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Epilogue
One year later
By the third time I paced through my living room, I was ready to crawl out of my skin. How could a person bethisnervous? Especially after everything I’d been through!
Still, when had logical thinking ever gotten me out of a panic attack?
The wood floor creaked beneath my feet, the sound disjointed since at the end of each pass, I’d let my physical body drift away and do the next round in my reaper form. It didn’t make things better, exactly, but it was something.
Something more than sitting around and waiting.
Fuck, I hate waiting.
The rhythm kept up as I made myself fall into the familiarity of it, letting my mind relax, trying to make the thoughts and worries go.
Think about rainbows and cheesecake and men who can find a clitoris.
Except, no matter how hard I pushed myself to relax, the stress just wouldn’t leave, which was annoying as hell. I hadn’t felt fear in so long, yet there it was, soaking into me.
“Boy, do you look all wound up, shadow-girl.”
I paused to find Hunter standing in my doorway, his face so familiar it drew a smile from me without me having to think about it. Even annoyed as I was, he never failed to make my heart race when he showed up.
“You smiling at me? Hard to tell when you’re all shadows.”
That made me look down, realizing I hadn’t shifted back into my body. I guessed reaper smiles were harder to identify.
I took my regular form again, rewarded by Hunter’s smirk.
“Better,” he said. “Now, how long have you been pacing?”
“I’m not pacing.”
“What you’re not is a good liar. Now, come on and tell Daddy what’s wrong.”
“Daddy?” I made sure to gag a bit at the name.
“What? Not into that?”
“Not even a little.”
“Well, I’m old enough to be your Daddy.”
“You’re old enough to be my great-great-great—” A surprised squeak left me, cutting off my list of ‘great’s when I found myself hauled up and over Hunter’s shoulder, as though I were a misbehaving kid rather than a feared and lethal supernatural being.
Anddamn, it felt nice…
Not that I’d let him know that. “You should seriously put me down.” I tried to inject all the threat into my voice that I could.
“And why’s that?”
“Maybe because I’m an exceedingly powerful and vengeful creature who could destroy you with a flick of my wrist,” I pointed out.
He let out a rough chuckle before dropping me on the bed. “Unfortunately for you, that just makes me want you more.”
The way he stared at me, his whiskey-colored eyes heated and so familiar, made me take my bottom lip between my teeth. It took me back to when I’d first met him, when he’d walked into my office and had thrown my world into chaos. I couldn’t imagine not having him, not seeing that smirk of his, not tasting the brimstone from his skin.
Except, when I reached for him, something stopped me. A ring of smoke circled my wrist, the feeling of it against my skin odd as ever. It smelled of flames, of Hunter, and more of that smoke joined it.
