Page 111 of Hybrid Heroics

“What happened to all the souls of the demons in Lilk?” Stone asked Grim.

“She recycled those, too.” The reaper gnawed at his bottom lip, trying to find the right explanation. “She only keeps the souls that are worth adding to her collection…”

“Or the ones she deems undeserving of a second chance,” Dolyn added. “All violence aside, no one can say she isn’t fair.”

Thursday, June 25th

Late Night

The approaching midnight hour brought me a level of clarity I hadn’t expected, though I should have.

Peace and abundance weighed my chest down. And while they were light feelings, they had a heavy impact on me.

I didn’t know what it was like to have a dad like Novak or Palmer. Or have my parents come back from the dead… Or have them at all. But I could appreciate the way my friends bounced back from their struggles.

While I would always miss the family I had as a child, this was my family now. These were the people I would kill for, die for. They had been my foundation for years, but it had never felt as strong as it did with my Kitten at the center.

This was that oh-so-cliche moment where I didn’t know what I had until it was in front of me.

I felt full, whole in a way I couldn’t easily explain. It was the thought of knowing who I was and the sensation of knowing my place. I had found my lost confidence during the battle.

I didn’t need Sloane, and I had told her as much last week. Wanting her was a chaotic rush that wouldn’t change, though.

Tonight hadn’t been a breezy sort of fight… I worried for my family, so I pushed myself to finish, to be ready if they needed back-up.

Because they made me stronger.

Not weaker.

Love was hard. But that was what kept me alive.

That and the sound of my mate’s maniacal laughter.

Franklin walked past me, drawing me out of my thoughts. He had a straw stuck in a pouch of blood, sipping on it like the vampiric version of a child’s juice box.

Nate raised a brow at his grandfather, but the ancient vampire only shrugged as he tossed a pouch to his grandson and a cackling Novak.

“Now I’m hungry,” Briggs muttered. “Palmer, come help me cook something.”

“No need,” Franklin called, heading our way. “I ordered pizza to be delivered in… ten minutes from now. We wrapped this up quicker than I was expecting.”

“Who are you?” I asked, not meaning to say it out loud.

The ancient vampire chuckled under his breath. “Do you know many vampire stories?”

“Not particularly,” I admitted.

The guys shook their heads as well, all except Novak. But of course the vampire had heard the stories.

“Have you heard the story of Fernando and his bride?” Franklin inquired, glancing at us. “How the vampiric ceremony of promises was born?”

Novak shrugged. “Trouble told me. I’d heard a few things, but not the story she spun about an island and trees…”

“Is that all she said?” he queried.

“No,” Sloane replied. “I explained how Fernando’s bride thought he was dead, and she wouldn’t live without him, so she killed herself without knowing he was still alive. I told him how Wilhelm didn’t believe in their magic, and the island perished under his disbelief and their lost love.”

“What do you know of the island?” he asked her.