held each other’s stares.
“What do I do for a living?” Gwen asked, moving into the living room. I trailed after her, my gaze going to the sofa where she had first seduced me. I wasn’t sure which one of us was unluckier, but at the moment, it felt like me. After finally convincing her there was something between us, someone came along and wiped me completely from her mind. I wanted to scream in frustration, but reserved my temper for the bitch who hexed Gwen. Despite what Micah said, I had my own plans to fix Gwen. Following the rules and laws didn’t interest me, not when I could hand out my own special brand of justice. Once I started ripping someone’s soul from their body they would pretty much do whatever I wanted. Gwen would be back to normal by tomorrow.
“You own a magic shop in town,” I told her.
“I own the shop?” she asked with disbelief. “Business must not be good.”
I shrugged. “You do all right. You’re just not materialistic, and the apartment has suited you.”
Wariness crossed her face. “You know me well enough to make that statement?”
“Yes,” I said simply. The only thing I didn’t know about this woman was why I couldn’t seem to walk away from her. I’d gotten what I wanted, taught her enough that she could be a successful spirit walker. There was no reason for me to stick around any longer. I kept telling myself that eventually I’d grow tired of her and move on like all the other times, but as I watched her, walking away was the furthest thing on my mind.
“Okay, so I’m just going to ask,” Gwen said. “What’s our deal?”
“Our deal?” Her obvious nervousness was adorable. In all the time I’d know this woman I’d never seen her look nervous, not like this. Something about it was endearing.
“Cut the shit,” she snapped. “You know what I mean. Are we dating? I mean, you live with me, and we’ve obviously had sex. What’s our deal?”
In all my existence I’d never had ‘the relationship talk.’ There was one woman a couple hundred years ago that I spent time with regularly, but we’d never discussed what that meant. I am Death. Discussing such human traditions was absurd, but standing in this tiny apartment, faced with this confused woman, I never felt more human than I did in this moment and I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.
“I don’t know,” I told her honestly. “This is new, only a couple days old actually. Everything was great and then…”
“Then I lost my memories,” Gwen finished. She looked away and then back to me again. “How are we going to fix this?” I could tell that she was off the relationship issue and more worried about getting her life back. Relieved for the topic change, I walked toward her and wrapped my arms around her shoulders, bringing her into me. Reluctantly, she wound her arms around my waist and rested her head against my chest. Holding her felt too damn good.
“I have a plan,” I whispered into the silence of the apartment. “I promise I’ll fix this.”
Lifting her head, Gwen stared up at me. Raising my hand to her face, I brushed her hair back and, ever so slowly, leaned down to kiss her. I didn’t care if she remembered me or not. All I wanted to do was taste her lips again.
“Uh…I think I should get to bed.” She stepped out of my arms before my lips touched hers, avoiding my eyes at all costs. “Where’s my bedroom?”
I sucked in a deep breath, held it for a few seconds, and released all my pent up aggravation on the exhale. If I were smart, I’d find some bar, pick up a woman, and screw her until Gwen was out of my system. That’s what I should have done, but instead I helped Gwen find her room and then retreated to the sofa. I told myself that I stayed because once again she needed my help, but the truth was, I was here because nothing outside of this apartment interested me. I was beyond my comfort zone, walking blindly through an experience I had yet to encounter.
I