Page 28 of The Faceless Omega

He vanished from sight as soon as the words left his lips, a faint rush of air and the folder still in Brinley’s lap the only indicators he’d been there at all.

Brinley’s lungs deflated and she sank against the headboard, relief and confusion and things she couldn’t even describe bringing more tears to her eyes. “What the hell … just happened?”

Lennox sighed and pulled the file from her lap. “How much did you pay attention to?”

Brinley swallowed hard, suddenly struggling to form words. “I … I think I was being left to … take the blame. I was supposed to be framed for your m-murder….” Her heart constricted with the words as her mind replayed the letter she’d struggled to read. She would have been forced to endure him ripped from her literal arms, to have to watch him be slaughtered, and in some way to then be left so it looked like she was the one who’d done the deed. Perhaps she’d have woken to the scene.

Lennox pulled her into his chest and tucked her beneath his chin, his arms folding around her. “Not that, baby,” he said gently. “I meant were youlistening?”

Brinley dug her fingers into his skin. “When the killer-for-hire lectured us on understanding how merciful he was being to let you live? Yeah.”

“Before that.” Lennox kissed the crown of her hair. “Let’s start at the top. Are you aware of demons?”

The question threw her for a momentary loop. “Am I what?”

“Aware of the existence of demons, in our world.”

She drew a breath. Had she been? She couldn’t say for sure she had, but she also couldn’t say she was stunned by the idea. “Not … consciously?”

He rumbled in acknowledgment. “Hiryu is a demon, and rumored to be the most capable assassin of our time. I’ve heard his name and reputation, but no, I’ve never inquired for his services before.”

She supposed that was a relief, though it hadn’t yet occurred to her to ask. Still, she gave herself a moment to try and process. So demons were for sure real. That wasn’t much more dramatic than knowing other non-humans existed, considering she herself was technically non-human. It sounded like something to freak out about. Part of her wanted to. But she felt too comfy in Lennox’s arms to fall into that trap, so she breathed through it and nodded lightly. “Okay. I guess.” She immediately frowned at her word choice. “Well, not okay, but—”

Lennox chuckled, just for a second. This time, he bent enough to kiss her shoulder before speaking. “It was Matilda who hired him.”

Brinley stiffened and her voice came out in an unfamiliar growl. “What?”

“Matilda was watching us yesterday, outside your old office,” he said, the faintest note of guilt in his tone. “I tried to ignore her and meant to follow up with my attorney later, but the day … got away from me.”

Brinley pushed upright enough to see his face. “Matilda? Your ex-fiancée Matilda? How are you so sure she’s the one who—” She cut off her questioning, the photo and specific details of the request slamming back into her. It was a revenge killing. A petty, jealous, revenge killing. Anger surged through her and Brinley twisted, shoving at the comforter somehow tangled around her legs. “That bitch! I don’t need a lawyer.Sheneeds a lawyer. And a fucking bodyguard!”

She got all of one foot from the bed before Lennox pulled her back against his chest again. And the asshole sounded like he was trying not to laugh. “I’m sure you would win that fight, baby,” he murmured beside her ear, “but I think it’s too late for that.” He kissed the skin at the back of her jaw. “All we can do now is put it behind us.”

She tried to hold on to her anger. She really did.

Her mate was a cheater.

Her anger, her fear, her confusion, and pretty much all the rest of her exploded on his tongue while he pinned her to the tiled wall of his obscenely wonderful shower.

They made it all the way to the same comfy sitting room where they’d spent so many hours the previous day, having opted to take their breakfast to the sofa, before Brinley remembered one of her lingering questions. She chased her latest bite with a quick, grateful sip of coffee and tilted her head up to better see him. “I’m still confused why he didn’t go through with it. He said he doesn’t kill ‘one half’ of a bonded pair, which I guess is nice of him in a messed-up way, but you seemed to think someone else had told him off?”

Lennox set his plate on the coffee table and leaned back, moving to stretch an arm behind her shoulders. “That was part of what he mentioned while you were looking at the papers,” he said. “He claimed he was ‘interrupted’ by a current-generation Moirai named Ella who demanded he not onlynotkill us, but also stay and tell us how we’d been spared from assassination.” He spoke with so much displeasure as he answered her that it curled his lips and trickled through their bond. He drew a deep breath that didn’t feel as cleansing as it was probably supposed to be. “You heard his opinion on that.”

Brinley nodded slowly, remembering the demon having said something that tied in to that. Moirai was a way to refer to the Grecian Fates, if she remembered her mythology correctly.Still…“That’s crazy.” A demon assassin was wild enough, but Fate? Actual, personified Fate? It was hard to wrap her mind around.

“You might be surprised how crazy this world is if you look too deep,” Lennox said.

Brinley frowned before taking another long gulp of coffee. Awareness dawned on her like a smack to the face and she choked as the coffee rolled down her throat.

Lennox had the plate and coffee from her hands and was rubbing her back in a matter of seconds. “Easy, baby.”

Brinley sucked in a raspy breath. “Ella? You said Ella?”

He frowned. “I did.”

Holy shit.There was no way… She swallowed again. “I recently met … a very weird woman with that name.” Her mind spun as she reflected on their interaction on that bus. On the strange thing Ella had said about her having an uncomfortable few days ahead that would ‘be worth it.’ Brinley felt her mouth drop open and stared, dumbfounded, up at Lennox, as if he might have a more sensible explanation.

“Brinley?”

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