Undead Or Alive (Bad Things #3)(2)

He’d been six when he first learned that brutal lesson.

“You won’t find the angel,” Luke continued flatly. “She’s not your mission, Reaper.”

Ah, now Luke was calling him by the title, too. Definitely meant it was business time.

Luke’s gaze seemed to bore into him. “I will pay you very, very well if you can bring the one I seek back to me.”

Cass cocked his head to the right. “How well are we talking? Because your brother is offering me some very powerful magic in exchange for the angel—”

Luke laughed. The sound held no humor. “My brother is planning to betray you as soon as you deliver the angel back to him. He’s learned the deadly mistake that can be made when you barter with magic, and he’s not going to make that error again. He’s promised you plenty, but Leo will deliver nothing to you. He’ll lock you away in a cage—remember what that was like? I bet you do—and then he’ll only pull you out when he needs you again.”

“Like I’m supposed to believe you?” Cass drawled. “You lie as easily as you breathe.”

He saw Rayce’s claws flash out.

“Careful there, wolf,” Cass warned him. “You don’t want to get on my bad side.”

“And you don’t want to get on mine,” Luke replied before Rayce could speak. “I’m offering you a deal—a real one. And I’ve always kept my deals with you in the past.”

Actually, that part was true. Luke might be a dangerous bastard, but he’d never broken a deal he’d made with Cass.

“I need you to hunt for me,” Luke told him. “And unlike my brother, I will pay you in magic. Tell me what you want, and it’s yours.”

Temptation was there. Dark and twisting because it had been so very long for him. Too long. He looked down at his gloved hands. Always have to be so careful. Always have to be alone. Always…

“Get the wolf out of here, and we’ll talk.” Because okay—maybe Cass would make a deal with Luke. Maybe he would piss off Leo. Like he cared about the Lord of the Light. It had been a dull week—a dull decade—and he could use some excitement.

Cass could use a change.

“Before I leave, say you’re not going after the angel. Say that first,” Rayce ordered him.

Like he took orders from a werewolf? “Can’t stand the competition, huh?”

“You will not touch her.” Rayce took an aggressive step forward, but Luke’s hand flew up, and his arm blocked Rayce before he could lunge for Cass.

Cass raised his chin. My touch. That was what so many feared and with good reason. “If Luke here can give me what I want, then I’ll find his prey first.”

First.

After he’d collected this bounty, then he’d turn his attention to Leo’s job. “So you have a bit of a head start on me,” Cass allowed. “Better use it.”

Rayce growled again—and truly looked as if he’d like to use his claws to skin Cass. Been there, done that before.

“Go, Rayce,” Luke said. “We have terms to make.”

Still glaring, the werewolf left.

And then Cass was alone with the Lord of the Dark. They stared at each other. And Cass murmured, “I hear you’ve found love.”

That muscle jerked in Luke’s jaw again. “If you ever so much as come near my Mina, I will obliterate you.”

Oh, wait—had the guy thought he was threatening him? No, Cass hadn’t meant that part as a threat. Hell. “Even someone like you…” Someone who had a soul that had to be stained with blood. “You found a mate.”

“Mina is special.”

Mina must be insane, but whatever. Maybe Luke found insanity appealing. “I want that.”

Luke grabbed him. His hand curled around Cass’s throat and he heaved Cass up into the air—

“Not…her…” Cass choked out. “I want…my…own…mate…”

Luke threw him against the wall. Sheetrock spit into the air as Cass’s body left a sizeable dent in the surface.

“Why didn’t you say that?” Luke shook his head. “You should be more careful with me.”

Noted. Cass brushed the dust off his shoulders. And his gaze dropped to his gloves once more. Gloves that had come to him—courtesy of Luke—very long ago. Cass had been hoping Leo would be able to give him an upgrade when he delivered the angel, but perhaps Luke could give him something far more valuable…“I want a woman who can stand my touch.”

Now it was Luke’s turn to laugh. “Why don’t you just ask for a f*cking unicorn? Because that would be easier—”

“I want a woman who can stand my touch. No gloves between us. No magic stopping my power. I want a woman I can touch…” His hands fisted. “And not kill.”

Reaper.

Because that wasn’t what he was—it was who he was. He was Death. He touched and he killed and no one could get close to him.

No one got close and survived, anyway.

Cass exhaled slowly. “If you can’t do this for me, if you can’t find a way, then I won’t find the person you seek.”

Silence.

“You got your Mina,” Cass snarled when the silence stretched too long. “I’ve been on this earth for centuries. It’s my turn. I am due. I want to touch—I want more than death.”