Chapter 15 Killian #3
“It’s cute when you’re shy, bro,” I tease, and the tips of his ears redden. Luther joins him a moment later and they start digging through the food. My expression sobers when I turn back to Roth, recalling what else she’d let slip.
“You know how her file had jack shit in it? I think it was deliberate. She said that two women broke into her apartment and threatened to abduct her if she didn’t cooperate right then and there.”
He quirks his eyebrow. “They sent the Hanover twins? That’s not standard procedure.”
“It gets better. She said they gave her a choice: Dreadhurst or Edenwood.”
“What?”
“She said ‘I probably should have chosen Edenwood’ because everything’s been so fucked since she got here.”
“Thanks to you sniffing around her,” Thane opines as he carries two plates from the kitchen, handing one to Roth and sitting in the chair next to him.
“Only the High Council could approved breaking protocol like that.”
“Yep.”
“And the file from your father’s computer didn’t have anything else?”
“Nope. Just that they picked her up after she turned twenty from some backwater town in Colorado.”
He stares into the fire, contemplating this new information. “Why would the Hanovers tell a dormant, human-raised witch she could choose? You’re either a light wielder at Edenwood, or a dark wielder at Dreadhurst.
“Fuck if I know.” I sigh, watching Thane and Roth eating side by side in casual domesticity, in sharp contrast to what goes on behind door number three. Which reminds me…
“Thane.”
“Yeah man?”
“How do you know if you have a praise kink?” He chokes as my question catches him off guard, and Luther hands him the tequila bottle as he joins me on the couch.
It’s not Thane who answers my question though, and once again I have to give him credit for handling Roth’s shit, because he’s fucking scary when he wants to be.
“You want to be a good boy, Killer? Or perhaps ‘puppy’ is more fitting,” he threatens with a smile, his voice like a knife running over my skin.
“Well that’s just terrifying,” I shiver, and the Legacy of Wrath actually smiles.
“You missed our earlier discussion—cancel any plans for this weekend.”
“Ooh who are we fucking up?”
“My family,” Luther replies through a mouthful of enchiladas.
“Fuck yeah. I still owe Cyrus from the last time we gave him an attitude adjustment.”
“How about I just level the estate while we’re there?” Thane suggests casually.
“I could open a sinkhole,” I add.
“We are not destroying the ancestral home of House Aeris because you fuckers are want to swing your dicks around,” Luther deadpans. Thane and I sigh in synchronized disappointment.
“Cyrus’s been fishing for information about the “special projects” Renard’s been working on. Came up to me after the last council meeting before I told him to fuck off,” Roth says.
“And?”
“He’s given me an extension,” he answers without meeting my eyes. Thane, Luther and I all exchange a look.
“What’d he want for it?” I ask.
He sighs. “I’m to spend the week of Saturnalia at the estate.” A week along with his parents?
“Fuck that,” Thane bristles, echoing our thoughts.
“Speaking of leveling estates…” I look pointedly at Thane and he nods in agreement.
“I’ll have Xaphan with me,” Roth interjects, cutting off our plotting.
“Don’t get me wrong dude, your familiar is tough shit, but I doubt he’d be able to stop Renard if he was truly motivated.
” There’s a beat of silence between I snap my fingers when genius strikes.
“Oh! Maybe you can train him to shit in the house. Is he food motivated? What do hellhounds even eat anyways?”
“The souls of my enemies.”
“Strawberries,” Thane answers at the same time. Roth glares at him, but Thane shrugs. “What? They have antioxidants.”
“Demon hounds from Hell do not need antioxidants.”
“Do you have any idea how many free radicals are in Hell? Actually, he’ll probably need them more since he slips between realms so often. Who knows what kind of havoc that wreaks on his system. No, we need strawberries. Luther—”
“Mm?”
“Add strawberries to the grocery list.” He grunts around another mouthful.
“You’re all idiots.”
“Well if we can piss you off this easily then your parents will be begging us to leave in no time. We’re coming.”
“Seconded,” Thane says.
“Thirded.” Luther adds.
“Motion carried.” I slap my hand against the coffee table, but Roth just sighs. He loves us.
We make quite the sight: the savage wolf, the only demon topside who can summon Hellfire, the last World Snake in desperate need of anger management, and the jolly gray giant. Well, grumpy gray giant. Seriously, he’s such a broody dick.
It’s nearly midnight by the time the liquor and food are gone, and sleep beckons.
But I don’t bother going to my room. My demon’s been quietly pacing in the back of my mind, salivating over the lingering traces of the perfect prey.
Like an itch under my skin, it teases my senses and draws me into the frigid black night until it rips through the confines of my skin.
We’re going hunting.