Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 54848 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 274(@200wpm)___ 219(@250wpm)___ 183(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54848 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 274(@200wpm)___ 219(@250wpm)___ 183(@300wpm)
“They’re working their angles. The witches and warlocks, even the priests. But, let’s face it, I don’t think the priests are going to be much help but a source of comfort to the worshippers of their god.”
“True. Has Daemon made any progress with his contacts?” I asked.
“Possibly. We would know more if he would touch in on occasion.”
“He hasn’t checked in?” I asked, feeling myself stiffening.
Sure, Daemon was careless and reckless and gave the middle finger to rules and proper protocols, but he always came back to the house to shower and change every day or so.
I’d been gone for days and he still hadn’t shown up.
“Are you thinking that we should be worried about him?” Ace asked.
“I’m thinking this is unusual for him,” I said. “Has anyone called or messaged him?”
“I have a few times. Never demanding a response, just reminding him that we were waiting on him. Do you want me to send some of the guys out to look for him?”
“It wouldn’t hurt. If he is just being a shit, you can punish him for that. But if he’s in some sort of situation…” I said, wincing at the thought.
Sure, Daemon was a demon like the rest of us, but he was young. And being young meant he wasn’t as powerful nor as in control of himself as the rest of us. He could have gotten himself into any sort of trouble before he even realized it.
“I will send Aram out.”
“He’s back?” I asked, surprised. Since it seemed like Aram was content to comb every inch of planet Earth looking for the missing Red.
“Shit going on like this, I don’t want us separated if we can help it. Which is my somewhat subtle way of reminding you that I need you back sooner rather than later.”
“Another three or four days should be all I need,” I assured him. “Is there anything else specific you want me to ask?”
“I don’t even fucking know at this point,” Ace admitted. “Just get what you can. We can all put our heads together to make sense of it all. Then maybe work on some sort of plan.”
“What kind of plan could there possibly be for us? From what I can tell, Hades is going to want the underworld. There is no future left for us.”
“There wasn’t a future for several of us down there anyway,” Ace reminded me. “But we all have some sort of future. We don’t have a choice in the matter,” he added. “So it would be smart to figure out how we are going to navigate this new world before too much more goes down.”
I guess that was fair.
“I will update you if or when we hear from Daemon. Make sure you keep your phone charged,” he added, and it was like he had some sort of sixth sense, knowing that my battery was almost dead.
“Will do,” I agreed, ending the call, then going in search of a charging cord from Charlotte’s collection that might fit my phone.
Only then did I go back and check on her again, finding her still out cold.
With a sigh, I moved back out into her common space, gathering a few of her well-worn books on the old gods, and spending the rest of the night studying them, trying to get more of my own idea of the major players, so I wouldn’t have to keep asking her basic questions.
“Did you stay here all night?” her soft voice called some unknown time later.
My gaze lifted, finding her standing there, changed out of her clothes from the night before and into some soft-looking matching pajama set, her long hair loose around her pretty, but bruised, face.
“Wanted to keep an eye on you,” I admitted since, well, there really wasn’t any other way to put it.
I never expected her to respond to that declaration the way she did.
By walking across the room, climbing onto my lap, and sealing her lips to mine.
CHAPTER NINE
Charlotte
I hadn’t meant to attack him.
See, the thing was, I woke up a little disoriented. Pain and confusion and a sort of hung-over sensation all assaulting my system at once.
It wasn’t the migraine pain, at least, though. Thank God. It was just a sort of throbbing ache around my eye and on my forehead. From colliding with the car.
The whole night came back to me like a film on fast-forward. The attack. Bael dangling the man in the air. Bael taking charge and bringing me to the hospital. Bael holding me while I waited to be seen. Bael bringing me back home. Bael getting me my meds, getting me drinks, a blanket, and, I assumed, getting me to bed. Since I was pretty sure I’d passed out in the bathroom.
As I padded across the hallway and into the bathroom with a fresh set of pajamas, since there was no way I was going into work after getting attacked, so I’d shot off a text before my eyes were even opened to have someone cover my class or cancel it, I felt an almost overwhelming sense of gratitude for the strange, handsome, rough-around-the-edges man who’d taken the time to get me help and home safe.