Chapter 23 #2
I narrow my eyes even though he can’t see me and send another surge of power into Atlas so his tattoos glow even brighter. Auri chuckles.
“And bring that mate of yours.”
“Yes, sir.” Atlas closes the door and his shoulders sag as he turns around to face me.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to curse him?” I ask.
“Shh.” He glances back at the closed door. “He can probably still hear you.”
“You think I give a fuck?”
He gives me a weary look. “It would be pointless to ask you to behave during this meeting, wouldn’t it?”
I smirk as I throw the blankets off and climb out of bed. “I’ll behave if he does.”
“Great,” he mutters.
Once we’re dressed, Atlas leads the way through the winding corridors of the compound to Auri’s office. We round a corner and suddenly I can hear heavy, galloping footfalls.
“What the fuck is—” A massive, shaggy black beast with three heads, each with a mouth full of gleaming fangs and a lolling tongue comes bounding towards us.
“That’s Grim, Auri’s hellhound. He doesn’t listen to anyone but Auri,” Atlas warns.
The demon dog barrels at me, yipping and panting simultaneously, its tail wagging hard enough that it thumps against one wall, then the other over and over again.
“No,” I say firmly, putting a hand up. It skids to a halt, two out of three heads tilting curiously. “Sit,” I command. It whines from one mouth and then plops its furry butt down on the floor.
“Holy shit,” Atlas mutters.
“It’s all about tone.” I reach out to pat the closest head. “Good dog. Now, go.” I point in the direction it just came from. It gives another little whine and a yip from a different mouth, then lopes away.
Atlas shakes his head in disbelief as he approaches the door that must lead to Auri’s office to knock.
“Come in,” Auri calls.
If I had to imagine a demon’s office, this would be it.
Gaudy and a bit self-important, with a large desk right in the center and floor-to-ceiling bookshelves behind him, all filled with various spell books, Grimoires, and magical histories.
I don’t wait for him to wave us to the chairs in front of his desk before I sit.
Keeping the upper hand is key here. And with that goal in mind, I swing my legs up to prop my feet on the shiny wood surface of his desk, and smirk at him.
Instead of looking annoyed or pissed off, he grins at me like he’s amused.
“You must be Rune.”
“In the flesh.” I smirk.
“Your reputation precedes you.”
“Does it?” I feign ignorance, and Auri chuckles before turning his attention to Atlas.
“You lied to me, Pet,” he says sternly.
“I know. I’m sorry. I didn’t know what else to do.
Rune was in danger and I didn’t want to risk you telling me to leave it alone.
I couldn’t risk it.” I feel the little tug at my magic as Atlas pulls some into himself to illuminate the tattoos again.
“We’re fated mates. I literally didn’t have a choice. ”
Auri sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. “If I ever meet the Fates, I’m going to strangle them with their own threads. This is extremely inconvenient and it sets a bad precedent. I need to at least punish you.”
Atlas nods. “That’s fair.”
I sit forward and hold up a hand to quiet Atlas before he can agree to anything else.
“No,” I say. “Magical law is very clear that when it comes to fated mates, special exceptions must be granted. There’s not only legal precedent to break contracts when necessary, when compelled by the pull of a fated mate, but it’s been upheld time and again that actions related to fated mates supersede any and all other laws. ”
I feel Atlas’s pride and awe pulse through our bond.
“Uh, yeah, what Rune said.”
“You’re sharp,” Auri says. “I could use an asset like you.”
I scoff. “Keep dreaming. I don’t sign contracts and my magic isn’t for sale.” A thought occurs to me though. I glance over at Atlas, then back at Auri. “I might be open to the occasional freelance gig, however, under a few conditions.”
Auri’s lips twitch. He wants to keep his expression neutral, but the thrill of a chance to have access to my magic, even on occasion, is too much for him to bluff his way through it entirely.
“Such as?” he asks coolly.
“Pay will be negotiated up front, and you can expect me to ask a hell of a lot of questions about the purpose of any job before I agree to it.”
Auri hesitates, then nods. “That’s… fair.”
I glance at Atlas one more time. “And Atlas is free to live with me, off compound, if he chooses to. You can summon him as needed for assignments.”
I feel Atlas vibrate with a little bit of tension, and Auri shifts in his chair slightly and frowns.
“Very well,” he agrees after a long silence. “Is that all?”
“For now.” I grin again, then stand up, offering my hand to the demon. “Pleasure to meet you, Auri. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we have a honeymoon to get back to.”
He shakes my hand and I can feel the reluctant respect rolling off of him.
I grab Atlas’s hand on our way out of the office and thread my fingers between his, resting my head on his broad shoulder.
My stomach growls as we head back down the hallway, and instead of going left when we reach the fork, Atlas tugs me to the right.
“Where are we going?”
“To have breakfast.” He nuzzles my ear. “I need to make sure you can keep your energy up for what I have planned for the rest of the day.”
I moan and lean against him. He leads me into a large dining room where Mac, Drax, Cassius, and Roman are all seated around the table, already eating. Roman lifts his nose into the air and sniffs, then he grins at us.
“Nice,” he says with a wink.
Atlas bristles. “Dude, we either need to either find you a mate or get you neutered.”
“I vote for neutered,” Cas says helpfully, lifting a wineglass full of what appears to be blood to his lips.
Roman growls in his direction, baring his teeth, and the vampire chuckles.
“Glad to see you’re still here. Pull up a chair. The food here fucking rocks.” Mac nudges a chair towards me.
“Thanks.” My stomach growls again. “And, um, thanks to all of you for coming yesterday.”
I’m fairly sure I already said it yesterday, but it bears repeating. I’ve proudly spent my adult life as an island, sure that any emotional ties were nothing but liabilities. But when it came down to it, I couldn’t have gotten out of there alone.
I serve myself up a plate of various foods from the platters on the table and listen to the easy, teasing banter between the five of them.
They remind me of siblings, and I can’t help but wonder if Rhiannon and I will manage to find our way to some kind of relationship.
I’m surprised to find that there’s a little spark of hope inside me in favor of the idea.
“By the way, if any of you have a bone to pick with Auri about your contracts, take Rune with you. He had him shaking in his—”
“Shaking in my what, Atlas?” Auri appears in the doorway and Atlas snaps his mouth shut.
He doesn’t wait for an answer though, just smirks and disappears in a dramatic puff of smoke. I roll my eyes.
“Is he always so theatrical?”
Drax shrugs. “It’s kind of a demon thing.” He picks up a silver carafe and holds it out towards me. “Coffee?”
“Thanks.”
Atlas puts a hand on my thigh under the table, and we dig into our food.
Mac was right, it’s delicious, and it turns out the company around here isn’t so bad either.
Maybe we can split our time between here and my various apartments.
Who knows, New, Sappy Rune might even make a few friends. Anything feels possible.