Page 101 of Lessons In Grey

I took the clothes, and he kissed me on my head. It wasn’t his fault. He had warned me about Azrael, I should have considered this a possibility.

His enemies become her enemies.It worked the same for family, I supposed.

I slid under the blankets carefully and pulled on the sweats and shirt he had given me. His shirt. Fuck, I loved that.

“I don’t need your help, Azrael, it’s an open and shut case.”

“It was supposed to be open and shut a month and a half ago,” he said coldly, “and yet here we are. You receiving threatening messages, people following your little mouse.” Another click of his tongue.

My breath caught.

“What?” Grey stated icily.

I flicked the blanket back, sitting straight up, my eyes wide.Shoving myself to a stand, I found them both in the kitchen.

Azrael was standing casually in the kitchen, hands behind his back, an amused smile tilting his lips up. His dark hair was brushed back and he was wearing the same kind of suit Grey always wore. I half wondered if they all wore suits. “Are there people following me?” I asked, finding Grey’s eyes for answers.

He had a mask on. A porcelain mask, shattered in half, but molded perfectly to fit the left side of his face. It had a creepy sharp yellow smile that curled up to his ear, a terrifying yellow eye, fashioned in the shape of something I had seen on an Anime show once, and on the top of it, there was a little red horn. A devil, I realized, the mask was supposed to resemble some kind of devil, and he had shattered it perfectly in half so that the world could compare his real face with the mask he chose to wear.

Azrael looked me over head to toe, absolutely nothing in his dead eyes, making that smile even more unsettling. Why thefuckwas he smiling? “Matthew took care of the little stalker yesterday,” he replied, turning back to Grey. “I’m actually shocked it took Everett so long to contact you. I ceased all contact about a week ago.”

Grey frowned deeply.

Who thefuckwas Matthew?

“Youalwaysdisappear for a few days, that’s normal. How do you know that someone was following her?”

“Because I was following her, of course.” His smile widened. “Cute, but I don’t like mice. I like my women with a little more bite.”

I wrapped my arms around myself, feeling entirely too exposed. “Are there people following me, Rags?”

His eyes flashed at that, and he started for me.

“No,” Azrael answered easily. “But Matthew has been instructed to keep a better eye on you. I assume he won’t train you how to fight.”

I had no want to learn how to fight. None. Should I want that?

Grey closed the distance between us, pulling me into his arms. He hugged me tightly, the scent of him comforting. After a few seconds, he leaned back, sliding his hand over my jaw, running his thumb across my cheek. “Malachi decided to put a man on you to make sure that you were safe. I couldn’t be with you all the time, so he dedicated a man to you.”

I considered his words as I searched his eyes, considered the thought I just had. I held no wish to train to fight, and maybe I should, but for now, I held no ill will towards them for it. I was grateful, in fact. Grateful that even when I had ghosted them, someone Grey knew and trusted had been watching over me. I had never been alone. “Okay,” I nodded. “Classes start soon.” I leaned around him, his hand dropping to his side. “It was less then pleasant to meet you.”

Azrael’s chuckle followed me as I headed for the bathroom. “I could learn to tolerate her if she’s who you choose.”

“She is who I choose,” Grey replied tightly as I shut the bathroom door.

Despite the abrupt morning, a smile touched my lips at his words. I was who he chose.

A shiver ran down my spine and I walked up to the mirror, pasting up my toothbrush, my eyes lifting as I wet it, finding the near black marks that dusted my neck.

My smile grew as I brushed my teeth, admiring the marks. God, I already needed more of him.

~~~

I gnawed on my bottom lip as I watched Grey’s hand grip the shifter. It shouldn’t have been this hot, something had to be wrong with me, right? All I could think about was how that hand had felt against my skin, how those fingers had felt inside of me.

“I’m sorry about this morning.”

I shook the thoughts away, rubbing my thighs together,pulling at my sleeves. Shit, pay attention.