Chapter 16
sixteen
GRAYSON
I woke up alone.
Again.
"Where are you?" I grumbled into Merrily's mind, dragging a hand over the place she'd been sleeping to see if her absence was recent.
The bed was cold.
"Busy." The word was short, but I didn't feel any emotions coming through from her side of the bond. Whatever she was doing, her emotions about it weren't particularly strong, or I would've felt them.
"Busy doing what, Love?"
"Something."
She was being purposefully obtuse.
Closing my eyes, I followed the shadows I was missing—about half of them—to my mate. I couldn't tell exactly where she was, but I could feel that she was in the mansion, on the opposite side from our apartment.
That left either a large, empty meeting room... or Leon's space.
"What the fuck are you doing with Leon?" I snarled into her mind, on my feet and storming out through the apartment's front door without bothering to grab pants.
"He bit my mate. What do you think I'm doing with him?"
I stopped abruptly.
She was killing him.
"You do know that anyone other than you who tried to touch me would die, right? I can't hold my power back even if I try. I have no desire to cheat on you, but even if I did, it wouldn't be possible."
"Right."
Someone walked by, eying me and picking up their pace.
I glanced down at my bare body and swore under my breath.
"What just happened, Gray?"
"Just flashed someone. Don't worry about it."
"Get your bare ass back in our apartment before I have to kill someone else this morning."
"Yes ma'am." I went back into the apartment and closed the door behind me.
No point in flashing anyone else or pissing Merrily off any further.
"Be careful," I warned her, grabbing my phone and sending a few messages before I stepped into the shower to wash up.
Leon's death would trigger an assload of work for an assload of people, but mostly, me.
I would know.
I'd taken out at least a dozen vampire kings in the past eleven years.
"I'm always careful, and no one's brave enough to try to kill me anyway. Even if I wasn't so deadly, the wards would fall and my family would raise hell if I died," she murmured.
"You forgot to include your mate in that statement.
"My family and my mate would raise hell if I died," she corrected.
"I should be first in the sentence. Your mate and your family."
"You're such a pain."
"Says the women who's now left me alone in bed on multiple occasions without so much as leaving a note."
I felt her amusement through the bond.
I got dressed and answered a few texts before throwing some pancakes together for Merrily.
When she was back, all I had time to do was hand her the plate before someone was banging on my door, undoubtedly demanding my presence to help as they attempted to determine which vampire would take over as their new king.
Technically, Rae was the strongest. I'd been trying to convince her to put her name up as a possibility for years, but she refused to talk about it.
Which I knew meant there was no chance in hell she would participate.
At least Merrily now had a lead as far as getting Dante and Jazz out of prison. They would take back their thrones when they were free.
"I'm not going to be around much for a few days," I warned Merrily aloud, as someone banged on our door again. "Trying to get the vampires to pick a new king is always a shit show."
"That's okay. Thanks for the pancakes." She flashed me a small smile.
She was so fucking beautiful.
"Anytime." I pulled her in for a long, deep kiss before releasing her and making my way to the door.
"Did you eat?" she called after me.
"Fed like a king last night, so I'm not particularly hungry," I called back.
Her laugh followed me out, but she met me in the hall with a plate of pancakes before I made it to the stairs.
When she ordered me to eat them on my way out, I didn't bother arguing.
The alarm on my phone went off fifteen minutes before Merrily's usual bedtime, and I swore viciously when I saw the clock.
My head fucking hurt.
I'd been dealing with vampires all day, and I was no closer to convincing them to pick a leader than I had been twelve hours earlier. On top of that, I was on their side of the Shadow District, at least half an hour from my mate.
I'd planned on being home that night, and had even turned down the offer of a hotel room. I was still sitting in one of their fucking office buildings, in the middle of another endless meeting.
After excusing myself, I stepped out of the room and pulled up a text thread with Merrily.
Me
Hey, I'm not going to make it back home tonight
I'm sorry, this thing is a fucking mess
Merrily
No worries
I've become intimately acquainted with your bathtub, and it's great company
Anything I can do to help?
Me
Nah, it’s my problem to deal with
Merrily
Okay
Do you need to feed?
I did.
It would definitely help.
But I didn't want to slip into her dreams. I wanted her on my fingers or on my cock, coming in my arms as I drank her in.
Me
I'll be alright without it
Thanks, though
Merrily
Okay
Good luck
Me
I'll need it
Merrily
BTW, you could just use the bond if you want to talk to me ;)
Me
Shit
I forgot
Merrily
Long day?
Me
Fucking miserably long
I stared at the screen, debating my options, before I just muttered, "fuck it," and hit the button to video call her.
