“I respect that, but I’m telling you this now. One day, you will fall in love with me and be my wife because I will earn it.”
She just glared at me. She snapped her fingers, and I was suddenly clothed. We’d had this entire conversation with me wearing the remnants of old rags.
She might be irritated with me now, but I saw her peeking.
Chapter 7
Ripley
W
hat.the.fuck was I supposed to do with a primordial god? Especially one that just decided we were getting married. Why couldn’t he just be Uncle Seth, and this be like every other necromancy spell I helped out with? I blamed Dorian and Bram because I had a feeling that hedge witch didn’t come up with this on her own. Were they working together?
I couldn’t just kick a primordial god out of my library in the middle of the twenty-first century. If word got out, I released Chaos into the world, I wouldn’t just lose my job. If he made a mess, I’d be the one to die for it. At least now he had some clothes on.
“Follow me,” I snapped.
Felix was hot on my heels.
“You are so fucked. How do you plan on fixing this one?”
I had no idea. Two people had been in the basement researching primordial gods. I had two suspects. Dorian already had a witch summon a demon for him, and I wouldn’t put it past him to try to get a god to do him favors. I knew the only reason Bram could be here was a job. I’d never met a hellhound, but I’d spoken to demons before. They were always plotting something.
Did I just bring back Chaos for Hell because they thought they could control him?
Whatever the reason I’d been dragged into this plot, I needed to make sure neither of those men got their hands on this god. My apartments in the library were two bedrooms, but I had plenty of spare rooms. I adored living alone, but I also loved not dying because I released a primordial god back into his vessel. I could give up my second bedroom to keep him hidden.
“You can stay with me, but only if you pass the magical test for a library card.”
I loved everything about the blood spells that vetted people for a card, and that one drop would tell me everything I needed to know about where they could and couldn’t go. I trusted that system until a hedge witch tricked me. She should have had a huge no necromancy warning on her card. I just hoped it wouldn’t work against me with this god because I had no idea what else to do with him if I couldn’t keep him here.
“You have a nice castle. Are you a princess?” he asked.
“What? No. I work here. This is a library, not a castle. If the library doesn’t let you have a card, I’ve got no idea what to do with you.”
“You could break the rules, my witch.”
I whirled around and poked him in the chest.
“I break the rules all the time except when it comes to this library. I don’t care if you’re a god. If our system says you can’t go somewhere, you won’t. You won’t cause any chaos in my library, and you won’t make a mess. If you read a book, you’ll put it back in the condition you found it in.”
I probably shouldn’t be bossing fucking Chaos around. Especially since I witnessed him turning Hettie into a cockroach for irritating him. Also, no regrets for stomping on her once she tried to scurry off. The Library of the Profane was a sacred place full of ancient knowledge and dangerous magic. It was not the place to abuse the system and raise gods just because our system didn’t forbid you from doing necromancy. Yeah, I was super pissed they had tricked me.
“I wouldn’t dream of assaulting books or harming your library. I’m quite fond of books. I missed them in the aether.”
Chaos just got bonus points with me, but I still wasn’t marrying him.
I led him to the main desk and the ornate copper bowl. I didn’t have time for pleasantries. All of Hettie’s hedge witch friends who helped her bring the body were going to realize she hadn’t come back. They didn’t have library cards, or they wouldn’t have left when I kicked them out, but they could still make an appearance to check on her and see Chaos. That would get reported back to whoever orchestrated this. I didn’t want a bunch of pissed off hedge witches in here because I stomped on their friend, and I certainly didn’t want whoever found Chaos’s body to know I succeeded.
I picked up the athame and thrust it at him.
“I need you to bleed in that bowl.”
I would give it to this primordial god. I’d been bossing him around like this big, librarian bitch who had no reason to be afraid of him. I asked him to bleed for me with no explanation given, and he just did it. He never snapped at me or pulled some do you know who I am shit with me. He very well could have.
His blood sizzled in my bowl, and it worried me it was going to break it. This bowl had seen the blood of literally every supernatural species on the planet, but as far as I knew, a god had never applied for a library card.
“How much blood do you desire? My wounds heal, but I can cut deeper.”
The blue script finally floated up from the bowl. Thank Lilith. It was terrible enough Chaos was here. If I broke this magic, I’d be in serious trouble.
The script on Chaos was massive. It showed every single name he’d ever been known as throughout history, and there were a lot. He was also approved and given access to every single area in the library. Even after Hettie and Bram, I put a lot of stock in this system. The library didn’t care who he was or how old. He wouldn’t have been given a card or access to all areas if he was going to abuse anything in here.
“You don’t need to bleed anymore. You’re approved and can access all areas. I have apartments in the library. You can take my second bedroom. We must get you clothes. You’re massive, so we’ll have to go to specialty shops.”
Chaos just chuckled.
“I can think an entire wardrobe into existence. You don’t need to spend your money on me. I can also conjure entire feasts. You’ll want for nothing.”
Except for job security with Chaos living in my apartment.
“The bowl told me all the names people used to call you. Is there one you prefer?”
Chaos looked pensive. He scratched his chin.
“I haven’t decided. I’ve loathed some of the names chosen for me. What’s a powerful name in this century?”
Oh, Lilith. I could not be responsible for picking his name. I was a witch. Names had power to us. Witches could do a lot with a little blood, hair, and your name.
“Why don’t you read through some books here and pick on that calls to you?” I suggested.
He got up in my personal space again. I always felt super weird when he did that. There was something about him that drew me to him. He was massive and gorgeous. Getting involved with Chaos personified was precisely the kind of fucked up dating history I had, but we weren’t talking about getting ghosted or a broken heart in this case. Chaos turned a hedge witch into a roach for being annoying. I was super attached to my human form and not being a cockroach. I so wasn’t going there.
“I’d rather you get the honor of picking my name.”
“Nope. No way. I need to consult my tarot cards. The fiction section is just over there. Why don’t you hit up the books?”
“Of course. Your cards will tell you we are getting married, by the way.”