Chapter 20
twenty
MERRILY
We were still packing when someone walked up to my front door.
Well, Dare was still packing.
My overwhelm had gotten a little too difficult to manage after eating the slightly-spicy Thai food Darius talked me into trying, so I was sitting on my bed with my knees to my chest and a blanket draped around my shoulders.
Dare was in the bathroom, boxing up the random tinctures, potions, creams, and lotions that I'd purchased from spellcasters and nymphs over the past few decades.
He was wrapping them in towels and socks to keep them from breaking or falling.
I wasn't sure if I'd have use for them anymore, but if I didn't, the unicorns could use them at one of the city's hospitals.
I pulled up my doorbell camera's video feed, biting back a smile when I saw the demon king typing my phone's passcode into the keypad on the door. There was a cardboard box with a dozen glass beer bottles in it, sitting at his feet.
The buttons flashed red, and the door didn't unlock.
"What's the code, Love?" Grayson asked into my mind. He knew the house was mine, considering he'd been planning to abduct me from it.
"What will you give me for it?"
He winked at the doorbell camera. "I can strip for you. Give you a little show."
"Tempting, but—"
"Hey, Darke!" Liv called out, her voice muffled in the speaker.
"Hey." Grayson turned around.
I bit my lip, curious how the interaction was going to go. I'd never seen him with my family before, and it made me a little nervous.
He'd technically talked to Darius a bit, but that hadn't been quite the same. He'd been buried inside me when it happened.
"Mer didn't give you the code?" Liv asked as she and Niall walked into view, their hands locked together.
"She wants me to strip for it."
I bit my lip to stop myself from grinning.
"Well, go ahead. What are you waiting for?" Liv shooed him toward the camera. "I'll record it. For her."
"No, you won't." Niall took the phone Liv had pulled out of the pocket of her workout shorts, and tucked it in his own pocket.
She didn't bother glaring at him.
“You both might feel the urge to jump me," Grayson warned them casually. “My magic can be unpredictable.”
It was not.
Niall's eyes narrowed. "Incubus magic doesn't work on mated pairs."
"Doesn't it?" Grayson asked.
Liv studied him. "He's bluffing. He must be."
Grayson grabbed the hem of his shirt.
"7143," I said into his mind. "You can strip for me later."
I felt his amusement through the bond. "Unfortunately for both of you, my mate wants me to keep my clothes on for now."
Liv snorted, grabbing the box of beer bottles off the ground, which Niall immediately took from her arms. She breezed past both men on her way into the house.
Grayson winked at the camera again before stepping in too, shutting the door behind him. My video feed was officially empty, and cut itself off after a few seconds.
"They're here," I called to Darius.
"Already? We barely got anything done.”
"We took too long getting food and ice cream."
"There's no such thing as taking too long with food and ice cream."
I was inclined to agree.
Grayson stopped in the doorway of my bedroom. His gaze held mine for a few moments before he looked around the room, taking everything in. He'd never been in my house before, and I didn't think there was any way he could've seen pictures of it.
"I'll finish packing tonight, Scorch," Gray told Darius, his eyes on me once again. "Thanks for the help."
"Any time." Dare strode out of the bathroom, holding up one of the enchanted bath bombs I used from time to time. "I'm stealing this."
"It's all yours," I agreed.
Darius smacked Grayson’s shoulder as he walked past.
My mate studied me, his shadows thickening around my shoulders and easing my overwhelm a bit more. “I like your blanket cape.”
“Thanks. It missed me.”
His lips curved up a tiny bit. “How are you?”
“Better, now.” I slipped off the bed, leaving my cape behind.
Grayson met me beside the mattress and took my hand. The sudden relief that accompanied his touch was staggering.
"Thank you."
"I don't want you in pain, Love. Ask next time."
"I'll think about it."
He tugged me closer and lowered his lips to my forehead, kissing me lightly before we made our way out to join everyone else.
Callum and Kat had arrived while we were in my room. Everyone was already sipping the enchanted beer Grayson had brought with him.
Liv pointed at Grayson. "Dare says you have lust beer that you only sell to mated pairs who sign a consent form."
"We do."
She held her hand out. "We can officially welcome you to the family after you share it."
