“What the hell was that about?” I ask, feeling breathless but not really sounding the part. But I guess without a heartbeat it’s probably hard to get out of breath.
Rhyland twists around, his expression guarded. “You have to understand something.” He steps toward me, lowering the hood of his cloak. “My brothers and I, which no, aren’t my actual blood brothers, have been trapped in the human world for a very long time. And with each passing year, our powers weaken as we grow more isolated.”
“Are there not a lot of reapers roaming around in the world?”
“No. Only banished ones.”
“Oh.” I guess I sort of feel bad for them. I mean, it must be lonely. “Still, why would that make Alex freak out?”
“Because you’re one of us. And you’re powerful. And you can feed power to us.” His palm molds around my cheek. “And it’s been a really long time since we’ve been around one of our kind and felt another reaper’s power.”
I scrunch my nose. “I don’t want to be wanted because I’m some weird, rare species that can feed you guys power.”
His palm skims across my cheek, his fingers dipping underneath my hood to draw it down. Then he tangles his fingers through my hair, tilting my head back and leaning down so his lips are hovering over mine. “Even if we’d crossed paths with you before we were banished, we still would’ve wanted you.”
“Only because of what I am.” I grab onto his sides as I start to lose my balance.
His arm slips behind me, steadying me. “I hate to break it to you, but all of us wanted you before we realized what you are.”
“Liar. The first time I met Alex, he said I wasn’t enticing enough for him.”
“The first time my brothers met you, they were trying to get a reaction out of you to see if they could figure out why you didn’t react to them the same way humans do,” he says. “Other than that, we’ve never lied to you.”
I roll my eyes. “It doesn’t really matter. None of this does.” I line my palm to his chest and push him away. “I don’t really care if you guys like me or not.”
He relents, untangling his fingers from my hair and moving back. But he promptly steps forward again. “Now who’s the liar?”
I want to argue, but the truth is, I really don’t know how I feel anymore. About them. About myself. About any of this.
Chapter 18
A few seconds after Rhyland declares I’m a liar, Jaxon enters the room. He does a double take when he sees me, his eyes darkening with shadows as his gaze devours me. But unlike Alex and Rhyland, he makes no remarks.
“You ready to go?” Rhyland asks him, taking one final drink from his glass. Then he sets the glass down and tangles his fingers with mine.
Jaxon nods, glancing one more time at me before hurrying toward the door.
Rhyland and I follow him and the three of us leave the store.
Outside, Alex is leaning against the wall of vines and flowers, his lips set in a firm line, his arms crossed, his posture stiff. He visibly relaxes when he spots us, straightening and moving to take my hand.
“Where to now?” he asks Rhyland.
Rhyland peers up at the sky then down the street toward a gothic-like, towering building with gargoyles perched around it. At first I think they’re simply statues, but upon further observation… nope, they’re moving around.
“We should probably get checked into a room,” Rhyland says, flicking a glance at Alex. “Have you seen Blaise?”
Alex shakes his head. “But I know he wandered off toward Grim Shop Alley.”
A crease forms between Rhyland’s brows. “Why?”
Alex gives what I’m sure he thinks is a discreet glance in my direction.
“You know, you’re not being as subtle as you think,” I tell him. “So you might as well just say whatever it is you’re trying to keep from me.”
Alex’s lips pull to an amused grin. “Maybe I’m not trying to be subtle.” He fixes his gaze on Rhyland. “And to answer your question, he went to pick up something.”
The crease between Rhyland’s brows deepens, but he shrugs it off and starts down the sidewalk with the rest of us following after him.
“How long are we supposed to stay here?” I ask as we weave through the creatures crowding the street.
Eyes glance toward me and curiosity sparkles. A couple of creatures even try to reach for me, their fingers grazing along my skin.
“We’re not sure yet,” Rhyland utters, positioning himself in front of me.
Alex moves behind me and sets his hands on my hips while Jaxon slows down to walk on my right, so I’m crammed between the three of them. While I’m grateful, it makes it extremely difficult to see my surroundings, and I have to admit, I’m probably as curious about these creatures as they are about me.
