Page 120 of Finders Reapers

“Does he always do that?” I wondered, flicking my hair out of my eyes.

“Do what?” Jamal asked, amused.

“Just assume he’s the boss of everyone, and we all have to do as he says,” I crossed my arms over my chest.

“Don’t worry, love.” Jamal waggled his brows. “It's his way of showing that he cares. Maddox wants you to eat something. Notice how he didn’t even ask if we’d already had lunch. He just assumes that we’re animals who can’t even remember to feed you.”

I quirked a brow. “Assuming that I wouldn’t raise hell if I was hungry and actually tell you that I needed food?”

“A hangry girl. I like it.” Jamal snickered. “Oh love, we are well versed in how vocal you can be when you want something.”

I gave him a long look. “You want to talk about that?”

“About what?” Jamal turned in his seat to face me in the back.

“About what happened between us,” I clarified. My fingers curled to scratch against the worn denim on my knees, and it took everything in me to meet his eyes. I wasn’t so good at eye contact when I had to talk about emotions.

“What do you think happened between us.” Fletcher cut in, his hands placed perfectly on the steering wheel as he faced the road with abject concentration—even though there wasn’t another car for miles.

I closed my eyes and inhaled a breath. “I don’t know,” I admitted, pressing a hand to my chest right where my seat belt divided my breasts. “I feel a connection, but that’s the Reaper magic. The bond that holds our Grim together. Charon put me with your team for a reason, and if he decides that I should move on and go downstairs to Hell once this whole mess is solved?”

“I can’t answer that,” Jamal stated as if frustrated that he couldn’t provide the answer. “But, from my personal experience of dealing with the connection, it doesn’t affect your relationships with other people in the Grim that way. It’s like a homing beacon. It keeps you tethered to your colleagues and offers protection as an early alert to danger if you aren’t physically close.”

“It can’t induce emotions.” Fletcher tacked on. His voice was impassive, and for the first time, indecipherable.

My brow creased. “I felt something when we—”

“Made love,” Fletcher interrupted dryly.

Jamal’s lips pressed into a line as he bit back a smirk. “When we fucked you. Together. At the same time.”

His words, said in his deep husky voice, in his rough British accent, were like a finger pressing on the button between my legs. I tried to ignore it, but my cheeks heated.

“Exactly,” I waved a hand, flustered. “I felt the magic. I wasn’t sure if it was like...being under the influence.”

“You think the magic made you sleep with us.” Jamal quirked a brow.

“No,” I denied that quickly, and I wasn’t blowing smoke. “I wanted it. I wanted you. I... Like you. Both. I like Rome too. I’m just struggling to know what’s real right now.”

Jamal and Fletcher were silent.

“Oriax said that the spell connecting the Grims was based on something similar that demons have. A soulbond,” I continued. “I just worry that I’m going to dive in headfirst and then realize that it wasn’t real.”

“It’s real,” Fletcher said in a small voice.

Jamal shifted and turned to the window. “I bloody hope so, mate.” He whispered. “I bloody hope so.”

No one spoke after that.

The red and orange sand extended out, with massive rock formations in the distance. The air con made it cold enough to raise the goose flesh on my arms, but I knew it was a broiling heat outside.

Death Valley.

We reached Beatty quickly, driving onto Main Street until we spotted Maddox and Rome’s Camaro outside a diner, aptly named ‘Mel’s Diner’ on the corner.

We parked up and fed the meter. Just in time because my stomach began to twist and demand food.

Maddox and Rome had chosen a booth by the window, right in the corner. I hadn’t seen them as we walked up because the decal on the window blocked the view of the booth from the street.