Page 44 of King of Night
“The scarab.”
“Precisely.”
I move my head up and down as I think.“I go through with joining you as a proper crime-fighting partner, and you’ll have my back too, right?”
“Of course.”
“And if I can somehow get to Hell, I’ll be able to call you there?”
“In theory.Like I said I’ve never been.I’d like to see your kingdom.”
“I’ll do it then,” I blurt, needing to say it before I get scared and take it back.“If you agree to help me take down Paimon, I’ll do it.I will marry you.”
ChapterTwenty-Two
Osiris holds out his hand.“It’s a done deal then.”
“It is.”Swallowing my pounding heart, I take his hand and shake it.“Can you answer one thing for me?”
“Of course.”
“What’s in it for you?I do think you’re a good person just like I am.You don’t want the world to burn or have good suffer at the hands of evil.But I also know there has to be a damn good reason for you to side with me.You’ve had a nice and somewhat quiet life down here.”
“You are right.I lost someone, someone who wasn’t sure if I could continue to provide for and protect them.Joining forces with you, tying my family to archangels…it will show her that I can be who she needs me to be.”
“She?”I echo and start at him incredulously.“You’re only helping me so you can impress a girl?”
“Not just any girl.A goddess.Mygoddess.Mortals often refer to her as Isis, but she’s Aset to me.And I need her to know how much she means to me.”
“So you’re willing to help me rage a war to win her back?”
His eyes meet mine and he shrugs, looking the most human he ever has.“The things we do for love?”Holding out his hand, he magically swirls sand around him in the same absent minded way someone would twirl their hair.“Don’t act like you wouldn’t take things to the extreme for the ones you love?”Inhaling slowly, he lets the sand settle back to the ground.“You agreed to enter a binding partnership with me, for example.”
“I did, and now that I know this is a ploy for love, I’m failing to see how marrying someone else ill help win back the love of your life.”
“As I’ve said, the marriage is strictly strategic.She’ll not only know that, but would appreciate having a strong ally on our side.Which you would gain too.”
I pause before I speak, taking in his words.Fuck.He has a point and the more soldiers I can get on my side, the better.Because defeating Paimon is just one battle in the beginning of the war.There are more demons just as powerful—if not more—than Paimon.
And it’s only a matter of time before the rest of Heaven finds out what really happened to Remiel and Uriel.
“In my world, marriage means something.It’s what you do when you love someone.”
“Exactly,” Osiris says and I’m starting to think he really doesn’t get it.“You love your undead husband and the miracle child.”
“Of course, it’s the only reason I’m considering this at all.”I shake my head, knowing what it’ll do to Lucas if I leave the Underworld a married woman—again.I don’t want to trade love for power, but if I don’t…I could lose the ones I love.
And I’m not going to do that.
* * *
“My love,”Lucas says gently.My eyes flutter open for a second but they’re too heavy.They slam shut and Lucas’s hand lands on my shoulder.The cool comfort of his skin against mine is the first thing I notice.Then I hear Juliet fussing, and I force my eyes open to see her desperately trying to nurse against Lucas.
I stayed in the Underworld way too long, talking to Osiris about battle plans.My body was here, empty and unmoving, but it’s not the same as sleeping.
“I’ll take her,” I mumble and roll over, adjusting the pillows so I can nurse my daughter.Once I get her latched on, I let my eyes fall shut.“I talked to Osiris last night.I didn’t mean to, but it must have been on my mind so I accidentally projected there.”
“And?”Lucas asks after a minute ticks by.I’m half asleep still.
