Reaper Unveiled

I checked my comm for the fifth time. No messages from Uri. Okay, here went nothing.

I closed my eyes and imagined his hawkish face and blazing amber eyes. “Uri, I need you.” I opened my eyes. Nothing. Panic coursed through me. What if Cora was right? What if he was hurt? What if he was trapped? “Uri, dammit! I need you, Uri!”

A couple across the street shot me wary glances before picking up the pace.

Shit, I probably looked like an insane person, but I didn’t care. Uri was my friend. He’d saved my life on several occasions. I summoned my scythe. Fuck it. I’d get Mal or Conah to take me to the Beyond. I’d demand answers, I’d—

“Fee?”

I spun to find Uri a few feet behind me. I didn’t think. I acted. Bridging the distance between us and throwing my arms around him.

He was okay. He was safe. Thank fuck. Wait, I was hugging him, and he was as still as a stone pillar. Um, unwanted display of affection alert.

I made to pull back, but he chose that moment to relax, molding to me, and mother of flapjacks he was hugging me back.

My body tingled, and my head grew fuzzy and light, and I wanted to stay like this forever and ever and—

“Fee, you need to stop sniffing me.”

I froze with my nose pressed to his pectoral. Oops. “I’m sorry. I…” I stepped away from him with an apologetic wince. “Your aura thing. It gets me every time.”

The corner of his mouth lifted in amusement. “I have to admit it’s never affected anyone the way it does you.”

“What can I say. I’m unique.”

Now that he was here, I couldn’t stop staring at him. His amber eyes looked exceptionally bright today, probably because he was sporting a five o’clock shadow on his chiseled jaw.

“Fee? You called me?”

“Oh. Oh, yes. Right. You didn’t return my messages.” I paused. “Okay, that sounds like I’m some girl trying to tap that ass and not getting anywhere.”

“Tap that ass?”

“Your ass.”

“You’d like to tap my ass?”

Oh, God, my cheeks were on fire. “No.”

“No?” He canted his head, his eyes twinkling with mirth. Yep, he was totally messing with me.

I covered my face with my hands. “Argh.”

His low, deep chuckle sent a tingle down my spine. My head whipped up to see the flash of even, white teeth in a face that looked almost carefree, and then he sobered, cutting off the laugh, his brow pinching as if he was confused by it.

“Uri?”

His throat bobbed. “I’m sorry. It’s been a while.”

“A while since you laughed?”

“The Beyond is a serious place.”

I studied his face, looking for the tell-tale twitch of his lips, but it didn’t come. Well damn.

“I’m sorry I didn’t respond to your messages. The comm Conah gave me stopped working.”

Oh, well, that made sense. “I can get you another one.”

“That would be useful. Meanwhile, I have nothing to report. Yet. I have a meeting with Saniel, who works as a scribe in the celestial ark. I’m hoping he’ll be able to shed some light on these dread claims.” His lip curled.

“You don’t believe them?”

“No. I can’t believe that the creator would be so callous as to abandon his celestial army in such a manner.”

“Yeah, it does sound unlikely, but they believe it. These original dread have the other two generations convinced.”

“And we need to show them the truth by contesting these claims.”

He looked the picture of righteous indignation, eyes blazing, jaw tight. I touched his arm lightly. “If anyone can find the truth, it’s you.”

He fixed his eyes on me. “Fee, I’m merely a lowly Grigori.”

“You’re more than that, Uri. You’re a protector, my protector. I owe you my life. Twice. And…” I smiled up at him. “You’re my friend.”

He blinked slowly as if absorbing this. “In that case, how about we take a walk. I have a place I like to go when not on duty.”

“You stay on earth when off duty?”

He shrugged. “There are worse places to roam.” He leaned his head to the side. “Would you like to see?”

“As long as you keep your aura in check.”

“I’ll do my part if you promise not to sniff me.”

Man, he smelled good. “I’ll try.”

He held out his arms, and I stepped into them, allowing his aura to wash over me, and yes, I may have sniffed him once before we splintered.

Chapter Thirteen

“Will you guys be okay?” I hugged Cora for the tenth time outside the pinnacle.

“We’ll be fine,” Cora said.

She looked refreshed and revitalized. She was meant to be hanging out with Vi today, and nope, I wasn’t even a little jealous.

