Page 4 of My Karmic Destiny

“Good girl,” Death praises, and I swear I hear a smirk behind his words.

2

CATCHING UP

DANTE

After kissing Tessa goodbye for the day and taking a quick shower, I head down to the kitchen to grab a coffee and some breakfast.

When I enter the spacious room, Kurtis is whisper-shouting at Evan, waving his arms around like he’s talking shit. Most likely about me. Or it could be about the Instant Karma fallout. It’s hard to tell, Kurtis easily gets wound up over shit.

Frustration coils in my chest. I try to release it. His drama might have nothing to do with me.

“Sup?” I jerk my chin in their direction in a casual greeting.

“Oh, decided to leave the fuck nest?” Kurtis waggles his eyebrows like he’s joking.

I might not be as psychic as Tessa, but my intuition was correct. From his sassy jest, I know he’s angry at me.

“Yep. My dick needed a break from all that fucking.” I poke the bear. “I hope we didn’t keep youupthis whole time.” I glance down at his crotch and wink.

“Dante,” Evan warns, like I’m the asshole here.

“What?” I give him my best glower. “Don’t bring up my damn love life if you don’t want to talk about it.” I turn my gaze back to Kurtis, daring him to continue.

He looks away, knowing he doesn’t have a leg to stand on about how to behave in our shared house.

I fix my coffee how I like and grab a pastry from the counter. Greta, our resident house manager, always makes sure we have all the things we need. I’m glad she stayed on after Instant Karma was destroyed.

As if my thoughts have summoned her, the older woman walks into the tense scene in the kitchen. “Hello Dante! What are you up to today? I hear Tessa has been called away for her first day with Death.”

“Well, I was going to ask you if anyone has heard from OG Karma. And if not, I was going to ask these bozos to hang out, but it seems they have something lodged in their nether regions.”

Greta suppresses a giggle. “That’s not part of my job description to check,” she says with a smirk.

Kurtis, Evan, and I give each other a surprised look. Greta didn’t joke around when we had our former employer. I suppose she was worried about the consequences if she said the wrong thing.

“Want to play Monster Mash?” Kurtis offers. “You haven’t played with us in a while.”

I accept his olive branch. “Sure. Sounds good.”

We gather some cold drinks and snacks and set ourselves up in the game room. Evan and Kurtis sit next to each other on the couch.Odd. They never sit together, even if they’re close friends.

Whatever. It’s not my business if they’re getting closer. What did I expect? I’ve been isolating myself with Tessa for weeks now.

I notice their knees touching and a casualness and comfortability that hadn’t been there before.

They’re trading inside jokes that I’m not part of.

I can see how my dating Tessa and spending so much time alone with her would feel like for them. Probably the same way I’m feeling like an outsider now myself.

“Need anything?” Kurtis asks Evan as he rushes off to take a piss and grab some more waters. He forgets to ask me. Or is being dismissive on purpose.

I glare at his retreating backside.

Evan clears his throat. “He’s grown more attached to me than ever lately.”

Damn, for not being an actual psychic, Evan is very perceptive. He watches everything, and it’s a gift of his to quickly assess situations. He used it often when we were working for Instant Karma.

---