Chapter 7 Peter
PETER
Peter hated the smell of sweat and other bodily fluids in the damp holding cell.
He wondered if it had ever been cleaned or if the workers in the holding centre just hosed it down after the inmates regained their senses.
Willow Valley didn’t have a jail, so they had nowhere else to put people who got in trouble.
Right now, he shouldn’t be focused on the cell’s smell or state.
He should be contemplating how his plan to get Faye home safely had ended up with him in one of Willow Valley’s holding cells.
He paced by the bars, not daring to get too close to the werewolf snoring in the corner as he waited to be bailed out.
“I’m here for my brother, Peter Matherson. I believe he was fighting with a group of vampires.” Benedict’s voice echoed down the hall to the row of iron cells.
Peter groaned. So much for calling Lucy.
He hadn’t expected his sister-in-law to keep secrets for him, but he had hoped.
He would have given anything to teleport out of there, but the iron bars trapped him in place.
Worse than being stuck was having to stare at the vampires he had brawled in the facing cells, barred with silver.
It wasn’t his fault they had followed him out of the bar, wrongly assuming he would be an easy snack since they’d lost their chance to take a pint out of Faye.
“I’ve never taken down a Grim Reaper before. I didn’t think I had such a shriek in me,” he heard the banshee peace officer saying, obviously pleased with herself. Peter rolled his eyes, surprised she hadn’t taken out every window in town with him.
“Carmine, please do me a favour and hand him over to me. I promise he won’t cause trouble again,” Benedict assured her as they appeared at the end of the hall.
Benedict’s on a first-name basis with her?
“Don’t you want to know what he did?” Carmine asked.
“Not particularly. When it comes to my brother, the less I know, the better,” Benedict said, glaring at his younger brother through the bars.
“Just because we don’t have laws here doesn’t mean people can do what they please. There’s an order to maintain, and I have to hold them all for twenty-four hours to let them cool off,” Carmine said, fiddling with her keys as she walked towards them.
“Can’t you make an exception, since we play for the same team?” Peter gave her his best pout.
“You deal death; I just detect it,” Carmine said, not swayed an inch.
“How about a comped week’s stay in Matherson Manor in Foxford during the next Autumn Festival for you and your family?” Benedict offered.
“Deal.” Carmine didn’t hesitate to hand over her keys to Benedict. “I’ve got some paperwork for you to sign at the front. Come up when you’re ready,” she added, before leaving them alone.
Peter sighed in relief.
“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t leave you in this cell, or call Gregory and have him escort you back to purgatory,” Benedict said. Peter hated when his brother gave him his ‘I’m disappointed in you’ look.
“I thought Lucy was coming to get me. I was hoping for my sweet and understanding sister-in-law to rescue me,” he said, batting his eyelashes.
“It’s because she’s too soft on you that I’m here. Besides, she has a busy day tomorrow dealing with coven affairs and doesn’t have time to bail you out of jail,” Benedict said, putting the cell keys in his pocket.
“C’mon, you aren’t going to leave me in here,” Peter whined.
“I’m thinking about it.”
“There’s a werewolf, and if they wake up and attack me, then it’ll take me weeks to regenerate!” Peter glanced over his shoulder to the grey beast curled up in the corner.
“What did they do?” Benedict glanced at the creature.
“I don’t know, but they stink. They probably got drunk and thought it would be fun to play in the trash. I don’t think it matters. Maybe we can ask Carmine after you let me out of here?” Peter suggested, keeping his voice low.
Benedict sighed. “Why am I here, Peter?”
“I was on the street minding my own business when a group of vamps decided I’d make a nice snack.” Peter shrugged, leaving out the important parts.
“And it’s a coincidence that you were right outside the pub where Faye’s partner works?” Benedict asked, crossing his arms.
“I forgot he works there.”
“Bullshit.” Benedict started walking away.
“Wait!” Peter called out, and the werewolf growled as their sleep was disturbed. “You can’t leave me in here.”
“I will if you’re going to lie.”
Benedict was the one person Peter couldn’t fool.
“Fine – go.” Peter morphed into his brother’s likeness. Benedict scowled at himself. “I wonder what people would think if the husband of the High Priestess of Foxford got arrested for brawling with vampires.”
“No one will believe you’re me.”
“Yes, they will. I just have to pretend to have a stick shoved up my—”
“Enough, Peter. This isn’t the time for games,” Benedict snarled.
Peter morphed back before his brother left him behind for real.
Benedict let out a long sigh. “This is about Faye. You used my likeness to get her a job at Stoker’s, and you helped get Ian a job at Clover’s.
You can’t leave her alone. If I had any sense, I would report you to Gregory and have your mentor get you back in line.
I thought you’d put the rule-breaking behind you. ”
“I had everything under control,” Peter grumbled.
“Under control? Look where you are,” Benedict scoffed. “Will you tell me, or must I find Faye for the truth? Because there’s no way she wasn’t involved in whatever landed you here.”
Peter hesitated.
“Have a good night. You might just make a new friend,” Benedict said, walking away.
“Faye was with Ian in the pub, and some vamps took a liking to her,” Peter confessed. He couldn’t risk being shredded by the werewolf when they woke. “The vamps wanted to feed on Faye, but she left before they could. They needed someone else to feed on, and I was right there.”
“You’ve been watching Faye? Following her?” Benedict groaned.
“You don’t need to make it sound so creepy. I like to check in on her now and then.”
“You have an unhealthy obsession with that woman. You can’t seem to leave her alone.”
