Page 50 of Grave Consequences
“Oh my Hellgate,” I groan before leaning forward and slurping more.
It’s fucking delicious.
It tastes like butterscotch and fresh bread rolls, and it...tickles as it slides smoothly down my throat. As quickly as I can, I lift it up and down the whole thing like I’m a baseball player downing a bottle of Gatorade.
“Ha!” Crux claps a hand down onto the table. “I knew it!” he says victoriously.
I wipe my lips with the back of my hand and hold my glass up. “Fill ’er up, Grumpy, and keep ’em coming,” I say brightly.
With a glower, he refills my glass, and I bask in the taste and hum a little in happiness as warm, soothing spirits hit my system. “Fuck, this is good. I can’t believe howgoodthis is!” I say excitedly to Echo. “Here, try some!”
His grin stretches wide. “I already have some, remember?”
I look around the table and remember that, yes, they do already have some. “Oh, right. Well, let’s make a toast!”
I raise my glass in the air, waiting pointedly until they all do the same. Jerif and Taz don’t do it though, because they’re stubborn, prideful jerks, and I expect nothing less. “To demon spirits tasting fucking epic!” I say before clinking my glass against the others as they chuckle, humoring me.
I drink the delicious liquid down and shake my glass in the air for GL. His heavy brow pulls down into a deeper frown as he comes forward, tipping the bottle over and emptying the last of its contents. “That’s all there is,” he tells me, then turns on his heel and leaves the room, probably to prevent me from asking him to open another bottle.
I sip the last of it, trying to savor the taste. “Mmm. I can’t believe how awful this stuff tasted before, but let me tell you, this is good shit,” I say appreciatively. “I wish we’d had this stuff at the bar I worked at. I would’ve made amazing tips, and then that fucker, Sean the Shithole, wouldn’t have closed the place and fired my ass after calling me a bitch.”
“Who called you a bitch?”
My eyes fly up to Jerif’s angry tone, and I blink, his words filtering in like my ears and my brain are on some sort of delay. “Oh, my old boss. He was a douche.”
“He’ll be dealt with,” my lava demon says suddenly, looking perfectly serious and lethal as he leans back in his chair, the fire in his eyes matching the tones of his hair. I notice Taz out of the corner of my eye giving Jerif an approving nod and then catching himself doing it and taking a big gulp of his drink to try and cover it up.
I snicker and give Taz a knowing look when his gray eyes snap to mine. “Ooohhhh,” I announce, suddenly excited. “Can we go fullParanormal Activityon Sean the Shithole’s ass?” I ask Jerif. I can’t stop staring at his eyes and hair, like some drunk staring at the campfire as if it has the meaning of life in its flames. Or maybe the meaning of life is just hidden in his pants.
With that thought, I drop my gaze and stare drunkenly at his crotch. “Oh man, I’m drunk!” I slur, my tone both perky and shocked, and for some reason, that makes me laugh. Damn, I’m adorable.
“What doesParanormal Activityhave to do with your former boss’s ass?” Jerif asks, not joining the others in their chuckles at mydrunkrevelation.
“Ewww, don’t say it like that. I don’t want to touch his ass, I want to make him think that his house—no wait— hislifeis haunted. Like we steal his sheets, and fuck with shit around his house and bar, and make him think scary things live in his attic...or basement. He seems like the kind of creep who’d have a basement,” I mumble, suddenly really interested in the way my hand moves in front of me.
Damn, that’s trippy.
“You know,” I announce, fixing Jerif with my best sinister look. But it gets interrupted when I sneeze. Shit, being evil makes my nose feel funny. “You know…” I begin again with a sniff. “We’ll launch a campaign of terror on his ass so badly, he’ll rue the day he ever fucked with me!” I yell, like I’m a coach on game day giving the pep talk of my career.
When did I stand up?
Taz shoots out of his seat too and raises his glass. “Here, here!” he agrees.
I try to high five him, but he’s too far away, so I just high five myself, which for some reason, makes Crux crack the fuck up. Allthatreminds me of is what we were laughing about before Peegate, and I throw my head back and yell, “Maaaa, you gotta knock!”and then join Crux in laughing my ass off at Jerif’s expense.
Trust fall!
I suddenly drop back like I’m about to make the sweetest snow angel on the carpet, but warm arms catch me instead, fucking with my carpet angel plans.
“Spin me!” I demand of whoever is holding me.
“Being that you almost hurled your guts up just from flying around, I’m going to go with no to the spinning,” Jerif grumps as he holds me, and I just laugh.
“Jerif, why don’t you take Delta upstairs to lie down? She should burn the booze off soon, and we’ll show Tazreel around the property and Gate, give him a peek at what we do here,” Iceman directs.
Jerif doesn’t say a word, but I can tell he complies, as I’m whisked out of the room. I’ve never been whisked before, and I’m debating how I feel about it, when Jerif adjusts his hold on me and his arms rub against my disgusting, but oddly sensitive, wings.
“Ooohhhhh, do that again,” I command.
