Page 37 of Dancing With Death

I grind my teeth, frustrated that no one will tell me what happened, but I also understand where Donovan is coming from.

What I need to do is stop their fight, but I’m not dumb enough to step between them.

“Why don’t you just fuck it out already?” I yell, allowing some of my frustration to bleed through while Donovan laughs.

Luckily, my words have them drawing away from one another and turning to me with confusion clear on their faces.

“When did you get here, trouble?”

“When you were fighting, obviously.” I roll my eyes when I notice the bruising on both of their faces. It’s already healing, but I hate that they’re hurting each other. “Now, are you going to take my advice?”

Cassian tilts his head as he considers me. “What advice?”

“About fucking it out. Clearly, there’s some unresolved shit the two of you need to work out.” I gesture between them. “If you don’t want to talk it out, then I vote for fucking it out.”

“We’re not fucking, trouble,” Wraith says slowly.

Cassian nods. “We’ve been there, done that. I have no desire to fuck him again.”

I snort. “Yeah, okay. You keep telling yourself that, but I’d totally be down to watch.”

“Ohhh, me, too.” Donovan chuckles. “Not that I haven’t watched before, but I’d be down to watch again.”

“Don’t start, pet,” Wraith growls, stepping away from Cassian. “We’ve had this conversation.”

I lift my eyebrows. “Oh, have you? Would you like to share with the class?”

Wraith leans down to kiss me before shaking his head. “It’s not going to happen, trouble. That’s all you need to know.”

I throw my hands in the air, frustration rolling through me. “Then can someone fill me in on why the two of you can’t seem to get along? I thought you were going to be on your best behavior. I hate to tell you, but getting into a fistfight isn’t being on your best behavior.”

I glance between the three of them, shoving to my feet when none of them answers me. “Fine, you stubborn assholes. Can you at least tell me why the fuck you’re fighting?”

“Umm…” Cassian ducks his head as he rushes over to grab some bags off the table. “I brought dinner.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.” I focus on Wraith, hands on my hips.

“He brought you food from the restaurant where the two of them used to go. They never brought me. It was just for the two of them,” Donovan offers up with a smirk. “Wraith didn’t like that, so he swung at Cassian, and you saw what came after.”

I blink at Donovan, trying to understand what he’s telling me. “That’s what caused a fistfight? Are you fucking kidding me right now? How is it I’m the youngest one in the room while all three of you are ancient? You’re acting like children. This is ridiculous. Wraith, Cassian is my mate, just like you. The two of you need to work your shit out because I don’t want to walk in on this bullshit again. I promise that neither of you wants to see what’ll happen if I do.”

Not bothering to wait for a response, I storm toward the stairs. “Are you coming, Cassian?”

“Uh, yeah. I just wasn’t…You know what? It doesn’t matter. Of course I’m coming.” He hurries across the room, his hand going to my lower back as he joins me.

I don’t speak again until I shut the door to my room behind us. “I want to know what the hell happened between the two of you. Don’t bother trying to brush me off because if you are, you can leave. I have enough on my plate without having to worry about the two of you killing one another when you’re alone.”

Cassian sighs as he sets the bags of food on the table, slowly pulling the cartons out and opening them. Finally, he spins around to face me. “Why don’t we sit down?”

“Are you going to tell me what I want to know?”

“Yes.” He sits in one of the chairs, gesturing for me to join him. “First, this happened a long time ago, and I would love to let it go, but Wraith won’t. I didn’t always like my job or living in the underworld. No one wants to be banished from their home, but it was especially hard on me, Ophelia, and Sol. I was born in Mount Olympus, and it’s the only home I’ve ever known—that any of us had known.”

I reach over and take his hand, giving it a squeeze. “Why were the three of you banished?”

“Ugh, it’s stupid,” he admits. “We might have kidnapped Zeus’s current conquest and kept her from him for over a year. It may have caused some wars between gods, as he blamed all of them. It wasn’t pretty. We should’ve given her back sooner, but we just wanted him to stop being such a jackass. I’m sure you’ve heard stories of how he was. He’s always been an arrogant prick, but that’s neither here nor there. When we finally returned her, he’d already moved on, but he was still pissed. He called a vote, and we were banished.”

I shake my head. “That is stupid.”

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