Peter scoffed at his brother’s hypocrisy. “Says you, who agreed to an arranged marriage with Lucy – who couldn’t bear to be in the same room with you – because he didn’t want anyone else to have her.”
Benedict rolled his eyes but didn’t deny it. “What are we going to do about the vamps? We don’t need them spreading rumours about how they were bested by a Reaper and it getting tied back to you and Foxford.”
“I already erased the vamps’ memories after I knocked them out. Carmine knocked me out with her shrieking just as the fight was over,” Peter said.
Benedict unlocked the cell and let him out. Peter tried to contain his smile but wrapped his arms around his brother.
“Get off me before I change my mind,” Benedict said, patting him on the back.
“You might want to lock the door. We don’t want the wolf getting out,” Peter said, eyeing the creature.
Benedict locked the cell and followed Peter to the front desk.
Back at the brothers’ ancestral-home-turned-luxury-hotel, Matherson Manor, Peter crashed onto the navy couch in the living quarters of the West Wing, his favourite place to stay and irritate his brother when he was in town collecting souls.
Being home made him feel human again. All the candles suddenly lit in the dark space, thanks to his brother’s fire magic.
“Thank goodness you’re alright,” Lucy said, charging across the living room and wrapping her arms around Peter. Given that she was wearing Benedict’s grey sweats and jumper instead of her usual array of bright colours, she must have been waiting in the bedroom for them to return.
“I told you he was fine. You didn’t have to wait here. You should’ve gone home,” Benedict said, but Lucy swatted him away.
“Don’t be silly. I needed to make sure you were both alright. I’m so glad they let you go.”
“Nothing a bribe couldn’t fix.” Benedict winked, kissing his wife.
The couple once couldn’t be in the same room without blowing it up, but now they couldn’t get enough of each other.
Peter would’ve been sickened by their affection for each other if he hadn’t been so jealous.
He had lost the right to love when he had died.
It was forbidden for a Reaper to fall in love with the living.
“Well, you’re both safe and home now. That’s all that matters,” Lucy said, looking between them as they sat around the coffee table. Peter felt there was more she wanted to say.
“Don’t worry, Faye is fine. She wasn’t there during the fight,” Benedict told her.
“Thank God,” Lucy said, her shoulders relaxing. “I was so worried that you might’ve been defending her.”
“Why would you think Faye had anything to do with the fight?” Peter frowned.
“You were arrested outside Clover’s after brawling with vampires. How could it not have something to do with Faye?” Lucy asked, as if his connection to Faye were common knowledge. “You Matherson brothers are terrible at hiding your feelings.”
“We thought you might have been protecting her because Grams came by the hotel this afternoon to have lunch with us. She told us that you were helping Faye,” Benedict confessed, resting his elbows on his knees.
“I don’t know why you’re fixated on Faye Parker, but please don’t get yourself in trouble. I don’t want to risk losing you again.”
“You don’t have to worry about losing me.
I’m not going anywhere.” Peter didn’t want to disappear again either; before his Reaper Mentor had helped him get promoted to soul retriever, he hadn’t seen his family for years except on the anniversary of his death, which wasn’t the best day to visit.
He had got so used to coming and going from their lives that he hadn’t stopped to think of how they would feel if they never saw him again if what had died stayed dead.
“Grams asked me to help Faye, and I did. There’s no need to panic. ”
“There’s always cause to panic when you’re acting squirrelly,” Lucy said.
“Squirrelly?” Peter laughed, preferring the adjective to many others she could have used.
“Yes, and I don’t want you around Ian. He’s a magnet for trouble and I don’t want the arse banished. For Faye’s sake, we ruled against it last time. The last thing the coven wants is him taking Faye away from those who care for her here.” Benedict sighed.
“She’s getting out – leaving him,” Peter told them. He couldn’t escape his brother’s prying if he didn’t give up something.
“Really?” Benedict sat up straighter, and Lucy took his hand like she couldn’t believe it.
Peter nodded. “Faye needed me to add some wardings to the apartment above Stoker’s so she’ll be safe when she moves in. She didn’t want anyone to know because—”
“Nothing stays secret for long here,” Benedict finished for him. “You remembered how to use our family wards? Aren’t you forbidden from using magic as part of your sentence?”
“Technically, from spells and potions. Warding is a grey area.”
Benedict let out a long sigh. “If the wardings are discovered, tell Faye to say that I was the one who placed them. I can say I was acting on behalf of the coven. Lucinda will back me up.”
“Thank you,” Peter said, grateful he was helping him instead of scolding him. Even if he deserved both.
“Don’t thank me, just give me a heads-up in future. If you need my help, ask,” Benedict said, slapping his arm, which was the most affectionate his brother got.
“Same here. You don’t have to do this alone. We can help protect her,” Lucy added.
“Faye doesn’t want too many people to know about her plans to leave,” Peter said, not wanting to overwhelm her. “But if I’ve got to leave town, I need you to look out for her. Lucy, as the High Priestess, Ian won’t dare challenge you or Faye if she’s under your protection.”
“Once Faye moves back to town, he won’t be able to get within ten feet of her,” Lucy promised, not holding back how happy she was about her friend’s return.
With their support, he felt reassured. The thought of Lucy finding out Faye was on his collection list made him feel sick, but even if he wanted to tell her, reapings were strictly confidential.
“Thank you,” he said, wishing he could remain glued to Faye’s side. Still, he knew Lucy and Benedict would do everything they could to keep her safe, even if he couldn’t.