Chapter 33

Chapter

Thirty-Three

DASH

Hearingthat Lucy was thinking of canceling the wedding made my heart hurt. It was sweet she’d tried to talk Keir into the two of us getting married instead, but it wasn’t our wedding. It was the beautiful one she’d planned with Lenny, and only the two of them should enjoy it.

“No, no. I wanna marry you in our garden like we planned.”

I glanced at Scotty and Frick, who nodded in tandem. I was glad they agreed, but they were acting weird. I needed to get to the bottom of that shit.

Mrs. Burrows, who had a blinding white spirit, stepped forward. “Well, what do we do, fellas?” I liked her immediately.

I turned to Scotty. “If you’re gonna do what I think, I can get Lenny to run to the store with me and leave you and Keir with Mrs. Burrows. Frick, you wanna come along?”

Frick, forever the asshole, laughed. “No, I’m gonna stick here and check out who’s milling around.”

I grabbed Frick’s hand and pulled him away while Keir and Scotty talked to Mrs. Burrows. They had their issues to discuss, and I sure as fuck had mine.

I dragged Frick far enough away that we couldn’t hear them, but that meant they couldn’t hear us. I loved Keir, but there were things he didn’t need to know, maybe ever.

I stared at the man I once thought of as my competition for Keir’s heart. He was no longer a man—he’d morphed into something else, and Beelz was taking his place in the human plane, which was something I had to ask about.

“Have you been keeping up with what the hell Beelz is doing to your rep while he’s prancing around looking like you?"

"What’s he done? We get to come topside in a few months, and if he’s ruined my reputation⁠—”

I couldn’t keep from laughing. “Dude, I think you’re on probation. He beat the shit out of a foster father, later finding out it was the neighbor kid who was beating up the foster kid. You’ll have a lot of bridges to rebuild.”

Frick shook his head in disbelief. “I knew that asshole would fuck things up. I’ll need to talk to the boss about what to do. So, what’s your deal?”

In many situations, I had balls of steel. I’d been to prison at fucking Folsom, which was one of the worst in the state, and I’d survived. Since Keir had come into my life, a lot of shit had happened, and I knew my mission in life was to love and protect him, not that I thought he couldn’t take care of himself. Protecting him was literally my mission in life as his key.

But that thing that had shown up at Dearly & Son? That was fucking nuts, and I needed a demon’s take on it.

“I had an odd visitor at the apartment this morning, and I can’t begin to describe it—and when I say it, I mean it. There was a high-pitched voice daring me to do something, but I don’t know what. It said Lucifer and Nyx had made a bet, but it wouldn’t say about what. ‘Who will he pick?’ It danced around and chanted that like it was crazy. Any idea what the fuck any of it means?”

Frick stood still, which was fucking unnerving because he’d changed a hell of a lot since he’d gone underground. It was good to see him looking fit—and not looking toward my future husband.

“So, demon? Any thoughts?” I needed some sort of fucking help.

“You know, I have an idea of what it might be, but I need to check with some friends. If it’s who I think it is, that fucker is just trying to trick you, Clegg. You know, demons play on your weaknesses. This one especially.”

“Is there...? What should I do about it? Because I’m assuming the thing is coming back. It said that the firefight would be big. Nyx is working the undecided souls, and they have a bet with Lucifer. Is any of this ringing a bell?” I was starting to worry, which wasn’t really like me.

I watched as Frick paced a bit. He seemed to be thinking, but with him, who the fuck really knew? I’d figured him to be an idiot, and nothing he’d done thus far gave me a reason to believe anything different.

“There are rumors going around. None of them mention a bet between Lucifer and anyone, but seriously, who’d be dumb enough to take that action? I mean, you don’t make a deal with the devil.”

I chuckled. “Yeah, I get it, but have you heard of any jokester demons? I mean, they’re your people now, right?”

Frick bristled a little. “I agree that I have a different peer group, but you sound so damn judgmental. I’m trying to help you, asshole. You know, Keir should have⁠—”

The asshole didn’t need to stop talking for me to know what he was going to say. Keir should have fallen for him. Well, that wasn’t what happened, was it? That gorgeous man was mine, and Frick had another destiny. The big blond angel who was talking to Keir. Case closed.

“Yeah, well, we both have our lives set, right? So, help me figure out what the fuck is going to happen. What’s the bet, and what happens to the loser?”

Frick continued to pace. I took the chance to check out his ass, which wasn’t bad at all. Not that I wanted any other ass but my Keir’s. But hell, I wasn’t dead... which reminded me of the fight between Jonas and Vale a few weeks earlier. I did not need that headache.

