Gates of Greed : A New Adult Paranormal Romance (Keepers of the Grail Book 3) Read online

  Gates of Greed

  KEEPERS OF THE GRAIL 3

  TAMAR SLOAN

  JESS CONNORS PUBLISHING

  Contents

  Prologue

  1. Reign

  2. Arielle

  3. Reign

  4. Arielle

  5. Reign

  6. Arielle

  7. Reign

  8. Arielle

  9. Reign

  10. Arielle

  11. Reign

  12. Arielle

  13. Reign

  14. Arielle

  15. Reign

  16. Arielle

  17. Reign

  18. Arielle

  19. Reign

  20. Arielle

  21. Reign

  22. Arielle

  23. Reign

  24. Arielle

  25. Reign

  26. Arielle

  27. Reign

  28. Arielle

  29. Reign

  30. Arielle

  31. Reign

  32. Arielle

  33. Reign

  34. Arielle

  35. Reign

  36. Arielle

  37. Reign

  38. Arielle

  39. Reign

  Epilogue

  Gates of Wrath

  Gabby and Colt have their own story!

  Have you read the Keeper Chronicles Prequel?

  Also by Tamar Sloan

  About the Author

  Prologue

  Xeven’s forgotten something. He’s not sure what it is, but the incessant way it claws at his consciousness tells him it’s important. But, no matter how hard he tries, it won’t rise beyond the dark veil it’s hidden behind.

  Even though there’s nothing more he wants than to know what it is.

  It’s days like this that he turns to Cain for help. Somehow, he makes the itchy, uncomfortable sensation go away.

  But Cain has been missing for days.

  Which leaves Xeven endlessly pacing his mansion, scratching at his skin even though the itch is so much deeper than that. He has to do something. Anything.

  He strides to the large ornate mirror hanging above the fireplace. “Azazel,” he barks.

  All that stares back at Xeven is his reflection. It’s a man he barely recognizes anymore. He looks away in disgust. It’s a man he can’t bring himself to like.

  “Ah, Xeven,” says a serene, soothing voice.

  Xeven turns back, finding the angel now staring back at him.

  Azazel’s hard eyes glint from his pale, beautiful face. “I was just about to contact you.”

  “You’ve noticed Cain hasn’t returned.”

  But the angel simply swats his hand. “That’s very inconvenient.”

  Xeven frowns. “We must find him.” Two Gates of Hell have been opened. The third now waits.

  “We have more important issues to address.”

  “But—”

  “I can feel the power of the obsidian,” Azazel snaps. “It’s been freed.”

  Xeven stills. He knows of the obsidian. He’s been warned of what it’s capable of. Azazel leans forward and Xeven almost takes a step back as if the angel can step through the mirror. “Its power can best angels. The obsidian is what we must find.”

  Xeven nods, calmer now that he has instructions. The itchy, restless feeling abates and he lets out a relieved breath. He’s a soldier, nothing more.

  And he has his orders.

  “Very well,” he says, his voice emotionless. “I will find the obsidian.”

  Azazel’s image dissolves as Xeven spins on his heel.

  Even Cain can’t match the obsidian.

  Chapter 1

  Reign

  The streets have become Reign’s friends.

  Actually, if you define friends by how much time you spend with them, then they’ve probably reached bestie status.

  He jams his hands in his pockets and hunches his shoulders as he takes a right, not knowing where he’s going, but not really caring. Right now, the cracked, gray pavements are all the company he wants.

  He barely spends any time at the cottage now. Not since Shell’s funeral a week ago. It’s just too empty without Mac. He still can’t believe she upped and left with Sierra. She’d tried to hide her excitement as she told him, but it’s like she was trying to contain a packed popcorn machine. She kept hopping from foot to foot, bursting with little jolts of anticipation. When she asked how everything went with Arielle, she accepted his non-committal answer. For the first time in their friendship, she didn’t pry and poke and prod. She was off to find answers for something else.

  She’s off to find the Grail.

  Good luck with that.

  Reign jams his hands even further into his pockets, tightening them into fists. Mac texts, but not often. Wherever they are, there’s not great reception. He misses her. She’s the one person he could have spoken to about the other reason he’s avoiding the cottage.

  Arielle.

  And all the could-have-beens that are now associated with her.

  Could he have done something different and saved the Innocent?

  Could she have kissed him like that, even without Lust hanging around?

  Could their attraction have been real?

  He kicks the curb, then apologizes under his breath. That’s no way to treat a bestie, and right now, he could use all the friends he can get.

  Of course, Gabby’s called. Even Colt rang. But Reign kept the conversations short. The weight of losing Rachel’s father, Paul, so soon after Shell had been a major blow to everyone’s confidence. There was little to say.

