My eyebrows knitted in apparent confusion. “Why, it’s daylight. I imagine she’s up in the penthouse fast asleep. She’s a vampire.”
He opened his mouth as if he were going to yell at me, but then his jaw clicked closed.
Instead, his words came out delicate as glass, like if he bit down on them too hard they’d crunch under the pressure. “I was in the middle of determining whether someone’s soul should either be admitted access to the Afterlife or condemned to Amit where their soul would be consumed and destroyed. A very serious matter. When I was attacked by my wife. It was upsetting to say the least. Now please answer carefully when I ask again, where is my wife?”
Javier’s face gave away absolutely nothing. As if he’d never done anything his entire life. Like before Grim entered, all he’d been doing was sitting here, since the moment he was born. Not touching anything, just being.
I mimicked his expression.
“Haven’t seen her,” I said.
Grim continued to scrutinize the two of us, but we stared placidly back.
Finally, he said, “Then can you please explain why there are five reaper dogs currently in this room?”
“What are reaper dogs?” Javier asked.
I turned to him. “They fetch the souls of the dead and take them to the Afterlife, to Amit the crocodile god who eats souls, or to Grim for judgement. We can’t see them because we aren’t dead.”
“I see,” he said, nodding his head.
Our conversation was casual and lofty, a contrast to the intensity of the god demanding answers from the doorway.
Javier turned to Grim. “No dead people in here.”
Only undead, I thought to myself.
Grim let out a huff, the black smoke having reduced to wisps coming off his shoulders. "As my security team, I expect you to inform me of the location and ongoings of people in this hotel.”
He was pulling the “I’m the boss” card. But our duties were to protect the ongoings of operations above ground. His antechamber of judgement was below the hotel and out of our jurisdiction.
“Of course, sir,” I acknowledged.
“Always,” Javier agreed.
Grim’s gaze bounced back and forth between us for another minute before he turned and shut the door behind him. The lights in the room instantly brightened, and it suddenly felt like I could breathe again.
While Grim adored his wife beyond measure and would never truly hurt her, I could only imagine the special brand of revenge he will exact when he finally catches her.
A muffled voice came from inside the utility cabinet. “Thanks guys.”
ChapterEleven
THE BEAST
“Who are you?”
I looked up from where I sat in the corner of my cage. After last night, I hadn’t expected Miranda to ever return. Yet I dragged my ass into the cage, prepared to make my disappointment all the worse.
Miranda couldn’t see me, where I was hidden in shadow. I liked it that way. I liked the shroud around me as I saw my personal angel of death shine under the bright florescent light.
The fierce yet compassionate look in her eye made my breath catch. The badass had returned.
She’d seen me lose control, saw the beast I truly was. It both sickened and disgusted me. I’d never felt this way before. The comings and goings of my sanity and power were what they were. Yet around Miranda, I wanted her to see. . .me. I wanted to be a man around her.
A strange feeling swirled in my chest. It made me feel vulnerable and powerful at the same time. But I was always fucking vulnerable and powerful. Whereas she stood before me, as perfect as any goddess. Dare I say, more so.
“I’m no one,” I finally answered.
