Page 119 of In Between Death and the Devil
Titus and Daphne fell into conversation and Marcus dropped back to walk with me.
The three of them were together. Titus had told me that, and for the first time I could see it. The way that Daphne threw soft glances at Titus, the way he stroked her arm, and the way Marcus watched the two of them with a small smile, like they were his favorite people in the world. They were so at ease with each other despite not being attached at the hip. I wondered how they managed it.
Even in the afterglow of what Fen and I had done, I couldn’t stop the niggling worry that I couldn’t really trust him. Maybe it was that I felt good for the first time since I could remember. Too good. The better things were, the more I had to lose, and I had done nothing but lose in my life.
“If you have something you want to ask, Maeve, ask,” Marcus said.
“You and Daphne and Titus are together.”
“That’s not a question, but yes.”
“How does it… work? I mean, how do you keep from getting jealous or hurt?”
“We don’t. We’re in a relationship. Anyone who pretends those things don’t exist in a healthy relationship is lying. We love and trust each other enough to get through those times, to know that even when we feel that way it isn’t a sign that it’s the end. It’s a sign we need to communicate better.”
I liked that outlook, though I wondered if I’d ever feel that way with Fen. We were bound for the rest of our existence, but that didn’t mean we had to be romantically involved. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like if we broke things off and one of us got involved with someone else. “I guess being exclusive with each other helps.”
“We’re not.”
My head whipped towards him. “What do you mean?”
“Daphne and I don’t sleep with anyone outside the three of us, but Titus does. We tried to be exclusive when we first got together, but he was restless. We agreed to try having him sleep with someone outside our group and things got a lot better. It works for us.”
I closed my mouth, which had dropped open. “Do you have any say over who Titus sleeps with outside of the three of you?”
“No.” He chuckled at the horrified look on my face. “I don’t need to control who he sleeps with, Maeve. I trust him to be vocal about his needs and respectful about mine and Daph’s.”
“So, you just all trust each other.” I was torn between envy and disbelief. That level of trust felt impossible to attain.
“I’m giving you the wrong impression. We didn’t learn to trust each other overnight. It took a long time to get to where we are now. You and Fen have only known each other a matter of weeks. Of course you don’t trust each other yet.”
“Am I that transparent?”
“Tempters are masters of emotions, remember?” He gave me a cheeky smile before sobering. “Fen’s been alone a long time. Give him time to adjust to having a partner. He’s worth it.”
I nodded. Fen was worth it. It was one of the reasons the stakes felt so high between us.
* * *
“Trainees and servants are going missing in Death’s castle,” Bea said when we were all gathered in one of the Dungeon training rooms.
Fen had shadow-stepped me, Marcus, and Titus in. Daphne and Bea had joined us from the next room via shadow portal. I’d created a sound bubble around us to keep anyone outside from overhearing.
“What do you mean ‘missing’?” Titus asked.
Bea’s eyes met mine. “All of them went to bed one night and were gone the next morning. No one knows where they went, and the trainees didn’t end up in the servants quarters. I checked.”
Dread pooled in my stomach because this sounded familiar.
“How many?” Marcus asked.
“Seven since Maeve left. Three trainees and four servants.”
“How did you find out about the servants?” Titus asked.
“Death told us they’d failed out, so I went looking for them in the servants quarters. When I asked after them—don’t worry I was discreet—I was told they weren’t the only ones to go missing.” Bea wrung her hands. She looked exhausted, with dark circles under her eyes. Those hadn’t been there the last time I saw her.
“Seven in two weeks.” Titus whistled low. “That’s a lot.”
