Page 5 of Gray

“Him,” I corrected. “Notit. And I think he was in the arcade last I saw him.” I searched the bookshelves in the study, then behind his desk.

“Well, he didn’t grow legs and run away. I’m sure he’ll turn up somewhere.” Alastair watched me as I opened drawers in his desk.

“He has legs. But you’re right. I don’t think he ran away on his own.” I looked out the window, searching the small garden through the glass.

“Have you asked Bellamy?”

“He hasn’t seen him.”

Alastair softly sighed and closed his book, setting it on the table beside his armchair. He grabbed his teacup and took a sip. “What about Simon?”

I gasped. “Do you think he’s the culprit who dick-napped Dino-Pete?”

Alastair choked on his tea.

I rushed from the study, passing Raiden in the hall. He was carrying a plate of cheesy nachos and bouncing a little to the music pounding in his earbuds.

“Where ya heading to so fast, Smalls?” he called after me.

“To catch a thief!”

Not finding Simon in the arcade or living room, I took the stairs to the second floor and knocked on his and Galen’s bedroom door. No answer. My descent back to the ground level wasn’t nearly as energetic. Sluggishness took over my body, and I sat on the bottom step, leaning against the railing.

“I’m just gonna… close my eyes for a bit.”

A bitturned into long enough for my butt to go numb by the time voices stirred me back awake.

“Poor little guy ran out of fuel.” I recognized Raiden’s voice.

I opened my eyes. Raiden and Bellamy stared down at me. Both were sweaty and in gym clothes. They must’ve just finished working out and had been on their way upstairs to shower. So I had at least been out long enough for Raiden to eat nachos and then work it all off.

Gorging himself on food was part of Raiden’s sin—Gluttony. But working out was too. He did everything in excess. Standing at six foot seven, he was the second-tallest one in our family, with Galen being the biggest.

And Bellamy? Well, he was Lust. That mostly included sex, but he had a bad case of bloodlust too.

“Need help getting to bed?” Bellamy asked, squatting down in front of me. His eyes shifted between various colors before settling on blue, then hazel, and then transitioning to a rich brown. Eye colors of the men I’d banged recently. As the avatar of Lust, his eyes changed to whatever color the viewer found most appealing.

“No, I’m okay. Just needed a quick rest.” I grabbed the railing and pulled myself up. “My butt’s sore though. That step isn’t that comfy. You guys know where Simon is?”

“He and Galen are in the hot tub,” Raiden answered.

“They better not be doing anything dirty,” I said, shuffling down the hall toward the indoor pool at the back of the mansion.

With walls of glass, the pool area overlooked the sea and rocky cliffs. The sun had mostly set, and the sky beyond the glass was dark apart from a small section of deep purple and orange. Frost clung to the dead grass as the late-February evening promised another round of snow. A few flurries started to fall.

Galen and Simon were making out in the hot tub, the water bubbling and jets whirring. Steam fogged up the windows behind them. Galen pushed his hand through Simon’s sandy-brown hair and deepened the kiss. Simon moaned and slid his hand down my brother’s chest.

I cleared my throat.

“Oh!” Simon flipped around to me and blinked a few times. He’d taken off his glasses, so he probably couldn’t see me that well. I stepped closer. “Gray.”

“That’s Detective Gray to you, penis thief.” I pointed at him. “What did you do with Dino-Pete?”

He gaped at me. “Huh?”

“Is he still alive?”

Galen barked out a laugh, a rare sound for him. Wrath made him hot-tempered and grumpy. Simon helped smooth his sharp edges. A little bit anyway.