Chapter 21 #2
She’s right; Garland was struggling. Remi spends the most time there out of the three of us, and I remember when he told us about most of the businesses being bought up and new high-end places coming in. But just because she’s right in one sense doesn’t mean she is in others.
Yes, Garland prospers now, but prospers for who?
It’s not the people who once owned businesses there or many of the locals.
Most family-run places have been bought out or pushed out—either by the steep rent hikes after Northlight took over the buildings or by their struggle to keep up with the surge of tourist demand.
Greer is smart enough to know that. It’s also part of the reason she’s here.
She’s lost her connection to her emotions, her ability to see that things aren’t black and white.
Part of what Remi will show her tonight will help her see that there’s more to existence than work, money, and power, that her choices have effects that one should care about.
Moreover, that there’s more to her life than being the puppet of corporate greed and fitting this role she’s created for herself.
Deep down, I don’t think that’s even what she wants. Her aura wouldn’t already be changing if that were true. She wouldn’t be smiling or eating dinner with Kai or Remi, either.
“Is that what Holly thinks? That you’ve turned her business around for good?” Remi asks.
Greer stares directly in his eyes, the gold and white in her aura winking out. I know Remi sees the effect of his words on her, but he doesn’t back down. I’m not sure why he wants to push her buttons, but he must have a reason.
“Her family business was already failing before we bought up the building and took over the lease. And I doubt you know this, but I emailed Holly plenty of times with ideas on how to bring her business into the future, but she kept it the same. It’s not my fault that she didn’t take any of my suggestions. ”
“Did your suggestions include less outdated holiday decor?” He playfully smirks.
Greer picks up her wine again, eyes bold and eyebrows slightly raised.
“Yes, I did. The future is coming, whether you want it to or not. You can move with it or stay in the past. If you don’t evolve, even with something as simple as decorating trends, you could lose everything you’ve worked for.
And while we disagree on the idea of wealth, Remi, you need money to live in this world. ”
Her words linger between the three of us. There is truth to them, but she only believes that what she says is achievable by being the way she is now. Her words also reveal more than she intends—not only the reason she is the way she is but also the fears that drive her.
Kai clears his throat. “I don’t know, Princess. I think the past deserves to be honored. It can teach us many things, including how to move forward—not only in the present but into the future as well. It shouldn’t be glossed over.”
Malachi, I warn through our link. He doesn’t look at me; instead, he stares straight at Greer. Her body is still, her eyes unblinking. She’s eyeing him as if she’s seen a ghost, and in a way, she has.
While it’s not a rule, we don’t often talk to our jobs about what we’ve shown them. We rarely make contact with them again after we’ve had our night, much less have dinner with them.
As far as I know, Greer still thinks her time with Kai was a nightmare.
And if he’s not careful, he’ll have a lot to explain.
He could potentially ruin the rest of her time here.
She’s only just begun to open up, and if she closes off now, it’ll be that much harder for Remi and me to help her see why she’s here—and why she can’t keep barreling toward a future that’s not just bleak for her but for everyone in her path.
Greer remains quiet for another moment, her brain probably attempting to put pieces together that don’t make sense. After another clock tick, she decides something, because her shoulders pop back before she speaks again. “Don’t tell me you’re a history buff, Angel Boy?”
The skin on the back of my neck rises, and my gaze meets Remi’s.
His tattoo. She saw it last night.
Right. I exhale a quiet breath, my lungs feeling heavy.
Kai showed us what happened with Greer last night in the past, and I know that he told her what we are, which is par for the course.
It helps people trust us more when we’re showing them personal and important things, to know we aren’t completely human but something they consider bigger than them or of a heavenly nature.
But when they wake, they usually think it’s a dream.
By the end of their three days, if they believe we are who we claim and accept that everything here was real, they leave—and Elysian Pines slips from their memory like a dream upon waking.
They carry the change within them, even as they forget us and the town, moving on with their lives.
“I do enjoy the History Channel,” Kai responds. “It’s educational.”