Okay, fine, maybe a little, but it wasn’t just a girly lunch. With Azazel gone, Cora had taken it upon herself to find out more about the hooded figures and tulpas in particular. She was going to ask Vi if there were any new independent witches in town who might be able to control one or more tulpas.

I still couldn’t believe that Azazel had just ghosted on us. Yeah, I got that he wanted to put distance between him and me, that he’d shut off his emotions and all that shit, but he still needed to protect me. It was his curse, and finding the person responsible for orchestrating the attacks on me needed to be a priority. Plus, at least that way I got to see him. His absence was like a hole in my soul, this emptiness that I couldn’t shift no matter what I did.

“I’m sssleeping in your room while you’re gone,” Cyril said, jolting me out of my thoughts. “Cora hogsss the bed.”

Cora rolled her eyes. “You have your own bed. Maybe try using it?”

“Would you want to sleep in a glass box?” Cyril retaliated.

“Didn’t bother you before,” Cora said.

“Oh, it bothered me. There was jussst no one to listen to me moan.”

Oh God, I’d forgotten how these two loved to banter. “Um…seriously, guys, will you be okay?”

They both turned to look at me. “Yes,” they said in unison.

Cora gave me a stop-worrying look. “We have Iza to help out if we get stuck; that imp knows how to get hold of anything.”

I hadn’t seen much of my imp maid for the last few days, but then I’d been pretty preoccupied. “Tell her we’ll all catch up when I get back and give her a hug from me.”

The sound of huge wings beating the air drew my attention to the glass doors. Mal and Conah were visible on the pinnacle, and beyond, growing rapidly close, was our ride—a white carriage drawn through the sky by two huge drakes.

The drakes I’d seen in Senki were black, feral, lizard-looking beasts, but these were white with golden ridges on their heads. Their wings were webbed, bat-like appendages that were set high on their backs. They were almost at the end of the pinnacle now, and it was obvious there was no way the ledge would be wide enough for them to land. But I’d seen the drakes bring supplies to the pinnacle before. They could hover in place, beating their wings every couple of seconds to stay airborne and stationary. It defied the laws of physics, but then the Underealm defied the laws of physics as we knew it.

“Fee!” Conah called out, waving me to hurry.

He was dressed in his Dominus gear but with an added fur-edged, crimson cloak with gold embroidery—Lilith’s colors. Mal and I had similar cloaks. Speaking of Mal, he didn’t turn to look for me. In fact, he hadn’t looked at me at all since our night together. If I’d known he’d shut himself off from me like this, I’d never have slept with him.

“Go,” Cora said. “Get this over with, and once you get back, you can start fresh.”

I gave her a final hug. “I’ll see you soon.”

Pulling my cloak tighter around me, I stepped out onto the pinnacle just as the carriage drew level with it.

Conah shook his head and raked me over. “This is going to take some getting used to.”

I gave him a cocky grin and dropped him a wink, doing my best guy impression. “Don’t worry. I got this.”

He shuddered. “Get in the carriage.”

Mal was already pulling the doors open while the drake made awful squawking noises of impatience. I hurried over, ducking my head against the gusts created by the drake’s wings. The carriage was hovering a foot above the pinnacle and half a foot out from the edge.

“Let me give you a boost,” Conah said from behind me.

His hands gripped my hips, and he launched me upwards. I grabbed the inside of the door frame with my gloved hands and pulled myself up. My left boot made it inside, and then I slipped.

“Whoa!” Conah cupped my ass to halt my fall, and Mal grabbed the front of my cloak and hauled me in.

I landed half on top of him, our faces inches apart, and he had no choice but to look at me. His hand came up to touch my cheek, but then he thought better of it.

“You okay?” he asked.

Why did I get the impression he was asking about more than my almost fall?

“I’m fine. We’re fine, right?”

He sighed through his nose. “Yeah, Fee. We’re fine. But you should get off me now.”

I shifted to push myself off him and grazed his groin. He was hard. My gaze shot up to meet his. He cursed, grabbed my wrist, and physically lifted me off him.

Shit. I scrambled into the seat opposite him and fixed my attention out the window. My heart ached for the easy camaraderie we’d lost. He’d become my friend, and now I couldn’t even touch him without getting burned.

I shouldn’t have gone to his room. I should never have slept with him. I’d wanted to hold on to him, but now I’d lost him.

Conah joined us, taking the seat beside me and pulling the door closed. The carriage jolted, and I fell forward, but Conah’s arm shot out to catch me.