Chapter 27

27

W hat the hell was that? Either Vanth's seeing spell had worn off, or he had come so hard, he'd lost his vision. The latter wouldn't surprise him, considering the warm, trembling female in his arms. Nothing was ever going to be normal or simple when Elektra was involved.

"Come on. Let's get you to bed," he murmured. The hot water was running out, and they both needed to sleep. He lifted Elektra up and set her down on her feet. She braced herself against the wall as he turned the shower off.

With gentle swipes, he toweled them both off before leading her into the bedroom. Blindly, he pulled a shirt and some boxers from his drawers. He gave her the shirt before sliding his boxers on.

"Get in bed. I'll get you some water," he said softly.

Elektra pulled on the shirt. "You don't want me to sleep on the couch?"

"Fuck no. The choice is yours, but I have blackout curtains in here," he replied, and it almost killed him to say. He went into the kitchen and grabbed some bottles of water from the fridge. He really needed to buy food.

He sent his magic through the quiet house. The wards were set, the ghouls had tucked themselves away for the night, and the ghosts were peaceful. Dawn wasn't far away, and maybe they were all exhausted.

Vanth went back to his room and found Elektra tucked up on his favorite side of the bed. He let her have it because he was happy she was in his bed at all.

What are the odds? He had spent a long time alone and thought he preferred it that way. She was making him question everything about himself. He set the water down on the bedside table.

"Thank you," she whispered drowsily.

Vanth stroked her damp hair. "You're welcome, princess." He got in beside her and rolled onto his side. "I should probably warn you. I like to cuddle after sex."

"Of course you do. And we didn't have sex," she said in sleepy amusement. "We never seem to get that far."

"Is that a no to cuddles?" he asked.

"I didn't say that."

Vanth took that as permission and dragged her in to be the little spoon. Elektra wriggled back against him, and he groaned. "Cut that out, or I'm going to get another erection, and then we will never get to sleep."

Elektra laughed softly and finally stopped moving. Vanth waited until she slept before daring to nuzzle his face into her hair. He breathed in her scent, and some deep, restless part of him settled for the first time ever.

This isn't just an effect of some mating cycle, he thought and pressed his lips to her neck.

Everything with his father, the Veil, and Lazarus was a big jumble in his head. Everything about Princess Elektra Nova of the Celestial Court was crystal clear.

He was going to slay their dragons and help his mother, and then he was going to win the heart of the princess.

Get some sleep first, Romeo . Vanth smiled and closed his eyes before finally letting the darkness take him.

The next time Vanth woke, he was alone. The room was still dark, and the space beside him was cool. He tried to orientate himself, and with a brief glance at his phone, he saw that it was past midday.

There were no messages from the vampires. He just had to hope that they would get the word out like he requested. His stomach grumbled, and he pulled himself out of bed. He threw on the first lot of clean clothes he found and went to find his beautiful reaper.

Elektra sat at the dining table, Eiline's books opened in front of her. Cecilia was sitting on the edge of the couch, filing her nails. It was such a human action, but Vanth had caught the ghost doing it more than once.

Elektra was still wearing his shirt, a much-worn favorite of the Mongolian metal band 'The Hu,' but she had also put on jeans and a bra.

What a shame . Vanth was starting to wonder if mating cycles were contagious.

"Hey, there's breakfast in the oven for you," she said, not looking up from her books. "Isaac said the breakfast burritos are your favorite, so I went with those."

"You are fast becoming my favorite person," Vanth said, meaning every word.

"She also got clothes and groceries delivered. She has her shit together a lot better than you," Cecelia chirped from her perch.

"I wouldn't go that far," Elektra said, pushing the book away from her and rubbing at her eyes. "Don't take this the wrong way, Vanth, but I'm not sure how sane your mother was before the curse. Some of the magic in these journals and grimoires doesn't seem possible. I'm not a slouch of a student, and so much of this is beyond my understanding."

Vanth helped himself to the pot of coffee that was freshly brewed and felt a spark of genuine love.

"Let me eat and have caffeine, and I'll take a look. She used to home-school me because she found normal mage schools too pretentious with very little learning. Her words," he said and found his still warm burritos. Definitely in love.

Elektra got up and poured herself more coffee. "You will have to because I can't go through all of them alone. Every page is a rabbit hole of possibilities."

Vanth nodded. "Two heads will be better than one. Don't feel bad. She really is a genius. How did you sleep?"

A small smile tugged the corner of Elektra's lips. "Good. I haven't been awake for very long. I didn't want to disturb you."

"I like it when you are at your most disturbing," Vanth said with a teasing wink.

"If you two are going to make out, I'm leaving," Cecilia said and blipped out.

"Feels rude not to now," Elektra said, rising up on tiptoes to kiss Vanth lightly on the lips. She went to pull away, but he grabbed her by the back of the shirt and pulled her back for more. Her body melted against his, and warmth spread through him. Her hands slid under his shirt and trailed over the base of his spine.

"We have to stop, or I won't be able to think straight," she whispered against his lips.

"You're right. Save the world stakes and all that," Vanth babbled, letting her go and rubbing his hands over his face. "Fuck. Early to bed tonight."

Elektra nodded. "If we aren't out killing things or animating them."

"Stop making me hornier," Vanth complained, and she shot him a wicked smile before she went and picked up the book she had been reading again.

"Eat your breakfast, and then I'm putting you to work," she said.

Elektra hadn't been kidding about the complexity of some of Eiline's spells. Some he recognized parts of from other workings she had showed him. Others were a whole different language.

It would have helped if Vanth hadn't been thinking about the sacrificed bodies and the possibility that Lazarus was building some kind of battery.

It hadn't been in the sewer hideout. Vanth would have felt it. There was no way a shielding spell could disguise it, which meant that it probably wasn't in the city. Or if it was, it was hidden somewhere next to an even greater power source to disguise it. Neither thought was good.

Vanth had a lot of magic and talents, but tracking wasn't one of them. He usually left it up to his network of friends and informants to help him find people. Contacts that hadn't returned any of his calls. The sun was starting to go down when he finally let out a long, frustrated breath.

"What's wrong? Elektra asked, not looking up from the sigil she was sketching out piece by piece.

"I have an idea of how we can find Lazarus."

"So why the pout?"

"It means calling in a favor I really wanted to keep for a rainy day." It was one of the few big cards he had up his sleeve.

"We have a deranged necromancer threatening to open the Veil and raise an undead army. If that's not a rainy day, Vanth, I don't know what is."

Vanth ran his hands over his braid. "Gods damn it. We need to go out. He's a bit of a prick and never answers his phone. We are going to have to go to him."

Elektra tossed her pencil onto the table. "Good. I need a break."

"You say that now, but I have to warn you. This contact is probably one of the most arrogant and insufferable people you're ever going to meet."

Elektra's gray eyes sparkled. "I'm royalty. I know how to handle the insufferable."

Vanth knew she was right, but no one did insufferable like Galen Fucking Murphy.