Page 69 of Priest

“High-ranking members,” Priest said. “Jeremiah thinks that most people are largely unaware and that several ruling families and heads of democracy are out of the loop. But enough people in power are in on this.”

“That’s… a lot.”

“I think it’s more than Jeremiah bargained for,” Priest admitted. “But we have somewhere to start now.” He yawned so wide his jaw cracked, and then he nestled close. “Knight wants to check out the lab tomorrow. See if we missed anything.”

“Do you think that’s safe? Won’t they be watching it?”

Priest laughed. “They might be, but they already know who raided them. Trust me, little human, we are never subtle. We’re not afraid to let them all know they’re our next target.”

Oliver was suddenly overwhelmed with fear that something could happen to Priest. He clung tightly. “Weren’t you just a bodyguard, like, six months ago?”

Priest pushed up and brushed a lock of hair off Oliver’s forehead. “And you were just a human. But things change. Taking contracts the way we did was part of our job. The otherpart is to deal with injustice. All of us deal with it. We’re pariahs in almost every corner of the continent just because we have the misfortune of being an unacceptable form of supernatural. Pushed to the edges of society, doomed to mateless existences. Creatures like me condemned to an eventual life of insanity and hunger from never being completely sated.”

Oliver frowned. “But you have a mate. You can feed on me and be sated. Like, actually sated.”

“I…” Priest froze, cocking his head. “I am sated. Fully. Completely.”

“So will that still be your fate?”

“I don’t know.” Priest closed his eyes. “I don’t know if there’s ever been a mated Incubus before.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Oliver said, and Priest opened his eyes, raising a brow at him. “I’m just saying, you can’t possibly be the first. I mean, if you were somehow mated to a fallen Angel or something, I could see that maybe it had never happened before in history, but you’re not. I’m mostly human. Whatever this bond was, it didn’t come directly from me. I didn’t create it in you.”

Priest shook his head, looking confused. “Incubi… I’ve never heard of one of us bonding. It’s incredibly rare for a Demon to have a fated mate, but Incubi… we simply succumb to the hunger.”

“But do you know that? Or is that what you’ve always been taught to believe?”

Priest stared.

“I don’t mean to be a dick or—or a know-it-all. I just mean there’s so much we all thought about Vampires. Things we were so sure were fact. Even Knight believed he was infected, but the more we uncover, the more he seems to be remembering differently. So how much of what you know about yourself is real? It’s not like you had family to teach you, right?”

Priest’s face paled. “Fuck.”

“I’m sorry,” Oliver said in a rush. He could feel that it was too much—that after everything, Priest didn’t need another revelation about himself. He cupped his face and kissed him fiercely. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make it worse.”

“You couldn’t possibly,” Priest said roughly. “But I… Gods, I think you might be onto something. I need to speak with Jeremiah the second we get back to the city.”

“We’re going home?”

Priest nodded. “Once Poe’s ready to be moved to Azriel’s, we’ll meet the Alphas.”

“You mean you.”

Priest shook his head, meeting Oliver’s gaze intensely. “We. You’re clever, beloved, and it’s becoming more and more obvious that we need you. That you see things we don’t. And that’s not your Angel powers. That’s just you.”

Oliver opened his mouth to protest, but Priest kissed him until the words died on the back of his tongue, and all he knew was the taste of his bonded and the warmth that surrounded him made up entirely of how much the Demon adored him.

Wanted him.

Needed him.

Loved him.

19

PRIEST

He didn’t sleep.

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