“Okay. Let me reach out to someone. I’ll see what I can find. Now, get Lenny and go to the store or what the fuck ever you’re doing so we can get this shit straightened out. If their plan doesn’t work, I have a feeling you’ll step in.” It wasn’t a question to him, which was good. I damn well would step in. Something needed to go smoothly.

Frick wentto Lucy and Lenny’s place and vandalized the porch light, so I took Lenny to the hardware store to buy a new one while Keir was otherwise disposed. After we found a replacement fixture, we stopped at a bar for a beer and a burger. Keir hadn’t texted me that he was finished yet, so I was killing time. I wanted to find out about Wilson Warren Williams, anyway.

“That Wilson Williams guy? How’s he doing?” I asked after we ordered.

“He’s doing good in his new living situation. I went to see him and he told me about the truck, so I looked into it and found out it was returned, which is the only thing that matters. Thank you for looking out for him so the police didn’t take him in. He said a friend of yours got him where he needed to be.”

“Uh, yeah. She’s a social worker, and when I explained the situation to her, she took over. He was definitely in good hands with her. He seems like a great guy.”

“Yeah, he is. He’s been a little lost since Wayne was killed. Hopefully the cops will find out what the hell is going on with that doctor. Plus, now, I gotta deal with this bullshit about someone putting my personal information on the internet.” Lenny was definitely pissed about it, and I knew for a fact I wouldn’t want to be on his bad side.

“You don’t think it’s someone from your office, do you?” Sometimes people did shitty things for stupid reasons. Maybe someone didn’t get the raise they wanted and was getting revenge on Lenny by leaking that bullshit.

“That’s what I’m thinking, but I can’t ride in there and start pointing fingers. I don’t want to wrongly accuse anyone, and while I’m retiring from actively taking cases, I’ll still consult when needed. I can’t have assholes showing up at our place when I’m in L.A. and Lucy’s here alone. I’m considering taking the L.A. house off the market and talking Lucy into moving there.”

“Ah. Are you going to bring this up with her before Sunday? Your wedding day? Seems like something you should hash out before you walk down the aisle, doesn’t it?”

Keir would have my nuts if we got married and I was holding back information, which reminded me that I needed to talk to him about my little visitor from earlier in the day. I couldn’t keep it from him, even though I didn’t want to worry him. I also didn’t want him blindsided should the little fucker just show up out of the blue again.

“Damn you, Dash. This thing with Lindsey is throwing me off, but you’re right. I can’t just make those decisions without talking to Lucy. Do you think I’m wrong to just move?”

“Before you find out how your information got on the internet? Hell yeah. Why would you let them push you two out of your home? You live in a gated community, so you should be safe. Give the guys at the gate a twelve-pack on Fridays, and don’t let this bullshit make you hide. Why don’t you go on television and do a press conference, speaking directly to the asshole who released your information? You have a lot of resources to track them down, so you should make it known that you will find them and bring appropriate legal action.”

I nodded for emphasis. Of course I was talking out of my ass, but Lenny’s face split into a big grin, so I took that as a win.

“That’s a damn good idea. Why am I running scared?”

“That’s the spirit.”

We had another beer and headed back to his place. I let him out in front and headed to Lucy’s, assuming Keir was there already.

I hopped out and grabbed the bag from the hardware store, planning to replace the light fixture before Lucy noticed it was broken. I went to the garage and found the toolbox I knew had belonged to David. I took it with me, putting it on the porch before going into the house to see if there was a ladder somewhere.

Ariana was in the living room watching television, and there was laughter from the kitchen, which was good. I walked through and saw Lindsey hugging Lucy while Josh and Keir stood nearby. Poor Josh’s face was filled with disbelief.

I walked closer to Keir and snapped, stopping all movement. I glanced around, not seeing Scotty or Frick. “What’d I miss?”

Keir grinned. “Lindsey talked to her mom. She thinks it was a dream, which is good, and Melanie was able to convince her that she believes Lucy is perfect for Lenny. Where is he, by the way?”

“I dropped him at his house because he was going to try to talk to her again. He’s also going to start investigating at his firm whether he has an asshole who leaked his information. So, am I out as the man of honor?”

Keir wrapped an arm around my shoulder and kissed my cheek. “Not at all. Josh is going to be another groomsman. Lindsey will walk Lenny down the aisle. I’ll walk Mom, and Ariana will lead the procession. It’s going to be just fine.”

And three days later, when we gathered to watch Leonard Burrows and Lucy Dearly tie the knot, everything was better than fine. It was absolutely perfect.