Page 61 of King’s Kismet

But I felt like shit for what I’d done.

I didn’t think I’d come back from the dead to find her sobbing, her eyes tear-filled and red. Didn’t realize she cared about me as much as she did. Or that she could feel anything for me despite the feelings I’d developed for her.

I also hadn’t known I would come back, but I had hoped.

Sloane huffed, sounding annoyed as she spoke to the druid. “I was upset, and I may have briefly thought about wrapping my hands around both of your necks for making a joke…”

Then she tilted her head to the left, grimacing. “But in a kind, considerate way.”

I squeezed her hand, trying to chuckle before coughing again. “Love, can ye at least pass me my boxers, or was there a reason for keepin’ me naked? Sitting in the grass on my bare arse isn’t my idea of a fun time.”

“Why are you naked?” Vaughn inquired.

“I didn’t want my clothes to burn. I finally figured out how to repel blood.”

“So, your skin is okay, just not your khakis. Got it,” the druid snarked.

I pointed my finger at York, willing myself to stop shaking. “Don’t touch my fuckin’ kex.”

Sloane sighed, an exhausted sound that caught everyone’s attention. The guys froze, watching her as intently as I was, but she didn’t notice as she stared into space.

A moment later, the hellhounds and Pete stepped into my view, too silent to be as big as they were. The pedmar leaned his massive head down, his trunk sniffing at me.

“Hurt,” boomed in my mind, Sloane’s mind, in a voice I’d never heard before.

“You’re hurt, Pete?” she inquired, studying the pedmar carefully.

His ears slapped his skin as he shook his head. He took two steps to reach her, gently tapping her chest with his trunk before his glossy black eyes met mine as he backed away.

There was too much intelligence in that gaze.

Cronus lay beside me, stretching lazily across the grass as he crawled closer. I rubbed my fingers over his ears, tracing the lines of brown in his coarse black fur. From what I had seen, this was one of the few spots on his body that wasn’t rough skin.

And as I stroked across the top of his head, I felt power slowly seep into me. I pulled away, not needing any more. I was so full the magic was making me itch, or maybe that was the rapid healing.

Sloane stumbled as she stood, though it didn’t stop her from getting to Pete. She rubbed her hand over his neck and chest, and I couldn’t keep myself from thinking how strange her petting would be if he were actually a man beneath that leathery skin.

I swore I’d heard a new voice in her mind, though I was still trying to adjust to hearing her thoughts when they weren’t meant for me.

Briggs walked to the patio, reaching for my clothes, when his cell phone started ringing.

Not his phone.

Mine.

“Answer it,” I said in a rush when he flashed me the screen. “Hurry. She never calls for nothin’.”

“Hel—” Briggs stopped mid-word, his brow creasing. “Millie? Is everything okay?”

Halloween Homicide

Saturday, October 31st

Late Night

The ride to town was unadulterated torture.

Sitting between Stone and Palmer was going to be the death of me. Their thighs pressed against mine; rough denim on my left and smooth cotton on my right. Normally, Novak would sit in the third row with me and my demon, but my mage had lost a bet, leaving him cramped in the back with us.