Something about being with him made me drop my barriers, and it wasn't just the bond. He was a sweet, likeable guy. The kind of soft, romantic, arty type who you'd find in a coffee shop wearing an oversized jumper and asking for hipster coffee.

  “I need to persuade Neo to get us one of these,” he whispered, hunched over the screen watching his twentieth video of cats reacting to cucumbers. “And people make music on their laptops?”

  “Sure, I guess. Mostly electronic music.”

  “Fascinating. And humans have access to all this Internet knowledge but still have no idea demons exist?”

  I snorted. I couldn't help it. “They're pretty oblivious, and the mnemokinetics keep it that way when our natural forgettable nature isn't enough.”

  “How marvellous.”

  He had a much softer smile than Neo, I noticed. It was a slightly dreamy expression, the kind that warmed you from the inside out with butterflies.

  I giggled again. “You need to watch more videos if you're going to stop sounding like you're from the twenties. Neo doesn't have a problem, but you're still sounding a little archaic. Almost no one uses 'marvellous' anymore.”

  “Sorry, sorry. It's harder than I anticipated.”

  “You'll get the hang of it.” I snuggled in closer to him. “You're already way better than I thought you'd be, and it's only been a few hours.”

  “I have an excellent teacher.” His cheeks flushed as he turned to look at me, and I gasped as a bolt of power chased his words.

  His cheeks darkened further. “I'll never be able to hide how beautiful I think you are from you, will I?”

  I smiled and drew closer, our lips almost touching. “I wouldn't want you to.”

  I didn't bother holding back. I caught his mouth with my own and brushed a sweet, chaste kiss across his lips.

  Drawing back, I surveyed his face for any hint that he might not want this and found none.

  “Why did you stop?”

  How could I explain? “Consent is important for Lust,” I muttered. “We can get carried away really easily. I don't want you to think I'm just using you for power, or to be too pushy if you're not ready.”

  Matteo grinned and raised his hand to my cheek, brushing a piece of my hair out of my face. “Be as pushy as you like, Love. I'm certainly not complaining.”

  Then he kissed me while my mind was still reeling from being called 'love.'

  Power and desire made my nerve endings frizzle with delight as his hand stroked down my side. The laptop fell to the floor beneath us as his body curved over mine on the sofa.

  His wings spread above us, shutting out the light. The space was suddenly too small, too cramped for me to touch all the places I wanted to on him, so I had to settle for petting his chest as he caged my body with his and consumed me.

  My answering gasp was swallowed by him as he took the opportunity to sweep his tongue into my mouth and coax mine out to play. It was the hottest open-mouthed kiss of my life. He stroked and teased like a master before retreating to nip at my lower lip.

  Then, just as abruptly as he'd started, he stopped.

  His whole body went motionless above me. The darkness beneath his wings, which had seemed intimate before, was now stopping me from being able to see his face.

  “Matteo?”

  “I was not expecting to wake up to this, Cornelia.”

  Not Matteo.

  “Neo.”

  His wings snapped tight to his back, letting in the light and revealing the dark hair and black eyes that were the opposite of the man I'd been kissing seconds ago.

  “I see you've been busy.”

  “If you're going to start judging me for enjoying my mate, then the door is right there.”

  He moved off of me, but didn't stand.

  “It wasn't a judgement. I'm merely curious as to how he managed to achieve your affection in the span of a few hours when I've failed to do so even though I've been keeping you company in your head for months.”

  I looked him straight in the eye. “Attraction can spark in a few seconds or take years. Lusts don't feel the need to resist acting on it if there's consent from all parties involved, and we don't judge anyone else for doing the same.”

  “That may be true of most Lusts, but you're more like your father than you care to admit. You wouldn't have kissed Matteo without a romantic basis for the relationship.”

  “You're jealous.” I snorted at the realisation. “You want to know why I kissed Matteo without a bargain, but not you? It's because Matteo's never made out like he's anything but my equal. You made a big deal about becoming mortal like the rest of us, but you still act like a god; like you're better than me. We start this matehood as equals, Neo, or we don't start it at all.”

  “You chose to come here, knowing who I was,” he objected. “You offered the bond in your bargain.”

  “Yes, and I also made a promise to myself. I came here to see if we could have something. If this fated connection would work for us. If it doesn't, I'll walk away.”

  “Our bond won't like that.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “You've severely underestimated my intelligence if you honestly believe I haven't figured out that a dark imp can break any bond.”

  His usual smirk disappeared. “Don't make threats, Cornelia.”

  “It's not a threat to respect myself enough to leave if something isn't working between us,” I retorted. “Thirty days was all I agreed to, and so far, you've locked me in a fortress and told me I can't leave. You refused to even consider letting me help you two fix the situation you've put yourselves in, even though you've admitted I won't have any mates at all if you fail.”

  “I already explained that it was for your own safety.” He ran an exasperated hand through his hair and pushed to his feet. “You'll be taken care of in the case of our death. I've made arrangements.”

  “And I'm not a child for you to make those decisions for me.” I sighed and softened my tone before I continued. “I know I'm not a fighter, Neo. I have no intention of putting myself in harm's way. I just want to help with the things I can and know about the threats facing us.”

