A black form hovers over me. I smell the musky scent of fur that's been dampened by fog. Two bright eyes bore into mine as a paw lays weight against my shoulder. A long snout sniffs my hair.

Urtur. 

The jackal looks up at Ashen in the distance of the room before his attention is caught by movement to the right of us.

Good thing I didn't shower, I guess.

Urtur bounds away and jumps onto a hyena stalking toward us from the darkness. The hyena is bulky but... disintegrating. Urtur tears at the creature's ruined flesh as the two tumble into the shadows.

I heave myself onto my stomach and reclaim my katana from the floor.

"All right, vampire?" Ashen calls from the other end of the room. I can hear the worry in his voice, even though he tries to hide it. I look up to see him standing with both hands clasped around the handle of his sword, the tip of the blade pointed toward the floor. The flame brightens in the darkness, illuminating the tattoos that flow up his arms and beneath the sleeves that are rolled to his elbows.

I slide my hand forward and give him a thumbs up. This is so fucking embarrassing, I think as I finally gain control of my lungs. I have a feeling he's going to be bringing this up one day.

I push myself to my feet and smooth out my dress with my free hand before grabbing my dagger from the floor and diving back into the ebb and flow of the battle. I join Urtur to kill the creature he fights in the shadows and then we part ways, meeting our own enemies in the dark. I hear the fire of Ashen's blade at the end of the room near the cauldrons. I smell ink and smoke, and I know he's okay.

I really should have brought my GoPro, because I totally parkour myself up some pillars to jump on the back of a hyena and drive my sword between its vertebrae in a kickass move that Ashen won't believe. As I stand on the back of my latest kill, I start to wonder how many more there could be.

Fuck this shit, I think, sheathing my katana. Time to go.

I turn to the back of the room and run to the pillar where we dropped our bags. I barely slow down as I scoop the straps into my arms. I take off down the center of the room. Ashen is at the other end, near the cauldrons, his back turned to me as he swings his sword against another beast. I'm too afraid to yell, so I do the next best thing.

I throw my dagger.

The kaiken lodges into the skull of the hyena and Ashen turns toward me. The realization takes no more time than meeting my eyes.

Ashen pulls my dagger free and turns to light the embers that will take us home. He sets one foot into the cauldron as I run toward him. For the first time in three hundred years, maybe all my life, I embrace the caress of a flame. I grab Ashen's outstretched hand and we turn with my momentum, just like a dance. The fire surges around us. The pressure swells in my head and I close my eyes.

The curtain of the blaze falls around us. We stumble out of the cauldron and off the dais, looking behind us as though a creature might still be in pursuit. But the only sound that meets us in the Living Realm is our breath and our raging hearts.

We meet each other's eyes and Ashen drops his sword. He grasps my face and kisses me as though the world is about to fall. His touch burns as hot and bright as a last chance. It's as desperate as a final breath.

When he draws back he looks into my eyes, his chest rising and falling with the effort of recovering from the fight. "Let's not do that again," Ashen says, glancing toward the cauldron.

"Why not? I thought it was fun."

Ashen narrows his eyes at me and wipes some gore off my face with a warm palm. "I still do not agree with your assessment of fun."

"You're a Reaper, you're not supposed to know about things like fun." I fold my arms across his back and press my face to his chest. It's sweaty and hot and I smile as I imagine my body must seem like a giant cool pack straight out of the fridge. "So what were they doing there? You said they weren't meant to be there," I ask as I let Ashen go and he retrieves his sword from the floor, the blade stained with black blood that reeks of decay.

"They're not. They typically roam near House Mushussu. They have a particular fondness for vampire souls and House Mushussu is where many congregate," he says, glancing at me before he turns away toward one of the brick pillars at the edge of the room.

"By fondness, do you mean as a delicacy? I didn't get major cuddle vibes from any of them."

"Definitely eating and not... cuddling," Ashen says, the thread of distaste weaving through his voice.

I feel a smile spreading across my lips. "When was the last time you said the word cuddling?"

Ashen stops and points his gaze to the ceiling, scrolling through memories new and old. "Never. It's a terrible word."

My smile grows ferociously bright. "But we cuddled last night."

"That was NOT cuddling," Ashen says as he shoots a sharp look over his shoulder then bends to pick up a heavy cast iron lid that's lying in the dust near a pillar.

"There was some cuddling."

"No. I have not, nor shall I ever, cuddle."

I crack open my journal.

Note to self: demon hates the word cuddle. Must use more frequently. 

"Well, I've just made you say it three times in the span of thirty seconds, so I think you're lying. I think you love cuddling and you say it all the time when I'm not around," I tease as I watch him ascend the steps of the dais, holding the iron circle like a shield. He rolls his eyes and gives me a fierce glare with a lick of flame in his pupils, which only makes my smile brighten with delight. I watch as he settles the lid over the wide mouth of the cauldron, snuffing out the last of its flame. "What are you up to, scary demon?" I ask.

"Making sure no one follows us from the Shadow Realm," he replies as he takes slow, heavy steps down from the dais, his eyes fixed to mine.

My gaze darts between Ashen and the cauldron. I raise a brow in a skeptical question. "That's... that's all it takes? You just... put a lid on it?"

"Yes. Pretty much."

"That's just so... lame."

Ashen stops in front of me, his eyes still fused to mine. "A little," he says, taking one of the bags from my shoulders. I feel like I have to peel my gaze from his just to look away. But I do. We turn and start toward the hallway that leads to the stairs. "Regardless, I don't want whoever let those creatures into House Urbigu to follow us through the corridor."

"Any ideas who that could be? I don't think it would be Ember, she needs me to execute her plan. What about Cole?"

"I doubt it. As insufferable as he is, he is too straightforward for that kind of duplicity," Ashen says as we start up the stairs. I glance up and his eyes flow across my skin before settling on mine once more. A muscle ticks in his jaw. "There are a hundred different options, Lu. It could have been someone looking for revenge on me. It could be someone looking to have some fun at your expense. It could be someone that knows of Ember's plan and wants to remove her most valuable player from the board. It could be someone who knows more about you than you expect."

We walk in silence through the dimly lit house. It's still dark outside, and I can almost feel the weight of the fog on my skin. My thoughts seem lost in a mist as thick as the one that shelters this house. I tumble these ideas over in my mind about who could have let those creatures in and why. How much did others really know about me? How hidden had I really been all this time? Maybe not as much as I'd thought all along. Or maybe now that I'm breaking into the light, it's casting my shadows into visible shapes across the floor.