Page 41 of Stalked By Pestilence

I popped out of the kitchen with a spatula that took me forever to find, ready to use it as a weapon against Zelus for not waiting until I called him down. But then my eyes caught on someone I hadn’t expected to see.

Chapter Seventeen

Emily

“You expecting someone else? Rude,” came her bratty greeting.

My eyes went wide as my best friend in a gorgeous skin-tight dress that made her curves an hourglass dream floated into the apartment, followed closely by her devilishly handsome beau.

The dude was bigger than Zelus with dark hair and pale blue eyes that promised he’d burn the world to the ground to keep my girl happy. And he cooked. Not justcooked.The gorgeous jerk was a master chef who put together five-star meals befitting the mouths of kings andqueens.

Maybe I could swindle Thanatos into cooking for me so Zelus thought I was a chef goddess before the world ended.

Asha’s red hair was luminous and curling around her shoulders in a silky wash of color as she tipped her head to one side, taking in the sight of me.

I needed to find out what brand of shampoo she switched to. It was doing wonders for her hair. The woman came back looking like a whole new person after wherever Thanatos stole her away to.

I didn’t think, just ran and tackled my friend with a hug. I’d missed her so damn much that my eyes got a little misty as I put all my power into the embrace. It was my full intention to hug the air right out of her body and quite possibly smother her before bringing her back to life with questions of a filthy nature.

Her sweet, musical laughter was in my ear as she hugged me back, her familiar scent a happy reunion for my nose. I might’ve pressed my face into her hair to experience the heaven a little longer.

It was so good to have her back. I didn’t want to face an uncertain future without my bestie by my side, even if I couldn’t tell her that was what was happening. But if I stopped it from happening, I’d save her too, and that in and of itself was worth every bit of effort.

After I pulled away, I gave her a low whistle of appreciation. “Holy shit, lady. You look a-ma-za-zing. Shit. You even smell good. What’s that called? Oh, but wait.” I dragged out my phone, having stuck it in my bra. One of many benefits of having bigger boobs. “Did you text to say you’d be coming home?”

Her smile was soft, but also weird. “I wanted to surprise you.”

“No shit. I’m definitely surprised.” I eyed the ginormous beast of a man behind her, waggling my eyebrows. “This chick has that satisfied glow about her. That your doing, big guy?”

I didn’t miss the way Asha blushed, and how Thanatos, the happy bastard, was a smug creature when I stared at him. What a lucky fucking girl.

Asha stared at my spatula—or weapon if Zelus showed up. Her eyebrow rose because my best friend knew me better than anyone else. She’d know something was up, and I couldn’t even tell her everything I wanted to.

As superstitious as she was, she’d never believe demons were real, or that I was in the middle of stopping the end of the world. She’d think I’d lost my fucking marbles after years of using kinky sex and alcohol as therapy.

And I was fiercely protective of her. I didn’t want her hurt or to make her worry needlessly, so I might need to consider another place for a while. Maybe Z’s. Claim it was to give the lovebirds their space so they could get their bang on in peace.

I didn’t want any demons to come after her. Thanatos might be a beast of a man with the look of someone who got called boss and asked where to bury the bodies, but even someone like him couldn’t fight supernatural monsters.

“Wait. Who do you have coming over? You never cook,” Asha asked me.

Damn, she was good.

I laughed and drove my elbow into her side, uncomfortable in ways I couldn’t express. “I cook. I cook…stuff. What, I can’t cook?”

But before she could answer, the dude I hoped would stay upstairs knocked on the door. I couldn’t explain how I knew it was him, just that I did.

My best friend and her boyfriend couldn’t have shown up on a worse day. Well, that wasn’t true. They could’ve shown up when I was having sex in the kitchen or on the couch. That would’ve been extra awkward with his beast side on display.

I darted over to the front door, forming a believable explanation in my head for why he was here, and more specifically, who he was to me. I didn’t date, but Asha might believe loneliness got the better of me with her gone.

I’d get introductions out of the way and hopefully survive Asha’s taunting. I had it coming after the hell I’d given her over Thanatos. I wouldn’t like it, but she was owed a tease Emily over her not-boyfriend sesh. Except, when I opened the door, someone said his name before I could.

“Zelus.”

I jerked my head around and stared at Thanatos, who was glowering at Zelus. Asha had also stiffened at the sight of him. Both of them recognized him.

My eyes returned to Zelus, who’d donned a slick suit for our first official date and was a goddamn treat for the eyes. His greeting smile had already fallen. The way he stared at Thanatos was the same way he glared at the phone earlier, like he was an enemy.