  The look he gave me was pure conflict. “You do not know what you are asking for.”

  “Then tell me,” I pressed. “But if you keep me in the dark and hide secrets from me, this—us—isn't going to go anywhere.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  My impassioned argument didn't have Neo confessing straight away. Instead, I was treated to an awkward dinner, where we ate in silence, followed by an even quieter bedtime.

  It was only when I lay dozing under the covers that I heard him whisper a curse and shove out of the bed. He was quiet, but it was enough to wake me properly, and I watched through slitted eyes as he crossed to the window and stared out over the moon-kissed, snowy peaks. His wings shuffled in agitation, and for a second, he looked lost in a way that didn’t fit with my perception of my unflappable mate.

  I fell asleep to that vision, and woke up to the smell of coffee. Confused, I rubbed at my eyes, only to find a mug hovering in front of me.

  A rather scorched mug.

  I frowned, shuffling out of the warmth of the sheets to grab it by the handle.

  “I created pancakes as well.”

  My grin grew. “Thank you.”

  Neo looked… almost domestic, as he handed me a plate of blackened circles.

  “It looks…”

  “I believe the equipment in the kitchen is faulty.”

  Sure it was. I had to work hard to stifle my giggle. “I'll get Rasz to take a look at it later.”

  I put my coffee down on the bedside cabinet and took the plate of cremated pancakes from him. Charcoal wouldn't kill me, right?

  The knife splintered the food when I tried to saw into it.

  Neo made a face.

  I couldn't help it. I burst out laughing.

  “I'm trying, Cornelia.”

  “I know, I know.” I tried, and failed, to placate him. “How about we go out for breakfast? Then we need to get to Vice for the memorial.”

  He frowned, looking at the extra plate on the end of the bed. “Is it really that bad that leaving the safety of this fortress is a better option?”

  I smiled, nudging my plate towards him. “Try some.”

  He took the dare and snatched a pancake up, biting into it before promptly making a face. “I forbid you to make me grovel ever again.”

  “This is grovelling?”

  “Rasz suggested females like breakfast in bed.”

  I bit the inside of my lip, trying to hide the smug smile that wanted to break free. “I honestly don't mind if you never cook for us again. In fact, it might help both of us to live longer.”

  He didn't find my teasing funny, if the sour expression on his face was any indication.

  “Come on.” I put the burnt offering aside and grabbed my coffee. “We can do it again, together.”

  “That will have to wait.”

  “Why?”

  He just stared at me blankly.

  I thought for a moment, then sighed. “You broke something, didn't you?”

  “I think we should go out for breakfast.”

  His quick turnaround convinced me that, yes, he had broken something, and no, he didn't plan to admit to it. I was caught between trying not to laugh and worrying about the damage he might have done.

  “Okay, let me put on some clothes.”

  “You said females live in pyjamas.”

  “Yes, but not outside.”

  I was seconds away from pulling my hair out as I dragged myself out of bed and dressed in a rush, half convinced he would actually take me out to breakfast in my pyjamas if I didn't hurry.

  I took a huge gulp of the coffee and resisted the urge to spit it back out. The taste of gritty, burnt… something... swamped my tastebuds, followed by the cloying sweetness of however many sugars he'd stirred in to try to mask the problem.

  I was never letting him make me coffee again. What had he done to that beautiful machine to make this?

  “Let's go,” I said. “Do you know where...?”

  I didn't have a chance to finish before we disappeared through the shadow realm. I shivered as we reappeared in a very familiar street.

  “You idiot!” I hissed. “What about your⁠—?”

  His wings were gone.

  Neo stood before me with no wings, no horns, and normal, bland grey eyes. He had even made himself shorter.

  Hallucikinesis. The ability to create illusions. Another ridiculously powerful gift that he wielded as easily as breathing.

  “I am aware of the importance of not displaying my true nature to mortals, Cornelia. Just as I am aware that this is your favourite coffee shop.”

  I looked in wonder at the cobbled Canterbury high street and the familiar, ramshackle place on the corner. Neo held the door open for me as I passed him, then steered me to my favourite table.

  “Stalker,” I muttered, as he relayed my usual order of eggs benedict to the waitress, along with his own request for an almond croissant.

  “If you have any other suggestions for activities I could have done while stuck in the shadow realm, I'm all ears.”

  I frown. “If you’ve been stalking me so closely, how come you don’t understand technology. You must have seen me use a microwave before?”

  His expression turned stormy. “Peering directly into this realm from the shadow realm took a lot of energy, and I had to save that for direct interventions that would influence events in my favour. I only ever caught bits and pieces of your daily life. And most of my focus was on changing the world in ways that would lead us to where we are now.”

  I supposed that made sense. I’d seen how much it took out of Lilith when Neo possessed her, but I’d never considered that it might be just as draining for him.

  “If you're ‘trying,’” I said, changing the subject. “Does that mean you plan to tell me what's going on?”

  Neo speared me with a hard look. “I will explain what I can, in the broadest of terms, and ask that you trust me with the rest, Cornelia.”

