Page 15 of TBR: Dead But Well Read

If our circle was going to share, we’d need a single bedroom with a large bed. But that would pose a major problem for Rhodes.

He was the most private man I’d ever met. He liked Ev and me, but we weren’t even allowed in his bedroom. Could he be happy sharing not only a mate but also his living space?

Ev tapped his fingers on the arm of his chair. “But to draw this number of ghosts to him, the reaper would have to be staying in town. I’ve never heard of a reaper staying in one location for more than a few hours,” he mused out loud.

“True. So, either Lochlan is mistaken about a reaper being nearby, or this particular reaper is involved in the weirdness going on in Amberwood.” Rhodes sighed. “That doesn’t really help us, though. Because even if we find the reaper, he isn’t going to tell us what’s going on. I can’t remember the last time we bumped into a reaper who acknowledged our existence or spoke a word to any of us.”

Groaning, I sat up. “I’ll reach out to a few contacts. Maybe someone has heard rumors about what’s going on in the reaper realm. Let’s stay careful and watch each other’s backs until we untangle this mess.”

“Agreed.” Rhodes and Ev nodded.

I pushed to my feet and stretched. “I guess I’ll go make those calls.”

“Sit.” Rhodes packed enough command in the one word to have my body obeying before I’d even processed his order.

Lifting a brow, I shot him a questioning look. I had a suspicion I knew what he was going to ask next, but I hoped this was one of the rare occasions when I was wrong.

“Did you meet her?” Rhodes asked.

It was hard being Mr. Right all the time.

I locked gazes with Rhodes. “Yes, I met Axelle.”

She didn’t belong to him, so I’d done nothing wrong. But I’d heard his admission last night, and I couldn’t deny I felt a tiny twinge of guilt.

“And?” Rhodes prodded.

“And what?” I snarled, feeling defensive. What I did or didn’t do with her wasn’t his business.

Tense silence descended on the room. When Rhodes spoke again, his voice was soft. “And what was it like, kissing her?”

My eyes snapped to his face. “How could you know that?”

Rhodes rubbed his forehead. “You’re glowing. Unless you managed to collect a year’s worth of lost souls and deliver them to a vortex in”—Rhodes paused to glance at his watch “—less than twelve hours, then you found a new way to feed. My guess is you kissed her.”

“I didn’t kiss her lips, but I did kiss her neck.” At my admission, displeasure flashed across Rhodes’ face, but he was quick to hide it.

“You can’t be serious! You think just kissing her neck could do this?” Evander’s voice rose, cracking slightly. “If that’s true, imagine what having sex with Axelle could do to your energy!”

Rhodes and I groaned in unison. Ev hadn’t met her, so he had no way of knowing the strange effect she was having on us. He didn’t understand that just her name and the wordsexin the same sentence was a special kind of torture.

Needing to go to my room and relieve some of the pressure that had built over the last few hours, I pushed to my feet again. “I think we should go back to the library and see if we can pick up the ghosts’ trail.”

My suggestion had nothing to do with the fact I was a jealous man and I wanted to find out what kind of date Axelle was going on. It was simply because our records on ghosts said they didn’t date, and I wanted to know if that needed to be updated.

Yep. I only wanted to ensure that our books contained accurate data.

“Sounds like that’s our best lead.” Rhodes stood and stretched. “I got a glimpse of the security system yesterday. It was pretty low-tech, so it shouldn’t be difficult to disable it.”

“I guess I’ll go change and print off a copy of the library’s blueprints.” Evander tucked his laptop under his arm and headed toward the stairs.

Snickering, I followed him up the stairs. “The library isn’t big. I’m pretty sure we won’t get lost.”

“It never hurts to be prepared. I’d rather not be caught off guard,” Evander quipped.

I watched him disappear into his room and couldn’t help but smirk. Like it or not, if we bumped into Axelle, he was definitely going to be caught off guard. She was different from every other ghost I’d met.

Axe was special.

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