by Zoey Woods
He released my breast and chuckled, nipping at my neck. “One of the perks of being a deity. I can will clothes on or off.”
“Even mine?” I asked, breathlessly.
He murmured an affirmation and moved to my other breast. His hand cupped my ass, drawing my wetness closer to his cock.
I shuddered from the intensity. All of me was on the verge of climax. Every touch and kiss sent me closer and closer. But I wanted him inside me. I pushed him back so I could mount him.
“I want to take our time.” His brow pinched.
“Later. I-I can’t wait anymore.”
I grasped his cock, guiding it to my heat. When his cock slid into me, I moaned, raking my hands over his shoulders.
He grasped my hips, guiding me up and down on his cock. My breast bounce against his face. He groaned in a way that said he was on the verge of cuming but didn’t want to stop. I don’t either, but the fire consumed me from the inside out. My body tensed around his cock and I drove down harder and faster.
My sex clenched, pulsing around his erection. An orgasm ripped from me and a cry of release burst from my lips.
As my body trembled with aftershocks, his face was filled with ecstasy until he climaxed too.
Together, we were a tangle of arms and legs. Content. And I wondered how long I have left now before my fate was sealed.
Chapter 17
I redressed feeling sated and pleased. Being undead had to agree with me. I’d never had sex with more than one guy in mere hours before. But I liked it. I liked all three of the fates: each of the different and unique in their own ways. And each of them fit me perfectly. Like together, we were whole. I couldn’t explain it…almost like we were destined to be together.
A feeling of unease settled in my gut and I pushed away my half-eaten sandwich.
“What’s wrong?” Patrick said, picking up on my sudden buzz-kill.
“Nothing. I’m fine.” I placed my hand over his. “You were amazing. I’m just worried about Chaos and how were we going to break the spell that hides the identities of my killers. Cause I kinda like my life now. Not that I didn’t like it before, I just—”
He chuckled. “Just that being in the underworld and undead has its advantages?”
“Yeah, you can say that.” I bit my lip, tracing a finger over the scythe tattoo on my arm. “I still don’t like this part of it though.”
He squeezed my hand. “Hey, you haven’t even reaped anyone yet.”
When I opened my mouth to protest, he shook his head. “Emily doesn’t count. Her possession blocked the full process of her reaping. It wasn’t the same.”
“How could it be different? She died. I reaped her. What more is there?”
“A lot. More than I can explain.” He sighed. “I’m not, nor have I ever been a reaper. It would be like trying to explain an elephant to a blind man when I’ve never seen one in person.”
“Ah. I see your point. But I did reap Emily, so I’m not sure how much different it could be.”
“You will.”
I gave him a smile I didn’t feel. I didn’t want to reap anyone else except eleven guilty people who killed me and other women. They had to be stopped. And afterward, I was retiring from this grim reaper business.
David and Finn joined us in the library.
“Anything?” Finn asked while David gave me a cocky grin that said that he knew me and Patrick had had sex.
Bastard. Leave it to the fate over the past, which had just happened, to know what transpired between us. Like Finn had said, the past was set in stone. It couldn’t be changed. The present was immediate, while the future was wavering like a thousand kaleidoscopes.
I had nothing to hide. And I was one lucky woman to have made love to three gorgeous men.
“Nope. Except my head is spinning from all the women and goddesses that Zeus seduced and his bastard children and demi-gods all over the place.”
David leaned against one of the bookshelves. “Not all Greek gods are like him. Some of us prefer one woman. And some of us share our treasures with each other without judgment or jealousy.”
That sly devil. He was poking fun at me for having had sex with all three of them. Well, I could play the game. “Oh? Maybe it takes three of you to satisfy a woman.”
His hooded eyes lowered, making his black lashes look even thicker and longer. “And are you…satisfied?”
I wasn’t the kind of girl that blushed, but my whole face heated. I cleared my throat. “I’m sated…for now.”
Finn moved to my right, the heat pouring off of him in waves. “Once we have more time, after we find your murderers, then we can try all three at once with you, Luv. I bet you’d be more than satisfied then.”
His words brought up lustful images of them filling me in every way possible and my core tightened. But as much as I wanted to make him prove his words to me, he was right. That juicy experiment would have to wait.
“Back to the eleven. How do we find them and how much time is left now?” I had no idea of the passing of time in this realm compared to the human one. “Is there a conversion rate that I can do to figure it out on my own?”
“Once you get acclimated more with the scythe, you’ll be able to tell.” Patrick lifted a book from the table, holding it out for me.
“No, no more reading. I’m about to go cross-eyed and it’s not getting me any answers.” I shook my head and he replaced the book. “Maybe we need to go to the source.”
Patrick tensed. “How do you mean?”
“I think it’s time I meet your extended family.” How bad could it be? I’d met plenty of guys I’d dated and their overbearing mothers and even a drunken father who had grabbed my ass when I passed him in the hall on the way to the bathroom. “I want to meet your great-grandmother. Nyx.”
“Shit.” The shelf David had leaned against fell. Books tumbled onto the floor. “Are you out of your mind?”
