Page 65 of Judge of Saints and Sinners

“I should've told you everything. I know that now.” I trailed my fingers up her neck, making her tilt her head back up to me, where I could stare down into her eyes. They were glassy, filled with unshed tears. “I’m sorry, Justine. I was afraid. I wanted to experience you on my terms, and that was wrong. But I know I couldn't damn you to my life. Look at what’s happened to you, even now.”

Justine’s eyes overfilled now, the tears slipping down her cheeks as her soft pink lips quivered. “I wasn’t done with you though.”

“And now?”

Her laugh was watery, but she didn't move away as I caressed her throat once again. “Looks like we’re stuck together for a little longer.”

I wanted to kiss her, but I didn’t dare. Not with the heady, coppery taste of that insolent human guard still trapped in my mouth. So instead I pressed my forehead to hers. “I won’t make this mistake again.”

“Which one?” she responded with more than a little bite.

It made me smile, and I tucked her in closer.

“All of them. But mostly underestimating your strength,” I responded finally.

“Good,” Justine said, sniffing a little, “Now, I want to hear the rest. Moving down the list to what happened to us. We were almost out.”

I pulled back, staring over my shoulder at the guards who were still posted up across the room. Without their master there, I could smell their fear even now. Good, I thought. That would keep them farther away while I talked to Justine.

No doubt we were being recorded and watched, but it didn't matter now. Still I hesitated. Justine had already been exposed to so much in such a short amount of time. But I had to believe that when she said she was ready to know, she knew herself.

“I believe that it was witchcraft.”

“Uh, what did you say?”

“My mother was a witch, and before her kind was nearly wiped out, they were a powerful force in the world.”

“She was good, then? Or bad?”

My lips quivered. “She was a good witch, her magic taken from the environment and her own genetically passed abilities. But it wasn’t long until the kings of man thought that they should be able to do the same magic and miracles. She was imprisoned, taken hostage after her family was murdered. Under his control, she did horrible things. Until my father found her, and together they escaped that life. They set up the Underworld and began to rule it together.”

“So they have a witch here, doing spells on you?”

“Witches are one of few who can truly injure us. Otherwise we are quite resilient. Having a spell here means that they must’ve found a living witch to work for them.”

“Can you stop them? Or will your family come?”

“My mother is gone, taken again hundreds of years ago. While my brother claims that she visits him though the dream realm, I have no such evidence that she knows anything about what’s going on. She would have no reason to save us.”

“Harsh.”

“She was Lucifer’s bride. Compassion was limited.”

“Good point.” Justine suddenly plastered a hand against her chest. “Oh my God, is your father going to show up?”

I snorted. “No. If he sends anything, it will be one of his cronies.” I walked to the bars, craning my head up and looking up at the sky once again. “But I’m assuming if they thought ahead enough to have a witch here, then they knew enough to hide us from my father’s influence or my brother’s eyes.”

“Just fucking great,” Justine said, flopping down on the bed.

“We will find a way,” I told her, scrambling to think about what we could do to continue to make our way to freedom. But at the moment, I didn’t know enough to push the edges. I needed to know more about what was going to happen to us if I were to make a bid for freedom. Justine was my priority, no matter what happened between us. Since the witchcraft in this space affected only me, I would focus on getting her to safety first. Then I could do what needed to be done.

We will worry about the whole mate bond thing after I got her out of this hole. And after I destroyed these pests who thought they could hurt what was mine.

Well, fuck. What I wanted to be mine, anyway.

My father needed to know what was happening here. We knew that the corrupted souls had made it to the living world. We had known that the Drude was gaining power, but I secretly believed that we had all hoped that with Arafel’s victory at his post and the unification of his soul, we might have made a step forward.

Apparently we were misled.