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Dangerous and unpredictable.
Devlin snorted out a laugh. “Trust me, I’ve seen worse.”
“Well, it feels pretty bad,” Autumn grumbled.
Crap, she did sound a little like the drama queen he’d called her earlier. And she really had to learn how to stop people from listening to her nonsensical inner monologues if she wanted to stop embarrassing herself. But if she couldn’t be a raging, hysterical mess inside her own head, then where could she be?
“Some of your thoughts make sense, but you do tend to ramble,” Devlin said before he lifted the crystal tumbler and took a sip of the whiskey Huxley had poured for him. “I’m not sure why, but I find you quite amusing.”
“Stay out of my head.”
“Block me out,” he countered.
“How?”
He gave her a side-eyed glance that was the equivalent of an eye roll. “Learn.”
“That is so not helpful,” she muttered a little bitterly.
“Some things you must learn on your own.”
After watching their banter, Huxley huffed out a breath. “I’m sorry, but who the fuck are you?”
“I am the reaper your father lost his arm saving. Since I still owe him a favor, I showed up here when I sensed he was in trouble, but I wasn’t expecting to find…all of this.” Using his glass, he gestured toward Autumn and the now empty kitchen where Paul had been sprawled out on the floor. “In this realm, I’m known as Devlin Excess.”
“As in the billionaire owner of the Excess Corporation?” Murphy gasped in excitement. “Holy shit! I had no idea our dad actually knows you. This is beyond awesome!”
So, he really was a business mogul, Autumn thought. Now, the suit and shoes made perfect sense. He certainly gave new meaning to being a devil in disguise. To the human world, Devlin Excess was well-known as the genius creator of the most popular social media app. The Excess App also provided instant communications, mobile payments, and hosted a shopping forum for independent sellers.
In the supernatural community, Devlin Excess had been branded the Devil. It was rumored that he would give out favors for the right price, but very few could afford the consequences of making a deal with him.
Devlin sighed heavily. “You make it sound so sinister. Every contract I make with someone is formed by free will and with full knowledge of the terms and penalties. And though I am known as the Devil, that true honor belongs to someone else.”
Autumn thought honor was a strange word for it, but she didn’t dare say that.
At least, not out loud.
“I always thought you were a demon based on the rumors, but it makes so much more sense now knowing you are a reaper,” Jordan said.
“That’s the equivalent to a celestial high god, right?” Declan asked.
“Basically, yeah,” Huxley answered his younger brother.
“Please refrain from comparing me to those sniveling, spineless cowards,” Devlin said disdainfully.
Since Autumn now found herself a member of that unflattering category, she lifted her glass of fairy wine and downed the pale liquid. While the sweet wine soothed her dry throat, it failed to give her the immediate buzz it normally did. As a human, one glass of fairy wine would have been enough to knock her on her ass, but now it felt as tame as drinking water or juice.
Clearly, the universe wasn’t done fucking with her.
“Alcohol won’t have the same effect on you now. To get a real buzz, you’ll need to drink something from the Hell Realm or Celestial Realm.”
Devlin drained the rest of his whiskey in one swallow, then the crystal tumbler in his hand transformed into a crystal wine goblet. A slim bottle appeared in his hand, and he poured some of the shimmering purple liquid into his glass before filling Autumn’s.
Deciding to trust him, Autumn sipped the wine, and her eyes went wide with appreciation. “It’s really good.”
“Naturally.”
“So, Tumi, you’re a god now?” Aidan asked. “How the hell did that happen?”