Greer’s gaze narrows, and I think she’s putting the pieces together with all of Kai’s comments.
I look at his profile, ready to ask him what he’s doing through our link, when I see a tiny smile at the corner of his mouth.
His intentions become clear—he wants her to figure it out sooner rather than later.
I’d ask him why, but I already know. He’s smitten with our little Scrooge.
While her knowledge of us wouldn’t matter if she were any other job, it will complicate this one. Kai will be hurt when she leaves. Remi, too. Especially if she accepts us for who and what we are, something humans in our past—including family—have failed to do.
I twirl a bite of pasta around my fork with a goal in mind: to change the subject. “Kai enjoys expanding his mind by reading. He’s a frequent guest at my bookstore.”
Remi, Kai, and Greer all look toward me at my words.
I feel Remi’s surprise through the bond, but he doesn’t say anything.
He doesn’t have to. I know he’s surprised I’m making conversation, more so that I’m talking about my bookstore.
It’s rare that I do, as it’s less a bookstore and more my sanctuary.
The beings that live here stop in from time to time, and sometimes a job will wander in while they’re here, but mostly, it’s my space.
“You own the bookstore?” Greer asks as I put the pasta in my mouth.
To my delight, it’s not cold but hot, like it just came from the pan.
Judging by the small smile on Kai’s face, he used some of his grace to warm it.
I send him gratitude and praise through the bond for his thoughtfulness and because the carbonara is amazing. I’ve missed his cooking.
I place my attention back on Greer after I swallow. She’s picked up her wine glass again, a curious spark in her eyes. “I do.”
“What was the name again?”
“The Last Page.”
“I like it.”
My lip twitches. I should probably not care that she likes it, but I find that I do. I clear my throat. “Are you a reader?”
I don’t miss the way the apples of her cheeks heat and her aura pulses a reddish pink with a mix of pleasure and joy.
“Yes, I read.”
Her answer comes out shy, one I wouldn’t have expected of Greer. Her shoulders turn in, and she looks down at her near-empty plate.
Shame, Remiel says to us. That’s what we’re feeling from her aura now. Not shyness.
I swallow another bite of pasta, feeling slight anger rise in my gut. I don’t like when people feel shame over what they read or like. It usually means someone has made them believe that their interests are bad when they’re usually not, just taboo or different from what society deems okay.
“Can I tell you one of my secrets?” Remi asks, leaning closer toward Greer.
“It won’t be a secret if all of us hear,” Greer volleys back. I won’t lie, it makes me grin. She has a smart mouth like Kai.
“Fair enough, but they already know.”
“Alright, then, spill.”
“I like to read paranormal romance.”
Her eyebrows shoot up, and the air relaxes at his admission.
The corner of Greer’s lips turns up. “Are you lying?”
“I’m not. Ask them.” He cocks his head in Kai’s and my direction.
“It’s true,” Kai confirms. “I’ll give you one guess what his favorite mythical being is.”
“That’s an easy one,” Greer says cockily. “Vampires.”
Kai cackles loud enough I wince. “She knows you well already, Remi.”
Remi wets his lips, eyes warm with reverence. “How did you know?”
Greer has leaned closer in the moments they’ve been speaking, her lips getting dangerously close to his. Before she answers, her eyes dart to mine. The debate on if she wants to answer with me here is clear on her face, but then she does the last thing I expect and smirks devilishly.
“Because.” She turns back to Remiel. “You know how to suck.”
Her response should inspire laughter, but nobody is laughing.
What happened earlier? I ask them both.
Remi is too preoccupied with Greer, but Kai doesn’t hesitate to send me several flashes of imagery.
He keeps Greer’s naked chest hidden from view, but it’s obvious what’s happening.
Greer is on Remi’s lap, his sandy blond head dipped near her breasts while Kai watches a series of devouring kisses that have even my heart rate speeding up.
The thigh comment earlier makes more sense now.
“Fair point.” Remi hums. “Though blood isn’t really my thing.”
“Glad to hear it.”