So even they were afraid of her like Zeus? Now I had to meet this woman.
“It’s our best chance at figuring this out. She might even have some ideas on how to stop Chaos and find these eleven guilty people. It’s got to be better than pouring over books about stuff that has happened so long ago. No offense.”
“None taken.” David cursed, picking up a stack of books only to have one fall onto his foot.
I glanced over at Finn who looked positively ill. His tanned skin was a pasty white and dark circles lined his eyes. Patrick fared no better. He stared down at the scattered books on the table as if they held the answers to the secrets of the universe.
“Come on, she can’t be that bad, can she?” I asked. “If I can deal with a Mexican grandmother and her shoe, I could deal with anyone.”
All three of them gave me looks like I had lost my mind. And maybe I had. But I had to try.
* * *
After making sure I was able to curtsy without falling on my face, the men grudgingly
took me to Nyx. David clasped my left hand, Finn took my right, and Patrick placed both his hands on my shoulders as he stood behind me.
The library wavered in my vision, the edges blurring before turning completely dark. Then we have whisked away to a temple with onyx columns and black marble floors. The ceiling was lit with a thousand twinkling stars.
“It’s breathtaking.”
“Indeed,” a woman’s voice that sounded like distant thunder answered. “Moirae, why have you brought a mortal to my domain?”
“I asked them to bring me.” Oh wait, I was supposed to wait until she called on me. I quickly dipped into a curtsy, my legs wobbling from my ass being in the way. “Goddess.”
When I rose, a caught a slight tremble to the edge of her lips. I wasn’t sure if that meant she was fighting a scowl or a laugh.
“She’s our new reaper,” Patrick said, replacing his hands on my shoulders.
“Is that so?” She moved out of the shadows. Her hair was black as night and seemed to shine from within. Her skin was i
vory and she didn’t look old enough to be their grandmother or even their mother. Her eyes were a bright silver that I felt saw every sin I’d ever done or thought of.
“Yes.” David took my hand.
“We have claimed her.” Finn closed his hand over mine.
“But she has only reaped one soul in all the time she has been in the underworld.” Her gaze went from the three men to me.
“True,” I said and when she raised an eyebrow, I realized that I’d spoken out of turn…again. “Sorry. I plan on reaping eleven more souls before I’m done. That’s why we came. Thinking you can help us against Chaos.”
She held up a hand and the ground beneath me trembled. “Leave us.”
Before my men could draw a breath, they were gone. Vanished.
My bravado was suddenly down several notches now that I was alone, but I had to do this. I would do this.
“Why these eleven?” she asked.
“They are the ones that killed me. That forced me to come here before my time.”
She cocked her head, reminding me of an owl. “Oh? And you have been given the ruler to measure your life as Patrick has? You knew you were shortened time on earth that is not granted to any mortal to know when their death will happen?”
“No, I mean, it had to be wrong.” I swallowed the knot forming in my throat. “I can’t be a reaper.”
“Why? It is a noble employment. And you would be working with my great-grandsons. Do you know how many women and even many men would kill you countless times over to have that privilege?”
“I don’t doubt it. All three of them are amazing.”
“Then what is the issue? You remain with them, and they with you.”
I shook my head. “I can’t reap innocent people. It’s wrong.”
“And how many innocent mortals have you touched with your blade?” She arched a dark eyebrow.
“None.” Emily wasn’t innocent. I don’t even know if she counted as human.
“Then you have not done your duty as a reaper. You cannot judge what you know nothing about.”
Whatever. “We’re wasting time on this. The issue is these eleven that have shielded themselves from the fate's vision. We need to find them. I need to reap them before it’s too late.”
“You mean before you lose the ability to turn your back on your destiny. To remove your scythe and reaper status.”
“Yes.” The word slashed my throat like I’d swallowed broken glass to say it.
“And you will break my Moirae’s hearts.”
I couldn’t look at her because what she said was true. Even though no one had told me the rules of being a reaper, I was sure that I wouldn’t be able to hang out with David, Finn, or Patrick. That I’d be moved to some other part of the underworld. But I hadn’t allowed myself to think about never seeing them again. Could I walk away from them? Forget them?
Never.
But I couldn’t be the reaper they wanted and needed me to be. Inside, I felt like I was being slowly torn apart.
“Do you know why we have reapers?” she asked softly.
“To keep the balance of life and death.”
“That is one answer.”
When she didn’t say anything more, I glanced up at her. “What’s another answer then?”
“That is something you must discover on your own.”
I squared my shoulders. “How do I beat Chaos and find those responsible for my death?”
“You already have one of those, do you not?”
“No. I reaped Emily…wait. She’s dead. That means her soul is here in the Underworld.”
Nyx smiled and my breath hitched. She was a beautiful woman who radiated power. I did not doubt that if she snapped her fingers, my heart would explode in my chest. That she could wipe me out with a mere blink of her dark lashes.
When I took a step closer, a tugging hit me so hard that I nearly fell to my knees.
“Keep your distance, reaper.” She inclined her head. “You may have the hearts of my great-grandsons but you are not a goddess or a deity. Moving so would be worse than drifting too close to a black hole.”
