Chapter 2
Greed is not a financial issue. It’s a heart issue. – Andy Stanley
Present day.
The stench of blood, pain, and evil hung in the air like an acidic fog as Blade crept through shadowy rooms and narrow halls, his boots making the old church floorboards creak.
Ahead, the outline of a mystical doorway beckoned him with a flickering glow, promising an epic battle with supernatural creatures and—
“I think I’m ready to lose my virginity.”
Blade tripped over his feet at Scotty’s announcement.
The concealed doorway in the basement of the abandoned church forgotten, he wheeled around to face her.
His cousin and DART teammate, Mace, popped upright from where he’d been bent over the body of a demon, his knife dripping with the monster’s blood.
Mace glanced over at Blade. “Did she say what I think she said?”
“You heard right.” Scotty made her summoned sword—also dripping with greasy, inky demon blood—disappear. “My birthday is only two weeks away. I don’t want to be a thirty-year-old virgin.”
Unsure what to say, Blade and Mace just stared at her as she stood in a dust mote-infested beam of sickly light that squeezed between the slats of a broken, boarded-up window.
They’d been sent to root out a nest of demons causing trouble for the new property owners, but given the rundown condition of the building, Blade figured the demons were the least of their problems. Black mold and the possibility of the roof collapsing in on them seemed like more pressing concerns.
Huffing, Scotty jammed her fists onto her hips, her bare, toned arms streaked with gore.
She looked like a badass in black, from her leggings made from the impenetrable, flexible scales of a Sobek demon’s head, to her combat boots and form-fitting tank that showed off her sleek, muscular physique.
A weapons harness and various sheaths crisscrossed her body, ensuring she always had a killing tool at the ready for every occasion, every species of demon, or, in the rare event that her ability to summon a sword failed.
“Well?” she prompted. “Will you guys help me?”
Help her? Lust flushed through Blade’s body. He’d fantasized about being with Scotty for years, and what she’d just asked for was basically his dream come true.
There was only one problem with that.
Years ago, Mace and Blade swore an oath that they would never—ever—have sex with their best friend. The three of them had been tight since they were kids, first playing together, then training together, and now working together. Their bond was too important to fuck up with sex.
But he couldn’t help imagining what it would be like to be with her just once.
To agree to her shocking request. His hands would probably shake as he peeled off her clothes, and his heart would race at the sight of her naked, hard body.
He’d seen her in a bikini a million times, but he’d sell his soul to know what secrets she hid under the stretchy fabric.
Were her breasts sprinkled with as many freckles as her nose and cheeks?
Was she smooth between her thighs, or were her curls as red as her fiery mane?
Would she let him worship her with his mouth and tongue before he sank into her willing body?
Or would Mace be the one who got to be with her for her first time?
A hot surge of jealousy tore through him, followed by instant shame. They’d sworn their pact for this exact reason, long before Blade had developed feelings for her. He was a jackass for hoping for something that couldn’t happen.
He looked over at Mace, who slowly, methodically, wiped the blade of his knife on his pants and slipped it into the sheath at his hip.
“Scotty,” Mace said, his voice low and rough, “we swore an oath. We can’t help you.”
She blinked, confused, and then laughed.
“Oh, my gods. I wasn’t asking you guys to help me like that.
” She made an ick face, which was kind of insulting.
“I want you to help me pick the right guy. Maybe someone from DART, but not our Brussels office. If things don’t work out, I don’t want to have to see him all the time afterward, you know? ”
Okay, so that was an icepick to the heart. Blade had wanted Scotty for so long and had suffered through watching her date, even though she’d never actually slept with any of the guys. Now, she wanted him to find someone for her to fuck? To take her virginity?
Hell, no.
“Uh…” Mace swallowed, making his personal Seminus symbol on his throat, an eagle in flight, appear to flap its wings. Like his biological father, Wraith, the male was never at a loss for words. But he looked absolutely gobsmacked now. “I don’t…I mean, shouldn’t you be the one making that decision?”
“Come on.” She rolled her hazel eyes so hard she probably got a glimpse of her brain. “I have the worst taste in males. You’ve seen the idiots I’ve dated. Remember Shawn? And Adam?”
