Page 33 of Judge of Saints and Sinners

“You have others, though.”

“I do. This is my most human form.” Judge released my hand to hold up his own. My eyes dropped to it obediently. “In the Underworld, I tend to look a little more demonic.” As he spoke, black claws slowly moved forward, slipping from his pale flesh to tip every long finger.

I gasped but didn’t move away. His hand moved back over my side, shifting himself closer until his face was only a few inches from mine. When he smiled at me again, there were long, sleek fangs instead of his formerly human incisors. They appeared like he was bearing them for me, and while I knew I should be panicking, I still couldn’t find it in myself to move away.

Instead, my fingers moved again, bridging the breath of space between us and running my finger across his lower lip. He followed my lead, his jaw loosening further as the tip of my index finger ran over his lip. When I moved under his fang, I must’ve gotten too close, because with a pinch of pain, I realized the edge had caught my finger.

I yanked my hand back, my fingers nearly in my mouth when Judge’s hot, slick mouth captured it and pulled me close again.

For a moment, very real fear slipped over my heart as my bleeding finger disappeared there. But then, nothing. His silky tongue lapped over the tip of my injured digit for just a second. Then his own clawed grip on my wrist slowly relaxed.

“I’m sorry,” he said as I looked down at the tip of my finger. “I could smell the blood, and…my saliva, it has certain healing capabilities. Especially on…especially small wounds like this.”

I stared at the finger in question. It was perfectly whole, no sign of the little cut that I’d seen with my own eyes. Swallowing my shock, I nodded. “Thank you. I think.”

Silence grew between us, growing in intensity and tension as time passed. When I met his eyes again, my lips curled in a nervous grin. “You always seem to be fixing my fingers.”

Judge relaxed at my casual tone, but something in his eyes was still there, dark and hungry. It made me shiver, the inside of my thighs clenching as we lay there together.

“Well, everyone knows that a good thief is nothing without their fingers.”

“I don’t want to steal things anymore.”

“You can’t steal what’s already yours.” And then his hand was on my hip, pulling me closer and rolling onto his back. He took me with him, my weight falling over his belly as I braced my hands on the heavy muscle of his chest. Under my palms, I could feel a rumbling, and then Judge reared up, his hands tangling in my hair, pulling it free from my braid as our faces got closer and closer.

There was a pause then, where my entire body was electrified by the prolonged contact of his, by the way that his entire body seemed to blend perfectly with mine. And when our eyes met, his amber faded into something more maroon, less human. I was even more drawn in, my tongue slipping out to wet my lips.

His eyes followed my tongue before finally, a ragged groan was torn from his throat. “Damn it all.”

And then a seventy-five-pound missile tackled us both into the covers once again.

12

Nephesh

I didn’t really need a guard dog. I had the Brotherhood in the Underworld. Not to mention my brothers. I could get by without the dog. Or at least that’s what I told myself as I stared into the small mirror of Justine’s apartment bathroom. Even in this dingy lighting, you could still see the rim of red around my irises, another hint at just how far my willpower had been stretched.

And as furious as I was with Cerberus for ruining what could’ve been the best kiss of my life, he had been right. I shouldn’t be lusting after my soul bound. I was so close to getting my soul back, to taking it to the Underworld, where my father would be ready to receive it.

Justine would move on with her life.

I would move on with fighting my family’s war.

I stared at my features, at the dropped fangs and the red eyes. I was too dangerous. Even now, I couldn’t hurt her. Sure, things had been going well since the last time I had attempted to complete the deal. But my time with Anna had started out similarly, and look what happened.

My fists made the cheap laminate countertop creak as I hunched over the sink. The memory was painfully sharp, and I fell into it easily. Praying that I would remember the pain of it. That the pain was not worth it.

Cerberus had been with me then too. Whining at my knee, slobbering a little as I held loosely to the leash that I’d strapped onto him after several people had made comments about my dog being loose.

I leaned down, pressing my hand to his head and caressing the silky texture of his ears.

While he was in the living world, my faithful companion dutifully shrank himself to an acceptable dog size and glamoured the two spare heads that many living souls would be horrified to find springing from his fur-covered shoulders.

“Sorry, Rus. We’ll be home soon,” I whispered to him. My magic pulsing under my flesh, leapt to my core, curling there like a burst of heat. I was surprised at how easy my magic grew right now. In the Underworld, we were feeling the pressure nowadays, the ever-growing need for the other half of our souls dominating our every move.

And since today was the full moon, I’d be able to carry Cerberus and myself back home through the boundary in worlds and get back to the Courthouse. But I needed to get out of this rain, find a place where I wouldn’t scar too many living souls as I walked through the shadows.

I turned a corner, staring down the street at a variety of small, striped overhangs on the buildings. They were visually appealing, and I tilted my head back to catch more of the rain on my face as I moved down the lane. We were only halfway there, a short distance from the entrance to the alleyway from which I had stepped through my world into this one, when Cerberus stopped fast.