Page 37 of Right Hand Of The Reaper
I snorted and instantly regretted it when she turned the full force of her fury on me. I flinched. The skin on her face was flickering and I could see the intricately carved bone beneath. Her eyes were two black voids and pretty terrifying actually. And that was saying a lot when I was the stuff of most peoples’ nightmares.
“And you!” she spat. “What else could you possibly want with me after our little interaction yesterday, hmm? Feel the need to make me feel like shit again?”
I dropped my gaze, suddenly unable to look at her in the eyes. “I’m sorry. I should never have left. I just…”
She took a step closer, the anger softening in the lines of her face. She was so beautiful. So unexpected. So wonderfully mine. I just didn’t know how to deal with that. We Metus demons were rare. It was rarer still to find a mate.
“I think I know why,” she said quietly. “But we can talk about that later. For now, I will answer your questions, because every little thing will hopefully help us to find Thane and figure out what he’s been up to.”
She turned away from me and spoke quietly to the twins. The pair of them didn’t take their eyes off me until she slapped them both in the chest to get their attention. I didn’t know what they were muttering about. I didn’t have super hearing like other demons, so I was relying on their facial expressions and the twins weren’t giving anything away.
My heart was pounding in my chest. She’d quickly become my obsession. Since that moment when my power touched her mind, I’d been replaying it in my head over and over again. She consumed me. And I wanted to lose myself in everything that was her. A thought which was absolutely terrifying.
I’d resigned myself to walking this world alone. I’d already lived for a long time, been paying my debt off to the Guild for decades and I’d given up on finding my true mate. But there she was. With bright red hair and eyes that were as green as any forest I’d ever seen. How the fuck was I supposed to convince her to forgive my stupidity?
The twins made some harsh grunting sounds, no doubt they were supposed to intimidate me, but I was a nightmare demon. They’d had to do better than that to scare me. Then they stuck two fingers in front of their eyes and flicked them to me.
I rolled my eyes at them. “Ooh, scary.”
“Fuck you, demon,” the left one spat.
I blew them a kiss. “In your dreams, bitch.”
They both started forward at my insult, but Roux slammed the heels of her hands into each of their chests and pushed them backwards.
“Out! Now!” she roared. “I will not have a bloodbath in here.”
She rubbed soothing circles on their chests and they both seemed to calm immediately. Maybe the rumours were true. I’d heard they were closer than they should be, but other than a little bit of affection I’d seen between the three of them, there was nothing to suggest that it went beyond that. If I had seen something, I’d be honour bound to report it to the Guild, but if she was my mate, I doubted I could do that to her. Their connection clearly went soul deep. In any other pairing I’d say they were destined for each other, but those three were nothing but doomed.
After some gentle soothing from Roux, the two Hounds finally left, leaving me alone in a small space with someone I had the unrelenting urge to claim.
Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all.
Roux closed the door, then turned and leant on it, staring at me with determination burning in her eyes. “So, do you want to interrogate me first or talk to me about what happened yesterday?”
I huffed a laugh. Neither was an easy decision, but the interrogation would probably be best to get out of the way first. It’d also give me a chance to work out what the fuck I was going to say.
I pointed to the chair opposite Thane’s desk. “Have a seat.”
She plonked herself down with all the grace of a baby giraffe.
“Aren’t Reapers supposed to be graceful and, like, floaty?”
She gave me the middle finger and then propped her feet up on the desk. “Ask your questions, but I should probably warn you, I’m tired, pissed off and I will stick my knife in your eye if you try to run away from me again.”
I grinned and leant closer. “Don’t tempt me with a good time now.”
She narrowed her eyes at me but there was a small tug of a smile in the corner of her mouth. “Let’s get this over with.”
I gave her a nod and got comfortable in Thane’s chair. “Can you talk me through how you met Thane?”
“When I awoke in this life, I knew nothing about who I’d been.”
“Nothing?”
“Nope. No name, no memories. Nothing.”
That was unusual and something I’d never heard of. “Where does Thane fit into all this?”
