“You could tell him,” I offered.
He pinched the bridge of his nose as if I gave him an instant headache. “Unlike you, I don’t share forbidden information whenever it’s convenient. Besides, even if on the very rare likelihood he took it well, it wouldn’t make a difference. Gods and mortals mixing have been historically catastrophic.”
I smacked his shoulder, tired of his excuses. “Then why not just go out and have some fun? What could a couple of dinners hurt? A couple hot, wild, sweaty nights with the gorgeous barista boy? Barista man? Barista man-boy?” I nodded, satisfied with the last title.
Something in Timothy’s expression fell. He tried to recover, but he wasn’t fast enough.
“You can’t, can you?” Miranda asked softly. “You’re in love with him.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” he said, though his denial was weak all the way around. I could tell even he wasn’t buying it, but Timothy was grasping at straws that it wasn’t true. “Even if in some parallel dimension we were to try, he’s the complete opposite of me. He thrives on chaos, adventure, and never has a plan. Those are all terrible qualities in a partner.”
“Oh honey,” Miranda breathed, patting Timothy’s hand.
“Gods aren’t made for relationships with humans,” he said more seriously. “There’s a million reasons why it would never work. But for a brief moment, I can come here and enjoy his ridiculously gorgeous smile and get treated to a free drink, though we all know I could buy a million of them without blinking. Simply because he thinks I’m worth special attention.”
Timothy left out that he tipped five times what the original latte would have cost, anyway.
“You are worth special attention,” I said to Timothy, meaning every word of it.
“Thank you.” He gave a wry smile. “I can’t choose the situation, but I can choose to make these small moments enough.”
My respect for Timothy grew to an almost unbearable degree.
“Well then,” he said with finality, “back to work.” With that, he was up and off to help Grim sort souls.
Miranda and I sat there, stewing in our mutual heartbreak for him.
“W-what’d I miss?” Aaron asked, showing back up, having dealt with the line. His eyes lingered in the direction Timothy disappeared to.
I opened my mouth to spill all of Timothy’s secrets, but Miranda shot me a stern look. My mouth snapped shut again. Even I knew I shouldn’t get involved in that mess, no matter how badly I wanted it to work for the two of them.
Besides, I had a house to break into tonight.
6
Grim
The bing of the elevator heralded Vivien’s return. Late for our date night again, I couldn’t say I was surprised. I’d been dressed and ready for an hour and a half. This was a new record, even for her.
I emerged from the library, a book still in hand. The sight I was greeted with was unprecedented. “Are you okay?” I asked.
Vivien stalked into the penthouse. Cupcake trotted in next to her, ears down and eyes mournful. A bright red gash ran along her snout.
Vivien fared worse than the reaper pup. Scratches marred Vivien’s arms and cheeks. Her clothes were tattered, and her hair looked like it had been in a wind tunnel.
I’d been about to rush to her, to make sure she was okay, but her glower kept me at bay as irritation flowed off her in powerful waves. I’d learned the hard way to give her space when she was in this mood. And she didn’t appear severely harmed.
Breezing past me, she lifted a finger. “Let me change first.”
She disappeared into our room to get changed. Cupcake followed dutifully behind her. When Vivien reemerged alone, she wore a tight leather dress with lace panels running down the sides of her ribcage, and little metal spikes lining her bosom. She’d brushed through her hair, so it flowed in luminous waves once again.
The scratches were already healing. Unable to help myself, I pulled her to me and dropped kisses against the red lines along her collarbone. Her body softened against mine.
“What have you been up to?” I asked. “You look like you got in a cat fight.”
She stiffened in my arms. Then extracting herself, she grabbed Cookie Monster and slung it over her arm before walking into the elevator. She punched the button for the lobby in a punishing jab.
“As it so happens, that’s exactly what went down,” she said, her voice sharp.
