A full five minutes later, the front door opened, and Elliot padded out barefoot onto the front porch. He wore a T-shirt with cartoon dogs on it and green pajama pants and no coat even though it was cold outside.
He also held a plate of pancakes stacked so high I was sure they’d topple. He pointed to the pancakes, then waved his hand at us before going inside the house again.
Everyone piled out of the cars and headed for the house, except for us.
Ordell stopped by our car and grinned at us. “He made us breakfast.”
I was a little surprised by that, too, but I was hopeful he was coming around.
“Do you think that means he’ll let us stay?” Ordell asked.
“I hope so.”
“I don’t want to sleep in my car again. Neo snores.” At least they slept.
Ordell started toward the house.
I watched him until he disappeared inside.
“You’re against the beloveds because you haven’t found yours yet. If you had, you’d understand how precious they are. I feelcomplete for the first time because of Elliot. That’s how you’ll feel, too, when you meet yours.” Nothing I said could keep Cael from leaving. I’d seen it in his eyes the moment Morgana gave him the ultimatum.
His jaw tightened. “I’ll help Mr. McKinney into the afterlife, and then I have somewhere to be. You can keep my car.”
Grymley sighed, then opened the door. “If you even try to hurt my beloved, I will end you, Cael.”
Cael didn’t respond to the threat. When I closed the car door, Cael got out, too, and threw me the keys. He headed down the drive, walking rather than teleporting to the neighbor’s house.
Would it be the last time I saw him? I was afraid of the answer and of what it meant if I ever saw him again. I might have just lost a friend.
The rest of the reapers headed into the house. I’d always resisted a deeper connection with them, clinging to professionalism, but that all went out the window when I saw Elliot unconscious in the ER. I needed my brothers more than ever now—all of them.
Chapter Fifteen
Elliot
Reapers were invading my house. They reminded me of the orange ladybugs that bit. Those bugs would gather in a window upstairs each spring. I’d inevitably get rid of them, but they always came back.
So far, none of the reapers had bitten me, but they all seemed like they would, even the one with long, sun-bleached hair and tanned skin, wearing jeans and a T-shirt that had seen better days. That guy pulled his hair into a bun with a rubber band he wore around his wrist, then tucked into his stack of cakes.
When I’d woken up and peeked out my bedroom window, I’d seen all the cars in my driveway and counted heads. They’d been there a while, so I had mercy on them. I’d feed them and send them on their way. I had a long day ahead of me in my workshop and didn’t want to be disturbed by anyone except for Gary, should he want to help with sanding.
The woman, Morgana, as one of the other reapers called her, wore a suit. It looked as if she had slept in it, since it was wrinkled. Her dark hair hung past her shoulders. I got the impression she wasn’t used to it being free. She carried alaptop bag. Her entire existence was probably confined to the compartments.
She zeroed in on me as soon as she came through the door, cornering me against the kitchen counters and completely bypassing the food. She held what I assumed was a cup of coffee. That she appeared to run on caffeine and a no-nonsense approach to life was completely on brand with her workaholic aesthetic.
“I’ll need my own room, preferably with a desk. I also hope you have good internet, but if not, I’ll have it installed, so there may be service people here in the next couple of days.” She met my gaze as if expecting me to answer a question. Not that she’d asked one. I was still stuck on her treating my hospitality as if my house were her hotel.
“You know you’re in my home, right?” Maybe she got the wrong impression and thought I’d flipped an open sign when I decided to be nice and feed them breakfast.
“I’m aware.” She scanned the room as if searching for something, and when she didn’t find it, she sighed and turned back to me. “I’m Morgana, head of the reaper division of the Soul Management Bureau. I’ll be in charge.”
I sipped my coffee. If there was ever a time to use my caffeine addiction as a crutch, it was when dealing with her. “Again, and I don’t mean to beat a dead horse here, but you realize you’re in my house. Right? Which I own. This isn’t a hotel, and the only person in charge of me is me.”
She sighed and searched the room again. When Grymley entered, she looked relieved to see him.
Grymley walked straight to me. He smiled when our gazes met. All his attention made me blush for reasons I wasn’t ready to explore, especially with Morgana still breathing down my neck, ready to take charge.
Grymley’s presence should have reminded me of the upheaval he’d caused, but Morgana took over as the reigning queen of all things about to change in my life.
