Four months later
Samantha arrived at the Fatuus mansion like she did every day since Lilith became Boss. Justus greeted her at the door to take her coat, something she still wasn’t used to.
“Good afternoon, Miss Rain,” he said, holding out his gloved hand.
“Please call me Samantha.”
Justus gave her a cryptic smile. “I don’t think so, Miss Rain.”
She laughed. “Fine, maybe next time.”
On her way in, there were plenty more people to greet. After spending some time at the mansion, Sam quickly came to understand why Lilith called these people family.
She made her way up the stairs and bumped into Rex on the landing.
“Afternoon,” he said, gesturing towards the office. “You on your way in?”
“Yes. Is Lilith already in or is she still in her chambers?”
“Boss is expecting you,” he replied. As Lilith’s right hand, he should know.
She smiled. “Excellent.”
“Oh, I’ve got something for you,” he said, digging through the stack of files he was carrying and holding out a magazine for her.
“What’s that?” Sam asked, accepting the issue.
“You’ll see. Check page seven. Show Boss too.”
“Will do,” she said, smiling as he made his way down. Who knew treasure hunting could restore old bonds, Samantha thought. Well, treasure hunting and a lot of meddling on her part. In the end, Lilith needed people around her she could trust, people that would be on her side no matter what.
She continued on to the office and knocked on the double doors, waiting to be called in.
“Who is it?” the familiar voice called, making Sam’s heart leap.
Even after all this time, such a simple sound was enough to put an extra spring in her step.
“It’s me,” she called back.
“Come in!”
Even with the doors closed, Sam could hear the smile in Lilith’s voice. With a smile to match, she entered the office and closed the doors behind her. The door was barely shut before Lilith pulled her into her and kissed her like they hadn’t seen each other in months.
“You kiss me like you missed me,” Samantha whispered, not complaining one bit.
“I did,” Lilith replied, stealing one more kiss for good measure.
“You saw me this morning.”
“And that’s a long time ago.”
Samantha giggled. “We’re sickening.”
“Maybe so. What’s the magazine for?”
“I don’t know, Rex gave it to me.” Sam flicked through the pages, searching for the one he told her about. She chuckled as she read the headline. “This is brilliant. Ancient ship discovered by Professor Langwood goes to National Museum.”
“Ahh, another contribution to human ignorance,” Lilith joked. I’m glad we dropped that bronze coin in his mailbox.”
“Me too.” Samantha pushed the magazine closed and gave Lilith another kiss.
The woman giggled. “You’re too cute, but we need to get to work. Shall we, First Warden?”
Samantha sat down in her chair, grinning from ear to ear. Just like she expected, serving was what she did best and she was glad to be back in a position where she could make a difference. “Yes, we shall. Boss.”
“Excellent. First order today…” Lilith reached into one of the many drawers of the desk and held up a small key.
Samantha gulped. “What’s that?”
“This is a key. It locks doors which is something people do when they want other people to stay out,” Lilith teased her. “Or when they want you to come in. This is a key to the mansion, which is mostly symbolic because Justus opens the door anyway. But this key is to my wing. I want you to have it.”
“I… I don’t know what to say.”
“Say thank you.”
Even in a such a vulnerable moment, Lilith still managed to be bossy and Samantha wouldn’t have it any other way. By now, she knew exactly what kindness and warmth she hid behind the sass.
She accepted the key and attached it to her own set. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Now, shall we get to work? We have plenty of Nox that need to be reminded of the laws and plenty of humans to be kept in the dark.”
Samantha grinned. “It’s a good time to be a Warden.”
— The End —
Thank you for reading The Case Of The Ruby Curse! I hope you enjoyed the Samantha Rain mysteries and the relationship between Lilith and Sam.
If this is your thing, maybe you’d like the Afterlife Academy series I wrote. It’s a low fantasy series with another slow-burn F/F relationship and lots of adventure. You can pick up Valkyrie 101, the first book, for free on most retailers or by following this link: https://books2read.com/valkyrie101