Page 65 of Kiss of Death
Sunieth.
I looked at the dead oak trees that stood tall but crippled and then turned back to Zehemoth.
I don’t like this.
“I know. But it’s the only way.”
I’m scared.
“I’ll be okay.”
You don’t know that.He started to breathe harder, his body trembling and then his throat contracting and shifting, the audible sound of tears he couldn’t shed.Please don’t go.
I came back to him, feeling my own tears break the surface. My hand cupped his large snout, and I rested my forehead against his nose, comforting him the only way I could. “I believed my father would help me get him back, and I was wrong. But I know in my heart that my father will never stop until he getsmeback. I have faith he’ll come for me. That he’ll find a way.”
He continued to cry, to tremble and shake as his breathing became more unstable.
“Bring my body back to him. Tell him what I’ve said to you. He’ll figure it out.”
He started to shake harder, sobbing.
“I’m so sorry to do this to you, Zehemoth.”
I’m scared I’ll never see you again. I can’t live without you.
“Wrath told me that my father kept his soul because Khazmuda guarded it. I know you’ll protect my soul, Zehemoth. I know you won’t let them take it until my father can get me back. And you know my fatherwillget me back.” Both of my hands cupped his face as I stepped back so we could look at each other. “Trust me on this.”
Your father will never forgive me for not stopping this.
“He will when you tell him I wanted this, that I made you promise me, that you would never break my trust, that I would have found some other way to do it without you if you said no.” I rubbed the soft scales of his face before I stepped back. “Callum is the love of my life, and I can’t live without him. I can’t live in a world where he doesn’t exist. I can’t move on with my life and feel happiness, knowing he only feels sorrow. I don’t want anyone else for my husband. I don’t want another man to father my children. I have to do this.” I stepped farther back and moved up the bank. “It’ll be okay, Zehemoth.”
Promise me.He continued his heaves as he cried.
I knew my father would plead with the God of Caelum and get his way. The portal would open, and he and Callum would come for me—and I would be ready when they did. “I promise.”
I stopped outside the ring of torches.
I looked at the skull carved out of rock, its large sockets eyeless.
In the daylight, I could make out details I hadn’t noticed before, like the bones sticking up from the sand. The remains of those who made the same deal I was about to make…except no one came for their bodies.
The weight of my decision was so heavy it nearly buckled my knees, but I didn’t turn back. Leviathan was the scariest creature I’d ever seen with my eyes, but I wouldn’t let him strike fear into my veins.
All I had to do was survive long enough to be rescued.
I wished I could see Callum before I took his place, but I knew a fiend like Leviathan would never allow even a glimmer of joy.
My spine straightened and my shoulders rounded before I took a breath—and crossed the line.
The torches immediately illuminated, but their effect wasn’t as potent as it was in the darkness. They just cast more heat across my face and neck. Within my next step, Leviathan was there, a horned demon who blocked my way to the door that led to the underworld.
Lily Lena Rothschild—you return.
I continued my steps forward and drew closer, showing no fear in the face of death. “Release Callum Riverside, and I will take his place.”
Unlike dragons, demons could smile, could stretch their mouths wide and expose more rows of teeth. Flames were visible in the back of his throat when his mouth moved in just the right way.I accept your deal, Lily Rothschild. I receive a stallion for the price of a swine.
“I want to see him before the exchange.”
