Dark Passions at Death's Door

28 - Into the Jungle

Tany'ra

Hellplane, Equatorial Evergreen

Goddess Status: Active

"That's underhanded as shit!" she shouted.

He barked a sarcastic laugh. "Oh, really, Phenїx? Now, I'm curious. What do you call stealing a rare mystickal artifact from someone who's teaching you about his kind?"

Nїx furrowed her brow. Then she stuck out her tongue a few lingering moments, "If I can steal it, it's rightfully mine! That's how we Valkyries play with one another!"

An interesting tidbit of information he wasn't aware of. And her tongue looked too damnably sexy against those full lips. Byron tilted his head in.

"Where I come from, it's called being a thief. And thieves don't keep what's not rightfully theirs, unless they've paid for it. More usually, there's a punishment involved in thievery."

Byron leaned closer, putting his lips as near as he dared to hers. "Have you paid for yours, Valkyrie?"

"Hmph! What's the cost?" Her tone was flippant.

"Way too high. Even for you."

She quirked her brow at him. "Do you have any idea how much gold and jewels my sisters and allies are draped in?"

"What good is gold or jewels?"

Nїx blinked hard, processing. No. He did not just... "You did not just fucking say that."

"No, I want to know," Byron chuckled. "I really want to hear this shit."

The look on her face was priceless. He'd just spoken the most blasphemous thing ever; worse, an abomination. She waved a hand in front of his grinning face. "Hello, numbnuts! It's pretty! Have you forgotten how good a diamond necklace looks on a female?"

Mm. That must be something to witness. His smile turned woeful. "Well, I wouldn't know. I've never seen one in real life on a woman. Or any female, even Loreans."

Nїx slapped her hands over her ears with a heavy moan. "Oh, the blasphemy! This is all blasphemy to my ears. I can't believe I'm hearing this!"

Byron lofted a brow, then reached into a pocket of his cloak, drawing something out. It was time to test a theory. He held it up to Nїx's eyes. Her breath hitched, hummed, and her claws curled tight. A perfect three-carat colorless solitaire-cut diamond. Au natural.

"Guhhh," Nїx grunted a gasp, then put her hand up for it. "Gimme."

Byron smiled. "So. You Valkyries really can't resist this? And you've been in foresight so long, you're out of practice, aren't you?"

"Ooooo!"

God, he really loved his reaper instinct and knowledge base. And that moan... If only.

He waved the diamond, and those glacier blue orbs followed. Her palm tracked underneath the sparkly without hesitation. Nїx deadpanned, "Gimme now, Byron, or I'll shriek so loud, I'll break your friggin' brain!"

He paused with the waving. "Good luck, never gonna happen, Phenїx, but I'll give it to you. On one condition."

"What's the condition?" she rapid-fired.

"For the rest of the journey, you don't try and run away. I'm tired, I want to rest."

Her voice twisted. "Not fairrr, reaper!"

Too cute, Valkyrie. "It's not a vow to the Lore I'm asking for, Phenїx. It's a transaction."

Nїx hissed. "So I'm just an escort, now?"