Page 84 of Villainous Greed

Well, it appeared Kitty didn’t want to be babied. She appeared downright annoyed when she muttered, “I’m physically stronger than you guys. Don’t you think it’s time to leave me alone? I don’t understand why it’s so scary every time I leave the woods.”

“Harvest still wants you.” Even though Grim appeared translucent, his stern voice left no room for arguments.

“We don’t know that,” Kitty argued. “All we know is he wanted one of us. He seemed to stop trying after Joy’s kidnapping.”

Kitty didn’t know why Harvest was after her. None of them seemed to.

“I know why Harvest wanted you,” I spoke up. Everyone in the ballroom turned toward me.“Harvest captured two angels over the last century. The second one knew of your marked mates. Harvest pulled me out of my prison when he found out I was August’s marked mate. You see, Isabella and I are the same.”

I met the eyes of the other witch in the room.

“He was going to use me as the key to the apocalypse when I was a teen, just like he used Isabella, but he couldn’t. I’d met August and gained his immortality. Harvest couldn’t control me with his blackness, so he killed me. Or at least he thought so. When he found me alive, he threw me into a cell and left me there for a long time. He couldn’t figure out why I was immortal until the second angel.”

The first angel must have known who I was back then. And if he had, maybe he tried to protect the world that day by withholding the truth from Harvest. The angel had failed since Harvest still started the apocalypse and learned of Reapers’ mates.

Grim frowned. “I’m sorry you’ve endured so much, but what does that have to do with my daughters andwhyHarvest wanted one of them?”

“Harvest wanted the Devil’s mate.”

Gasps filled the room. Grim staggered backward and appeared even paler than before.Payne held him upright.

Kitty burst out laughing. “What?”

“I’m serious,” I said. “The angel transformed into a demon before revealing to Harvest the identity of the Devil’s marked mate. Considering you’re the only one without a mate, it must be you, Kitty.”

August grabbed my hand. “Are you sure?”

I nodded. “I thought you guys knew, or I would have told you sooner.”

“What Nova said makes sense,” Grim whispered, palming his forehead. “No wonder…”

“No wonder what?” Kitty asked.

Grim’s head slumped forward. Payne was still helping him stand or he would have fallen to the floor. Melanie ran toward Grim and placed her fingers beneath his nose. Her shoulders slumped. “He’s okay. He passed out.”

“Dad won’t survive until the end, will he?” Joy asked, tears glistening.

“He’s as old as time. He’s not going anywhere,” Maureen muttered, but her eyes were wide and glossy as she stared at her dad.

“Your father didn’t want to worry you. And he’d be upset if he saw you getting scared now.” Melinda looked at Maureen as she spoke, wiping her eyes. “We knew things were going to get bad. The worst is here.”

“I’ll stay with our parents and keep them safe,” Kitty announced, holding her mom’s shoulder as Payne carried Grim.“Just capture Harvest for good this time. That’ll be one less monster to stop at the end.”

“I’m going to help get Grim in bed, then we can leave,” Payne said.

My heart hurt for the youngest Reaper. I gave her a shocking truth. Her marked mate was the lifelong enemy of her father’s.

August exhaled as he watched them walk down the hall. He tugged at my hand when he caught me observing. “Everything’s going to be all right.”

“I know,” I said. “We can still save everyone.”

______

Harvest was in the City of the Dead, the last place we suspected of finding him. He was in a small shop I didn’t know about called Twisted Magic.The store appeared abandoned when we faded inside. Cobwebs covered the cash register. Someone had knocked over several vials on the shelf while more lay broken on the wooden floor. The dried up potions left stains on the ground.

I frowned. “No one’s here. Are you sure this is the place?”

“This is the right place,” Maureen answered as she opened the door to the back. We looked at each other as the sound of the old wood creaking broke the silence.

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