Page 54 of Falling for Famine
Thanatos nodded, his eyes taking her in with open curiosity. “And her soul is strong. Much stronger than it had been as a mortal. She doesn’t need to be tethered.”
Both his Counter Soul and mine blinked their owlish eyes between us, but it was my Nomi who asked a question first, “What does that mean?”
“It means, little wisp,” I murmured, drawing her pretty blue eyes back over to me, “that you and I are bound together as one. Two souls of the same Horseman.”
She blinked. I blinked. The others blinked, clearly not used to the smile on my face or the term of endearment I’d used for her.
I never imagined Thanatos would be right. I regretted leaving, but I wouldn’t have killed her no matter what promises he made. I was, however, glad that he’d discovered the secret behind our Counter Souls.
“I’ve become fucking Famine?!” she finally belted out.
I couldn’t help it. I laughed and nearly sent the other two in the room scurrying back at the sound of it. Zelus and his Counter Soul appeared next to Thanatos, immediately seized by the sight of me laughing.
“What in all the realms is happening?! Did you guys break Ghost?” Zelus asked, smile dropping in shock.
I ignored everyone who wasn’t my beautiful Nomi and kissed the shell-shocked woman, overwhelmed with happiness that I didn’t have any hope containing. So, I just continued to explore her mouth, laying claim to her in the best way I knew how, and ignored the cries and murmurs of the others.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Nomi
“And she’s disappeared again,” I heard Asha murmur under her breath to Emily.
I cursed, throwing hands, ready to scream into the void. That was the third time in ten minutes.
Emily smirked and crossed her arms with her hip out. “Better that than the other day when she set fire to her room. Or when she made the living room into an ice rink. Fun times. Think she just about gave your beau a heart attack, Ash. Poor guy said it takes a lot of effort to combat Famine’s powers. If it wasn’t for Ghost Boy, the whole place would’ve caught fire and required Dead Daddy’s shadow voodoo to rebuild. Just think of all your precious birdy chefs without a home for minutes…”
Thankfully, Ghost didn’t have any trouble sweeping in to the rescue. He’d assured me that I only needed to learn to stay visible to visit Felix and that he’d handle the rest, but I really didn’t think a wall catching fire or some part of the room being covered in ice was a situation we could explain away even with how quickly he righted the wrong.
I sighed in shameful woe.
“It’s not her fault,” Asha growled, always quick to defend me, though she needn’t bother. Emily was right. I needed to get better if I wanted to see Felix and Ferguson, and it was my entire motivation since I discovered I’d become Spicy Famine, as Emily liked to call it.
I’d video-called my Old Man the minute they said he was awake and was surprised when he didn’t mention demons or the attack in any way. He didn’t remember anything that happened. He thought he’d taken a fall and ended up in the hospital.
I told him I was in the middle of getting a flight back, but it might take a few days. He’d insisted he was fine and that Maude was looking after Ferguson and Mr. Pugsworth, but he had no idea how close he’d come to dying, and all to save me.
Like his memory had been wiped, so had every person who’d seen or been told I was dead. I wasn’t sure how, but I was grateful all the same. It meant I could go back and see Felix.
Ghost said it wasn’t forever. One day the world would need to know I’d died, but it could come after Felix had moved onto his afterlife. And now that I know the guy and girl who’d be the ones to do it, I could say goodbye when it was time.
I’d been so sure I’d lost Felix in the attack. I thought I’d never get to talk to him again, so I’d spent every second since we got to Death’s realm trying to learn how to control my powers so I didn’t accidentally set fire to things or turn them into bona fide igloos when I got emotional.
Emotion triggered my powers.
I didn’t want to waste a single moment until then, but I’d need to save the world first—as was the way of heroines in epic supernatural tales. Just over here living my Katniss Everdeen fantasies…
Glacies and Ignis flickered with amusement, the cute menaces. They enjoyed it when I lost control. Which was far more often than I’d like.
It’d been a handful of days since I’d escaped Hell. I’d made sure to relay everything Lucifer said in his meeting with the Fallen Brothers to the other Horsemen, but no one seemed surprised to hear it.
From what I learned about what happened to Emily, they all worried there was another motive behind Lucifer’s quick dismissal of her soul. With only one soul left to take, they all agreed finding Ares was top priority. But first they needed to find Michael. And before any of that, I needed to be in full control of my power so I could check on Felix and be an asset to them in their search rather than a burden.
Because the Horsemen had gone back on their deal with Heaven and it’d mean war.
Ghost was nearby, watching. His arms were crossed over another gamer shirt, his back leaned against the wall. The heatof his stare was nearly as distracting as his hands on my body were.
In this form, my sensitivity was off the charts. Which led me to banning him from touching me while I trained. When I got better, then I’d use him to practice under high emotion.
