His eyes darkened, and he took a step closer, reaching up to brush a tendril of hair from my cheek. A fizz of electricity shot through me, and heat bloomed in my belly.
“Well, that’s about to change.” His voice was that low, rumbly vibe again that made my knees weak.
It was only when he’d left the room that I realized he’d completely dodged my bed question when it came to him. Damn, I’d have to be forthright when it came to finding out if he had a lover.
Not that I cared …
* * *
Okay, I was lost. How was this possible. I was great with directions, and I’d gone back on myself to where I knew the kitchens were, but instead of being where I should, I was on a different floor. The pinnacle floor if the balcony and extended walkway outside the huge windows were anything to go by. These windows had handles, unlike the ones on the lower floor. So, this was where the reapers launched themselves, wings spread wide as they hurtled down toward the town.
A feeling of longing gripped my throat, and before I could stop myself, my hand was on the window handle, ready to twist and pull it open. Whoa, where had that come from?
I shook off the sudden desire to take a running leap. I needed to find my way back to the lower floors. I backtracked again, but everything looked unfamiliar. The corridor narrowed, and there were no longer any windows to look out of, just the scent of jasmine. A soft moan drifted toward me, followed by another and then a masculine chuckle.
The hairs on my body stood to attention. I should stop, turn away, but my feet seemed to have a mind of their own, carrying me down the corridor to the partially open door beyond. The aroma of sex hit me, running over my body and digging its fingers into the back of my neck to pull me closer.
The sounds were unmistakable now. Sounds of sex, the slap of flesh on flesh, the grunt and moan of pleasure. I should go, but instead, I was leaning into the doorway, peering in like a pervert, lady bits throbbing in anticipation.
Naked bodies writhed on the bed, slender limbs entwined, mouth at the apex of thighs and hands rubbing breasts. Two women made love, rubbing together as they rode each other to climax. My body tightened, the blood rushing to my head, and then the door was flung open, and Mal blocked my view. His chest was bare and glistening with oils, and his emerald eyes were dark with desire.
“Changed your mind?” He looked down at his crotch, and I couldn’t help but follow his gaze to see the huge tent in his pants. “Touch it. You know you want to.”
I was reaching for his cock before my brain came back online. Wait, what the heck was I doing? I pulled my hand back and took a stumbling step away from him.
He smiled, chest heaving as the noises behind him grew louder, the cries approaching climax.
His smirk was mocking. “Another time, maybe?”
The women screamed out their orgasm and, ignoring the wetness between my thighs and the desperate desire to touch myself, to have Mal touch me, I turned and ran.
Chapter Fourteen
The kitchen smelled divine. Fragrant and meaty and my stomach sat up and made grabby hands. The décor here was old school—huge double oven, wooden cupboards, and a sturdy dining table. Large windows showcased the night sky, so you could eat while watching the icy world beyond.
“What took you so long?” Conah asked.
I pulled out a chair and sat. “I got lost.”
“You did?” He looked surprised, then shrugged and turned back to the stove and whatever wonderful thing he was cooking. “I guess we’ll have to work on your direction skills.”
He sprinkled some herbs into the pot, stirred, and then covered it.
“What are you making?”
“Lamb stew with potatoes and veggies. It’s quick, easy, and nutritious.” He crouched and opened the oven, and the smell of freshly baked bread sent me into pre-food orgasm state.
Saliva pooled in my mouth, and I swallowed it quickly. “You made bread.”
He carefully put the bread on a cooling rack. “It’s pretty easy.”
“No, it really isn’t. Trust me, I’ve tried. The last time I decided I could make bread, I ended up screaming at Cora and storming out of the house.”
He chuckled, a deep sexy sound that had me crossing my legs to staunch the answering throb.
“I’ll teach you one day.”
Images of me kneading dough with Conah behind me, his hands on mine as he helped me to get the dough right, filled my head. What movie was that from again?