She answered immediately. "Hey. What's up?"
She covered her mouth as she yawned.
I could see the reflection of her computer screen in her eyes. She was working, too.
My eyes skimmed her face and shoulders. My shadows still clung to her, fairly thick thanks to the bond that now stretched between us. "How are you feeling? Overwhelmed?"
She shook her head. "It's manageable. Your shadows make me feel the way I did at the best times before."
"Good."
Merrily moved a little, clearly in our bed, and the motion flashed me a quick look at her chest before she fixed the camera.
My cock throbbed. "Show me what you're wearing, Love.”
She tilted the camera down, revealing the thin tank top and shorts she had on. It was the same thing she usually wore in our dreams, but I could see the hard peaks of her nipples through the fabric, and I groaned inwardly.
I should've been with her.
"You look so fucking good in those outfits."
“I need to order a few more. They’re getting worn out, and some asshole tore one of them last night."
"He sounds fantastic."
"Eh, he's okay. I tried to trade him for a werewolf, but I was turned down, so I'm making do." The playfulness in her voice made it clear she was joking.
My lips curved in a grudging smile. "Thank fuck Callum is so possessive of Kat. I never did manage to convince myself to like anyone's cock but my own. Don't think I'd handle his well."
"I forgot, you're so old and sexy and experienced," she teased.
"I forgot, you're so young and fresh and innocent," I tossed back.
She laughed. "I'm probably older than you, honestly."
"You want to compare ages?"
"Not particularly." She leaned back against the pillows she had propped up against the headboard of her bed.
"Tell me about your day. All I did was sit here and argue with vampires."
"Sounds fun. Dare came by for a bit with food.
He's..." Her smile faded. "Having a hard time.
He's tried a lot harder than the rest of us to find his soulmate, and he's been trying practically since he was a kid.
He's the last one who's not mated now, and in some ways, the price of his magic is more brutal than anyone else's.
It's cost him a lot to be without his soulmate for this long.
He doesn't know how much longer he can take it. I don't either."
"I'm sorry."
"It's part of being a powerful fae. Comes with the territory.
" She managed a small smile. "We just ate food and played our farming game, and talked about his ridiculous plan as far as how he can win his mate's heart when he meets them.
He thinks it's going to be a woman. He likes to be with both, but he says he connects better with women. "
"As long as he's not connecting with my woman, I support it."
"We've never been attracted to each other, so you have nothing to worry about. Besides, some asshole incubus has me addicted to his magic. I'm even carrying around his shadows, so if a woman can be territory, I've been marked."
"At least I'm not a wolf. Might've had to pee on you."
Her lips curved upward. "I hope Dare ends up mated to a demon. No offense to the other kinds of immortals, but shadows are a real perk."
"I'll cross my fingers for him."
"Thanks."
"What else? Keep talking to me. I don't want to go back to that meeting."
"I texted Rae earlier and invited her to a girl's night, since you said she's basically your sister. Her response was, I quote, 'don't invite me to things'."
I snorted. "Yeah, that's Rae. I can't believe she sat next to Darius at the fight."
"She only agreed to it under the condition that he used his magic to keep other people from noticing her or talking to her."
"She hasn't mentioned wanting to kill him yet, so he must've done a decent job."
"He did. He also told her he would give her anything she wanted if she agreed to bargain with him. She didn't murder him on the spot, but she did steal his leftovers."
I whistled. "Miracles do happen."
"They do indeed."
I ground my free palm against my temple. My head still ached. "Finding a new vampire king is going to take a while.”
"I'm sorry. I got Ophelia's address from one of my contacts today, though."
"The fallen angel who built the prison?"
"Yeah. When you have a few hours to take a break, we can track her down."
"Thank you."
Merrily nodded. "Are you sure you're okay without feeding?"
"It's better when I'm with you. I'd rather wait until tomorrow."
She gave me a small smile. "Okay. If you need more time, that's alright. Don't stress. I get it."
"Thanks, Love."
"Mmhm. Goodnight." She started to hang up, but paused. "I might try out a vibrator I ordered. Don't get all possessive."
"Don't tempt me to abandon this shit."
"I'm not. Have fun with the meetings." She winked. "Bye."
"Bye."
She ended the call.
I debated telling the vampires to fuck off so I could go back to my mate, but ended up diving back into the arguments, lists of candidates, and documents from the bloodsuckers.
When my mate's pleasure rolled through the barrier between our minds, I had to clench my jaw against the instincts that chastised me for not being with her. When I felt her sleeping peacefully, it took even more effort not to give in to my hunger and pull her into a dream with me.
I expected those instincts to ease up, but when I fell asleep at a desk around four in the morning, they still raged.