Page 50 of Finders Reapers

Jamal laughed sardonically. “Yeah. Food.” He huffed. We strode to the end of the corridor, and he allowed me to swipe my key card. Instead of leaning forward, I took a moment.

“Is this about that drug? Gorge?” I asked.

Jamal quirked a brow. “Those guys really need to stop talking around you. Soon enough, you’ll be telling the world our secrets.” He said.

I couldn’t tell if he was joking or not.

Jamal took the key card from my hand and swiped it. The light turned green, and the bolt clicked. He opened the door for me and allowed me to go through first. A gentleman.

We were greeted immediately, but the sounds of a football game on the TV and Maddox reclined in the sectional. The large man glanced at us both, but as soon as his eyes dropped to mine, his lip curled, and he turned back to the game.

My hand fluttered to my stomach, hating the way that my belly churned just from being around Maddox. I knew he didn’t like me. Some not-small part of me—the same part that strove for likes, subscribers—wished that were different.

A hard knock rang out, and both men went on alert. I glanced back at the door we had just come through and looked through the peephole, but no one was there.

Maddox didn’t bother getting up, but his back was rigid when it hadn’t been a moment before. Jamal crossed his arms over his chest, his body language becoming hostile in a way that didn’t translate to the man I had just been speaking to.

The door next to the bar, a bathroom, burst open. Instead of the marble tiles and brass fittings, there was a room with concrete floors and harsh red lighting.

I would never get over the idea of doorways or the idea that I could open the door to a bathroom and suddenly end up somewhere entirely different.

Ollie poked his head around the door frame. “Ding dong.” He called out, waving his hand in a way that employed every one of his fingers. The demon caught my eye, and then his gaze dropped down to my bags. “Girl, don’t tell me you went shopping without me?” His manicured hand fluttered to his chest, and he acted as if I had pissed in his cheerios.

“Um...?” I bit back a smile.

“Tone it down, Oriax,” Maddox grunted. “If we hit any more stereotypes today, I’ll need to redeem my punch card.”

Ollie smirked and placed his hand to his mouth as he stage-whispered. “For every ten gay clichés, you get one free blow job.” He wiggled his eyebrows.

Maddox wad mid-sip and spluttered and cursed as he spat beer down his front.

Ollie’s lip twitched into a vindictive smile. “Well, we don’t need to ask if you spit or swallow.”

Jamal buried his head in the crook of his elbow, his entire body shaking with laughter.

Maddox used his bottle to point at Jamal. “Shut up.” He barked.

Jamal let out a giggle and pretended to wipe a tear from his eye.

Ollie grinned. “I can always switch if you want to take a tumble?” He shook out his long hair, and I watched as his face changed and his figure shrunk as he sculpted his body like clay until a petite woman stood in the doorway. He held out his arms and did a little twirl. “You like?”

Maddox rolled his eyes; sitting up, he went to the bar to get more beer.

Ollie laughed like a bell as he twisted and turned his body back into its male form. He stepped further into the room and shut the door behind him. He sauntered forward on his black stilettos. The Hermès bag on the crook of his elbow swung with exaggerated movements. “I came to bring you some bits and pieces, honey-pie.” Ollie smiled as he walked across the room to where I stood. He reached into his bag and pulled out a phone, a wallet, and some other bits and pieces. I took the opportunity to dump my bags as I reached for the sleek white iPhone box as if it was the holy grail.

“Oh, sweetie.” Ollie clucked his tongue. “I wish I had a man look at me the way you’re looking at that phone right now.”

I laughed freely. “I’ve literally felt like I’ve been missing a piece of myself.”

Ollie flipped open the wallet. “You can’t go by your old name if you choose to have social media, obviously.”

“Todd at the front desk said I was registered to the room as Vallie Rooney,” I replied, turning the phone over in my hand.

“Uh-huh.” Ollie put his hand on his hip. “It goes with the whole redhead Irish ensemble.”

I glanced down at my new body. “You didn’t exactly explain what my body is or does,” I said, tilting my words into a question. “Rome said that the universe decides if we are seen or not. Does that mean that my body isn’t human, are Reapers not human?”

Maddox’s eyelid twitched, and he made a point of turning to the television as if pretending that he wasn’t interested in the conversation when he very much was.