Page 45 of TBR: Dead But Well Read

Floating to my feet, I sighed and looked around for my tiny sidekick. “I think this was a bust, Wasabi. Let’s head back.”

He gave a muffled squeak in response. Spinning toward the noise, I watched as Wasabi slowly backed out of the tiny crack behind the desk.

“What are you doing back there?” I dropped to the floor beside him just as he tugged a single sheet of paper out from where it must have fallen. “Wasabi! You’re the best!”

He released the paper and accepted a quick chin scratch as a reward.

The paper looked like regular printer paper, but most of what was written on it appeared ancient, like the stuff you would find carved on Viking artifacts. There were a few scribbled lines in English, but they only added to my confusion.

Pepperoni, mushrooms, anchovies, onions, hold the cheese.

“If this is his pizza order, he is a monster. Who orders pizza without cheese?” I shivered in disgust and giggled when Wasabi covered his face with his paws and mimicked my shiver.

Forget diamonds or dogs. Rats were a ghoul’s best friend.

Turning the page in my hands, I squinted at the sloppy scribble on the side of the page.

Tiny Tank. Low inventory. Expensive. Best distiller in the UG.

“Okay, so he wants something to drink with his nasty pizza. That doesn’t really help us,” I grumbled, growing frustrated at not being able to decipher anything more from the paper.

Flipping it over, I practically shouted in relief when I discovered more English scribbles on the back.

Philetus’ Scythe: unknown.

Epolir: located.

“Well, that’s about as useful as a grave robber in a crematorium,” I complained. “Who is Philetus? Do you think reapers lose their scythes often?”

Wasabi’s only response was a huff that stirred the dust from the floor into the air and caused him to sneeze. Scooping him up in my hand, I deposited the gray ball of fur on my shoulder. Usually, I would have needed to concentrate to perform a physical task, but it seemed being hyped up on reaper juice had its perks.

Scanning the page, I finally found what I was looking for. Someone had written the initials UG, along with tomorrow’s date and a time.

“It looks like I have a date tomorrow, Wasabi! I just need to figure out where UG is.”

As I raced through the darkness toward the library, I tried to puzzle out what it could stand for, but I kept coming up blank.

Like it or not, I was going to have to visit the guys. Hopefully, I could avoid Lochlan long enough to get the information I needed from Rhodes or Evander.

Imaterialized in the guys’ living room, coming face-to-face with the one person on Earth I didn’t want to see.

“Are we being haunted?” Lochlan asked, a teasing smile spreading across his lips.

“In your dreams,” I snorted, glancing around the room in search of Rhodes or Evander.

“Boo, I dream about you every time I close my eyes.” Lochlan stood from his seat and took a step toward me, only to stop when I took a panicked step away.

He frowned. “Everything okay?”

“Uh. Yeah. Fine.” I couldn’t bring myself to meet his piercing green eyes. “Is Evander around?”

Of the four men in my life, Evander was the least intimidating, and right now, that made him the most approachable.

“Evander is out with Rhodes on an errand. Is it something I can help you with?” Loch took a single step forward, which I countered by stepping to the side.

“No,” I answered a little too quickly.

Why did it hurt so much to be in the same room with him? I’d gone my entire adult life without falling in love, and somehow, I’d given up my heart to four guys in about a week’s time. A stranger shouldn’t have been able to hurt me so much.

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