Reaper Undone

Coming to Lumiers was like coming home. It was as if a lantern inside me had been lit, and that flame was banishing the many shadows that had gathered over the past few months.

I gave Leana a little wave when she looked up from serving a customer and received a leery once-over. I graced her with a twirl to showcase my outfit, carefully picked out for the winter scene—a cerulean blue polo shirt, knitted black cardigan, black skinny jeans, and calf-high leather boots all topped with a hooded, faux suede, fitted coat that came down to mid-thigh. I looked good, and I felt even better.

She winked and then smirked knowingly.

What? I mouthed the word.

She finished serving the customer as I joined her.

“You lucky duck,” she said.

“Lucky?” Oh. The butterflies in my stomach spawned more butterflies. “Grayson’s here already?”

She sucked in her cheeks and arched a brow. “Go on up. I’ll be there to take your order in a few.”

O-kay. She was acting weird. The bell above the door rang as I headed for the steps to the upper floor. It was quieter up here, as if the customers, exhausted from their trudge through the snow, hadn’t had the energy to make it up the steps. The smell of cinnamon and ground coffee beans was also more potent, but the delicious aromas faded into the background when my gaze fell on the only occupied table. For a second, my mind refused to process what I was seeing, and then the picture came together like a glorious puzzle that had finally found its missing piece.

Grayson, Azazel, and Mal sat together. Their baritones slid over each other as they conversed. Mal said something and all three males burst into laughter. The sound was like a chorus of angels. And yeah, I stood there grinning like a dickhead, watching this scene play out like something out of a bromance—Mal reaching out to pat Grayson’s shoulder, Grayson’s husky eyes crinkling with mirth as he shook his head, and Azazel nodding along, agreeing with whatever Mal was saying.

This was surreal.

This was a wish.

A dream.

I stepped onto the balcony, and the laughter died as all three guys zeroed in on me.

“Hi.” I held up my hand in greeting. “Is this a private meeting, or can anyone join?”

Mal patted the seat next to him. “We saved you a seat.”

What was this? It was meant to be a lunch date for me and Grayson…Oh, shit, had Azazel and Mal hijacked it? If they had, Grayson didn’t look too bothered about it.

I locked gazes with Grayson, and he smiled warmly. “Are you going to stand there all afternoon?”

I slipped into the seat beside Mal, so Grayson was opposite me and Azazel a little way to my right. The round table was just about big enough to accommodate the huge males, leaving enough space for their long legs and broad shoulders.

“That shade of blue looks good on you,” Grayson said. “It brings out your eyes.”

Oh. My cheeks grew warm. “Thanks.”

A simple compliment, and I was blushing like a fucking schoolgirl.

“Grayson’s right,” Azazel said. “You look beautiful.”

“She’s always beautiful,” Mal said.

What the fuck? I held up my hands. “Okay, this is getting weird.”

Grayson braced his forearms on the table and leaned forward slightly. “You don’t like compliments?”

“Of course I do, I’m just not…”

“Used to them from us,” Azazel finished.

“Our fault,” Mal said. “We don’t tell you how silky your hair is, or how the room lights up when you smile.” He shrugged. “We think it, though.”

Azazel cleared his throat. “I’m probably the worst at this.”

I reached out and placed my hand over his, and he gripped my fingers. “Your paintings tell me how you see me.”

He smiled, flashing a dimple, and my heart stuttered. But the three of them being here together couldn’t just be about giving me compliments.

“Guys, what is this? Has something happened, and you need to break it to me gently?”

“I told you she’d think this was weird,” Mal said.

“Well, it shouldn’t be,” Azazel replied, his eyes on me. “And it won’t be.” He looked to Grayson as if handing the spotlight over.

“You’re my mate,” Grayson said. “But you’re also Azazel’s soulmate, and you love Mal. All three of us mean something to you, and I know I might not have a place in your heart just yet, but I want one. I want to make you happy, we all do, so we’ve agreed that this”—he indicated the table—“will be the new norm.”

“We’re here for you,” Mal said. “Individually and collectively.”

“No conflicts,” Azazel said.

“So, let’s have coffee,” Grayson said. “Maybe some cake.”

I made an incredulous sound. “There’s no maybe about it.”

“And afterward, you and I can take a stroll, do some Christmas shopping, and I’ve booked us a table at an Italian restaurant Dean swears by.”