“What a nosey bunch of bastards,” Alex grumbles from behind me. “They need to stop looking at her like she’s fresh meat they want to devour.”
His description forces some pretty disgusting images into my head and I shudder.
“Relax baby,” Alex whispers in my ear. “We won’t let anything happen to you.”
“You really need to stop calling me baby and sweetheart or else I’m going to have to punish you,” I warn, tucking my arms in as the throng of creatures thickens.
“Oh Gods, please do,’ Alex groans in my ear.
I mentally curse my choice of words, tucking my arms to my sides as a massive creature with hair as white as snow and skin as flaky as embers bumps into me. “Why are there so many creatures on the street? Is it always this busy?”
Alex tucks my head underneath his chin and loops an arm around my waist. “No. Right now, it’s the Nightfall of the Undead and everyone’s getting ready to celebrate.”
Jaxon throws a glance at Alex. “She doesn’t know what that is.”
“And I was just about to explain it,” Alex quips.
Jaxon rolls his eyes and returns to staring ahead.
Alex sighs, his breath dusting against the top of my head. “Nightfall of the Undead is the time we celebrate the creation of this lovely town. It lasts for three nights and consists of dancing and drinking and feasting.”
The way he purrs feasting makes me wonder what they feast on, but I’m not about to ask.
“How do you guys celebrate it?” I ask instead. “Or do I even want to know?”
He lightly pinches my side, and I wince as lovely shivers bite across my flesh.
“Now, now, we’re not as bad as we look,” Alex says, his lips dipping toward my ear. “And it’ll be much better to show you how to celebrate it instead of just explaining it.”
“Should I really be going out in this craziness?” I nod my head at the mob of creatures around us.
“You’ll be safe with us,” he assures me. “Besides, it’ll give us an opportunity to talk to a couple of creatures who might know what in the worlds sent Rage after you.”
I clutch onto Jaxon as I nearly stumble over my own feet. “If you can find out what it is, does that mean I can go home?”
Alex stiffens. “Maybe. As long as it’s safe… But maybe you won’t even want to go back after you’ve spent some time here.”
“I have to be there for my sisters,” I say firmly. “I’m the only person around who can take care of them.”
They grow quiet, making me extremely nervous. What if they have no plans of letting me go back? What if the real reason they brought me out here was to keep me? I’d like to believe that could never happen, but the truth is I have no clue how we got here and I really doubt I could find my way back to Honetyon.
But still…
“I won’t ever leave my sisters to live with my dad.” My tone is surprisingly firm. “So, if you guys think you can keep me here, you’re wrong.”
“We’re not planning on keeping you here, but it might take a while to figure out what’s after you. And then we have to eliminate it,” Rhyland explains as he starts up the stairs of the building surrounded
by the moving gargoyles.
Perched on the roof is a sign that reads: The Weeping Grim Inn.
My cloak swishes across the steps as I follow him up the stairs. “How long is a while?” When he makes no effort to answer me, I grimace. “Look, I get that you guys want to… protect me,” but is that even what they’re really doing? “But I can’t just forget about my sisters…” I swallow hard. “I need to know they’re okay, and I can’t just take your word for that.”
“I might be able to help with that.” Blaise materializes beside me from seemingly out of nowhere. The hood of his cloak is drawn down, the sleeves are rolled up, and he’s holding something in his hand. His eyes briefly widen as his gaze flicks up and down me. “You got a cloak?”
“She did.” Alex reaches around and strokes my cheek. “She looks lovely, doesn’t she?” He practically moans the words.
Blaise nibbles on his bottom lip. “Lovely isn’t what I was thinking. More like pulcherrimus viventem.”
I crinkle my nose. “Why do you keep speaking in a different language?”
Blaise’s tongue slips out to wet his lips. “Because you won’t be able to handle what I’m saying.”
I squirm a bit and decide to change the subject. “You said you could make it so I know if my sisters are okay?”
