Page 42 of Judge of Saints and Sinners

She studied me for a long minute, “Tell me about your family.”

“My family?”

“Yeah,” she shrugged, “How many times can you ask whatever you want about a family of demons in Hel?”

“Good point.” I breathed out, trying to figure out where to start. “My brother’s aren’t so bad,” Justine listened as she forked a noodle into her mouth, listening closely. “I’m the asshole of the family.”

“I’m so shocked,” she deadpanned, and I bared my teeth at her. She rolled her eyes, and the center of my chest hummed with the joy of having my soul so close. I’d felt the same way last night too, and I couldn’t help but wonder if the soul was the only reason. What a confusing situation. I needed to get back to the Underworld so that I could ask Arafel what all of this meant.

“Justine…”

“Nephesh…”

I paused, taking a small bite of the still-steaming noodles. How she could eat them when they were so fucking hot was beyond me. But nevertheless, I needed to keep my body strong, especially now that my power was practically begging to be set free. If I wasn’t careful, it would overwhelm me before I could find a way home.

“I liked it better when you called me Judge.”

Her lips closed around another noodle, and she slurped it up quickly before coming at me. “Really? I liked it better when I didn’t have a six-foot-tall demon stuck with me.”

“Fair,” I said, watching her eat another. “Am I really only six foot in this form?”

She narrowed her eyes on me. “Missing the point here.”

I nodded, refocusing on the food in my hand. “And Rus, he’s been with me his whole life. He’s part of the family too. Best creature in all of Hel.” At the sound of his name, the dog raised his chin from the floor, offering a wolfish grin to Justine before settling back down.

“And your family? Do they know you are stuck here? With me?’

“I’m sure they’ve figured it out by now.”

“Will they come for you? I’m not sure Danny could handle more of you showing up here, attempting to protect me.”

I snorted. “I doubt they would, but maybe. My family is a bit old-fashioned. They prefer the ‘if you survive, you deserve to’ motto about life.”

“That sounds like a healthy family environment.”

“Everyone has something.”

“My parents were too, I think. Not living by that terrible family policy. I just think they were super old-fashioned. They didn’t let me go out much. We were really close, but we didn’t know anyone. When I lost them, I realized I didn’t have anyone else to run to. ”

I downed the rest of my soup then held out a hand to collect her empty cup. “You must miss them very much.”

Justine squinted at me but handed me the trash just the same. “I guess so. Honestly, I don’t remember much from the day it happened. We were always on the road, always moving, always in trouble.”

My silence wasn’t comforting, but I couldn’t stop the hand that moved out to brush over her chin, up to her lips just once. “Has anyone ever told you how brave you are?”

“Because I dared to keep living?”

“Because you do live. Because you wake up every day like there is something to be made of it. Even when this world continues to shove you down. I don't understand it.”

Her eyes sparkled up at me. “As long as you keep moving, there will be another chance for something better.”

I pulled away, mock horror on my features. “Let’s hope that the better thing tomorrow is soup, because this—” I held up a noodle “—is not edible. And why does it come in a cup? I feel like the time savings are not equitable to the utter lack of flavor.”

Justine laughed. “Don’t be such a snob, Nephesh.” She grinned at me and the tension between us lessened. At least for now.

We took turns getting ready for bed in the bathroom, the other person babysitting Cerberus while he roamed the small back alley. When we finally fell into bed, it was the early hours of the morning, and I could feel the tension in her body as I stretched out beside her.

She eyed me. “What happened to ‘I don’t get involved with deals’?”