“She doesn’t know anything, Elle,” David said quietly.
“I know, but she will.” Elle smiled sadly. “I want her to know she’s still very much loved and the things she may hear are not what all of us think.”
Jane gave her another hug. “Thank you, Elle. I really appreciate it. And I hope we can be friends too.”
David gently pulled Jane away, holding the door for Ragnelle. “We shouldn’t be too long.”
Ragnelle waved him off. “Take your time. I’m sure the angel wishes to spend time with her as well, but you two should try to have a few hours alone. Just make sure you keep the door shut.” She winked and walked into David’s room.
“David, is she telling us to have sex before we come back?”
He took her hand, leading her down the hall. “She is.”
She gaped at him before glancing at the door. “Why?”
A smirk formed on his sexy face. “She can tell you want me.”
Her eyes went wide. “What?”
He laughed, lifting her hand to his lips. “Baby, it’s been visible on your face, and in your scent, all day.”
Heat spread across her skin. “There’s nothing on my face or anything different about my scent.”
He wrapped his arm around her. “Your eyes are constantly stripping me naked. They all see it.”
“Shut up.” She smiled because she really was seeing images of his perfect body every time she glanced at him.
David chuckled, making her more aware of the perverted thoughts she’d had throughout the day. She didn’t know how many times she’d imagined licking his stomach again and running her hands all over those smooth, hard muscles. She loved watching him tense up and hearing his breathing hitch. It never lasted long. David always regained control and reminded her he was powerful—and good. David was good. And he wanted to show her that everything he did was for her.
“You’re doing it right now,” David said, snickering. “Don’t be embarrassed, my love.” He stopped long enough to lift her up and pull her legs around his waist.
“David!” She grinned, throwing her arms around his neck as he pulled her into a kiss.
He squeezed her butt, and she sighed, enjoying the feeling of his strong hands on her. “I love that you daydream about me. You have no idea how often I daydream about you.”
“You don’t daydream about me.” She pecked his smiling lips but noticed other vampires walking through the halls. “Shouldn’t you put me down? People are watching.”
David didn’t even look around. He simply squeezed her butt and kissed her neck. “You’re staying right here. I don’t care who looks.”
“Not even me?” Death asked.
Jane tensed up. “David, put me down.”
“No,” David said, nipping her lips. “Don’t pout your lips unless you want me to bite them.”
Death spoke again. “You two are like a pair of horny teenagers. I would ask to join the fun, but I think we should talk.”
Her vampire sighed before pressing a firm kiss to her lips. “Go show him some attention before he starts pouting as well.”
Jane’s heart melted, and she caressed David’s cheek, giving him a long kiss before whispering, “I love you.”
He grinned, kissing her once more. “I know you do, baby. Now go see your other love, but remember, he gets punched in the face every time his lips touch yours.” He placed her on her feet, smacking her ass as he walked to a bar where Jane knew they kept blood.
“He says that as if I am supposed to be deterred from kissing you.” Death grabbed her hand when she got close. “How can I pass up on these lips and a worthy fight with this fucker?”
David chuckled, opening a refrigerator. “You know she will be upset if we fight, though. That, you are deterred from.”
Death’s eyes ignited as he grabbed her chin. “Clever fucker.” He kissed her forehead. “Come. I think we should sit for this conversation.” He led her to a chair, and she wasn’t surprised when he sat her on his lap and hugged her.
She glanced at David, catching his smile as he nodded to her. I’m the luckiest girl in the world, she thought, hugging Death back and accepting all the magic that came from being close to him. “I missed you.”
Death slid his fingers down her arm and pulled her hand to his chest before pressing his palm over her heart. “And I missed you.” He kissed her forehead again. “You know I never left, right?”
Her heartbeat instantly sped up. “I know. I think I almost saw you sometimes, but you never came to me.”
He hugged her tight. “I wanted to, angel. Do you understand why?”
Jane shook her head as the unbearable memories of sensing him watching her suffer and doing nothing crushed her. She had needed him so badly, and he’d just watched.
Death held her tighter, trembling while his heart pounded away with hers.
David ended up being the one who spoke. “Baby, Death was told more about the entity after he left you in Texas. She was never an entity—she was half of your soul. He didn’t know this when he discovered her. All he knew was he couldn’t take her from you without destroying you. So, when they told him there was one who could—he listened and accepted the terms.”
“Lucifer,” she whispered, and Death nodded. She hugged him, caressing his hair while realizing he’d hurt as much as she had during everything.
“Yes, sweetheart,” David said. “An offer was made to Lucifer. No one else knew of it, but he agreed to remove that half of your soul. In order to do it, though, he needed to break the pure half to the point she—you—stopped fighting. Only then would he be able to lock her away for Death to come and release later.”
Death finally spoke, “The problem was you never stopped fighting. As long as you kept getting back up, he would never have the chance to trap your pure soul. I would lose you to her even if you never died. You needed to be broken. You had to lose me, lose David, lose your family—you had to lose all hope. You had to fall to your darker soul. I could not save you from darkness as I have most of your life. I had to let him unleash his worst on you, however he chose to. If I interfered, there would be consequences.
“The thing is, there is more evil out there than you can imagine, Sweet Jane. Lucifer agreed, but he wanted something in return. He wanted you to be his queen. You, Jane, not her. I had witnessed his reluctance to corrupt you when we made our first wager. My instincts told me he would honor this deal after I learned he sought out your old tormentors. He found some, and he destroyed them. Mercilessly.
“All of Hell believed I was being held back because of the wager I made with him before, but it was something else. He desired you, but he was using only wanting the darker half of you to take his place as High King as a ruse. It wasn’t her that allowed him to gain power. It was you. I accepted his offer because I believed in what I saw when he looked at you that night. You had stirred something good within him, and it was too much of a coincidence that he would be the one with power to save you. So I agreed because I knew he would make sure you survived. I did not consider he’d double cross me. I should have, but I had no choice but to trust in this plan. If I didn’t, I would not have been able to sit back and watch you get destroyed.