If I got any happier, I’d explode. After all the shit that had happened, all the uncertainty, the almost death, the threat, and the loss, this was happening. I was here with three men I adored and who adored me. I was here, and there was no one trying to kill me right now, no one trying to end the world as we knew it. The joy bubbled up inside me to choke me and sting my eyes. Oh fuck, I was going to blub like a baby.

Grayson frowned, concerned. “Fee?”

My bottom lip trembled, and I shook my head. “Just give me a minute.” I covered my face, breathing deep to conquer the happy tears, because like hell would I ruin the makeup Cora had applied for me.

Mal pulled me into a sideways hug. “You’re fucking adorable, you know that?”

“I’m not adorable. I’m kick-ass.” But my words were muffled by my hands.

“Kick-ass and adorable,” Mal said.

“Ready to order?” Leanna asked.

I dropped my hands from my face and blinked back the tears with a smile. “I’ll take a large mocha with a cinnamon swirl, an éclair, and a slice of red velvet cake to start.”

Leana looked to the guys. “And what about you fine gentlemen?”

Azazel, Grayson, and Mal exchanged glances and nodded in silent agreement of something.

It was Azazel who spoke. “We’ll have the same.”

Leana left, and we fell into conversation. Nothing about the Dread or the tulpas. Nothing about Hunter or the packs, just regular conversation about movies, music, and books. Laughter filled the air and saturated my heart. I took a mental snapshot of this moment.

My new go-to moment.

My new internal happy place.

If only Cora and Cyril were here, then this moment would be perfect, but I’d see my python buddy in a few days. I’m sure he was managing to keep busy without me. Right now, all that mattered was my guys.

Chapter Fourteen

Cyril

There’s someone in my tunnels who doesn’t belong. I can smell them. I flick my tongue to taste the air again and again, body vibrating instinctively to let the intruder know that this is my domain.

“Who’sss there?” I slide through my network between the walls, my sanctuary that spans the whole of the Dominus headquarters, following the scent. I catch the flick of a tail, and I speed up.

“Wait!”

I round the bend and freeze at the sight of gleaming black eyes and a smiling mouth. The female snake flicks her pink tongue out to taste the air at the same time as me, and my little heart is racing.

“Well…hello there…” she says.

I want to be annoyed at her. To demand what she’s doing in my territory, but I can only gape.

“Now, I know you haven’t lost your tongue, I just saw it.”

“Cyril,” I say. “My name issss Cyril.”

“Delphine.”

“What are you—”

She turns her head away to look behind her as if she’s heard something, and then she’s slipping away so fast she’s a blur.

I follow; of course I do. There is no other option.

The soft clink of a grill has me slowing down.

There is a room up ahead. An empty chamber, but no…No longer empty. I smell another presence. Not demon, not human. Something new.

I move closer to the vent and peer through the gaps, and for the first time in my life, I wish for eyebrows because what I see would be worthy of an epic brow raise.

There is a blue male standing with his back to me. His hair is also blue and falls down his back in a braid, but the blue man is the least of my concerns. My attention is on the beauty sliding across the floor toward him.

Four feet long, slender and sinuous with a pink sheen to her scales, Delphine reaches the blue man and climbs up his leg as if she’s been doing it all her life, and then…Oh my. She melts into his skin and is nothing but a beautiful inked image.

A tattoo.

That’s what they call it.

My new obsession is a tattoo.

My brain comes back online, and I focus on the man. Blue skin…Why is that so famil—

Oh fuck.

Keon.

Fee told me about him.

This must be Keon.

Fee will not be happy about this. Delphine’s tongue flicks out of the tattoo and my heart goes into meltdown.

Fee won’t be happy … but I am.

The blue man is turning. He’s looking right at the vent.

“Hello, Cyril,” he says.

Fuck.

Chapter Fifteen

Fee

I stared at the boxes and bags of decorations Grayson and I had dropped all over the lounge. Okay, so maybe I went a little overboard.

Cora clapped her hands together with glee. “We are going to have sooo much fun putting this together.” She paused and looked at me warily. “Babe, where will we be celebrating Christmas?”

Yeah, I’d had this same thought, but the guys had put my mind at rest. “Grayson’s hosting here. It’s going to be epic.”