Page 130 of A Taste of Bliss

Plan A didn’t work, as Bliss predicted, so it’s time to try it the succubus way. I’m focusing on making sure Bliss stays out of harm’s way, and to a degree, Amelia as well. Even though Evan wouldn’t admit it, he wouldn’t want any harm coming to his bondmate.

Bliss and Amelia stride in through the front door to Dead Hearts’ flat. Shaun, Benny, Taser, and I flank them.

Taser and I are both here for Bliss. And once again I’m aching for her to cut these other men loose. I’m starting to wonder if I’m just getting addicted to her because she’s a succubus. Maybe the more I’m around her, the more I’m going to crave her. That has to be it, right?

Grim’s already there, organizing with his team. He already explained earlier that it would take too long to take Jinx to a fae facility to be interrogated, and time is of the essence. We don’t know Jordan’s motive for sure, so it’s likely he could keep killing.

Bliss and Amelia eye where Jinx is seated at the dining room table, hands stretched out on the table, handcuffed with power-suppressing shackles. The same ones Grim wanted to strap on me. The girls keep a wide berth between themselves and the table, inspecting the room.

I move to follow and Grim shoots an arm out to stop me. I don’t say anything, just arch a brow at him, snarling.

“You know you two are doomed, right?” Grim asks, his voice hard.

“Right, and you aren’t?” I shoot back mockingly.

“There’s a Born fae out there that she’s going to fall madly in love with. So whatever it is between you two isn’t going to last.”

“There isn’t anything between us. She’s a succubus. I let her feed off me, that’s it.” I give him a sidelong glance. “Seems like maybe there’s something between you, though. Or at least on one side.” I smirk. I can’t help it. And he started it.

Grim sighs, choosing his next words carefully. “Look, I’m just realizing how frustrated I am that she and I will never be anything more. I don’t want you to get hurt when one minute she’s with you and the next she sees a Born fae with a rune in his eye and falls madly in lo?—”

“What?” I push his arm away from me. “A rune? In his eye?”

Grim looks at me as if I’m an idiot. “Yeah, that’s how Born fae identify their mates. They each have a rune in their eye that only the other can see. It’s behind the iris, in the white of the eyes.”

My stomach bottoms out.

In all my limited time of being a Made fae, I’ve never found out that’s how it all works.

“Only their mate can see it?” I ask, my thoughts whizzing around in my head. How have I never known this part? I knew there was a ceremony that activated the bond, but never how it was identified. “So when Evan and Amelia looked at each other the other day and realized they were mates, it was because they both saw a rune in the other’s eye?”

“They’re mates?” Grim asks, momentarily surprised, but his expression turns exasperated quickly. “Yes, then they would have seen runes,” Grim says in a rush. “What about this are you not getting?”

“Just to be clear, both fae see it?”

“Yes. By the stars, man, what is the problem?” Pinkie interjects, having been listening in the whole time.

I fall out of step with them, and they both turn and look at me as if I’m insane. But I just roll my shoulders and firmly continue on. Because now I’m fucking pissed.

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

BLISS

Stepping foot into this house,my hair stands on end. I can smell Jordan’s scent, clear as day. Amelia makes a face. “Stars, it reeks in here. And not just smelly boy gross, there’s something else.”

I don’t want to, but I take another sniff. I can smell what she’s talking about. There’s a rotten smell underneath everything else, something pungent once I notice it.

“Hexes,” Bell supplies, motioning to the table where Jinx sits, smirking.

That’s what the smell is. I’ve never made a hex, but I know sulfur is a common ingredient.

Interrogation equipment is still being set up, a camera and microphone so they can record what Jinx might say, so Amelia and I take a look around the place.

The flat is much smaller than the townhome we are staying in. The festival organizers threw the smaller bands into two-bedroom flats, and if Goddess’ Trance hadn’t filled in for one of the bigger spots, we likely would have been in one of these flats as well.

The other members of Dead Hearts aren’t here, whether because the Phantoms have cleared them out already, or because they also took off after Jordan left.

I’m guessing the former, however, noting the half-packed duffel bags and articles of clothing strewn about the floor. There are also empty beer bottles on the countertops still. Amelia passes by the couch, and I notice her pick something up. It’s a small leather-bound journal that’s been shoved in between couch cushions. She puts it under her shirt, sticking it in her bra band, and looks around, completely nonchalant. I arch my brows at her and she winks. I’m not sure why she took it—my sister isn’t a klepto.