  “Reign, my man!” calls a voice as a BMW pulls up to the curb. “You look like you need a joyride!”

  He looks up, seeing Rico in the driver’s seat, his arm hanging out the window. Darnell’s upper half is poking through the sunroof. “Come on, Reign. It’ll be just like old times!”

  A few people turn to look, but Reign ignores them, just like Rico and Darnell do. If they were influenced by people’s disapproval, they would’ve stopped attending elementary school.

  He walks over, grinning. “Nice ride.”

  Rico grins right back. “It’s my uncle’s.”

  “That Uncle Stan of yours sure is a nice guy,” says Reign, shaking his head.

  Darnell thumps the roof of the car, no doubt in a way the fictional Uncle Stan wouldn’t approve of. “Let’s do this, bro!”

  “We’ve got a full tank of gas and we’ve already been to Chook Nook.” Rico jerks his thumb over his shoulder to the backseat. The tinted window winds down and Reign’s eyes widen at the stacks of bulging paper bags.

  “Were you thinking of feeding a developing country?”

  Rico laughs, the sound almost a cackle. “We were hungry, okay?”

  “You won’t be able to get out of the car if you eat all that,” Reign warns.

  They’ll be trapped by their own bulk in a stolen vehicle.

  Rico laughs again. “Keep that up and we won’t share.”

  “Who said anything about sharing?” demands Darnell. He shoots back down through the sunroof and scoops up as many of the bags as he can into his arms. Like they’re his children.

  Reign chuckles, although he’s not too sure that Darnell’s joking. “I’d forgotten how crazy you two are.”

  “That’s because you ain’t been around much,” Rico shoots back. “Time to realize the errors of your way, my friend.”

  Memories of their wild times rise in Reign’s mind. There was no care for the consequences of their
actions. For the future. For what others thought of them.

  They were hazy days defined by freedom and a total lack of care factor.

  He kinda likes the sound of that.

  Stepping around the front of the BMW, he clasps the door handle on the passenger side. Rico whoops with excitement. “Reign is in da house!”

  Darnell juggles his bags of food, grinning. “I’ll give you a small fries just cause it’s good to have you back.”

  Except Reign hesitates.

  All the possible consequences of his actions are already tapping on his shoulder.

  He’s conscious of what this could mean if he gets caught.

  Dammit. He cares what Mac or Gabby or Colt or Rachel or Sierra or Blaise or Nim would think of him if he did this.

  Or Arielle.

  Even though her feelings for him don’t extend beyond friendship, he…doesn’t want to let her down.

  Oh, and apparently he’s the Keeper of the Grail.

  He steps back. “Actually, I’ve got somewhere to be.”

  “Where?” Rico asks, his eyes narrowing. “You gonna go hang with your new friends?” he sneers.

  “Ah, no,” says Reign, glad he doesn’t have to lie. “I might go check out Chook Nook myself and get more than a small fries” he adds, promptly following up with a lie. “Hopefully you haven’t cleaned them out.”

  “They’d better not be,” exclaims Darnell. “We said we’d be back for dinner.”

  Rico guns the engine. “You chickening out?”

  In the past, that line always worked. Reign’s fearlessness, no matter how misplaced, was his one badge of honor. Something he could actually be proud of.

  Even he’s surprised when he releases the door and steps back. “I just really want Chook Nook, okay?”

  Darnell nods. “I get ya, man. Order the nuggets. You’ll be amazed how many you can put away.”

  “Let’s get out of here,” Rico growls. “He’s decided he’s too good for the likes of us.”

  With a squeal of tires and a puff of blue-black smoke, they roar away.

  Reign stands on the side of the street, watching them fishtail around the corner, wondering if he did the right thing. Adrenaline is a rush. It helps you forget.

  He could use both right now.

  Instead, he heads back the way he came, tired and actually a little bit hungry. Must be the sight of all that takeaway.

  The walk back to the cottage isn’t far. Although he’s been hitting the pavement every day, it’s like there’s some invisible boundary around Sierra’s house that he won’t go beyond. Some foolish part of him thinks he should stay close enough if someone needs him.

  So far, no one’s called.

  Walking past the house, he notes that Arielle’s car is there before he means to. She’s home. He wonders how she’s faring considering Sierra’s also gone. Those two have a close mother-daughter bond. Sierra leaving would’ve been hard on Ari just after Paul and Shell’s deaths.

  Jamming his hands back in his pockets, he hunches back down like a turtle as he strides past. He needs a little more time before he faces her again. He may have been the one to say there’s nothing more than friendship between them, but that doesn’t mean his heart has listened. It’s going to take a little while to get that rebellious organ with a mind of its own under control.

