Chapter 32
Scotty was still flying high when she met Aleka at her London apartment that overlooked the museum. Aleka had gone full Brit since moving there, and she had tea, scones, and finger sandwiches set out in her quaint little dining area.
“What was so urgent that you—?”
Scotty whipped off her coat, revealing the sleeve of glyphs on her arm and throat.
“Holy…shit, Scotland.” Aleka had been holding a cup of tea, but it was now forgotten, its contents spilling onto the floor as Aleka stared.
Scotty paraded past, feeling a little sassy. “I’d have thought congratulations would be more appropriate, but ‘holy shit,’ works.” She plucked a little sandwich from the plate and popped it into her mouth. She was starving. Sex did that to a girl. Which she now knew.
So cool.
Aleka was still gaping. “I don’t know what to say. Who did you mate with? I don’t recognize that symbol.”
Scotty plopped down in a seat and shoved a couple more sandwiches into her face. “You’re gonna need to sit down.”
For once, Aleka didn’t argue. She just took a seat and stared at Scotty’s new decorations. “Tell me. Tell me everything.”
Scotty did. And by the time she was done, Aleka was shaking her head in disbelief. Between the two of them, they’d eaten every sandwich, every scone, and had drained the teapot.
“This is unbelievable,” Aleka said as she leaned back in her chair, exhausted by the story. Scotty got that because she was exhausted too. But she was also energized. This had gone from the worst day of her life to the best, and all it had taken was a bonding ritual with her two best friends.
“And what’s really crazy is that I think Gramps knew all along that we were supposed to end up like this.”
Aleka got up to heat more water for the tea. “Have you told anyone else? What about the guys?”
“They went to talk to their families,” Scotty said. “I wanted to tell you first.”
Aleka whipped around. “Me? I’m the first person you’ve told?”
“You’re my sister,” Scotty said. “I know we haven’t always been—oof!”
She broke off as Aleka hauled her into a huge hug. “I’m so happy for you.” She pulled back, her eyes brimming with emotional tears. “And somehow, I’m not surprised by this.” Abruptly, her eyes shot wide in horror. “But what about Dad?”
Right. That might be a problem.
Aleka took the teapot to the counter near the stove. “How do you plan to handle him?”
“I was hoping you had a suggestion.”
Aleka considered that as she poured steaming water into the pot. “Did you know that Stryke has a new division that’s going to start a colony on the moon?”
“What? Who the fuck cares?” Scotty surged to her feet and opened her sister’s fridge, looking for more food. Sex definitely worked up an appetite. “I have real problems.”
“Yeah. I know. And Dad is the biggest one. So, if I were you, I’d buy Mace and Blade tickets on the first moon flight. Because he is going to freak. The. Fuck. Out.”
“Oh, come on.” Scotty slammed the door closed. “Dad will be happy—”
“Two lust demons are banging his little girl.”
Shit. Yup. The guys were as good as dead.
Mace’s gut stirred a little as he entered the Charnel House, a demon club in a rinky-dink town in what used to be called Australia’s Northern Territory. Now, it was known as Scaldera, named after a river in Sheoul.
The former Northern Territory was home to Ufelskala Tier Three demons and lifestyles, and as far as demons went, it wasn’t…awful.
Still, no human was safe outside of what used to be New South Wales, now New Horun, where the Ufelskala Tier One demons ruled.
Good thing Mace wasn’t human. But he wasn’t Tier Three evil, either, and he watched his back as he sought his target.
He wasn’t even sure why he wanted to talk to Talon, and frankly, if his parents hadn’t basically ordered him to, he would have let Talon find out the news through the family grapevine.
Man, his parents had been funny, though. The moment they’d seen his mate rings, they’d freaked.
“Who is she?” Idess had been over-the-top thrilled, because her little boy getting mated meant he wouldn’t go insane in the future.
But Dad’s tone had been more wary. “Who is she?” Same question, but a whole lot of concern in that voice, probably worried that his little boy had gotten himself tied for over four hundred years to some heinous bitchbag like Talon’s girlfriend.
It had been his mom, though, who immediately saw the change in his personal symbol. “Mace,” she’d gasped. “Your eagle!”
He grinned. “Yeah, look at that. It finally perched.”
Lore got in closer. “It’s not perching on a branch.” His brows drew together. “A sword. Funny, that looks like Blade’s sword.”
Mace nodded. “Because it is.”
His parents stared in a combination of surprise and confusion. Mace considered drawing the whole thing out just for fun, but he decided not to keep his parents in suspense.
“I bonded with Scotty,” he said, and his parents erupted in smiles. Idess even squealed and threw herself at him in a big hug.