“Did you come across Mal on your travels?” Conah asked. “I don’t think he’s eaten since he found out about Peiter.”
My neck grew warm. Fucking Mal and his sexed-up demon women. “Nope, haven’t seen him. Is it your job to make sure he eats? He’s a grown man, reaper, whatever.”
Conah stopped cutting the bread and turned to face me. “Mal can be a total dick, and he gets on my fucking nerves, but we’re a team. We look out for each other. It’s just the way it is, Fee. Don’t rise to his barbs, and he’ll soon bore of his games.”
There was obviously a dynamic between the Dominus reapers that I needed to learn about, understand, and somehow fit into. But right now, Mal was the last person I wanted to think about after what I’d seen and almost done. What the hell had been wrong with me?
Wait a second … “You mentioned that some reapers have skills?”
“Yes, some of us do. I have the ability to read memories.”
“You read minds?”
“No, just memories.” Conah drained rice in a colander. “Peiter could alter human memory, he was also an excellent tracker. He also had an uncanny nose for avoiding or finding trouble …”
He trailed off, probably thinking what I was, that his abilities hadn’t stopped Peiter from getting killed.
“And Mal?” I asked casually, keeping my tone light.
“Mal creates illusions. He can make people see things that aren’t there and suggest they take various actions.”
Like make them think they were lost and make them touch his cock? Urgh. At least my actions made sense now. “So, he has mind control?”
“Not exactly. Mal can put a suggestion in someone’s mind, but the person will act on the suggestion if they are open to it. For example, he couldn’t make someone kill themselves if they didn’t want to; however, if that person was suicidal already …”
Great, so I was a closet cock grabber, and now Mal knew it. Urgh, I was so going to get him back over this.
“Fee?”
I looked up to find Conah watching me.
“Is everything okay? Did something happen with Mal?”
Damn, did he have super intuition too? And why did my lips suddenly want to blab? I pressed them together. Like hell was I about to tell him that I’d watched two women have sex and almost grabbed his brother’s cock.
“I’m fine, just trying to wrap my head around everything.” Like what the hell I’d been thinking. Mal was a dickhead. I mean, I liked sex and men and cock, but I didn’t like him.
I suppressed a shudder.
“Are you cold?” Conah asked.
Aw, shit. I needed to think about something else. “Tell me about the scythes. You said they were celestial, so angels gave them to you?”
“The scythes are the treaty between the beyond and the Underealm. Angels watch over humanity, but they can’t carry souls to the beyond, they need psychopomps for that.”
“I know what that is, a spiritual guide of a person’s soul.”
“Pretty much. A psychopomp can tether to a soul and carry it to another destination. Most demons are psychopomps, but Lilith’s bloodlines are the strongest, probably why we’ve been chosen by the scythes for so long.”
“Until now.”
He smiled. “Right.”
“So, what do the scythes do exactly?”
“They act like suitcases. Celestial suitcases that can carry hundreds of souls at one time. Regular reapers collect several souls each a week, and then Dominus reapers head to the col
lection points in their regions and reap all those souls into the scythe for transport to the beyond. The scythes act like a key to the portal to the beyond, and we let the souls out on the other side where the Grigori take over.”
Grigori? “You mean like Uri?”
“Yes. The Grigori are the watchers of humanity, the intermediaries between the underworld and the celestial realms.”
“So, they protect humans?”
He let out a bark of laughter. “I said they were watchers. They aren’t permitted to intervene in human affairs. They watch, and they record. We’re the ones who protect.”
“And yet,” Mal said from the doorway. “We get the shitty rep.”
He wiggled his eyebrows at me. My chest grew hot, and my cheeks started to burn. Again. Nope. I would not give him the satisfaction. I met his gaze levelly, and after a moment, he narrowed his eyes and smiled at me speculatively.
I tore my gaze away and settled it on Conah. “Uri saved me, though.”
“You’re not human,” Mal reminded me. He pulled a chair out, turned it around, and then straddled it, arms resting across the back. “And the sooner you accept that, the better. Fuck the human life. That isn’t yours anymore.”
