Page 119 of Gray

“We’re basically in a postapocalyptic world right now,” I said, the situation not fully sinking in.

“Uh-huh.” Gray nodded.

“With zombies and hordes of demons.”

“Yep.”

“Your dad is also trying to destroy the heavens.”

“Affirmative.” He leaned in, brushing our lips together. “So what do you say? Will you marry me?”

Despite the craziness of everything going on around us, only one answer made sense. “Yes.”

“Hell yeah.” Raiden jumped up and came over, grabbing Gray by the waist and swinging him around. “My Smalls is gettin’ married.” He set him back down and readjusted his hat. “Shit. I need to make sure I have ingredients to bake a cake.”

“Is this wise?” Alastair asked. “Don’t forget what binding your life forces means. If one of you dies, you both do.”

Gray’s expression turned serious, all cute playfulness gone. “I know. Which is why I want to do it. Living a day without Mason is a fate worse than death.”

“Very well,” Alastair said before yawning. It shocked me. I wasn’t used to seeing him so human. He’d always seemed like a type of god, perfect and without mortal weaknesses like sleepiness. “I’ll make preparations in the morning, and we’ll have the ceremony right after. That’s if the world doesn’t implode before then.”

He left the living room.

“Congrats,” Clara said, ruffling Gray’s hair before thumping me on the top of mine. “Good night, you two.” She and Raiden then left, their voices fading as they walked farther down the hall.

“Take me to bed.” Gray nipped at my jaw. “But no sex tonight, ’kay?”

“Why?” I picked him up, and his legs and arms came around me.

“Because.” He poked my nose. “After the ceremony, we gotta have sex to complete the mating. I want the next time we do it to be our first as husbands. As true mates.”

I wanted that too. More than anything.

But fate had other plans.

***

A crash downstairs woke me from a dead sleep. My first instinct was to cover Gray’s body with mine, to protect him. My heart thrashed against my ribs as I blinked in the dark room, my eyes trying to adjust.

“What was that?” Gray stirred beneath me.

“I don’t know.” I glanced at the time on my phone. A little after 2:00 a.m.

He slanted his head and stilled. Was he speaking to his brothers?

“Oh crap,” he suddenly said, rolling out of bed and tugging on his jeans. “It’s Lazarus. He’s hurt.”

I quickly dressed and followed him from the room. Bellamy and the ice dragon twins met us in the hall, all three in disarrayed states. Bite marks covered the twins’ necks. Not mating marks, but as if Bellamy had drunk from them.

As we reached the stairs, steps sounded behind us, Castor and Kyo with Daman and Warrin not far behind them. Once jumping off the last step, Gray dashed down the left corridor and toward Alastair’s study. Glass was strewn across the floor, the window behind the desk shattered and letting in the night breeze, ruffling papers.

Lazarus stood on his knees in the middle of the room, his large white wings smeared with blood. Gashes were along his biceps, and one slashed across his cheek. “Belphegor and Asa have stormed our gates.”

Alastair was beside him, his palm glowing as he tried to heal the wounds. He couldn’t though. A celestial blade must’ve been used. “Why aren’t you with your army, then?”

The angel was quiet for a moment. “Because I need you.” He looked up, moving his gaze to Gray, then over to the others. “I need all of you. I fought for as long as possible, but the son of Lucifer is too strong. We need Nephilim who can match his strength.”

“Why should we?” Bellamy asked. “We know the truth now. You learned what Lucifer’s plan was for us, so you forced us to fight for you instead. You’re no better than him.”