The atmosphere in the room is heavy again, but not with tension, with arousal—including my own. I should get up and leave. I know where this is heading. But I can’t make myself run this time. That feeling that pulled me into the dining room is keeping me in place.
Good. Kai’s voice enters my head. Stay. I know she wants you here. She kept looking for you earlier when we were on the couch.
That surprises me. Greer has no reason to want me here, but she wouldn’t have brought up this side of the conversation if she didn’t. I trail my gaze over her and Remi, whose eyes are locked on hers. He’s so focused, I think I could start a fire, and he wouldn’t move.
It gives me a true reason to stay. I should be here to make sure that whatever happens, Remi and Kai remain unattached. Besides, Remi has a job to do tonight, and Greer may like him less in the morning. Even if she still believes what she sees isn’t real.
Yes, these are good reasons to stay, to make sure things don’t go south.
Whatever you need to believe, Sam.
I look at Kai, the boyish smile plastered on his face. It makes him appear younger than he is. Behave, I warn. I hadn’t meant for him to hear those thoughts. Which means Remi did as well.
Or what? he asks.
Or Remiel won’t be the only one doing the sucking.
Kai presses his lips together to keep from laughing, turning his attention back to Greer. She’s looking at us, and by the way she licks her lips, I’d bet money she’s thinking about what she walked in on last night.
When we stare into each other’s eyes, that energy I felt at the rink begins to swell, but this time, I manage to control it, keeping my aura from spanning out. The tendrils remain inside me, swirling around in my lower stomach, adding to the hunger that nothing seems to sate.
“And you,” Greer directs to me. “What do you read?”
I put my fork down and lean slightly forward. “A little of everything. And you?”
For a moment, I think she’ll allow her shame to reappear, but instead, the corner of her mouth kicks up. “Paranormal romance.”
“And what kind of being do you favor?” I ask.
“Are you also a lover of sucking?” Kai interjects, making Greer laugh. The sound is light and melodic, so unlike the hard woman who entered Elysian Pines last night.
“Yes, I am.” She shifts in her chair. “But I tend to go for a monster romance, especially if said monster has tentacles.”
My aura surges stronger inside me as the image of it reaching out to her on the ice in thick, black tendrils appears in my mind through the bond to Kai and Remi.
Now, that’s interesting, Kai says to only us.
It doesn’t mean anything, I reply.
Are you sure?
I don’t respond. Instead, I focus on remaining neutral.
It can’t mean anything. I won’t let it. Because we have a job, and I’m not going to stray from it.
Even if my body is betraying me, pulling me to Greer instead of away.
Even if my aura keeps trying to reach her when my logical brain says nothing can happen, that I need to be the voice of reason when my fellow Nephilim won’t be.
I have the future to think about.
“And what do the tentacles do in these books, love?” Remi asks, voice deeper and more seductive than it already naturally is.
The sexual tension in the room builds to the point of snapping. Remi knows exactly what those tentacles do—all of us are aware; Greer, too.
Her eyes flick up and down Remi in an amused and flirty type of way. “You don’t know?”
Remi tilts his head coyly. “Maybe I just wanted to hear you say it.”
Greer chuckles before picking up her wine glass, downing the last bit of it. Her eyes shift to the bottle before looking back to him.
“How about this instead?” She reaches out her hand and takes the collar of his shirt, toying with the fabric. “Instead of talking in make-believe or explaining tentacle sex, you can all fuck me with your very real cocks.”
The room goes quiet enough you could hear a pin drop.
And while I plan to keep my now-hard cock to myself, Greer’s brazenness doesn’t turn me off.
I like when people are open and brave about what they want, especially when it comes to me and my partners.
We can be intimidating solo, but together? We’re a supernatural force.
Kai breaks the silence. “Does that mean I can touch, Princess?”
“Yes, Angel Boy. That means you can touch.”
Don’t stop me this time, Samael. I don’t have time to react to Malachi’s declaration because he’s on his feet and over to Greer before I can blink. He pulls her out of her chair, and she squeaks in surprise, the sound ending when his lips seal over hers in a passionate kiss.