Anger flared in my chest. “I have friends.”
“A ghost and a snake? Whoop de doo.” His tone dripped with sarcasm.
What the fuck? “Have you been spying on me?”
“Due diligence, baby. You join the gang, you get scoped out, simple.”
“Cut it out, Mal,” Conah warned.
“No, you cut it out with the softly, softly approach. Just tell it how it is.” He fixed his cutting emerald eyes on me. “No, you can’t go live in your human house, and no, you can’t take up a regular job in Deadside, and you know why? Because you’re a fucking reaper. You have a sacred duty as old as time to reap souls, kill bad shit, and protect the weak little humans from the various big bad monsters that lurk in the dark.”
Wait a second, had he just said various monsters?
“For fucksake, Mal, you’re scaring her,” Conah said.
Mal was watching me carefully. “On the contrary, brother, I do believe our curvy ass reaper is intrigued.”
I smiled sweetly at him. “There’s definitely a huge ass in this room, but it doesn’t belong to me.”
Conah choked on a laugh.
Mal shrugged and sat back. “Think what you want, but know the facts.”
A woman wrapped in a silk robe popped her head around the door. “Malachi, baby, what’s taking so long?” She pouted.
Malachi? That was his full name. It sounded like a villain’s name. Yeah, it suited him.
Mal leaned back in his seat but didn’t take his stunning emerald gaze off me. “Be right there, luv. Why don’t you get the others warmed up for me?”
He stood and padded over to the huge fridge freezer and pulled out a silver container that I recognized as an ice holder.
He winked at me. “Laters.”
“Mal.” Conah stopped him in the doorway.
“What?” Mal sighed.
“Nera will be back tomorrow to collect Peiter’s things. Pay your respects, and keep your harem out of sight.”
Mal’s body rippled with tension. “I’m not a fucking idiot, Conah.”
He pushed past his brother and out of the room. Conah leaned against the doorframe and took a deep breath. “Okay, where were we?”
* * *
The meal was delicious, the bread was perfectly baked, and the lamb tender and flavorful. I couldn’t help but have two helpings, and by the time I was done, I was stuffed.
By the time I was done, I knew that mouths and Dread weren’t everywhere. They were drawn to Necro City and the surrounding areas. Conah believed it was because the bridge to the Underealm was closest to Necro City. This meant that although the Dominus had regions they were responsible for, they worked collectively to keep Necro and the surrounding areas free of mouths and subsequently Dreads. I learned that Dreads were a bitch to kill and that thus far, only a handful had been brought down by the reapers. I learned that if confronted with a hive of Dreads, you ran.
Information swam in my mind, so much information, and Conah was still speaking.
“Mal collects the lost souls, the malignants, and the rippers.”
“You mean the ones that were evil in life?”
“Lost souls aren’t evil, just confused. The malignants and the rippers, yes. Those are dangerous. The lost souls used to be Vale’s responsibility, but Mal took them on when Vale … when he was gone. Purgatory is his main region, and from what I’ve heard, it’s not a pretty place.”
“You’ve never been?”
“No.” Conah spooned more rice onto his plate. “As a descendant of Adam, I’m barred entry.”
“Adam … as in Adam and Eve, Adam?”
He chewed and swallowed. “Adam was one of Lilith’s lovers. Not a favorite, and to be honest, I think she only lay with him to piss off Eve, who, from what history tells us, had a thing with Samael.”
Whoa, this was getting juicy. “Samael, the love of Lilith’s life and Peiter’s ascendant?”
“Good, you remembered.”
“I have an excellent memory.” I sat forward. “Do tell me more.”
He sucked in his cheeks. “Really? You want gossip?”
“It’s the most normal thing that’s happened since I got here.”
“And my cooking isn’t normal?”
“Nope. I’ve never had a guy cook for me before, so not normal.”
He studied me for a second and then topped up his water from the carafe in the center of the table.
