Page 26 of Like Grim Death: Part One
I swaddle him in his zip-up sleep sack and roll my eyes at myself because I know how to do all of this shit.
When I creep out of the room, I have to double back in to make sure he’s on his back and not his stomach because Sid’s tiny ass will break my neck beneath her boot if I don’t do this part right.
He’s on his back.
And still asleep. My uncle duties are done for the night.
I turn, slipping out the door and pulling it to, but not closing it all the way.
And I sense her behind me before I see her.
Slowly, I lift my head and we make eye contact in the dark, my hand still on the doorknob to her son’s room.
Sid takes a step back, further down the hallway. Dim lights flicker on with the movement, a soft, white glow.
I watch her as she retreats a little more, but she doesn’t turn away from me. Almost like she doesn’t want to put her back to me.Smart.
My heart ricochets in my chest.
It’s an uncomfortable feeling, because it’s about her, and I don’t like it.
I remember straddling her on my bed when she was chained there, still trying to run from Lucifer. I think of learning who she was, after I’d fucked her for Lucifer to get his head out of his ass. I remember her in my lap at Ignis. My hand on her thigh.I wish I didn’t have these memories.
“Thank you.” Two words, her voice soft, but there’s so much meaning in them despite how quiet she is. Her and Luce are both tired, and becoming parents is probably hard no matter what your life looks like. But being recently initiated into a cult, grieving the disappearance of her ex-foster brother, and dealing with someone like my best friend, I know she’s got to be exhausted.
She looks down, one foot skimming up her bare calf. She’s in black shorts and an oversized black, band T-shirt with white, illegible lettering, which means it must be a death metal band. It’s ripped, exposing olive patches of skin along her sides and at her hip.
Her hair is just above her slender shoulders, and it’s a fucking mess. I glance behind her, toward her and Luce’s bedroom, the door closed.
“He asleep?”
She looks up then. “Yeah.” A smile graces her lips and it releases some of the tension in my body, seeing it. To know her and Luce are finally on track. We all knew they’d be endgame, didn’t we? Even before Lucifer scarred her forCoagula,I knew it. He’s obsessed with her, but deeper than that, he sees something in her as a reflection of himself.
Shared pain.
Probably the same reason Jeremiah clung so tightly to the girl he knew he couldn’t keep. Sid might’ve been torn, but Lucifer dances far more violently with her demons, and helets her do it.Dance.
He let her break his heart. He gave her space.
Jeremiah needed more.
Lucifer waited without letting her go.
He’s probably still waiting. I know Sid will always love her first protector. I’m not sure I could ever blame her for that.
“Lucifer said there was an… initiate.” She trails off, and I feel a pang of guilt I didn’t tell Ella about what happened. Not about the ritual, or the reason I want us to watch that film. Not about the hole the guards dug. It seemed like Samson’s body was a message to Atlas, which seemed like… none of my fucking business. In a world like ours, a corpse is nothing new. And if Atlas won’t talk about his problems, there’s nothing I can do. Even if it does get under my skin someone knew about Sanctum’s location. About where my brothers and I go to talk after every Council meeting. Still, Elijah didn’t warn us about anything, and I don’t have time to play detective. Calling Tomas about Shadow Villa and watching this movie with Ella are the most I’m willing to do for now.
But with Sid’s words, and Atlas’s strange text in my head, my heart picks up speed a little. I swallow, my mouth dry. “Yes.”
“Who?” Sid holds my gaze, her eyes piercing.
“I don’t know, Angel.”
She frowns, and I know she has so many questions.How do you not know? Do you not talk? How could you not see?But she’s so deeply entrenched in this life—because it’s not much different than how she grew up, in complete chaos—that she swallows all those questions down. “Is he going to be… one of you?” I wonder if she’s trying to get more information from me because she thinks Lucifer is hiding it from her.
I love her. I’ddiefor her.Killfor her. But the brotherhood… well, it’s complicated. All I know is it’s deeper than any other bond in my life. It’s as second nature to me as breathing, having my brothers’ backs.
Lately though,bloodbonds have been competing with my loyalties. Like now.
