“Don’t call me babe, you rotten son of a bitch.”
He chuckled. “Don’t know what’s got your panties in a twist. In case you don’t recall, you had a good time. You know, that whole coming-your-brains-out part?”
The grinding of her teeth didn’t quite drown out Cass’s admonishing retort. “Sam, you’re not helping here. Why don’t you let me field the rest of this conversation?”
He gave another mocking wave of his bottle. “The floor is all yours.”
Cass gazed at Marabella pleadingly. “Please know none of this was done to intentionally hurt you.”
An enormous lump of regret stuck in her throat. “Did he tell you I was a virgin?”
Cass winced before shooting Sam a withering glare. “No, he didn’t.”
A portion of Sam’s callous disregard cracked. Amazingly enough, his expression even turned momentarily sheepish. “You can stop looking at me like I’m a damn puppy killer or something, for fuck’s sake. I didn’t know initially. By the time the deed was done, it was too late.”
Cass gave him a strange look that wasn’t easily decipherable. When she glanced back at Marabella, the deep consideration in her eyes intensified. “Hmm, interesting.”
“What?” Sam and Marabella demanded in unison.
“Nothing. Just mulling around some theories. But getting back to that night…” Cass lifted to her feet and paced in front of Marabella. “Sam was in a desperate situation. We wouldn’t have pulled you into this unless we absolutely had to, believe me.”
The conviction in Cass’s tone acted as a dab of salve to Marabella’s hurt. “I still don’t understand. What does my breaking his seal have to do with it all?”
“He had to break it in order to sever his familiar contract with Pricilla.”
“The soulless greedy bitch with the bad taste in goons, I presume?”
Cass nodded. “She weaseled the demon king into granting her Sam’s contract, rather than executing him.”
The statement knocked Marabella square in the solar plexus. “They were going to kill Sam?” The realization prompted an icy shiver of horror down her spine. Which made no sense, considering what a heartless bastard he was. Why should she care if he’d nearly been executed, especially after the way he’d used her? Still, it didn’t ease the queasiness sloshing around in her stomach.
“It was supposed to be his punishment for aiding in Antoinette Delacroix’s demise.”
“B-but why would he have been punished for that? She was a crazy, evil bitch.”
Sam grunted. “Hell, that’s putting it lightly.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Cass interjected. “The demon council has a strict code of conduct for their soul collectors. Endangering any of the members or your master is basically the biggest no-no.”
Marabella stared at Sam. “If you knew there was a good shot you’d be killed…why did you do it?”
He remained stubbornly tight-lipped. It wasn’t until Cass opened her mouth and started to blurt something that he finally deigned to speak. “None of that is relevant to the here and now. Long story short, you and I knocking boots stripped me of my seal and now, like it or not, you’re on Pricilla’s radar.”
“Why? What could she possibly want from me?”
“That’s what we’re here to find out.” Cass frowned. “Unfortunately, I’m finding that a lot harder to do since there’s a security block on your soul.”
“A what?”
Cass took her hand and led her to the couch. Once they were both seated, Cass cocked her head to the side. “Remember I told you I was half demon? Well, the other half of me is reaper. My genes grant me the ability to read the blueprint on anyone’s soul. Before you, I’ve never encountered anyone who I’ve been denied access to read.”
Marabella gaped at Cass, trying to correlate the image of a grim reaper with the woman sitting beside her. Where was the black cloak and sickle? She shook her head to get her scattered thoughts back on track. “Why would there be a block on me?”
“I’m not sure. My best guess is someone is trying to hide your identity. Someone who is pretty freaking high up in the ranks, judging from the security issue required to perform this level of block.”
“But I don’t get it. You can easily get any of my records through the state. There’s nothing to hide.”
Cass patted Marabella’s knee. “Your soulprint carries far more detailed information than things like where you live and if you have too many speeding tickets. A reaper can read your DNA and even trace your family tree back to the beginning of time within the blink of an eye.”
“Wow.”
“Exactly. So you can see how having a block on your soulprint amounts to having your entire history under lock and key.”
“Yeah, I guess so.” But she still couldn’t wrap her mind around why there would be any reason for such a block on her soul to exist. She suddenly remembered Madam Regina’s insistent warnings. “Wait a sec. I was able to have a psychic read me. How was she able to get through the block?”
“By read, I’m assuming you mean she told you your fortune or something?” Cass smiled. “Nothing against psychics, but that’s nothing like what reapers do. Mediums aren’t digging around in your soulprint.”
“Okay, that makes sense. Not to mention she told me I’d be cursed with virginity for life. Not exactly accurate.” She slid a glance toward Sam and noticed that he was staring at her intently. A flush traveled over her skin and made her nipples bead. She was immensely grateful to be wearing a padded bra that concealed the traitorous buggers.
“What about Nikki?” Sam asked suddenly. “Maybe she has higher clearance than you.”
“I doubt it. But it still probably wouldn’t hurt to have her swing by later and take a shot at reading Marabella.” Cass caught her quizzical look. “Nikki’s my sister. Technically, of the two of us, she’s the legitimate reaper. I pretty much try to stay out of the family business.” Her lips adopted an ironic twist. “Try being the operative word.” The couch springs creaked as Cass once again rose to her feet. “Speaking of Nik, I should probably head back to Sam’s and make sure she followed orders.”
Sam quickly drained the last of the wine cooler and pushed away from the wall. “I’ll hit the head before we leave.” He glanced at Marabella. “Okay if I use your bathroom?”
Cass paused in the process of flipping open her cell phone. “Uh, Sam, you’re staying here.”
She and Sam both gaped at Cass before simultaneously yelling, “What?”
Cass winced and rubbed her ears. “Damn, you two have some serious lung capacity.”
“I’m not fucking staying here, Cass,” Sam growled.
For once, Marabella was in full accord with him. Sam under the same roof as her? Talk about the mother of all complications. Between her thoroughly inappropriate lustful urges for him and the danger of him being discovered in her apartment, it was a disaster in the making. “He’s right. He can’t stay here.”
“I’m sorry, but he’ll have to.” Cass stuffed her cell phone into her pants pocket and strode to Marabella. She took a hold of Marabella’s hand and offered a squeeze that was likely meant to be reassuring, though Marabella felt anything but. “You’re in danger, and we dragged you into it. We can’t leave you unprotected. Not until we figure out what the hell Pricilla is up to.” Cass glanced over her shoulder at Sam, who was glaring at them with the blackest scowl to ever darken a face. “You know what I’m saying is true. Pricilla is aware a witch broke your seal, and she knows the perpetrator is local. She has enough information to start a modern-day witch hunt. It’s our responsibility to safeguard Marabella. Would you be able to live with yourself if something happened to her?”