“Lilith is a magnificent woman, powerful and intelligent, but over the years, her grip on the Underealm has slipped. The western regions are her biggest threat right now. Mammon, the demon of greed, is the ambassador in that region. Last I heard, she was on a diplomatic visit. Lilith is working to neutralize the conflict.”
“And how would she do that?”
“I have no idea. Lilith’s methods are all her own. We don’t question our liege, and we keep our heads.”
That much power? No one should have that much power. But maybe that was what this Mammon was thinking.
“So, you’re Adam’s descendant, Peiter was Samael’s, what about Mal and Azazel?”
“Mal is descended from Asmodeus’s bloodline, the demon of lust, and Azazel is the son of the leviathan, the blind dragon and Lilith’s oldest friend and ally. He was her first lover before she fell for Samael.”
“It reminds me of the seven sins. Mammon is greed, Asmodeus is lust, what about Samael and the leviathan? Do they have a sin?”
He smiled, looking impressed. “You’re right. It’s where the idea of the seven deadly sins came from. The leviathan is associated with envy, and Samael is linked to pride, gluttony, and the sin of wrath.”
Greedy much? “We’re missing one …” I wracked my brain, coming up empty.
“Sloth,” Conah provided. “Belphegor rules the regions on the other side of the wailing river. He would be your sloth demon, and his region lives up to his name. The place is disgusting.”
“And Lilith had children with three of these demons?”
“Yes. Three demons and the first man, Adam.” He shrugged. “She got around in her day. History says that the Underealm was formed with celestial power. It’s no secret that Samael is a fallen angel, but some believe that Asmodeus, Mammon, and Belphegor are also fallen angels. Myth says that the underworld was once the home of a species called daemons, and Lilith and her fallen angels made their home amongst them. It would explain why some demons look more human than others. The daemons were said to have hooves, horns, talons, and scales. But over time, the celestial blood has eliminated most of these traits.”
“You don’t know for sure?”
He chuckled. “Do you know if human history is for sure?”
He had a point. I took a moment to absorb it all. Thank goodness I was used to pro
cessing a shit load of information in a short time.
He’d covered a lot, but we’d gotten sidetracked. “Mal covers purgatory, but what about you?”
“I’m responsible for the Academy where we train our reapers. I teach there once a week and make sure the admin is doing their job.”
“There’s an Academy? How come I don’t get to attend?”
“Because you’re a Dominus.”
Well, that was a relief because the thought of going back to school made my stomach hurt. “Good. What about Azazel?”
“Outlier liaison who deals with the outlier souls.”
“The supernaturals, right?”
He nodded, looking impressed at my memory. “Yes. Outliers are supernatural … preternatural creatures. There are several breeds that have been living amongst humans for as long as humans have existed.”
“Please, do not say werewolves.”
He winced. “The Rougarou, also known as the loup-garou or werewolves, are actually one of the most prevalent outliers in the surrounding areas. There are two main packs in Necro. Then you have the various types of fey, the elvin, the Danaan, the Tuatha, but they keep to themselves, preferring to fly under the radar.”
“Werewolves and fey. Okay, I can deal with that.”
“There are also the bastardized sons of Lilith, a hybridized breed of demon that humans seem to love to romanticize.”
“Huh?”
“You call them vampires, and it’s our job, by royal decree, to hunt and kill them. They’re a parasite.”
“But they’re demons?”
“A long time ago, demons from Lilith’s bloodline procreated with humans, and the result was vampires. We’re now forbidden to do so.”
“So, other demons can procreate with humans?”
“There’s nothing stopping them from doing so, but like I said earlier, the offspring usually don’t have any demonic powers. You seem to be an exception.”
I took a moment to absorb all of this, the fact that I’d been living in a world much more seeped in the supernatural than I could have ever imagined, surrounded by more than the dead and oblivious. It was both terrifying and thrilling.
Reaper Unexpected: Deadside Reapers book 1 Page 10