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“If you haven’t noticed, there is a storm raging outside. I wasn’t about to wait for you to let me in,” Keo said, pointing toward the window behind him. He bit into the cookie, then hummed with pleasure. “These are really good.”
“So, you finally decided to show up after you left Autumn alone to deal with learning how to be a god,” Kingston said dryly.
Autumn almost shivered at her mate’s frosty tone, so she elbowed him lightly to get him to behave. In response, he wound his arm around her waist, tugging her closer until she was plastered against his side.
Keo sighed heavily. “You aren’t still holding a grudge, are you?”
“That depends. Can you stop holding my stereo system hostage?”
The God of Fate grinned manically. “I was just trying to broaden your music appreciation.” With a dramatic snap of his fingers, the music turned off, leaving only the sound of the storm outside. “You must be her mate…Kingston Spencer.”
“What are you doing here?”
“My concert in Denver was canceled tonight since half the state is getting slammed with this storm, so I figured I’d stop in and check up on you.” Keo popped the last bit of cookie into his mouth and chewed thoughtfully as he studied Kingston. “You are that demon who was sent to Supernatural Prison for the bank heist, right? Damn, Autumn. You got yourself a badass demon who did hard time on top of becoming the Goddess of Revenge. Talk about a glow-up.”
“He didn’t steal anything,” she snapped, her temper igniting.
Keo rolled his eyes. “I said he was sent to prison for it. I never said he actually did it. Have you been able to prove he is innocent? Was the revenge every bit as sweet as you thought it would be?”
Kingston just glared at the K-pop superstar.
“It’s complicated, but we’re working on it,” Autumn said through gritted teeth.
“Huh, I assumed that would be the first thing you did with your new powers.”
She scowled at the nosy god eating her cookies. Damn him for rubbing that in. She already felt guilty as hell that she hadn’t been able to resolve Kingston’s situation for him, so she definitely didn’t need the reminder that she was letting her mate down.
“Fuck him, mate,” Kingston said through their bond.“You haven’t let me down. You never could. Don’t let him goad you into getting angry. I think he’s doing it on purpose.”
“Why?”
“To fuck with us? To test out your powers? Who knows?”
“Actually, that’s another reason I stopped by tonight. It’s good that you’re working on it, but you might be running out of time.”
That had Autumn stiffening in alarm. “What do you mean?”
Keo leaned back in his chair. “Word has started to spread about your ascension to godhood, and it’s only a matter of time before people find out who your mate is. Once that happens, you’ll be called in before the Heavenly Council. Then, the Emperor of the Gods will probably make you swear an oath of loyalty to him, and that is something you really don’t want to do.”
“Can he really do that?” Kingston asked. “What right does he have over a god living in the Human Realm?”
“The only time I’ve ever been to the Celestial Realm is when the magical source brought me there, and the emperor wasn’t even the one who made me a god,” Autumn pointed out. “Why would I swear to be loyal to him?”
“Do you honestly think you’ll have a choice?” Keo countered. “Old gods like me have never had to take an oath, but you are a newbie. You won’t have much of a choice, considering your mate is also a convicted criminal. If the emperor threatens to bind your mate’s magic, wouldn’t you do whatever you had to in order to free him?”
“Don’t use me to try to scare her, you son of a bitch,” Kingston growled.
“I’m not, but the emperor would. Trust me on that. You know how painful it is to be drained of your magic from being in the Supernatural Prison, but I’ve heard a magical binding is ten times worse. So, you need to resolve this issue before it comes to that.”
“Unfortunately, he is right,” Devlin Excess said after he suddenly appeared in the chair across from Keo. The reaper was dressed in a three-piece dark gray suit with a shirt that was a few shades lighter and a striped gray and silver tie. Although the male was scary as hell, he certainly knew how to dress.
“Devil!” Keo exclaimed. “How are you, my friend? It’s been ages.”
“I think the last time I saw you was the Tri-Eclipse Celebration in the Fairy Realm,” Devlin agreed as he reached out and selected a cookie.
“That was a damn good party. I think I was drunk for the entire three days,” Keo said with a laugh.
Autumn just blinked at them. It was totally surreal to see the male known as the devil and a god sitting in her pretty little bakery, conversing over a plate of pumpkin and leaf-shaped cookies decorated with icing and tiny sprinkles.