Grayson lifted an eyebrow. "You think drinking lust at girls' night is a good idea?"
Liv said, "Absolutely," at the same time Niall said, "We'll take it home."
She shot her mate a look.
He met it with one of his own.
I felt Grayson's amusement through the bond. "I didn't bring any, but if you both sign the forms at one of the breweries, I can tell someone to send it home with you."
Liv sighed and accepted it, dragging Niall toward the couch with her.
"We'll take one too," Kat said quickly, flashing Callum a devious look.
His lips curved slightly. "Make it a few."
Grayson chuckled. "I can add you to the list."
"Don't worry about me. Sad, single unmated fucker over here. I'll take the cheer beer," Darius said, clinking his open bottle against one of the unopened ones still sitting in the box.
"Cheer beer?" I asked.
"It cheers you up," Grayson explained. "The lamias make a few varieties, but the chill beer and the cheer beer are the most popular.
The effects work through magic instead of alcohol, so there's not really a negative side to them.
Other than possible addiction, which is part of the reason we only sell them at the breweries. We track who's drinking what, too."
My eyebrows lifted. That was significantly more complex than I'd realized, but it did seem like a good call.
The rest of us followed Liv and Niall into the living room, and we found Niall rubbing Liv's feet while she was sprawled across the couch, drinking one of the chill beers.
"You look tired," I told Liv. She rarely looked tired, which was why I noticed it.
Grayson pulled me onto his lap, and I snuggled in just a little closer.
"I'm exhausted," Liv admitted. "We spent all day at the orchard again. I should never have agreed to grow all those trees."
"You could stop," Callum pointed out. "We don't need their alliance."
Liv made a face. "I told them I'd do it."
"Didn't they manipulate you into that shit?" Dare asked.
"Expertly," Niall said.
Liv smacked him on the arm halfheartedly.
"I should've realized what was going on, but I didn't. If I stop growing the trees now, I'll have to deal with them coming back to beg me, and it could cause issues on the Cabinet side of things.
I'm not opposed to the begging, but I think it would be more satisfying to get real, genuine revenge. "
"Oh no," Kat murmured.
"Cover your ears, Kitten," Callum murmured back, his eyes brightening with the prospect of revenge.
Gwen was the sister who had betrayed Kat, and Jonah was the best friend who had basically chosen Kat's sister over her after five years of them having each other's backs. Callum probably wanted revenge even more than Liv did.
"I've considered it, but I promised Kat I won't torture them," Callum said.
Kat rolled her eyes at her mate.
"That would be too obvious," Liv agreed. "And immortality is a long time to be enemies with your sister-in-law. I kind of wish we could just kill them, but considering the blood relationship, that's off the table."
"We need something fun," Darius said, swirling his beer bottle a little. "I still have a few of those dissolving pills Larson made us to prevent that one monster king from getting an erection. The spell lasted a month or two."
Grayson snorted. "Remind me never to piss you off, Scorch."
"No kidding." Niall tugged Liv onto his lap.
"Technically, that particular form of torture was Mer's idea," Callum remarked.
Everyone looked at me, and my lips curved slightly.
He wasn't wrong.
"Somehow, that makes me even more attracted to you," Grayson said into my mind, slipping his hand beneath my tank top so it could rest on my bare hip.
"I didn't think that was possible," I teased.
"Neither did I."
"Let's use every last one of those pills on Jonah," Niall said.
Liv shook her head at him, grinning. "You'll never be over your issues with him."
"Never." He lowered his lips to her throat and kissed the small tattoo there.
"Alright, Jonah's dick is getting poisoned. What about Gwen?" Dare mused, his gaze flicking to Kat.
"I have an idea, but it's..." she trailed off.
"Unhinged?" Liv asked hopefully.
"Yeah." Kat grimaced. "I don't think I can tell you. I'd feel horrible."
"You're a part of this family, so you participate in revenge," Liv stated. "Whether you like it or not."
Callum scoffed. "No."
"Yes," Liv tossed back.
"I'm thinking we go for the hair," Niall said. "She's brought up being one of only two curly blonde werewolves in the city twice now, when she brings us food while Liv's growing trees. Larson could spell something pretty easily to make her hair fall out. He’s done it before."
