toes were painted black like their fingernails, and they rolled their ankles before they stepped onto one of the thick roots, balancing on it to hold onto the branch I sat atop. “It was before you knew me, but you’ve been known to me since the first time you sang your canthymn.”

Rap, rap, rap.

The comforting beat remained constant beneath the rapidly increasing pulse of my heart. “You were there.”

Rap, rap, rap.

“You sang your canthymn thinking your kin would find you. They didn’t. That’s not how your soul’s song works.” They slid a hand closer, stopping it only a few fingers away from my hip. “But I did. I came and saw you there, watched over you for turnings while having to collect the souls of your family as the Emperor discarded them one after another.” Stars swirled in the depths of their eyes, sorrowful and sincere. “I tried so hard to keep you hidden. Once the nymphs stopped coming, I continued to drop baskets when I could, hoping you’d never be found.”

I bent toward them, reaching across to skim over the edge of Reaper’s mask, savoring the soft skin and the sharp tip of their cheekbone hidden beneath the half mask of fabric. “You sent them to help me?”

“I did.” They interlaced their fingers in mine, halting them over the mask’s seam. “I can’t move freely through the realms. Only to places where I’m called. There is only one exception…”

They curled their fingers, guiding the fabric down, ever so slowly.

“Your compara.”

I drank in the dip of how their cheek hollowed slightly beneath the bone, then curved into a stunning jaw that descended to their chin, a pair of beautiful dusky lips hovering above it. “Something ignites in us when a splendor sings their canthymn. Everything changed after I found you. My beloved songbird.”

Their beloved. The backs of my eyes prickled, never loving words more than hearing them directly from Reaper’s captivating mouth.

I leaned closer, attention still stuck on the lower half of Reaper’s face, the way they bit their plump bottom lip. The way I wanted to taste it just as much as the fig clutched in my other palm. Maybe even more so. “Is that why you made the bargain with the Emperor?”

“It is.” They brushed their lips along my knuckles before reaching for my other hand, grazing the back of it. I released the fruit into their grasp. They lifted it to their lips and slowly bit into it, reddish-purple juice streaking down their chin. They quickly caught it with their thumb before slipping it between their lips and sucking it away.

“Mmm…” They said, licking their finger clean before handing the fruit to me. I cradled it in my palm, juice spilling over its split skin. My attention was glued to Reaper though, dragging my gaze up to their starry eyes framed beneath sharp-bladed brows that were drawn together. “Maybe that makes me selfish, but I couldn’t watch you sing for him again and give away more of your shine. You would have lost your voice, your song. I’d seen what happened to the others after losing their voices. Their all-consuming grief. Still carry it with me.”

“But you condemned yourself to carrying all those souls.” My fist tightened around the fig, juice dripping onto my upper leg before I lessened my hold. “You didn’t know I’d be able to heal them. What if I couldn’t have?”

I brought the fig to my lips and took a bite, trailing my tongue over the grooves where Reaper had broken into the fruit’s flesh.

“It was a risk I was willing to take.” Their eyes dropped to where juice fell between my thighs and warmth pooled below my belly. I swallowed thickly. Reaper’s palm slid up my cheek and I leaned into it, wanting to be drawn lower, closer, to learn what their lips tasted like, to know what it was like to be beloved by someone who’d been by my side long before I knew. “I’d bear the burden of a thousand souls to see yours radiate as brilliantly as it does when you sing.”

Their smile pierced between my ribs, fracturing my resolve, as the tears prickled behind my eyes until one streaked my cheek. They brushed it away, tucking a wayward strand of hair behind my ear. “There’s nothing more beautiful than your voice.”

“Would you like for me to sing for you?” My song had helped them find me, now I was theirs. I would do anything to lessen their burdens, to hold that smile captive.

“Of course, but not right now.” They stepped back, coldness rushing between us, an unwelcome breeze. “Rest your voice. It’s been a long day and you’ve done enough for everyone else. You deserve to do something for yourself.”

They looked around the grounds, gaze landing on the large claw foot tub. “Would you like for me to draw a bath for you?”

I thought back to my sweat soaked sheet in the infirmary and the juice making my legs stick together. The idea of sinking into the water, soaking my tired body, sounded incredible. Without a word, Reaper went over and began to run the water with a wave of their palm. The dark porcelain filled, a rich floral scent and bubbles lifting up as it rose.

Reaper came back over to the tree and gathered up their boots, looking up at me. “Anything else before I go, Lyric?”

Don’t go.

Their brows lifted at my thought and the ball of their throat worked. “What?”

“Don’t go,” I repeated aloud, lifting my chin. “Join me?”

“You’re certain,” they asked, lowering the boots by their laces down to the ground.

“Yes.” I sprung off the branch and landed on my haunches before stalking toward them. “And something else.”

“Anything.”

They sucked in a sharp inhale as my hands slid to cradle their jaw, drawing them closer and angling their face until my lips hovered just below theirs, my whisper brushing along them.

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