“I’m so excited,” she said. “Congratulations. It’s about time. And—” She frowned. “Wait. Why do you have Blade’s sword?” She gasped. “You didn’t…do something to him, did you?”
Apprehension darkened Lore’s eyes. He no doubt remembered the conversation he’d had with him and Wraith about how bad things were with the team. “Son, what’s going on?”
Mace laughed. “I didn’t kill Blade, if that’s what you’re thinking.” He turned to his dad. “Blade and I are both in love with Scotty, so we told her she had to choose—”
“And she chose you?”
Mace wasn’t sure if he should take offense to the surprise in his mom’s voice or not. “She couldn’t choose, so we let fate decide.”
“And fate chose you,” she said, clearly anxious to get to the end of the story. He’d watched his mom fast-forward to the endings of movies and read the last chapter of books before the first all his life.
“Fate chose all of us.”
Lore and Idess shared baffled glances. Finally, Lore said, “What, exactly, are you saying?”
“I’m saying that both Blade and I are bonded to her.”
It took a few heartbeats for his parents to grasp what he’d said, but when they did, their slow, genuine smiles were worth it. They’d been thrilled.
But now it was time to tell Talon.
“Why should I have to tell him in person?” he’d argued. “He won’t give a shit.”
Idess sighed. “You two haven’t had the easiest relationship, but it’s not going to get any better if you don’t share important moments like this with him.”
Ugh. Whatever.
An acrid stench from the kitchens assailed him as he moved through the club, making him thankful he’d grown up in the human realm, eating human food. Demon diets were nasty.
Finally, his eyes adjusted to the low, hazy light, and he saw Talon at a table near the fight pit. A fight must have just finished, because the pit was empty of competitors, and a crew of imps was scrambling to clean it up.
Mace walked up to the table, forcing his brother to look up at him. “Mace. What are you doing here?”
“Crux said Sabre was meeting you somewhere. I figured Sabre needed to fight, and you usually come with him to patch him up.”
Nodding, Talon leaned back in his chair and stared down at his drink. “I just finished healing him. He’s cleaning up in the back.”
Mace pulled out a chair and sat. “First fight of the night?”
“Yeah.”
Mace shook his head. “Damned Soulshredder genes.” Sabre’s mother, Tayla, was half-Soulshredder, a species of demon that could see emotional scars and exploit them, and they lived on the pain of others. Sabre had to expend his violent tendencies now and then to keep his inner Soulshredder satisfied.
A few demons of various species, from ugly, skinny things to ugly, lumpy things, skittered or lumbered by, and once they were past, Talon looked over at Mace. “So, you figured out where I was, but you haven’t said why you’re here.” Narrowing his eyes, he sat upright. “You’re mated.”
“That’s why I’m here. To tell you in person.”
Somehow, Talon’s eyes got even narrower. How could he even see between those lids? “Why? You avoid talking to me in person.”
“Other way around, bro.”
Talon didn’t argue. “So, who’s the girl?”
“Scotty.”
“Whoa.” Talon had looked vaguely bored, but that got his attention. “It makes sense, but what about Blade?”
“Blade’s mated to her too.”
Now, he had Talon’s complete interest. Dude sat straight up so fast he nearly knocked his drink off the table. “Seriously? In two different rituals? That shouldn’t be possible—”
“One ritual. We were trying to let fate decide.”
“Huh. I guess it did.” He kicked his feet out and crossed them at the ankles, practically daring anyone to trip over them. “So, how is that gonna work? Who’s she going to live with? Are you all moving in together? Same room? Same bed? Hot threesomes?”
“We still need to work all that shit out.” But no to the threesomes. Mace would be happy if he never saw Blade naked again.
“Well.” Talon raised his glass. “Congratulations.”
“That’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”
“Is it?” Talon looked out over the fight pit. “Maybe it’s because I’m trying to hide the fact that I’m a little jealous.”
“What?” Mace teased. “You wanted Scotty?”
“I want a mate.” Talon shook his head. “And I can’t believe I just admitted that to you.”
Mace couldn’t believe it, either. His brother rarely confided anything to Mace, especially if it was highly personal. “Are you thinking of mating your fallen angel?”
Talon snorted. “I haven’t seen her in days.”
“You broke up?” Wraith would be elated. Everyone would be.
“We got into a fight, and she stormed off. Haven’t seen her since.”
“Is that a good thing?”
Talon ran the tip of his finger around the rim of the glass. Typical of glass made in Sheoul, it made a screaming sound instead of a musical note. “Probably.”
“What did you fight about?” Mace asked, expecting Talon to tell him to fuck off, so he was shocked as shit when that didn’t happen.
“She’s jealous of Amber. Swears Amber wants me, and that I’m encouraging her. It’s ridiculous.”
“And yet, it’s true.”