"Yes." Liv grinned at her mate. "That's perfect. This is why I love you. We can do it tonight! Fuck girl's night. We can talk about feelings some other time. I'll call Larson."
"Is that what girls' night is for? Talking about feelings?" Grayson asked me.
"It is. Unless it's about revenge, I guess. We could sit out, if you don't want to be involved. Or you could stay here while I go with them."
"And miss out on watching Liv make my ex-fiancee lose her hair? Not a fucking chance."
I bit back a grin.
"Who hasn't had any beer yet?" Liv demanded, looking around the room. "We need someone to drive."
"We just sat down. Most of us haven't had much," Callum pointed out.
"Right. I'll drive."
Liv was the worst driver.
"I can drive," I said quickly.
"I can't participate in this," Kat mumbled, a hand over her face even though she was peeking through her fingers.
"You can go home, but we're taking the tiny cupcakes with us," Liv declared, rising to her feet and dragging a grinning Niall with her.
Dare was hot on their heels. "We'll need to stop at my place to grab the dick pills, and at Callum's to grab a camera."
"So we can see their reactions? Fuck yes." Liv held her palm out to the side, and Dare high-fived it.
Grayson scooped me up off the couch and strode after them, officially carrying me and two beers. I took the glass bottles from his hand as I shot him a deadpanned look. "You're aware that I have legs, right?"
"You do?" Grayson feigned shock.
When I rolled my eyes, he winked at me.
I glanced over my shoulder and found Callum and Kat having a quiet conversation on the couch. When they finally stood up, she looked significantly less uncertain.
"We can take my car," Callum called out. "It has seven seats. Mer's only has five."
"Perfect. Since I'm destined to be alone, that's all we'll ever need," Darius said.
Liv smacked him on the arm. Hard.
Niall did too.
We all piled into Callum's car. He and Kat took the front seats, Liv and Niall climbed into the back, and Grayson, Darius, and I claimed the middle row.
Liv was the self-proclaimed cupcake dealer. We all feasted on tiny, delicious cakes at her whim. She gave me the most, and Kat the second most, though Darius kept stealing Kat’s, so Callum kept hitting him with icy magic.
After stopping at one of Dare's houses, Callum & Kat's place, and Larson's house in the Spellcaster Sector, we grabbed coffee at one of Kat's shops near the orchard, and parked a mile from the villa Gwen & Jonah lived in.
Then, we snuck through the trees, toward their place.
All of us except Callum were tipsy, with the magic from the enchanted beer, and caffeine from the coffee, running through our systems. Liv kept stumbling, and Niall kept covering her mouth to quiet her when she laughed, while he laughed too.
It was surprisingly fun.
When we reached the outside of the villa, we forced ourselves to quiet down.
Liv led us to the back of the building, pointing out the window that looked into their room up on the second floor.
After a moment of whispered debate about who could get the window open the easiest, Grayson did it slowly and quietly with his shadows.
Kat said she couldn't watch, and buried her face in Callum's shirt.
Niall shifted into a small bird long enough to place the camera, then came back for the pills. He dropped them in a glass of water on Jonah’s nightstand before coming back a second time.
We had a small water gun full of some kind of hair loss liquid that Larson had created. After an intense tournament of Rock, Paper, Scissors, Darius won the right to shoot Gwen and Jonah with it.
We'd already tested it out on a tree nearby, and learned that the water turned to invisible dust before it hit anything
Grayson and Callum boosted Dare up to the window, grumbling about how heavy he was while he sprayed the gun like a maniac.
I covered my mouth to hide a laugh, and found Kat doing the same thing, with significantly more guilt than I had.
Liv silently cheered, raising her fists above her head.
Darius suddenly ducked his head below the window. He waved violently at Callum and Grayson, gesturing for them to move.
They dropped him, and he took off into the orchard at a sprint. A laugh escaped me as Liv and Niall ran after him.
Kat shifted forms suddenly, and Sable, her wolf, stayed glued to Callum's side as they hauled ass too.
Grayson grabbed my hand, and we raced after everyone else, though I was slower than them by a long way.
I'd never been able to run before. Not really. Even leaving my house was too much. Exercise in any form had always made me feel like my life was in danger.
But with Grayson holding my hand, I ran.
I'd never felt so alive.