“BrighterSideofGray”—FiveFingerDeathPunch
“Ineed a favor,” I said to Facet as I sat in the chair in his room.
“What is it?” he asked as he furiously tapped at his keys. I got dizzy with all the screens popping shit up at a rapid-fire pace. It was insane.
“I need you to do some research. You can do it on your own time so it doesn’t cause issues with the chapter.”
“What kind of research?” He paused and turned to face me with his brow furrowed.
“To my knowledge, there isn’t a way to kill a cacodaemon, but surely that can’t be correct. Everything has a weakness. I want you to see if you can find out what theirs is.”
“Okay, I can do that. No promises, though. Do you mind if I reach out to Phoenix’s new chick?”
Phoenix had gotten lucky. When he arrived in Dallas, he found a way to get his girl back. It sounded like things were going well. Sloane was also an honest-to-God witch, and I didn’t mean a bitch. She was a real hocus-pocus magical witch. In all my years, I hadn’t had a lot of dealings with them, but I knew they were out there. I was more surprised by the secret Raptor had kept.
“Yeah, of course. Anything you think might help.”
“Cool, then I’ll work on it. Anything else?”
“No, but thanks, bro. I appreciate it.” I got up and shook his hand, then left. Buffy was sauntering down the hall ahead of me. When I tried to go past her, she grabbed the crook of my arm and spun me around.
“Let. Go.” I hated her hand on me. It made my skin prickly and uncomfortable under her hold. She quickly let go, but gave me a sorrowful stare.
“What’s up with you, baby? You haven’t come to see me in weeks,” she purred as she pouted. The hard glint in her eye belied her sweet act.
“Yeah, about that…. I’m sorry, but you’ll have to try one of the other available brothers,” I began. Though I had no interest in her anymore, I wasn’t a complete dick. Unless she forced my hand, then I was prepared to hurt her feelings.
“You have to be shitting me. You too?” She rolled her eyes and stomped off toward the common area.
I sighed and followed her path.
When I got out to the common area, Soleil was waiting for me. In my peripheral, I caught the glare Buffy shot at me and Soleil. The last thing I needed was club girl drama right now. As I passed where Buffy sat at the bar, I ignored her.
Chains was obviously saying goodbye to Jasmine—who still hadn’t had their baby. I was beginning to think she and Faith would go into labor on the same day.
Soleil and I headed outside. I shoved her purse into a saddlebag and handed her helmet to her.
“Soleil, I wouldn’t blame you if you hated me,” I muttered, unable to look her in the eye.
“I don’t hate you. It’s just a lot to take in. I went from not knowing a damn thing about my past to being told I was born in the Middle Ages, and my brother—who I don’t remember by the way—was killed because you were distracted by me, and a demon is fucking with us.” She sucked in a deep breath and shook her head in disbelief before she continued.
“Oh, and we’re married!” I winced at the way she sounded a bit unhinged at that exclamation, but let her continue.
“You have to understand that I need some time to process everything. And wait… since there are no current records, are we actually even married? Not that it matters because I have no identification. If I believe everything you told me, you’ve been wandering around the globe for over two hundred years because you were supposedly taken from me as your punishment.”
“That I can assure you is true,” I muttered. She glared at me for interrupting.
“You haven’t aged because you can’t die. So, am I immortal too, or did they just drop me here now to fuck with you? Then if I got dropped here, am I going to get old and die while you continue to wander? Shit, I’m having a really hard time wrapping my head around all of this.” Her voice cracked and I hated that I’d done that to her. My anger began to overshadow the forlorn pity party I’d been having.
“Unless you tell me you don’t want me, I’m yours and you’re mine. No laws, no vengeful gods, no cacodaemons, nor any amount of time can refute that. If you want me, we figure shit out. You don’t, then I walk away. Now, I won’t lie to you—that would rip my heart from my chest, but all I want is for you to be happy. So, if you want to go, I’ll arrange for a full identification package, help you find a safe home wherever you want to go, and help you find a job there.” I practically choked on my words because though I would stand by my word, I would hate it. I wanted her more than my next pitiful breath.
Ready to punch something, my hands trembled as I grabbed my sunglasses from where they hung on my brake cable.
“Hey,” she murmured, startling me when she laid a small hand on my arm and looked up at me. I sucked in a fortifying breath. Never in a million years would I get used to how her voice made my heart rate race. After not hearing it for so long, it was the best feeling in the world—even if she didn’t remember me. Nor would I fail to get lost in her vibrant green eyes each time she looked up at me like she was doing now.
“Yeah?”
She stood on her tiptoes and kissed me. Immediately, I pulled her flush to my body and grabbed her hair to tip her head. I deepened the kiss, but I still couldn’t believe this was happening. Holding her in my arms was like coming home. It was a feeling I’d never been able to replace. I hoped she would decide we were worth taking a chance on.