  I nodded. “That sounds reasonable.”

  “For thousands of years, my time was consumed with staring at the Web of Fate,” he began, smirking when I just blinked at him in shock. “It's not a myth, but it does lie at the very heart of the shadow realm. All the events that led to my escape from that place were meticulously planned and enacted by generations of seers and chosen. All timed to coincide with your existence.”

  I looked around, unable to meet the intensity of his gaze. “That's a lot of effort for one girl.”

  “Since I set aside my godhood, I have lost my ability to access it,” he said. “Becoming a mortal has meant I can no longer see the paths our future will take and shape the present accordingly. The memories I have of what I saw became blurry when I crossed over and are fading more and more with every second I spend in this realm. I only know the possible futures I have seen, and you will find only one of them acceptable.”

  “That future is…”

  “One where we all live.”

  “And how many others… wait, I don't want to know.”

  His smile was small and swift. “No. You really don't.”

  The waitress chose that moment to appear with our breakfast, and I took the opportunity to dig into my poached egg.

  “The artefact I require is the last piece of the puzzle. It will allow me to exist independently of Matteo, in my own form. If I get to it fast enough, my power won't have time to start breaking down his body.”

  “Okay, so what is it, and where is it?”

  “It's my skull, and it's in the hands of my enemies.”

  Shit.

  “Your… skull?”

  “You've read Aoife's notes. You know I died in the shadow realm, and that—by some twist of fate—led to my becoming trapped there as a god. My skull was stolen from the shadow realm by priests. I trusted my... church... to guard it, but an acolyte with the seer's gift and delusions of power stole it from them. The seer died soon after, but not before he passed my skull to his son and predicted my downfall should I be tempted to leave the shadow realm to be with my mate. The son—a rat named Marcus—formed a sect, dedicated to keeping me trapped in the shadow realm. They see my return as the end of days, and once they realise I'm here, they will do anything to ensure I am banished once more.”

  “They want me dead.”

  “That is too simple a word for what they would do to you.”

  The atmosphere in the cosy shop suddenly chills by several degrees.

  “That, Cornelia, is why you will stay in Forteca Ciszy until I have eradicated my enemies.”

  “But if you've already seen all of this in the Web of Fate, surely you must know where he's keeping it? Surely you'd have remembered something that important?”

  He ran an impatient hand down his face. “Contrary to what humans believe, being a god doesn't make you omniscient. My focus was on achieving my own reincarnation and keeping Matteo and you alive. I almost failed multiple times. If I hadn't focused all of my attention on the problem at hand, we wouldn't be here to worry about finding my skull.”

  I frowned into the foam heart on the top of my cappuccino. “There must still be something I can do. I could research. I bet a sect that large has an online presence somewhere.”

  Neo just glowered. “I forbid you to go anywhere near them, in person or using that device.”

  This wasn't getting us anywhere. Nothing I could say would convince him that I would be helpful enough to justify putting me at risk, and while some stupid part of me thought that it was sweet that he was so over-protective, the rest of me seethed with frustration.

  “There's nothing I can say to change your mind?”

  “No.”

  “I take it I can't even use Lilith's position as Prime to pull some strings? What about Maddox? He runs the Order of Shadow, doesn't he? Surely he'll have heard something about a rival sect?”

  “The Order of Shadow was created on my orders to protect my chosen. They have no interest in the affairs of the demonic church beyond that. Believe me, Cornelia, I've considered every approach. I have leads and I will find them. They cannot hide from me.”

  I sighed and sipped my coffee. I was certain, given enough time, that Neo would find these people. But that wasn't the issue. Neo had to find his artefact before Matteo's body expired, taking them both with it.

  “You know this discussion isn't over.”

  Just like that, his enigmatic smile was back.

  “I'd be disappointed if it was.” He took another delicate bite of his own flaky pastry. “Of course, you cannot discuss this with anyone. The last thing I need is Lilith and her friends making too many waves and scaring Marcus into hiding, or worse, giving away who you are to me.”

  I didn't like it, but I had agreed to the bargain. “Fine. But if you haven't made any progress in a month, you have to agree to let me help.”

  “Concerned for Matteo?”

  “For both of you,” I retorted. “You need to cut out the jealousy. Yes, Matteo is my mate too. You knew that before I did. Why can't you be a little more mature about it?”

  “It would be easier if you weren't already showing a preference.”

  I shook my head, flabbergasted. “No. You don't get to play that card. That kiss was spontan⁠—”

  Neo's eyes gleamed, and that was all the warning I had before I was whisked through the shadow realm again. I reappeared, sitting on the suddenly empty table in front of him in all his glory. His horns were out and his claw-tipped wings were fanned behind him in a magnificent display of all their deadly glory. My head turned automatically, searching for the humans who had to have noticed.

  No one moved. Not a single person gave any indication that they could even see what was happening.

  “Spontaneous?” Neo grabbed my chin and tilted my head back toward him. “I can do that.”

  Oh, fuck.

  His hand wound its way behind my head, fisting in my hair and pulling my face up to meet his lips as they descended on mine.