Thanatos stood with me in his arms. His wings spread to an enormous wingspan, making him appear larger. “Back down, Lucifer,” he snarled.
Lucifer stood from the table, but Uriel stood in front of him, her hand sliding under the black tunic he’s wearing to touch his bare chest. A warm light glowed on her hand, and Lucifer instantly calmed. The darkness from his hands faded and his shoulders slumped. He grabbed Uriel, burying his nose into her shoulder.
What the hell was that?
“Lucifer has anger issues,” Thanatos whispered to me.
That’s an understatement.
Lucifer whipped his head toward me and I clung to Thanatos once more.
Thanatos chuckled and cupped my cheek. “You will have to be more patient, Lucifer. Juniper speaks her mind. A trait I have come to enjoy.”
“Did he just chuckle?” Hades pointed at Thanatos. “And do I see flesh and blood on your hand? Fuck, what has gone on in the past weeks?”
Ember smiled, her fingertips dancing on her lips. “He’s been busy, you know, working, saving damsels in distress.”
Thanatos cleared his throat and led me back to the table. “I only saved the one, thank you.”
I did my best to hide my smile but failed miserably.
We engaged in small talk for the rest of lunch. No one brought up the term mate again, and I thought it was an unspoken message not to, but I would not forget about it.
The whole lunch was just overall strange to me that gods were sitting at the table like everything was normal. Sitting, eating, not arguing, just talking. Except for the minor mishap with Lucifer, he was pretty normal too. I thought Lucifer was the fallen angel of heaven, but he was, in fact, Hades’ son.
I learned very early that the gods were not like the typical gods of old that I’d learned about and Uriel was a trip. She gave a brief history of herself because I’d never heard of her before. Her powers suited her. Goddess of Innocence and Grace. Her parents, Hera and the Archangel Michael brought her up in a very sheltered home, and I’m pretty sure they should addslightly floaty andshelteredto her goddess title. She was child-like but in a refreshing way.
Uriel made me smile, though. My random bouts of speaking out loud were funny and refreshing to her and she didn’t find me overly weird.
Lucifer even calmed down. He didn’t give me any more death glares once lunch was over. Uriel kept holding my hand, andwhen she did, this beautiful glow would radiate between us and it would trigger the soul reflector that Thanatos put inside me, causing me to light up even when the lights were on in the room. My whole body would light up and Uriel would ooh and ahh over it.
“Luci, I’m going to go take Juni to the closet.” Uriel decided as she pulled me out of my chair. “I want to see if she can light the entire room up.”
Lucifer laughed and squeezed her butt. “Do the one right here in the dining room. Come back in a few minutes.”
Thanatos motioned for me to come over and grabbed my wrist and pulled me towards him. “Don’t leave the room.”
My eyes widened. “Since when do you get bossy over me? Am I your mate or something?” I pried.
His shadows encompassed me, pulling me closer to him, his glowing blue eyes dimmed in his hood as if they were narrowing at me. “You are, and I will explain more later about that. Do not leave this room.”
I squeezed my thighs together, and he placed a kiss on the back side of my hand.
“Wow,” Uriel breathed as she ran us across the dining hall, “I’ve never seen Thanatos give affection before. I think he is totally gaga for you!”
She pulled open the handle to a black door filled with gold trimmings and pulled me inside. Fancy teacups, linens, silver, and extra place wear filled the shelves.
Holy cow, it was as big as my apartment back on earth.
“Wow, look how pretty you are!” Uriel touched my skin, watching the sparkles climb up my arm. “And it does this every time you are in the dark?”
“Yup.” I touched it with my finger, still amazed. “And the little green sparks are part of my aura. I don’t know what it means,and neither does Thanatos, but someone in Bergarian can read it, but I’m not allowed to meet him.”
“King Osirus,” Uriel said. “Yeah, I heard he is really handsome. Thanatos wouldn't want you near anyone because you're not officially mated yet. He doesn’t want anyone to steal you away.” Uriel continued to touch my skin and then looked around the walls where it cast the glow. “Wonder if he could do this for me so I don’t have to sleep with a night light.”
I let Uriel watch the sparkles on my skin until I couldn’t hold it in anymore: “Uriel? What is a mate?”
Uriel pulled a sucker from her sundress pocket. “I shouldn’t tell you. Thanatos should tell you that. It’s a mate thing.” She licked the cherry red sucker. “Sorry, do you want one?” Uriel pulled out another sucker.