He sinks his teeth into his bottom lip and slowly nods. Then he holds out his hand in front of him, his fingers uncurling around an object.
Lying in his palm is a necklace; a blood red stone pendant trimmed by an intricate black frame that’s secured to a strip of velvet.
“You got me a necklace?” I’m not really a jewelry kind of girl, but I’ll admit it’s really pretty. But I don’t see how it’s supposed to help me know my sisters are okay unless it has some sort of magical powers in it… Which maybe it does.
“So that’s what you were doing?” Alex chuckles. “For a second I thought you might be visiting—”
“I have no plans of seeing her,” Blaise cuts him off in a clipped tone.
“Seeing who?” I ask curiously.
Blaise’s eyes narrow at Alex, but Alex shrugs off his dirty look, leaning over my shoulder to look at me.
“Before we were banished, Blaise was dating a succubus,” he says with a wicked glint in his eyes.
“A succubus? Those things really exist…” I shake my head as I glance around at the creatures on the street and sidewalks. “Okay, stupid question.” I look at Blaise. “What does a succubus look like? Because in books they always come off as extremely pretty. And did she, like, seduce you with her powers? Or do you just have a thing for them?”
Alex snickers, moving to the side of me as we reach the entrance door of the inn. “He has a thing for them. He’s dated I think like six over the last couple of centuries. But I think that’s only because they have a submissive nature toward grim reapers.”
Blaise glowers at Alex. “Can we please not talk about my sex life right now?”
Alex grins. “No way. It’s too much fun watching you squirm.”
I’d be all over teasing Blaise except my mind is stuck on something else Alex said.
“Centuries?” I back up, my mind struggling to grasp onto the concept that they’ve been around for… “Centuries? You guys are centuries old?”
“And I think our kiss of ease and breath of bleeding blossom is starting to wear off,” Alex says, reaching for my hand.
I sidestep out of his reach, nearly tripping and smacking my face against the ground. Luckily, though, I manage to regain my balance at the very last second.
I back further away from them, panic flaring through me. “You guys are so old. And dead. And you drink souls. And there’s creatures with wings and dancing gargoyles and I…” I wrap my arm around my stomach. “I feel sick.”
Alex and Blaise trade a look then Blaise tucks the necklace into his pocket and approaches me. “Let’s get you inside, okay? I have something for you that might help you feel better.”
I shake my head. “No more kiss of ease.”
“It’s not that. I promise.” He extends his hand toward me.
I don’t want to take it, but what other choice do I have?
It’s either go with them or turn around and flee down a street covered with monsters who, according to the Porterson brothers, are looking at me like I’m fresh meat to devour.
Yeah, between the two choices…
I place my hand in Blaise’s.
Chapter 19
The inside of the inn looks similar to the outside, all iron and darkness with a domed ceiling painted with wisps of smoke. The clerk at the front desk is a plump looking creature with rounded features and a wart on his nose.
“What is he?” I whisper to Blaise.
“An ogre.” He guides me away from the desk and toward a wide staircase.
“Where are we going?” I ask as he starts up the stairway.
“To our room,” he replies, dragging his free hand along the railing.
I eye the paintings lining the grey stone walls. “Don’t we need a key?”
“Nah. We have a permanent room here. Rhyland is just making sure Del—the ogre at the front desk—knows no one is to disturb us while we’re here. And if someone comes here looking for us, he’s to notify us immediately.”
“And he’ll just do what you ask?”
“Yes.”
“Why?” I glance at him curiously. “Because you’re a grim reaper?”
The edges of his lips tilt into a smirk. “Haven’t you wondered why we’ve been so confident that you’ll be safe with us?” He leans in, his pupils expanding as darkness casts across his face. “Reapers are considered one of the most dangerous creatures, even when our powers are limited. And now that you’re here…” He inhales deeply. “We’ll be able to take on a lot of power if we need to.” As quickly as the shadows arose, they fade as he slants away.
