Page 46 of Stalked By Pestilence

Thanatos’s eyes jerked over to me, then back to her. “It doesn’t absolve him of the things he did, but I sense he might understand the gravity of his actions. He has something worth protecting now.”

Asha nodded and sighed. “Yeah, I think I get it. He’s still an asshole, though.”

I laughed a little at that. “I’ll hold him and then you punch, Ash. That’s the only way we work this out like women.”

Thanatos’s grin was as wild as mine. Both of us were a little bloodthirsty, and Asha rolled her eyes between the two of us. But my bestie couldn’t hide her amusement and smile. She liked the idea too, the saucy vigilante.

Getting up from his lap, she extended her hand to me. I took it and she helped me to my feet. After another hug, she cradled my face and squeezed my cheeks together, puckering my lips in a way that always annoyed me and entertained her.

“I’m glad you’re okay.”

“I’m glad you’re sort-of-not-really alive.”

Her cute giggle brought a smile to my face. “Emily has had a lot thrown at her tonight. Let’s put a pin in this for now and take it easy. Sleep on it, and then if you want to humor the asshole tomorrow, you can.”

“Uh, he tried to kill you, Ash. He can go get fucked, and not in a good way,” I told her in all seriousness.

The glance she gave me said she saw right through me. “But you like him, and you don’t like any guy. That has to mean something, right?”

“That I have terrible taste in men?”

We both giggled.

“I also ended up with a guy who wanted to kill me,” she countered, smirking.

“Thought enemies to lovers wasn’t your thing?”

She shrugged, glancing at the guy next to her. “I’ve got a whole new perspective on it. I think it’s totally my vibe.”

Thanatos was grinning, so obviously he didn’t take offense.

“Yeah, but he didn’t try to kill your best friend,” I rebuked.

She batted her eyelashes at the hottie perched on our couch. “If she was in your way, would you have killed her?”

Thanatos gave my bestie a one-shoulder shrug, acting as if it was a totally normal question to be asked. “Maybe.”

My mouth dropped open.

“Look, I’m not saying what he did was okay. It wasn’t, and I expect groveling, Ems. I’m still fucking pissed. But if he really wants to protect you and stop this asshole demon from getting you, I wouldn’t say no to the help. You’re my priority.”

I wasn’t sure how I felt about all of it, but I nodded. I didn’t want to admit how tired I was after everything, and I thankfully didn’t have to. I had my bestie back.

And after she followed me into my room and waited for me to lay down, she wandered out with the promise we’d discuss everything in the morning. A few blinks later, sleep took me.

Pain had me hissing and awake after what felt like minutes of sleep. The dark in the room suggested it was still night. The finger I’d cut on the paper in Steven’s office earlier glowed a bright red and stole my attention as I lifted it. A symbol had formed on my fingertip that I couldn’t identify.

Another hiss passed my lips as it throbbed and burned again, but my breathing stalled out when my eyes snagged on a massive figure looming over my bed. I opened my mouth to scream, but a hand was already around my throat, squeezing and smothering out any sound I planned to make.

Vicious red eyes leaned in close, then a familiar voice echoed softly next to my ear. “I do believe I told you we’d be in touch, Emily.”

A sharp tug ripped through me, and then it felt as if I was falling straight through the bed and floor. My stomach bottomed out and everything in my body became weightless and terrified. I shut my eyes and stiffened against the inevitable crash, expecting to hit the ground at some point, but it never happened.

When I opened my eyes, I was no longer in my room. I was in a luxury space that didn’t feel like anything I’d seen in my travels of the world. Not with how fire seemed to burn in places without source.

“It’s good to finally have you here, Emily. I worried I’d never get the bride I was promised.”

My attention snapped over to where the voice had come from. In front of me was a tall man I didn’t recognize by his appearance but by his voice. The sinful baritone from Steven’s office.