I bowed my head, stepping back several feet. “How do I find Emily?”
“Seek Persephone. She is much easier to reason with than her husband Hades.”
“Thank y—” Black lightning hit my chest robbing me of air. My knees slammed to the ground. I clawed at my throat, trying to breathe.
Chapter 18
“Rebecca!” Patrick took my hands in his, panic etched on his face. “You’re safe. You’re with us.”
Slowly air trickled past my throat into my lungs despite the huge gasps I took.
David wrapped his arm around my shoulders while Finn rubbed my back.
When I was finally able to breathe without pain. I stood. “We can’t stay any longer. I need to talk to Emily.”
“She’s dead.” Patrick frowned.
“I know. Nyx helped me remember that. We’re in the land of the dead, are we not? All we have to do is find her and make her tell us who she was with.”
Finn moved from my back to stand in front of me next to Patrick. “That won’t work.”
“Why not?” I frowned, glancing between them.
“She was possessed. We don’t know for how long,” Patrick answered. “Souls that have a demon attached to them aren’t exactly sane.”
My heart felt like it had been crushed under a ton of rocks. I forced a smile anyway. “Well, it’s the best chance we have.”
“She’s right,” David said.
I whipped around to face him, unbelieving that he was taking my side.
“Don’t look so surprised.” He chuckled. “It’s a good plan and the only one we have at the moment. Let’s go.”
Once again, the men surrounded me. I can’t say that it bothered me to have all three of them touching me at the same time. I tried to tramp down my inner sex-craving diva as we teleported out of the guys’ mansion to a cave.
Two thrones made from bones and skulls stood before us. Empty. Screams echoed from somewhere nearby. I squeezed both David and Finn’s hands.
“Maybe this was a bad idea. We should go,” I whispered.
“You just got here.” A woman dressed in a black dress that appeared to be made from cobwebs strode forward toward the throne.
Her golden hair shone in the darkness, her ruby crown glinted like tiny flames were trapped in each stone. She carried herself with a regal grace that I envied. My hips and ass wouldn’t allow me to walk that way in a million years.
“Welcome to Tartarus, Reaper of the Fates.”
I swallowed. “Thanks. We’re here to speak to one of the dead. Emily—” Shit, I didn’t know her last name. “She was a bartender on earth, I mean when she was alive.”
Persephone’s laugh sounded like birds chirruping. No wonder Hades had abducted her. She was beautiful inside and out—at least as far as I could tell. I’d thought Emily had been nice and a casual friend, but she’d set me up to die.
“Be at ease, I know of whom you speak.” Her green eyes sparkled like a spring meadow. “Nyx told me you four were coming.”
“Great.” I rocked back and forth on my heels, stopping when I realized what I was doing. “We won’t disturb you any longer. Just point us to Emily and we’d be grateful.”
Both of my men on either side of me clenched my hands tightly. What had I said that they were silently reprimanding me?
“You ask a boon from a goddess, yet you give no compensation?” She clicked her tongue.
“Oh, of course not.” I looked to David and Finn, but they were both silent and unmoving. Patrick behind me didn’t even blink. I turned back to Persephone. “What may I pay you with?”
“Go and speak with Emily.” She gave me a smile that didn’t make the knot forming in my chest ease any. “Then we will discuss your payment.”
“What about them?” I asked, letting go of David and Finn.
“They will await you here.” S
he shrugged. “I can’t have the Moirae down the bellows of Tartarus. Hades would think I was trying to kill him.”
Her mouth twitched up at the corners of the last two words she said. Glad I wasn’t Hades. His wife might be plotting his death.
“Fine. Just let me speak with Emily.” I had to get the names of those eleven people. Then I could get rid of this scythe and never have to reap another soul again after I dealt with those who murdered me and trapped me here.
My attention shifted back to the three men who stood like perfect statues. How was I going to be able to walk away from them? Or let someone else take over being their reaper?
“This way.” Persephone led me down a narrow stairwell.
Dark flames flickered overhead, giving barely enough light to see the narrow steps. We entered a chamber with several prison-like cells. On one wall were two men chained inches apart while a ghoul or demon held fire to their toes while they screamed.
“How can you stand all this?” I asked, wrapping my arms around myself.
“These souls are guilty of all kinds of vile things.” She flipped her golden hair over her shoulder. “We see to their punishment like you do in…what are they called on earth? Where the criminals are?”
“Jail.”
“Right. But here, they pay for their crimes for eternity.”
I shuddered.
We went down a narrow hallway, glowing eyes stared at me as we passed. Then we came to a locked door and Persephone dug out a huge ring of keys from somewhere in her black gown. The keys rattled like bones.
“You’ve half an hour.”
“That might not be enough time.”
She swung the door open and the stench of rotting meat and skunk assaulted me.
“Any longer and you risk becoming mad down here too.” She shook her head. “Half an hour and not a second more. I will not have you waste our bargain before your payment can be made.”
I opened my mouth to ask her what I needed to pay since we hadn’t agreed on specifics, but she was gone.