busy. I merely watched. But that can be just as exhausting.”
I smiled. There was something about her blank, mostly calm facade. Prudence wasn’t going to make my obsession easy.
The carcass, at her foot, moved. She glanced down and kicked it. Wallis squeezed from beneath the corpse and ran toward me.
I scowled. “Fucking nasty, Wallis. How many times do I have to tell you to stop toying with dead bodies?”
“I’m sorry, Sire.” Wallis fell to his knees and hid his face. “I was scared.” He raised his head and pointed toward Prudence. “Reaper,” he said, like she wasn’t watching him.
“I’m never taking you anywhere again,” I said. “Where’s Marty?”
“Here.” Marty waved his hands as he hopped down from the stacked canned food. So that was why Dirk pointed toward them earlier. It must have been Marty’s hiding spot.
Prudence’s nose crinkled as she stared at Dirk. “So the gremlins are truly yours?”
“Your words are cruel. But let it be known I’m not happy about you either,” Dirk said, meeting Prudence’s gaze.
“Dirk—”
Before I could reprimand Dirk, Prudence called forth her weapon once more. “Cruelty is the gremlin way when left on their own.” Morphing her scythe into a sword, she held the blade out toward Dirk. “Maybe I should end the three of them right now. Save us all some trouble.”
“They’re harmless.” I placed my hand against her blade. “Disgusting but harmless.”
“I never understood the situation between soul reapers and gremlins.”
My hand twitched as my desire to touch her grew.
“You’re definitely not a succubus.” Dirk studied her before asking, “So what are you?”
Prudence put her hands on her hips. “Come again?”
He mimicked her stance. “I said, what are you? Recently, you sent an entire bar into a sexual frenzy.”
Her cheeks reddened. “You were there?”
“So was I!” Wallis eagerly raised his hand. “When I smell you, my lady, I want to hump everything.”
“That’s it!” Prudence pointed her blade at Wallis. “You’re dead!”
“You want to hump everything, anyway.” Marty said before glancing at Prudence sheepishly. “I’ve been waiting for days to introduce myself, my lady. I’m Marty.”
Her enchanting indigo eyes met mine. “Why do they keep calling me my lady?”
“I have no idea.” Scratching my chin, I averted my gaze. “Princess sounds better, right?”
Her shoulders stiffened as she glared at me. “Are you trying to pick a fight with me?”
“By calling you princess instead of my lady?” I lifted a brow. “Believe me, there are many things I want to do to you, but fighting isn’t one of them.”
Her mouth opened and closed like a fish. It was cute. As I learned about my mate, I would enjoy every one of her reactions. Finally recovering, she slammed her lips shut.
“Are you going to answer Dirk? What is it about your smell that drives people wild?”
“It’s a curse.” She grimaced, like the words were hard to say. “You’re aware of the seven deadly sins, right? My siblings and I are each cursed with one. Can you guess mine?”
“Lust!” Wallis yelled. “I’m Wallis, by the way.”
“How fascinating,” Dirk mumbled. “So it comes and goes then?”
Prudence studied him. “You’re pretty quick for a gremlin.”
“Can I touch your hair?” Wallis asked.
“Sure,” she said. He beamed. “But I’ll cut your fingers off as payment.”
Wallis froze with his hand in the air.
“Dirk,” I said in a low, commanding tone. It was enough to let him know what I needed him to do.
“Come along, you two. You’ve met Sire’s woman. Let’s give them a minute alone.” Dirk gestured to the other gremlins to follow him.
Prudence watched them leave the cave. “Sire’s woman? Care to explain?”
“I have no clue why they’re saying that.” I dragged my fingers through my hair and then gave her a nervous smile, hoping she didn’t see through my lie.
Her eyes sparkled, and the ghost of a smile crossed her face. Then she coughed and crossed her arms to hide it. “Uh-huh. I’m not buying it. Just like you don’t know why they’re calling me my lady?”
“Not at all. I’d much prefer them to call you princess.”
Her gaze raked over me. “Shepherd.”
“Yes, princess.” I waited.
“Stop it, right now.”
“About your curse,” I started.
“What about it?”
“Who do you normally go to and how often?”
“That’s none of your concern.”
“You’ll come to me from now on.”
“W-what?”
After learning about her curse, her reaction surprised me. Her face reddened, and she clutched her weapon tightly like she needed something to hold on to. Why was she so nervous? I wanted to be the one to help her when she needed it. My bond would tear