Chapter 6

6

M aybe Vanth was too trusting of a strange female in his house, but if she had wanted to kill him, Elektra could have done so already. He washed off the previous night and studied his half of the pendant again. Nothing had changed, except now he knew it had another half and played a pretty tune.

His mother's words came back to chill him, 'Tarael, Tarael, they are coming for you.' He got out of the shower and got dressed. He needed food, and so did his mysterious visitor.

Three days on the run…from what? Elektra had training; she had thrown him around without breaking a sweat. So what had her so spooked that she would run for that long to get to him? And what did his father have to do with it?

Vanth had never known anything about his father other than his mother had made a point of never bringing him up. There was a niggling in the back of his brain. His intuition told him all sorts of things his rational mind didn't know what to do with. He had a touch of his mother's foresight power but not in visions. He would just get feelings about things, and he had learned to trust them.

Right now, it was telling him that Elektra was the key to something important. He didn't like to get into fights that weren't his own, but she had information that he wanted to know. Like who his father actually fucking was.

With his mother's curse eating away at her, there was a strong possibility she didn't even remember who had knocked her up.

By the time Vanth had put clean clothes on and come out of his room, Elektra was already waiting for him. She wore tight black jeans and a gray T-shirt, her black boots laced tight. She didn't wear any make-up and had no jewelry except the necklace that matched his own. She was a warrior of some stamp, but the death magic pulsing off her was confusing.

Vanth knew all the necromancers in Inferno—the list was damn short—and he had no idea who she was. Mysteries made him nervous.

"There's a café just across the road that I like. Let's get food, and then you can tell me why you're harassing me," Vanth said, pulling on a leather jacket. The ghosts still hadn't returned, and the ghouls would still be too busy eating. Everything seemed too quiet.

"Food would…would be appreciated," she said.

All the fire that had been in her eyes had been banked. Exhaustion radiated off her, and Vanth felt a protective instinct kick in, thanks to his fae side. She wasn't weak or helpless, so he fought the urge to fuss.

Outside, the sun was setting on the day. Vanth's body clock was so far out of whack he had to take a moment to orientate himself. Dinner instead of breakfast. He could work with that. The café across the street was where he ended up most nights he wasn't working. It sold alcohol, so it also served as a bar, and fuck, could he use a drink.

Elektra studied the bare brick walls, the art by local painters, and the Edison bulbs hanging artistically from the ceiling. She stared, wide-eyed, like she hadn't been around people for a long time.

"Hey, Vanth, you want your usual?" Isaac called from where he stood at the counter.

"Yes, and food. Lots of food," Vanth said, grabbing some menus.

Isaac's blue eyes landed on Elektra, and he cocked a questioning brow. Vanth shook his head. No, she wasn't a date. Isaac rolled his eyes. Like Cecelia, he believed Vanth needed to go on more dates.

Vanth had often thought about asking Isaac out, but he liked him too much as a friend, and his relationships always ended badly. The last one had been over a year ago, and even though she was a werewolf, she couldn't handle that Vanth was a necromancer. These days, it was easier to have one-night stands when he wanted sex, and he never told them what he did for a job.

"Your usual table is free," Isaac said with a grin.

Vanth led Elektra to a darker corner and sat at the polished wooden table. The dinner crowd hadn't come in, and it was still quiet enough to be able to talk privately. He passed her a menu, and she studied it with a confused expression.

"Are you okay? You are looking about us like you've never been in a café before. What are you? Amish? A nun?" he asked. Please don't be a nun.

Elektra shot him an annoyed glare. "Neither. I just feel exposed here."

"Because of the people you are running from?" he guessed.

She nodded. "They will be in Inferno already."

"They won't start shit here, and if they do, I'm close enough to summon my ghouls, and it will even the odds a bit." Vanth bit back a grin. "Really glad you're not a nun."

Elektra frowned. "I don't know why it would matter to you if I was."

"It doesn't. I just need to know if you are going to preach to me about your gods, that's all."

Elektra put her menu down and gave him her full attention. "I'm a devotee of Charon, but there're many gods that those like me serve. Most of them are psychopomps."

Vanth didn't have time to formulate a reply before Isaac was there with a notebook. Vanth ordered a burger and a steak, as well as an espresso and two beers. He was starving, and his body needed as much protein as he could get.

"I don't know how you stay so fit when you eat like a shifter," Isaac teased. He smiled at Elektra. "What can I get for you?"

"I'll have the same, but I want an extra side of bacon with my burger," she replied.

Vanth's grin widened as Isaac's brows shot up in surprise.

"Sure thing. I'll be back in a second with your drinks," he said, giving them both quizzical looks.

"You haven't told him how much magic burns," she commented. "Especially necromancy."

Vanth shook his head. "The less people know about me, the better. I have too many people trying to kill me on a regular basis that I'm private about my magic."

"And that's why you came out of your room ready to attack this morning? You thought I was there to kill you?" Elektra asked, her small smirk making another appearance.

"You did break in," Vanth pointed out.

Elektra leaned forward. "If I were going to kill you, I would have done it while you were sleeping. I would have tossed your body into the fancy pit in your basement, and no one would have even known I was there."

So glad she's not a nun , Vanth thought unhelpfully.

"Stop talking to me like that, or I'm going to think this really is a date," he replied. Elektra gave him an unimpressed stare, but there was the slightest pink on her neck. "Why don't you start from the beginning? Like, who are you, and why should I help you?"

"As I said, it's got to do with your father," Elektra said.

Vanth shrugged. "Why the fuck should I care about the sperm donor sorcerer my mother hooked up with?"

"Sperm donor sorcerer? How dare…" Elektra's expression went from anger to confusion. "You don't know who he is, do you?"

"Don't know. Don't care. He never hung about long enough to look after my mother or me, so why should I?"

Isaac came back with their drinks and looked between them. "Everything okay here?"

"I'm going to need three shots of tequila in a glass, no ice," Elektra said, rubbing her temples.

"Vanth, are you giving this nice lady a nervous breakdown already?"

Vanth gave him a smile. "She's no lady." Elektra stuck her middle finger up at him, making Vanth laugh. "You see? Get her the tequila."

Isaac gave him a salute and headed back to the bar.

"So what order or whatever are you a part of?" Vanth said. Clearly, the subject of his father was something she was going to have to work up to.

"I'm a reaper with the Temple of Magic and Bone. The same one that your mother was a member of. She told you that, at least?" Elektra asked.

Vanth shook his head. She let out a long breath of expletives.

"None of those better be aimed at my mother," he said and drained his espresso.

Elektra rubbed at her temples again and ignored his threat. "Let me eat something first, and I will try and explain things the best way I can. Where is your mother?"

"Somewhere safe. I'm not going to tell you until I can trust you," Vanth replied. He gave her a wry smile. "You charge in and say that people want to kill me, and it's got something to do with my father and a temple my mother used to be a part of. I'd have to be pretty fucking stupid to tell you where she is, darling."

"I suppose that's fair." Elektra's eyes narrowed. "And stop calling me darling."

Vanth's smile only widened. Oh, he was going to enjoy playing with this one. She was feisty, and he liked it. Paired with the death magic humming around her, he couldn't help but want to press all her buttons and see what made her work. He had never met anyone who could get through his wards or scare his ghosts, for that matter.

He was going to find out exactly what she was because she might very well be the one person in Inferno who could kill him.