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As soon as Jaden left the three, he headed straight for Panahasi. The demon leader was leaning against the wall of Fearless Fox. From the look on the guy’s face, the news wasn’t good. “Did you talk to Aldrin?”
“I don’t care how many times I hear the Keeper’s real name, I still can’t get used to it,” Panahasi said. “To answer your question, no.”
Jaden held back his temper, even though he wanted to curse the guy. “Can you tell me why you haven’t?”
Panahasi pulled out his cell phone and wiggled the device. “I’ve tried calling him, but he’s not answering. I even went to his dusty office in the underworld, but he’s not there.”
“What about his house?”
“You really are suicidal if you want to drop in on him unannounced, especially if Trey is home. He’d snap you out of existence for getting anywhere near his mate.”
“Then what are we going to do?” Jaden watched a drunken couple stumble toward their car. There were times when he really hated the fact that he knew when people were going to die. Being Death, there was nothing he could do about his curse. Only a select few were blind to him, which included his mate.
“All we can do,” Panahasi replied. “I’m going to keep trying to contact him and you stop Izel and his mates from getting sucked back into the Slayer’s cell.”
Jaden didn’t bother to ask how Panahasi knew that Izel was mated and that they’d been sucked into the forest. Just like Panahasi, Jaden possessed a wealth of knowledge, more than anyone else knew he had.
“I told Izel that finding his mates and his emotions becoming unmuted was the cause of all this.”
Panahasi slowly turned his head, glaring at Jaden. “Why would you say that? That could be the cause, but it could be something else. A reaper has never mated before.”
“I mated.”
“You’re Death, Jaden. You’re on a whole other level.”
“Why are your panties in a bind?”
“Because.” Panahasi pinched the bridge of his nose. “Now you have Izel thinking that he’s caused this. Don’t you think he’s already been through enough without you pilling guilt on top of that?”
“He’s had two thousand years to get over his daddy issues.” Jaden waved off Panahasi’s concern. “If not, I hear the bunny therapist in this town is pretty good.”
“You’re an ass.” Panahasi pushed away from the wall. “There are some things in a person’s past that they never get over, genius.”
“Fine, if Izel survives this, I’ll release him from his obligation with me. Does that make you feel better?”
“The least you can do is give him backpay for his two thousand years of service,” Panahasi said.
“I saved his life,” Jaden argued. “Doesn’t that count for anything?”
“So how is he supposed to live?” Panahasi asked. “You can’t expect Duncan to foot the bill for all three of them, especially since they’re now immortal.”
“I may not have told Izel that his mates are now immortal, just like he is.” Jaden shrugged. “I had more pressing matters to think about.”
“And here I thought that Hilton had cured you of your idiocy.” Panahasi sighed. “Don’t lie to Izel anymore. He’s got enough to deal with, especially since his emotions are probably confusing the hell out of him.”
Jaden was thankful he’d never had to deal with muted emotions. Then again, maybe that would have been better than spending all his time, before he was mated, drowning in self-loathing and hellbent on killing Panahasi. Because if Life died, so did Death, and then the world would cease to exist.
He’d dodged a bullet by not ending the world, because then he would have never found Hilton.
“I put a shield around them,” Jaden replied. “I can’t hang around this town to keep an eye on them. Whether I like it or not, I have responsibilities.”
“How powerful is the shield?” Panahasi asked.
“As long as they don’t leave town, they should be fine.”
“And if the Slayer yanks them back to his cell?”
