“Thank you for everything tonight,” I tell her. “I’m not sure when I’ll see you again.”
“No worries, love. I’ll catch you on the flip side.” Imperia winks at me before returning her attention to her customers.
Lancelot and I spend the rest of the evening partaking in the festivities our mysterious hostess has provided us with. We steal away to secluded corners of the ship twice more to enjoy each other in private. By the time the band plays the last song of the evening and the fireworks show starts, we’ve already made it back up to the Skydeck where everyone else is enjoying the pyrotechnic display.
I take a hold of Lancelot’s hand and squeeze it tightly as my stomach is besieged by nervous butterflies. He turns his attention away from the brightly lit sky to look down at me.
“Are you all right?” he asks, looking worried that I might decide to change my mind.
“Just a little scared,” I begrudgingly admit, “but I think that’s normal, don’t you?”
Lancelot takes me in his arms, making sure to keep a hold of my hand so I’m not left behind when he’s transported back to Camelot.
“I think it’s very normal. I guess I would be more worried if you weren’t having second thoughts. I live in a world that’s as foreign to you as this one is to me, but you won’t have to face it alone, Eve. I will always be by your side.”
“Just don’t let go,” I say as I rest my cheek against his chest and squeeze his hand even tighter.
“I’ll never let go,” he replies, kissing the top of my head just as the magic of The Monster Ball causes the sights and sounds of my world to fade into the ether as it transports us to my new home: Camelot.
Fate can lead you down paths you never thought you would travel, but it always seems to know exactly where you need to go.
Reaping Revenge
1
“So, I was the archangel who opened the gates of Heaven and allowed Lucifer to fall. I was then punished for my sins by being banished from the only home I had ever known and cursed to take up the scythe as the reaper of truly nasty souls. Things were going fine for a long time. I thought I was well on my way to paying my penance and earning my way back home. Then, I learned that instead of harvesting the souls I reaped, Luce has been using them to build some sort of horrific army. As if that isn’t bad enough, Ezekiel, my best friend and only remaining link to Heaven, kissed me and then vanished. To summarize, my life is a hot damned mess, and I’m looking for a night of escape from it before the apocalyptic shit storm hits. Does that answer your question?”
“Not in the least.” Hidden within the garment bag Nyx carried, I watched the gargoyle with a svelte physique and neatly trimmed goatee question my food-bearer. “When I asked what you were doing here, I was talking about the cat in your luggage.”
“The what?” Nyx’s cheeks pinkened as the black-eyed bouncer snatched the bag from her hands and unzipped it.
As if being forced to stow away to attend such a notable event wasn’t bad enough, the rough jostling had me moments from spewing my kibble. Instead of keeping up the charade and hiding, my furry little ebony head popped out, pointy ears first, with my own ticket clenched tight between my teeth.
“I don’t know which one of you I’m more excited to see what The Proprietor has in store for, you or your cat.” The gargoyle chuckled, a lilt of amusement seeping into his smooth baritone voice. “Odd, though, that your cat is your date to The Monster Ball.”
“I have big plans for tonight,” Nyx deadpanned, letting her shoulders rise and fall in a nonchalant shrug. “Thought it would be helpful to bring along a second pussy. Get it? Little play on words there, based on lofty assumptions of my sexual prowess.”
One corner of the handsome gargoyle’s mouth twitched back in an almost smile as he handed her back the garment bag. “You can find a ladies’ room inside to change into your gown. Or, feel free to utilize one of the first-class cabins. I hope you and your… kitty have a wonderful night.” His dark eyes twinkled with delight as he treated her to a flirty wink.
“Cabins?” With me tucked under her arm and her garment bag slung over the opposite shoulder, Nyx stepped over the threshold of the blood- red door.
In place of an answer, it slammed shut behind her, plunging us into an eerie darkness.
“Thank you. That was very helpful,” the cleaner of my litter box grumbled under her breath.
Needing her to know I was displeased by the sudden churning in my gut brought on by whatever magics were at work, I sank my claws into her wrist and bit the heel of her hand.
“Ow! Damn it, A-hole! How the hell did you even get in my bag?”
Yes, that’s what she called me. A-hole. Can you imagine living day after day with such a blatantly disrespectful insult? Once I ruled as an Egyptian goddess. Now, I shared a one-bedroom prison with a leather-clad reaper who referred to me as an off-color name for the rectum.
And she wonders why I bite her.
But tonight, for one glorious evening, I would walk as a human once more. One night a year, I could return to my magnificent form and revel in all the blissful human indulgences I missed. The magics protecting The Ball being what they were, I couldn’t say how it would affect my transformation. Even so, I would be grateful for whatever momentary reprieve I got from my feline entrapment. I was going to drink my fill and find some specimen of testosterone to do unspeakable things with.
In a blink, Nyx and I stood before a beveled glass door that a ghostly butler opened for us with a formal bow of welcome. Music thumped. Beings of every sort mingled in elegant attire. And my companion… bristled.
Not that I could blame her.
Even though the décor had been updated with an alluring gothic flair, there was no mistaking we were on board the most infamous ship in the world—best known for its icy collision and subsequent dive to the depths. Ghosts of those who died aboard the vessel ebbed and flowed through the sea of bodies milling all around. Surrounded by ghosts, and she was a reaper. Not quite the getaway she was hoping for.
But that was her problem, not mine.
I admired the extravagance before me as I retracted my claws. Intricately carved walnut banisters lined the grand staircase which swept us into the lavish celebration below. The music fell away a bit more with each step Nyx took, replaced by a beautifully haunting tune. Glasses clinked. Beautiful beings brushed past us in breathtaking fashions. The smell of salty sea air wafted in from the glass dome overhead. Every bit of it was paradise, an enchanting beginning to my long-anticipated reprieve.
Already on the prowl for the manly scent of my conquest, my nose twitched at the bouquet of scents mingling around us. One in particular caused a white-hot need to pulse in my core. It was the alluring musk of a shifter who had most recently been in mouse form. I spotted him at the bottom of the grand staircase, accepting a glass of champagne from a caterer skirting past. He was a masterpiece of sinewy muscles, expertly tousled hair, and the perfect amount of scruff highlighting his chiseled jawline. The suit coat he wore was pristine white and flawlessly pressed. By the end of the night, I fully intended to see it rumpled on the floor of a private suite.
Nyx’s lips parted with a pop, and her nose crinkled. “Based on the other couples here, it appears I have become the crazy cat lady who brought her pet on a lover’s retreat. Fan-fucking-tastic.”