It was the first time she’d called herself that. “We don’t know enough to know whether they could hurt you. I mean, you’re solid now. You eat. You could be killed. We don’t know.”

“Yeah, and you could definitely be killed. Look”—she cupped my shoulders—“I swear I’ll hang back when the action kicks off. But I can scout for you guys. I can teleport just like Conah.”

She had a point. Again. But the thought of her anywhere near danger made my stomach hurt. “Don’t you have a shift at the tavern tonight?”

“I’ll call in. This is more important.”

She had that stubborn look on her face. I never won when she got that look. “Fine, but you hang back when the fighting starts.”

“Pfft, I’m not stupid.”

“I know you’re not, but we can all do stupid shit in the heat of the moment.”

My comm beeped again.

“Fuck. It’s time.”

We congregated on the south side of the industrial estate. Barbed wire ringed the ten-acre estate. No Entry signs were wired to the fence, but there was a clear hole cut into it. I spotted cigarette butts and empty beer bottles on the inside. There was even a small burned-out fire. The estate was probably home to the homeless, a place for teens to hang out and get wrecked, and now the Dread were congregating somewhere on this piece of land.

Azazel, Mal, Conah, and I were accompanied by nineteen reapers—our respective teams for this region—and a tulpa. We huddled low outside the fencing, and I snuck a look at the other reapers. They all looked dangerous. Good. They were seasoned in their field of work. Mal’s, in particular, were used to danger as they went after the malignant. Azazel’s team dealt with the friction amongst the outliers, and Conah’s reapers were responsible for keeping the outer sectors of Necro safe, while mine dealt with inner Necro. This, alongside the regular collection of human souls, meant these demons were always busy, always ready for the next job, and right now, the steel in their eyes told me they were more than ready for this adventure.

Impatient boots shuffled on the gravel, and then Conah’s voice cut through the air, low and urgent.

“Cora and I will go in and locate the Dread,” he said.

He hadn’t been jumping for joy about Cora coming with us, but he couldn’t argue that she might be helpful. The estate was huge, and two teleporters were better than one.

“Once we have a location, I’ll message Azazel the coordinates and the details on how many Dread I see.” He looked to Cora. “If you find them first, then message me.”

She looked down at the comm he’d fitted her with. “Yeah, I got it.”

“You have location tracker on?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“Okay, let’s go.”

He and Cora winked out, leaving us to wait.

Azazel crouched to my right, his huge frame dwarfing mine. His silver hair stood out against his black reaper threads, but he’d pulled on a beanie to camouflage better. It looked good on him, accentuated his bone structure and his carefully chiseled lips that looked so stern right now. It was hard to believe that when he smiled, his whole face lit up, and those fucking dimples. Hell, if I hadn’t seen it firsthand …

I ducked my head because I was totally ogling him right now. Across from me, Mal snorted softly. I looked up, and he arched a brow and made a kissy face.

Fucker.

He must have caught me drinking in Azazel, but now my gaze was on Mal’s mouth, and the memory of his lips on mine had heat crawling up over my collarbones to hug the base of my throat.

The playfulness in his eyes darkened to a knowing intensity. I was probably doing a shitty poker face.

I cleared my throat and dropped my gaze. “Any news from Uri?”

“No,” Azazel said. “I sent a phoenix to him this morning along with a comm, so he can message us directly when he finds something.”

“Is he allowed to have one?”

“I don’t give a fuck,” Azazel said evenly. “Circumstances dictate that he needs one.”

“He’ll probably get fired,” Mal said. “Grigori aren’t meant to get involved in the matters of this human realm.”

“This isn’t a human matter,” Azazel reminded him. “A celestial artifact has been taken by outlier monsters, and Uri is aiding in its identification and retrieval.”

“Is that what you put in your letter?” Mal asked teasingly.

Azazel looked at him flatly. “Exactly that.”

I glanced at my comm. Ten minutes had passed. Shit. I hoped Cora and Conah were okay.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Conah

Teleporting is harder when you haven’t been to the location before, but the map Mal has sourced for me makes it easier. I focus on the units marked on the map and will myself to those locations. The tulpa, however, has no such issues. She shoots off sans map, and I keep expecting to find her stuck in a wall somewhere.

I want to ask how she does it, but the question feels invasive.

We’ve searched a quarter of the estate and come across the homeless and a group of teenagers indulging in drugs. The sight of my appearance in front of them didn’t even cause them to blink an eye. The shit humans will put into their bodies. It makes me sick.

