Page 91 of Virgin Lust

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The tension was thick in the air as we waited for Dad to speak.Missing two, I thought, glancing around the solemn room. The knowledge settled against my bones until they ached. I felt Joy and Payne’s absence immensely.

Shepherd sat on the couch arm. I leaned against him. My soulmate pressed me about the marks lately. It seemed he’d reached his limit for patience. Tonight, I would tell him a lot about the symbols. No more secrets between us.

Eventually, I would learn to accept happiness when I could, no matter the circumstances.

Sebastian, Isabella, and Kitty sat beside us on the couch. In the back corner were Maureen and Jackal. Standing like he was ready to leave was Barron with his Gwendolyn. At the window was August. Dad faded in, and Mom rose to her feet. He took her hand and guided her to the sofa across from us.

“We’ll be quick,” Dad muttered as he ran his hand through his hair. That was how I noticed the black gloves he wore. Since when did he wear them like Isabella? “Our Reapers our working around the clock to catch up on the work we’ve ignored over the last few days while searching for Joy.”

“Sickness has grown during that time as well,” Jackal said from the back of the room. He never spoke much. His focus wasalwayson Maureen, but his words rang true. They needed to be out in the human world, curing diseases instead of there with us.

“Harvest knows about our powers,” Dad studied his glove as he spoke. “There’s no doubt about that, but we must stop looking for Joy.”

“What?” Kitty and I screeched at the same time.

“Let me finish.” Dad exhaled. “We won’t find Joy. We can’t even find Harvest, but our powers disappearing have actually given us the opportunity to find her.”

“Please, tell me how the fuck being mortal for random amounts of time will help us find her?” Maureen yelled.

“Because they’ll come to us,” August answered for Dad. My greedy brother never once looked away from the window. But I was glad, nonetheless. He hadn’t been around much since the human festival.

“You expect Harvest to come here again?” Sebastian asked, cracking his knuckles. “I’m always happy to kill the bastard. As many times as it takes.”

“If not him, someone.” Barron crossed his arms. “You want to catch one of his, don’t you?”

“Foolish,” August murmured what I was thinking. “Harvest cares about nothing. He’d sacrifice all of his followers if it meant claiming the Devil’s throne.”

“No, that’s not my plan.” Dad shook his head and gazed at us as if he were waiting for someone to crack the puzzle first.

August finally looked away from the window, lips curling slightly. “You want to bug one.”

I smirked. That could work. Place trackers on anyone we encountered. “That means we should let some live,” I uttered, still processing the idea, and not liking it.

“Now you’re getting it.” Dad smiled, and Mom’s hand tightened on his knee.

“Why couldn’t you have just started with that?” Maureen grumbled.

“We won’t find Joy,” Dad’s voice deepened. “We’ll let them lead us to her.”

For the first time in days, my hope soared. We had a plan.

Thirty-Two

Shepherd

Ever since her sister’s abduction, Prudence’s pink essence had dimmed. It wasn’t until her father spoke and announced a plan that it perked up. With a renewed hope, my princess swung her blade and happily hacked through the quickly approaching demons.

I was starting to understand that bonds went beyond the one connecting me to Prudence. In a different way, she had an equally strong one with her family. I wanted to make sure she never lost it.

We were at a bar in the City of the Dead. Prudence cut away at demons while I ate their souls. Demons seemed to have one thing in common—talking shit to Prudence. It didn’t matter what kind of monsters they were, they all loved spewing nonsense about Reapers being doomed to failure. Were they brainwashed to believe that fate? While it was a possibility, it was an outcome I refused to entertain. But their words angered me, nonetheless. If I allowed bloodlust to overcome me, I’d kill them before Prudence could, and then she’d complain. Unfortunately, I would never apologize for ending a creature who was cruel to my mate.

Over the last hour, I saw her gazing at me. The way her azure eyes flickered over my reaping form nearly put me on edge. Because of Prudence’s arousal flowing through the bond, my shadowy mass was an erratic web of passion. She remained at a distance, but her candy-rum goodness still beckoned me. Knowing her pussy was most likely drenched made my reaping form vibrate like thunder.

In the end, I’d always carry the advantage in our relationship. There would never be an emotion she could hide from me. We’d most likely argue about it some nights. But it also meant I’d be able to understand her in ways no one else could. And that made me fucking glad. No one would love her the way I could. No one was more perfect for her than me.

“What are you thinking about?” Prudence asked as I slipped through a warlock and gobbled up his soul. He didn’t make a sound until his body smacked the ground with a thud. He was the last one in the bar. Bodies, lying in pools of multi-colored blood, littered the ground around us.

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