Page 76 of Architecti
I can’t.
I collapse to my knees, holding my belly.
“This.Is.Not.Fucking.Funny,” she growls.
Which, of course, makes me howl so hard tears leak out my eyes.
I can barely see when another moth, my most delicate of all—its wings frayed like the skeleton of an autumn leaf, flutters out the door.
“Oh, fuck no,” she says and starts to stagger away.But Mortem drops to the floor, his butt wiggling.Then he flies at an unimaginable speed down the apartment and leaps up to catch it.
“Mortem,” I bellow, but he ignores me, chasing the moth, hissing and swiping at it.The moth and the cat skitter in and out of rooms until I’m convinced the moth is winding Mortem up as much as Mortem is trying to catch it.
The moth on Midnight’s forehead finally flutters away, and she visibly sags.There’s even a hint of sweat on her skin.
“I can’t believe a big, strong reaper like you, who just chased after and beat the crap out of a Societas member, is scared of a little moth.”
She strides down the corridor towards me.“One, I am not scared.I just don’t like them, there’s a difference.And two, they’re hideous little creatures.”
I raise an eyebrow.“The uneducated see horror where the educated see beauty.”
She slides to a halt in front of me.“So educate me, Professor.”Her words dip, that sultry tone I’ve heard her use too many times.We said we wouldn’t sleep with each other anymore.That we’d keep things professional while she was at the academy, especially if I was going to be training her.
It’s been… excruciating.
Every time she strides into a room, my pussy clenches.Every time she beams when she successfully executes another form of magic, every time she looks at me with those piercing blue eyes, another piece of my self-control chips away.
She is temptation incarnate, and I have to be honest, I am struggling to keep my hands off her.Especially when she indulges me with these flights of intellectual fancy.
“Well, did you know that many of the moth species don’t eat when they become adults and leave their pupa?”
She squints at me.“What?How do they survive?”
“That’s the point.They don’t.Much of their life is as eggs, larva, pupa and then the ones that don’t eat only live for five to twelve days as adult moths.”
“Then why not feed and live longer?”
“Because the energetic cost of building and carrying that digestive system is expensive.Plus, they’d have to spend a good portion of the little time they have as moths eating.Food is expensive.So when they’re in the pupa, they sacrifice digestion, they don’t even have mouths.The result is less time as moths.But they can focus on their sole purpose: mating and laying eggs.”
“Not a bad life, getting off for your entire adulthood.”
“Midnight,” I scold.
“What?”She shrugs.“Okay, fine, that is quite interesting.But I don’t think that’s what we should be talking about.How did Malifax keep his association quiet for so long?”
The moth that landed on her head flutters in my direction.I hold my hand out.Its faded wings are so worn I can see through them.He won’t last much longer, they eventually crumble to dust unless you constantly reanimate them.He’s a delicate boy as he drifts down and lands on my finger.I bring it close, tilting it this way and that.
“They fascinate me,” I say and wave my hand, encouraging him to fly back to the room where his food is.
Midnight strides towards me, cupping my chin and turning my face to hers.“This is important.Put the moths aside.Why is the Societas interested in you?”
“Who knows.Father thinks it’s to get at him.He was the one who disposed of Architecti, after all.Maybe the Societas were after the old Head of House Inferos.”
She shakes her head.“You’ve been the Head for a couple of months now.Malifax knew that along with the fact Dregan was gone.Try again,” she says, folding her arms.
“Then maybe he was after my father,” I say, trying not to get huffy.
“Then why wouldn’t he go straight for him?Malifax knows the campus, he would have been well aware of where your father was and where he could find him.No.I think this is to do with you.”
