Chapter Eighteen

"So, you haven't made any progress at all?" I asked as I looked around Aranren's lab.

"I have already made great progress," Aranren snarled. "I deserve to do other things."

"Other things?" I leaned against a worktable and crossed my arms. "What other things?"

"I enjoy reading and riding horses. I also like to garden."

"Garden?" I laughed.

"By that, I mean that I use magic to transform the landscape," he said stiffly. "I get bored with it looking one way all the time."

"Ah. Well, that's better than you digging around in the dirt."

"Ember, we must have more than war to focus on or we will flounder. And what would we do after we claim Varr if we don't have our hobbies?"

"Oh, I don't know," I drawled. "Rule?"

He snorted. "Even rulers get time to themselves. Don't you have interests?"

I straightened from my lean and ambled about the room, peering at jars and books. I schooled my expression to be cool and collected, but inside, I was searching for something that made me who I was. Did I have other interests? What had I done for fun before I joined the Wraith Lords? Walked through the woods, baked, and tended the garden. Yes, I saw the irony in that last one, but it was more about necessity than pleasure. I did enjoy the baking. Could I rule the world and bake cookies? It sounded ridiculous.

You can have it all now , Death whispered in me. Be whoever you want to be. Have whatever you wish to have. That is what it means to fully embrace my magic.

The words solidified inside me, bringing confidence even as something struggled against it.

I turned back to Aranren. "I like to bake."

His brows lifted. "Then we will build you a kitchen, something separate from the one our soldiers cook in. You can bake all you want."

"Yes, I like that idea," I said.

"For now, would you like to go riding with me?"

"In the dead of winter?"

"Oh, but we are one with Death." Aranren grinned.

Aranren led me out of his workroom. When I passed the enormous cauldron, I remembered watching Aranren put Jathalion's body inside it. After he had killed Jath. I had no reaction to this memory other than thinking that Aranren had been foolish to choose a Wraith Lord.

"Why did you take Lord Jathalion?" I asked him as we strode down the hallway.

"Who?"

"The Makhan Wraith Lord you abducted, killed, and reanimated."

"Oh, him." Aranren's mouth curled down.

"Yes."

"I did it because I could."

"Ah, but you couldn't, could you?" I sneered.

He stopped walking to turn toward me. "What does that mean?"

"The Goddess sent him back. You didn't revive him. This means that you can't make Wraith Lords into the undead. Either because the Goddess will stop you or because you are incapable of raising them."

"I assure you, I am very capable."

"I'm not scolding you, Aranren," I said. "Well, maybe a little. You let your anger color your judgment. I understand why you took a Wraith Lord, but you shouldn't have. If you had focused on the immortal races and continued to make an undead army with them, you could have surprised the Wraith Lords."

"They saw the immortals I raised from graves. I assumed this meant the Lords knew it was possible. But they never thought I'd do it to one of them. So, I did surprise them."

I grimaced. He had a point. And we had been shocked. I had been especially shocked since he did it in front of me. "Still, I feel as if you wasted an opportunity."

"Don't worry. I shan't waste any more of them." Aranren grabbed the back of my neck and hauled me into a kiss.

It was a good kiss, teasing and arousing. I pressed against him and pulled him closer. But then I remembered that I wasn't sure if I wanted to bond with him. And sex would risk that. No, I didn't love him, but what if Death made me feel as if I did so he could force us into bonding? No, I couldn't take the chance. So, I pulled away.

Staring into his icy eyes, I said, "We need to get more immortals. Live ones to experiment on."

The Corrupter grinned. "We will. But we must see to our pleasure first."

"I'm not interested in having sex with you."

Hurt flared in his eyes, but he covered it quickly. "That's not what I meant. I still want to go riding."

"Very well. Show me how you transform the world, Aranren."