Page 8 of In My Closet

"Come on, you guys are going to kill me here," I muttered with a roll of my eyes.

Kastoron was the first to make a move toward me after staring at me like an idiot. However, he might as well have been an idiot because of how he reacted.

Scowling, I swatted his hand away when it came toward my face. "Quit!" I snarked. "I might be happy to see you again after all this time, but don't think I won't hesitate to bite your finger off." I playfully threatened Kastoron, who had a huge ass grin on his face.

"Val! Buddy!" Instead of my body, Kastoron was met with a wall of shadows. "Hey, what gives?" He complained after peering around the shadow wall.

"I don't want your stupid to rub off on me." I deadpanned at him before taking a tentative step across the closet entrance, sighing in relief when I didn't feel an unseen wall slam into me.

Unfortunately, my victory was short-lived because I barely made it three small steps before I felt a pull stop me from going further. It felt like there were chains connected to every section of my body to the walls of the closet; literally, it felt like there were metal hooks in my bones.

"Damn, and I thought I had it bad," Kastoron muttered with an apologetic frown at me.

"How long have you been in there, man?" Levianth asked while looking me over with his concerned eyes.

"I don't know." It was the Devil's honest truth. "I only became aware about three weeks ago when my mate moved in, and her soul woke mine up."

"Does everyone just know their soulmate off the bat besides me?" Kastoron grumbled with a string of muttered curses under his breath.

"It's because you're an idiot." Levianth sneered with a mocking laugh.

"Oh shut up, you literally got trapped with your mate, you lucky rat-ass hornhead." Kastoron retorted with a scowl and huff.

Mumbling to himself for a second, he glared holes into Levianth's smirking face for a good minute before softening his expression as he turned his attention to me. "Going based off of when you went missing, I'd say you've been out of it for a little over five centuries."

"Unholy shit." Five centuries?! No. There was no way it's been that long.

Levianth sighed heavily and chuckled softly before pulling out a cellular device from his pocket to show me the brightly lit screen, which made my face fall further.

"Wow, I didn't think it was possible for you to look as white as a ghost, considering how pale you already are." Kastoron snickered at me. "Welcome to the twenty-first century, my friend. Boy, is it going to be a shock for you."

"Better wipe that shell-shocked look off your face before the girls come back up here. Wouldn't want this face to be the first your mate sees of you." Levianth mentioned with a pat on my shoulder as he passed me on his way to open the door.

"Fucking home… Seriously!?" How I hadn't lost my damn mind floating in mindless darkness for so long gripped at my confused mind as I began to pace back and forth inside the closet.

"Girls, come up here!" I heard Levianth shout, a little too happily for my tastes.

Oh, sweet Lucifer, I am not ready for my mate to see me for the first time.

Each soft thump of footfalls on the hardwood floor seemed to mimic my own heart in my chest. Louder and louder everything grew until it all came to a stop the moment I laid my eyes on my beautiful mate.

Whatever worry had sunk its claws into my body, released at the sight of her and the feeling of her presence warming up the room. Well, it all went well until her exclamation.

"Why the fuck is there a demon in my closet!?"

Realistically, her reaction was fair and should have been expected, but the hopeful side of me really wished she had run into my arms and embraced me. Yeah, it was stupid of me to think that'd happen, but one could hope.

"Uhh, so, meet Valphan, The Gatekeeper, shadow prince, a demon from the frozen depths of Hell. Uhh lovely demon, such a sweetheart really, and uhh yeah." Kastoron awkwardly slipped toward the door, grabbing Gracie's friend on the way out. "Have fun getting to know each other!" And he was off with a protestant female in his arms.

Levianth was quick to retreat cowardly with Kastoron. "Well, our job here is done, would love to stick around, but we have cases to work on. Busy, busy, busy." Damn idiot took off faster than Kastoron with his mate being dragged behind him like a ragdoll.

"Ugh! Are you guys serious!?" Stomping over to the door, Gracie stuck her head through to the hallway. "Hey! What am I supposed to do with him!? Hey!"

No response came from the empty house; only Gracie's frustrated grunts and grumbles chimed in the air. Then, the sounds of her soft footsteps filled the air from her pacing.

What happened next took me by surprise.

When she approached me, I thought it was to hug me or get a closer look at me, so I couldn't help but raise a quizzical eyebrow at her when she placed her hand on my bare chest and pushed me into the closet. Only because I let her, though. If I had dug my heels in, even remotely, then she'd be better off moving a built wall.

---