Page 31 of Disabling Relics for Dummies
“Valentine didn’t plant it when he was alone at the ruins,” Killian said. “He seems pretty convinced the grimoire is in there. I agree, though. The Cult of the Aether Sisters didn’t have the technology available to make this box.”
“The god that made them would have,” I said. “They didn’t step in when the cult got dangerous. We saw how Lilith was with her creations. She let the demons abuse the Hellhounds for ages, so she didn’t have to go on a killing spree. Gods seem pretty protective of their creations. Whoever created them could have made them this box to help the prophecy come true.”
“We’ve spent more time around Reyson than we did Lilith. They are both totally different. If Reyson had created a supernatural race and they went evil, he’d step in. If there were any chance of them coming back, he’d make sure to stop it. Gods are just as different as we are. There could be answers about who created them and how to stop them inside the puzzle box.”
“Something isn’t sitting right with me. The cult spoke to Valentine enough to convert him to their evil plan.Hedoesn’t know what’s in that puzzle box. Valentine is convinced the grimoire is in there. Maybe the Cult of the Aether Sisters doesn’t know what’s in the box either. If it were vital to their plans, they would have told him.”
“Or Valentine is lying,” Killian pointed out.
“I don’t think so,” Key said. “Valentine needs the grimoire. They told him it was in a box. They weren’t very specific. Valentine is not very sneaky. He hasn’t revealed all of his plans because he knows Ravyn isn’t on his side, but he’s told us a good bit of it.”
“So, it’s settled,” Killian said. “Monday, we open the box.”
Key stretched.
“I’m at the point that I’d like that pizza now. Unless I’ve worn out my welcome?”
He hadn’t. I enjoyed having him here. I wanted Key here more often. I wouldn’t want him to get arrested or anything.
Chapter24
Ravyn
We were epically drunk, and I was having a blast. I was fluent in modern drinking games. Killian and Key were breaking out games I hadn’t even heard of. Key stood up and stretched. His body was doing things in those gray sweatpants that were speaking to my soul. He placed an empty beer bottle in the center of my coffee table and looked deadly serious.
“It is now time for the most important drinking game of all time—spin the bottle.”
I hadn’t played that since the academy and Key and Killian were so damned hot, it was probably unfair to the female species. I was here for that.
“How are we going to play spin the bottle? There are only three of us here and only one woman,” Killian said.
Key just winked at him. If Killian and Key kissed, my vagina might explode.
“There’s not a damned thing wrong with two men kissing.”
“Oh, I know. I’ve just never wanted to.”
“Well, it’s two in the morning, we’ve gone through most of a bottle of rare whiskey, and it’s the perfect time to experiment.”
Killian must have either been really drunk or just a little curious because he pointed his slice of pizza at Key and grunted.
“You’d better not slip me the tongue.”
“Both of you have my full permission to slip me the tongue,” I said.
Yeah, this whiskey was potent and making me pretty bold, but I wasn’t smashed. That wasn’t the whiskey talking. Killian was an amazing kisser, and I’d been looking at Key in those gray sweatpants all night. I’ll bet he kissed like a total beast.
“Noted. I’m the oldest, so I’ll go first,” Key said.
How did heknowhe was the oldest? We never discussed birthdays, and he looked our age. He’d somehow managed to guess Killian was my familiar. We hadn’t confirmed that even though we probably should. When Reyson brought Killian back, he brought him back in his prime, but he remembered his life from before. Key couldn’t be older than Killian, but we just went with it.
I was pretty sure Killian felt the same as I did. We could be honest with Key about what he was and how he got that way. I knew he wouldn’t share that information with anyone and cause some sort of rebellion among the familiars or a mob at my sister’s library. He seemed to know a lot about generally everything and a very curious warlock. But he never shared anything he knew unless it helped someone.
I opened my mouth to point out Killian was technically older than him and give Key the truth, but he was already spinning the beer bottle. That was totally Key. He just said anything and did what he wanted. It was mostly directed towards shitting on Valentine, but it was still extremely sexy.
The bottle landed on Killian. Killian bit his lower lip. Killian had been my familiar a very long time. He’d been with Ripley and me while we were checking out guys, and he never wanted to join in. Being stupid hot was never a good reason to him for me being into a guy. I generally agreed with him after I tried to have a conversation with them.
Key was stupid hot, brilliant, and oozed power. He hit everything on my bucket list and at least two on Killian’s. He was missing the parts Killian usually went for, but was that curiosity on his face?
