Page 17 of Unsanctioned
Riku didn’t let him down. His arms tightened around Lucifer’s waist. He gently stroked Lucifer’s stomach. “Why do you tease this town?”
A bark of laughter burst from Lucifer. He wouldn’t play dumb. They both knew he was the reason they scrambled, searching for demons. “I’m bored. These people could do with a little excitement.”
“So you didn’t do it to hurt me?”
Lucifer rolled his eyes, but he covered Riku’s arms with his and linked his fingers through Riku’s. “Did it hurt you?”
“No.” The word brushed his skin with Riku speaking against his back between kisses.
“Then that was a ridiculous question.” He tightened his hold on Riku, in case the words made him run away… again.
Riku pressed his cheek against Lucifer’s back. “Don’t listen to my thoughts for a minute.”
“Okay.” It was a lie. Lucifer didn’t have the willpower to shut Riku out. If he could, this bullshit half-life would have ended long ago.
I love you. Fuck, I love you so much. This is killing me, and I don’t know what to do. I can’t destroy everything for my gain, but I’m slowly dying.
Lucifer stared at nothing and tried to breathe. He couldn’t give away that he listened. Neither could Lucifer keep doing this. He had shown more patience with Riku and selflessness than heever had since the beginning of time. This had to stop—for both their sakes. Then he felt it. A tear ran down his back. He was done.
“You have a week.”
Riku sniffed. “What?”
Lucifer didn’t turn. He couldn’t look at Riku, or maybe he would cave. “You have a week to decide, or I’m choosing for you.”
“What do you plan to choose if I don’t?”
So much pain sat on his chest. His sister had found a new way to torture him. He had honestly believed there was nothing left she could do to him. Riku was the worst pain he had ever endured, and he had been ripped to pieces over and over for centuries.
“I don’t know,” Lucifer answered honestly. “Maybe I’ll return to hell where emotions are cranked up to a million. You’ll feel the loss of me in a way your mind likely can’t endure.” That was the thing about Hell. It found the tiniest seeds of longing and turned them into a nonstop torment that would break the strongest of minds. Unlike heaven, where emotions were muted to stop any pain, Hell was the opposite in every way. “Maybe I’ll just take you and leave you no choice but the nightmare of being my mate. Or I could kill you and set myself free. I guess we both have a week to figure it out.”
Riku didn’t stop kissing his spine. It was like he couldn’t stop, even when he fully understood Lucifer could break him in wayshe didn’t even understand. His brain couldn’t wrap itself around the horror Lucifer could place upon him. Riku’s imagination wasn’t that big. Still, if Riku couldn’t choose him, Lucifer would do what he had to do to end this. He was no one’s toy.
“One week, Riku.” With the promise hanging between them, Lucifer disappeared, escaping Riku’s grasp. He couldn’t stand being held anymore, knowing it was temporary and pointless. The world had seven days. Everyone needed to pray Riku chose him. Otherwise, he would level this place.
The day had been oddly quiet, considering yesterday’s drama. At the end of his shift, Waylon pulled into the local market and headed inside. There was no food at Audor’s place. As an ancient, he had lost interest in food a long time ago. Unlike Waylon, he didn’t need food to survive. That thought led toanother as he grabbed a basket and headed down the first aisle. In Were pairings, each life was tied to the other. Even though Waylon was damn near impossible to kill, it could happen. If he had a Were or human mate, they would likely join him in death so they could be reborn and find each other in the next life. Either the years would catch up or the separation would be too much to endure. One wouldn’t last without the other. With Audor, he didn’t know what would happen if anything happened to either of them. It was a terrifying thought. Over the years, he had met vampires who had lost their mates. It was ugly. The loss was unbearable, but they endured. Waylon didn’t want that for Audor. He supposed that meant he could never die.
Waylon nodded as he passed a Were couple. They nodded back and then coldly looked away. It struck Waylon as odd, but everyone had those days. It was possible the couple were fighting or something else completely unrelated to him. By the time he passed the third person who blatantly cut him, a bad feeling overcame him. Then he spotted Ashka with Ashlee in her arms, booking it in his direction. His heart sank. He just wanted to go home to Audor.
Ashka grabbed his arm and pulled him aside, as if getting out of earshot, even though they were the only people in the aisle. “We have a problem. One of the new guys in town is going around telling everyone you’re mated to a vampire.”
“I am.”
Ashka made an impatient gesture. “Yeah, I know. I don’t care about that. Listen, he’s getting people riled up, saying how unnatural it is and that you’re tainting our pure bloodline.Obviously, that’s ridiculous. It’s not like you can have kids with another man or it would matter if you could. Anyhow, he’s getting attention. He wants to challenge you for alpha.” Ashka finished by chewing her lip. She was obviously upset on his behalf. He adored her for it. Waylon was also tired.
He sighed. “All right. I’ll take care of it. Do you know where I can find this guy?”
“He was at the diner when I overheard his bullshit. I raced straight here, so I imagine he’s still there. Big guy. Red wolf.”
Waylon nodded. He knew who she meant. There was only one recent transplant that fit the description. “A pup. Fantastic.” He glanced down at his groceries and sighed again. “Thank you for letting me know.”
“Of course.” She sounded exactly like it was a given. “You’re our alpha. We don’t know this guy. He could do anything to this town. Its people. You’ve always taken care of us. Just let me know if you need anything. Randall and I will be there.”
Waylon nodded. This was not how he wanted to spend his night. “Thank you. Get home. Crazy ladder-climbing wolves are capable of anything.”
Ashka nodded and headed for the door.
Waylon followed at a slower pace. If Waylon couldn’t defuse this, he didn’t want anyone to retaliate against Ashka for warning him. He had to pull the plug on this bullshit now before itbecame a full uprising. Waylon understood by waiting so long to introduce his mate, he had opened himself up to questioning whispers. If they had nothing to fear, why wouldn’t he share his joy? He totally got it. This was a peaceful town and had been since day one. He would be damned if some random wolf sauntered into town and ruined what they had going just because Waylon had experienced a few days of personal drama. If a genuine challenger ever wanted to take his place, it would be one thing. But this one was obviously a scheming troublemaker. That didn’t make for good leadership.
