Page 54 of Reaper's Reward

17

ADDIE

Isat on the pavement, tears burning my eyes as the world blurred once more. This time, it wasn’t shock that turned everything into a puddle of color and light. I couldn’t hold the tears back any longer. When they rushed down my cheeks, a wail escaped me, too.

Fists clenched at my temples, I screamed. I’d been so happy. Life had been looking up. Then, Fenrir had to come and steal it all from me. He’d threatened my new family and stolen my husband.

Righteous anger seared my heart with cold fire.

“This is good,” Perse said.

My head snapped up. My neighbor, a goddess, stared where Maddox’s portal had been. She turned a soft smile toward me and offered me a hand up. When she lifted me from the ground, I noticed Tom and his wife behind her.

There was no color on Tom’s face. He held his shotgun with the barrel pointed at the ground. Without looking down, he flicked the safety on it. He didn’t take out any remaining shells, though.

Beside him, his wife seemed almost unfazed. Her lips twisted to the side. I could almost see gears working in her eyes.

“Maddox took Fenrir into Hel’s prison. The two will fight there until we can figure out the best way to stop Fenrir.” Perse lifted her chin, and the sun caressed her cheek with a golden glow.

How the hell had I not noticed that she was a goddess before? The woman must have hidden it well. I mean, a bathrobe and rollers felt like a superhero hiding behind plain black glasses.

Perse tapped her temple and gave me a conspiratorial look. “Paige and I have an idea.”

“P-P-Paige?” Tom asked, his head cocked.

As if summoned by her fumbling name, Paige stepped out from behind me. She gave Tom a nervous wave and a strained smile.

“Hi…” She threw out the greeting to test the waters.

Tom stiffened. His demeanor changed. Beside him, his wife took in the three women before her. She blinked, shook her head, and asked:

“What is going on? Why do I have a goddess, a demi-goddess, and a Reaper in my driveway?” She lifted both hands and shook her head again. “No. Don’t explain yet. We need pie. This is going to be a long afternoon.”

Perse wiggled her shoulders excitedly. “I would love some of your pie, Kelly. Hestia says such nice things about the way you keep your home.”

Tom gaped at the ground like he couldn’t believe what was going on right now. He’d just watched his nephew throw a grown man into a portal and vanish. Now two women magically appeared out of nowhere—not to mention one woman was Maddox’s ex-wife.

The shack wasn’t looking too great, so we took the pies back into the house. I found myself reaching into the empty air beside me for Maddox’s hand. My heart sank every time I grasped nothing but air. I couldn’t remember the feel of his hand in mine, either. The only impression left was of the fate chains that I’d wrapped around Fenrir.

When I closed my fist, I caught sight of the mossy green stone on my wedding ring. I was going to get my husband back one way or another. No one was going to stand in my way, not even Fenrir.

Kelly served everyone and oversized slice of pie. When she didn’t push one towards Paige, I wondered if there was some bad blood. Then I remembered that Paige wasn’t alive anymore. She couldn’t join us, which almost made me push my own plate away.

Paige put a hand on my arm. “Can I…this is going to be a weird question, but can I taste it through you? I can share in mortal experiences if I touch you.”

Yeah, that counted as a weird question. I nodded, though. I wasn’t going to take this from her. I was just glad that I could count Paige as a friend after I’d worried about meeting Maddox’s ex for so long.

At first, we answered Tom’s questions. He wasn’t wholly unfamiliar with the world of the supernatural. He’d married a witch, after all. Kelly was a solitary practitioner who kept to herself out here. She’d told Tom as much as he’d needed to know and not much more.

He’d known about witches and werewolves and vampires, but we’d brought a whole lot more to light today. Perse didn’t speak up until Tom fell silent, likely processing what he’d learned.

“Your work with Vincent inspired me,” Perse said to me. “You tried to find his lost lover to see if that could heal his wounds. We know now that Fenrir’s wounds come from a past lover; he said so himself. If we can find that woman, then we could get her to apologize. We could reunite the two and host a therapy session of sorts.”

I wrinkled my nose. Fenrir didn’t seem like the kind of person who wanted reconciliation. He wanted revenge and not much more. However, I had another idea.

“Sunshine and flowers aside, I think this might be a good idea. If we could bring the two together again, Fenrir might be stunned just long enough for me to chain him again. I managed to get two chains around him today. If those hold up wherever Maddox and Fenrir are right now, then we could have a chance.” I shoved a bite of pie into my mouth and let it dissolve on my tongue.

Paige stifled her moan. I didn’t blame her. This pie wasalmostbetter than sex. Now that I’d had sex, I definitely knew that nothing would ever come as close as this pie.

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