Chapter 31
Chapter Thirty-One
Hailey
I was overdue for a breakdown. Honestly, I thought I’d handled the last month admirably. I would have told any other person that they deserved a complete meltdown maybe two weeks ago.
The rapid succession of making love to Eric for the first time, then last night with Syke, and sitting across from Archangel Michael and Archdemon Mohan, under their joint scrutiny, was enough to topple me over the edge.
I sucked in lungfuls of air, but it didn’t feel like enough. I tried to concentrate on Syke’s words and their comforting cadence. Combined with the sheer strength of Otis’s arms around me, as I rested against the wide expanse of his chest, I could feel the panic slowly seeping away.
“Such a good girl,” Otis murmured against my hair, and I tried not to let those words elicit any response other than calm. Definitely not arousal. Now was not the time. Actually, never was probably the appropriate time to lust after your boss.
When embarrassment overtook the feeling of the avalanche of panic, I knew I was okay. Giving myself one more moment of relief against Otis’s chest, I finally pushed upright and gave him a shaky half smile. “Sorry about that.”
He grunted in disagreement. “Anytime you need support, it’s yours.”
I flushed pink and looked past him to Louis and Ilyas.
Louis was shifting from foot to foot, and as soon as Otis released me, he crossed the room and pulled me up into a hug.
Louis was a hugger, sure, but those hugs kind of felt like home.
I was so fucked up, I clung to even the smallest show of affection.
I’d worry about my neediness driving people away later.
Right now, I was going to take the affection they offered me and use it to hold myself together.
Louis mumbled something in my hair and lifted me up into his arms, and I wrapped my legs around his waist on instinct.
He was so freaking tall. Maybe bending down to hug me had hurt his back, or maybe it had to do with his words to Syke this morning.
I dropped my legs and patted his back until he put me down.
“I’m okay. I should get back to work.”
Louis huffed disagreeably but let me go, though he hovered around me. “Maybe you should have the day off. I can take you home.”
Shaking my head, I smiled up at him. “It was just the two most powerful cosmic beings that walked the mortal plane interrogating me. Basically child’s play. I can handle this.”
Striding from the room, I went back to my desk and put the headset on again.
The entire team stood around, looking at me with worried eyes.
Little did they know that I was excellent at compartmentalizing, and I’d overthink all this tonight in the arms of my mate, who would solve the problem for me because he was smart and handsome and inherently logical.
Until then, I’d stuff it all down in a little box inside my mind and do my job.
* * *
“You did the right thing by calling, Jake. The water nymphs are migratory, however, and have probably moved south to warmer bodies of water. I’ll send a team out to check for any signs of foul play. I’ll just take some details.”
The guy on the other end of the phone was very quick to tell me that he didn’t watch the nymphs bathe naked every morning, but he had noticed they weren’t in their normal stream location today when they should have been. What did one do with a perverted yet conscientious member of the public?
I looked over at Otis, who just shook his head silently. He didn’t want me to approach the subject of his Peeping Tom habits over the phone. I screwed up my nose and forced a bright tone. “Thank you again, Jake.”
Hanging up with a sigh, I made an exaggerated gagging noise. “He definitely sits in the bushes and jacks off to the nymphs, you know.”
Otis let out that low, rumbling laugh. “I know, but the nymphs have a lot in common with the succubi of demon kind. They definitely enjoy the adoration, and, uh, appreciative release helps feed the magic.”
“They get a power boost from some creepy old flasher?”
He shrugged. “Sex and magic have always been intertwined. I don’t pretend to understand, but the nymphs definitely knew he was there. If they didn’t want him there or thought he was a threat, well, I wouldn’t want to be on the bad side of an angry nymph.”
Syke appeared, lounging on the desk beside my keyboard. “I once saw them turn an entire army of soldiers into a forest of oak trees.”
I blinked up at the demon. My demon now, I guessed. “They can turn men into trees?”
Both of them nodded, and honestly, it wasn’t even the weirdest thing I’d heard today. “Nice. Why did they turn the army into trees?”
“The commander captured a nymph and held her against her will. They gave the soldiers the opportunity to offer up their commander, but all they saw was a group of scantily clad women and basically insinuated they were next. The soldiers really didn’t stand a chance.”
I tilted my head at him. Overlaid with the casual expression on his face right now was the image of him watching Eric and me fuck with hooded eyes and desire etched across his beautiful face.
Ugh. I cleared my throat. “Why were you there?”
He shrugged. “Demons often operated on the outskirts of battles. Deathbed repenting, bargains, and feeding on the misery were basically a rolling feast for my kind. We are the carrion eaters of the creature world.” His lips twisted, and once again, I wondered how he ended up on the team—a depth I’d plunder later.
“I messaged Eric to meet you here. I thought we might all have dinner here and talk about where we’ll go moving forward. ”
“We?” I croaked out.
“Congratulations, Hailey Swoon. You just went from one accidental bond mate to two, all in the space of a month. That has to be a record, right?” Syke asked Otis, who just grunted his agreement.
Syke leaned closer to me until his lips were right beside my ear.
“I think if you play your cards right, you might be able to go from two to three very soon.” He nipped the shell of my ear, and I gasped.
“Syke,” Otis warned, and the demon danced backward, smirking at us. “She has a choice.”
The smirk fell from Syke’s face. “Of course she has a choice. I don’t appreciate the implication that I would take something she didn’t want to give.”
They both looked at me, and I was saved from answering by the elevator doors opening and Eric stepping out.
He glanced between the three of us, his intelligent gaze immediately taking stock of the situation, then his eyes were only for me, and he smiled widely.
I stood from my chair and walked into his arms.
Home. He felt like home. “Are you okay?”
I nodded against his chest. “It’s been a day.”
He kissed the top of my head. “There’s nothing the universe could throw at us that we can’t overcome together,” he stated with complete confidence, and I believed him. I really did.
I breathed him in. When did his scent become such a comfort to me? “Hold onto that feeling,” I mumbled, and he laughed.
“Whatever Louis is cooking smells amazing. I bought wine on the way here. I had a feeling it was going to be a wine kind of night.” He held my hand and shuffled me back to the common room.
“Otis. Syke.” I didn’t miss the way his face flushed when he looked at Syke.
I wasn’t the only one suffering from sexy flashbacks.
“Eric,” Otis rumbled, shaking his hand.
“Eric,” Syke purred, and a shiver ran down my spine. Not the kind that you get when you’re scared, a sexy shiver.
Otis’s nostrils flared, and I hoped—by God, I hoped—that he couldn’t scent how turned on I was.
Eric, to his credit, gave the demon a crooked grin. “Syke. I hear you had an eventful day.” He looked over his shoulder at me. “Let’s go see if Louis needs any help cooking now that you’re officially off the clock.”