Oh, yeah, Blade remembered. She’d met Adam, a human, in the produce section of a grocery store and liked that he hadn’t known who she was. When she told him, three dates in, he’d freaked out and ghosted her.
But Shawn…that fucker had known full well that she was the daughter of Ares, the Horseman of the Apocalypse known as War.
They’d met at a friend’s party, and as a half-demon who ran a vodka distillery, he’d been enamored with her.
Unfortunately, his fascination had turned to obsession, and it had taken a visit from Blade and Mace, a few broken bones, and the threat of all four Horsemen knocking on his door to convince him to leave her alone.
Sure, she would have destroyed the guy herself, but they’d beaten her to it.
Blade waffled. “I don’t know, Scotty.” On one hand, it would kill him to know that he’d played a part in selecting a guy to fuck her. On the other, he could make sure the guy wasn’t an asshole. She deserved someone worthy. Someone who would cherish every second with her.
Someone Blade might not be tempted to kill afterward.
Riiiight. Who was he fooling? He’d crave the destruction of any male who took what Blade desired. He was kinda like his dad, Shade, in that way. No one touched what was important to him.
Scotty jammed her fists onto her hips again, as if this time she’d look less cute and more serious. “What’s the matter? You owe me. I’ve hooked you guys up with a million females. Remember Sasha? And Triska? My friend Lushus?”
“Ah, Lushus.” Mace grinned. “She was always game for anything.”
Blade grunted in agreement. The curvy, insatiable half-succubus had been hot for both. They’d barely kept up with her, and they were freaking incubi who needed sex with a female to survive.
“Whatever happened to her?” Blade asked. “She up and disappeared about a year ago.”
“Ugh.” Scotty shook her head in dismay. “She decided to ‘embrace her human side,’ so she joined a cult and now only gives it up to the nine leaders. They’re trying to fuck the evil out of her or some shit.
I’m sure it’s totally legit,” she said dryly.
“Now, back to my problem. Are you guys going to help me, or what?”
No way.
But, man, she had that muley look on her face that said she’d get what she wanted, one way or another. Mace saw it too, and his expression was resigned as he glanced over at Blade.
Shit.
“Yeah,” Mace muttered as he delivered a brutal kick to a dead demon’s skull. “I guess I’m in.”
Not wanting to seem petty or raise questions, Blade nodded woodenly. “Same.”
Scotty gave them a bright smile. “You guys are the best.”
Mace practically preened at the compliment. Dude soaked up flattery like a sponge. But Blade only felt sick to his stomach because he knew what would happen.
His dream female was about to plunge him right into his worst nightmare.
Boom.
The rhythmic thump of hard-rock music reverberated through the upper level of the complex Mace shared with his cousins, making his head pound and his body pulse.
Boom.
Dammit. His cock should be what was pulsing right now.
He pulled away from the gorgeous, ebony-haired, dark-skinned female he’d been this close to stripping naked. Cursing, he swiped up the Deadpool T-shirt he’d just dropped to the floor.
“Sorry,” he told her. “I’ll be right back.”
Alayna pouted prettily and sank onto the bed, her lime-green miniskirt hiking up her thighs enough to reveal a tantalizing hint of pink silk panties. “I’ll wait. But hurry. You promised me all night.”
“Feel free to get started without me.” Summoning his most dazzling grin, he shot her a flirty wink that charmed the pants off all the females. “Check out the toys in the corner chest if you need inspiration.”
The thumping got even louder, the beat more grating, and Mace lost his smile and his erection. He donned his shirt so violently that he ripped a couple of the seams as he stormed down the industrial-wide hallway in search of the source of the racket.
All the rooms in what used to be a technical innovations complex were soundproofed, but for some reason, music was dampened in parts of the main building and amplified in others. Others being the upstairs living quarters.
As expected, the doorway to his youngest cousin’s room was where noise went to die.
You’d never know Crux lived here unless he was playing video games in the game room or raiding the fridge.
No sounds came from Rade’s room, either, but that guy never made any noise.
He was like a lone hellhound on a hunt: watchful, patient, and silent… until he attacked.
And then, it was his prey that made the noise.
Mace didn’t bother glancing at the doorway to Logan’s room. Logan, son of the Horseman known as Death, had moved in with his fiancée, Eva, a while back.
Which left two occupied suites: Blade’s and Sabre’s.