Not Fee, though. She’s pure. I sensed it when I first met her that night in the alley with the mouth. I sensed it in her aura, and I was drawn to her, and now she is with us every fucking day, and I can’t help but want to be in her orbit. I want to protect the pure glow that surrounds her. I want to bathe in it.

Yeah, bullshit sounds so much better than the base truth. I want her in my bed, underneath me. I want her in ways I’ve never wanted a woman, and it scares the fuck out of me because I’m not that male. I’m loyal, faithful, and honest, and Kiara—sweet, kind Kiara—deserves better from me.

I’m committed to another, and all I can do for Fee is keep her safe. I won’t allow the Loup to have her. I won’t let her become a body to be used by every male Loup in whichever pack claims her.

The world shifts, and I materialize behind a wall. A cool breeze kisses my forehead. Voices drift around it—male and female. My heart stutters. I recognize those voices. I recognize them both, but it can’t be. My senses must be lying to me.

Heart in my mouth, I sidle along the wall and peer around it. I’m on an upper level. I spot stairs up ahead that lead down to where they’re gathered. The Dread. Twenty … No. More than that, thirty of them. They’ve set out chairs for their meeting and stand about in pale blue robes that cover their bodies from neck to ankle, but my gaze zeroes in on the two figures sitting companionably on the podium. Evelyn, my ex, flicks her red hair and smiles down at the Dread who are taking their seats, but it isn’t Evelyn I’m drawn to, it’s the man standing beside her. A man I thought dead, killed by the Dread he now cohorts with. Vale runs a hand through his dark hair. Hair as dark and thick as his brother’s was before Peiter cut it.

I tear my gaze away and scan the roof. That’s where the breeze is coming from. That aperture in the roof. A perfect place for an invasion. My gaze drops back to the dark-haired Dread, and my hands tremble as I send out the location message, leaving off the most vital piece of information.

Pieter’s brother is fucking here.

Peiter’s brother is Dread.

Chapter Thirty

Cora

Shit, this place stinks. Not sure what the smell is exactly, but it smells old and dead. Yep, if death had a smell, it would be this. I doubt there are any Dread in this unit. It’s dark, like almost pitch dark, and surely if the Dread were here, they’d have some lights on. Is there any point in exploring it further?

I feel kinda guilty. I mean I offered to help, but I was expecting a little more excitement. Possibly the thrill of being the one to discover the den of the Dread. I want to be useful, but as Fee gets more tangled up in this life, I find myself more and more sidelined.

It’s not her fault, she has actual duties and stuff. I could go back to Soul Savers. Fake being a ghost and get my job back. Give her some space. But the thought of leaving her makes my chest ache.

I fucking love that bitch.

I’ll stay as long as I’m not in the way. And the tavern gig is pretty sweet. I wonder what sex is like? I could have some of that. Everything works. I tried it out solo for the first time last night, and fuck did it feel good.

Yeah, wanking rocks.

A creak to my left.

Shit, focus, woman. My senses prickle. Okay, I am not alone here. Shafts of moonlight up ahead lance in through the gaps in the boards nailed to the windows like blades, and something just fucking ran across the floor.

I stop and place my hands on my hips. Fear is my bitch, because hell, nothing can hurt me, right? “Show yourself or be damned.”

It sounded better in my head.

Shadows cut across the ropes of moonlight.

Um … what the fuck?

“No flesh, not really,” says a creaky, fucked-up voice. “No blood, not really.”

“But it lives,” another voice says, this one raspy but equally fucked-up.

“Alive is good,” another voice says.

The first frisson of fear skates across my tulpa skin. “Hey, you guys … I’m just gonna back up and let you get on with whatever you were do—” They rush me. “Oh, shit!” I try to wink out but never make it.

Talons hook into my back, and I get my first taste of pain.

Chapter Thirty-One

My comm beeped at the same time as Mal’s and Azazel’s.

Coordinates came up, and a map appeared followed by another message with the number twenty and a plus sign.

We could handle that. I hoped.

“Finally,” Mal said.

The reapers’ comms beeped as Azazel forwarded Conah’s message. “The plan is to engage and maintain chaos,” he said. “We’ll do the rest.”

We stood. Wings unfurled, and our reaper teams launched themselves into the air.

“Do you need a lift?” Nox asked me.