We finish the rest of the journey up the stairway in silence, but my thoughts are crammed with all sorts of questions. Sometime—and sometime soon—I’m going to have to make them sit down with me and give me some answers.
Make them? Like I can? I sigh at the realization that I probably can’t. That despite the fact that I can kick and punch like a boss, I know nothing about this world and reapers and their powers.
When we reach the top of the stairway, Blaise and I start down a narrow hallway lit up with lanterns. Never once does the idea that I’m not going to have my own room cross my mind until Blaise stops in front of a door, shoves it open, and tries to pull me inside with him.
“I’m not staying in the same room as you guys,” I protest, refusing to budge.
He rolls his eyes. “There’s no way in hell we’re going to let you have your own room.”
I dig my heels into the carpet as he tugs on my arm. “Let me? You better be joking or—”
“Or what?” he cuts me off, stepping toward me, shadows dancing across his face. “Newsflash, sweetheart, until we know what’s after you, you have no choice but to do what we tell you to do.”
An anger I’ve never felt before rushes through me. Moving quicker than I ever thought possible, I rush toward him and slam my palms against his chest. He trips back, his eyes widening as he stumbles into the wall behind him.
“You may be helping me,” I growl, stalking toward him. “But that doesn’t mean you own me.” His nostrils flare as I stop in front of him and pin his shoulders to the wall with my hands. “I don’t have to listen to a damn word you say, if I don’t want to.”
The neediest whimper fumbles from his lips as he grips my waist, his fingers digging into my flesh. “You have to…” he breathes out. “We have to…” His lips collide with mine so forcefully I’ll probably have a bruise. Well, that is if I can even bruise anymore.
For a faltering moment, I let him kiss me, but then pull my head out of my ass and bite down on his bottom lip hard. When he jerks back, a droplet of blood is on his lip.
Shock floods his eyes as he licks th
e blood away. “You bit me?”
“Yeah, so?” I shrug, pretending to be unbothered. But the truth is, it’s weird I bit him. And sort of enjoyed it.
What the fuck is happening to me?
He stares at me, his eyes flashing wildly. “Do it again.”
“No.” But desire floods my veins, begging me to listen.
He leans forward, his eyes clouding over again. “Please,” he chokes out.
Confusion tap dances through my brain. I’m not super naïve despite my sexual inexperience. I get that some people, and apparently creatures, get off on pain. But Alex said Blaise liked submissive lovers, so why would he be the one begging? Not that I think of myself as his lover.
“Why?” I ask.
“Why what?” He gazes dazedly at my mouth.
“Why do you want me to bite you?”
“Because,” he says, skimming his thumb along my collarbone and causing goose bumps to sprout across my flesh.
I start to protest when he dips his head and sinks his teeth into my neck. At first I think, holy shit, he’s part vampire and is going to drink my blood, but then I realize his teeth aren’t necessarily sinking into my flesh. He’s just softly biting me. It doesn’t feel too awful either. In fact, it feels good. Too good. I should pull away, but again, that desire surfaces and I find myself tangling my fingers through his hair and pressing him closer.
I groan with my head tipped back as he continues to suck and graze his teeth against the side of my neck. When I start to shiver, I can’t take it anymore. He’s affecting me too much. Fuck this control shit.
I shove him away, hard enough that he hits the wall, then sink my teeth into his neck, biting hard. He groans, pulling at my hair, his other hand slipping underneath the hem of my shirt, his fingers digging into my flesh.
“Harder,” he demands.
I barely register he’s demanding me to do something, but it’s enough for me to jerk back. I briefly meet his gaze, giving him a defiant look before I lean forward and gently nibble on his lip.
He moans, his arm winding around me, and he urges me closer. I suck on his lip harder. I’m not even sure what point I’m trying to prove, other than I can bite him however I want to. Deep down, I know this isn’t how I’d normally act if I were still alive and clueless about what I am. Then again, this isn’t the first time I’ve bitten anyone before. But all those times were during a fight.
Cursed Hadley (Lengthened Version) (Cursed Hadley #1) Page 15