  Back in the cottage, the fridge is empty, but Reign knew it would be. It’s what’s in the freezer that has become his primary form of sustenance.

  Double dark chocolate ice cream.

  Flopping down on the couch, Reign jams his spoon into the rich, cocoa bliss. He puts it in his mouth and sighs. Damn, it’s delicious. He scoops up a larger spoonful and puts the whole lot in his mouth. In fact, he doesn’t think he’s ever tasted anything so good!

  Suddenly, the door flies open, and Arielle strides in, her gaze scanning the room until it falls on him.

  The decadent ice cream on his tongue evaporates right there and then, one word his only thought. Arielle. Hair spun of gold, face molded from beauty. The body that’s invaded his dreams.

  And she’s wearing those sexy, quirky boots of hers.

  His heart crashes against his ribs in its need to go to her. He sits up slowly, pulling the ice cream tub a little closer. It’s melting, but he’ll take any armor he can get right now.

  She frowns as she notices the movement. “How much of that have you eaten?”

  He glances down at the half empty tub, surprised that more is missing than he expected. “Why? Was I supposed to share?”

  Seeming to reach a decision, she walks over and picks up the remote, turning the TV on. “You haven’t seen the news, have you?”

  “The rise in alcohol-fueled violence is alarming,” says a news reporter, a burning building behind him. “This pub was the site of a ten person brawl resulting in the destruction you see behind me. Along with the three deaths at liquor stores across the city, police have been stretched to capacity.”

  Arielle presses mute as the scene zooms in on the flames gorging on overturned tables and chairs in front of the building. “They haven’t linked all this to the increase of armed robberies at supermarkets,” she says somberly. “People are killing for food.”

  Reign shoves away the ice cream tub, already missing the bitter yet sweet party on his tongue. But the memory of Darnell coveting that Chook Nook is turning his stomach. The knowledge that his own hunger was driven by something far more sinister, just like Arielle’s feelings for him, is dragging at his heart. “It’s the next Sin, isn’t it?”

  She nods. “That’s why I’m here. We have to stop it.”

  He pushes to his feet. “And the Innocent?”

  “We need to find him or her.” Arielle’s gaze flickers. “Gabby’s called a team meeting in ten.”

  Which means they’re going to be working together again.

  As friends.

  Fucking great.

  He walks past Arielle and opens the door, waving for her to exit. “If that bitch Gluttony has ruined double dark choc ice cream for me, I’m going to be pissed.”

  He’s researched the Sins and the Gates of Hell to know what they’re dealing with.

  The time for avoiding Arielle is over.

  The time for avoiding his destiny as the Grail Keeper is over.

  Gluttony is in da house.

  Chapter 2

  Arielle

  As Arielle walks back to the house, she’s super conscious of Reign right behind her. Seeing him again was more of a jolt than she was hoping it would be. She told herself that some time apart was all she needed. That his impact on her would fade.

  Except her pulse had already been tripping over itself before she even opened the door. Her eyes couldn’t seek him out fast enough.

  And when they found him, her heart danced. Leaped. Did a pirouette or two. And settled as if everything was right in the world, all at once.

  You don’t need him. Arielle’s foot catches on a brick in the path and she stumbles. Any feelings he had for you were driven by Lust.

  Reign’s arm snaps out and grasps hers. “You okay?”

  She jerks herself away too fast, drawing an instant frown from Reign. She resists the need to rub the place where his touch burned her, unsure how she can explain her reaction.

  The obsidian is back.

  “Yeah, fine. I wasn’t watching where I was going.”

  Reign’s hand falls to his side. “You went real pale there for a second.”

  Dammit. Does he have to be so observant? “Just thinking.”

  “What about?”

  You.

  And me.

  And where the truth lies.

  He will only use you and spit you out.

  Arielle frowns. The obsidian has been quiet over the past several days. She’d almost started hoping it failed to take root in her mind. This is a complication she doesn’t need right now.

  You’re stronger alone. That’s how you killed Lust.

  But not i
n time. The second Innocent was killed.

  “Ari?” Reign asks, sounding concerned.

  She looks up at him, her heart kick starting again as she connects with jungle green eyes. So many layers. So many tangles. Each one as fascinating as the last.

  He steps a little closer. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

  The concern narrowing his eyes is unmistakable. Reign cares. It may not be the deep emotion she wants, but he cares.

  Take that, she mutters internally. Reign doesn’t use people. He doesn’t want to see her hurt.

  He takes another step forward, his hand rising as if to touch her arm again, only to hesitate. “If you could answer a question, I’d really appreciate it.”

  She tries to smile. She really does, but suddenly the world’s dimming. She gasps and this time, Reign does grab her.

  And she grips him back.

  The world is disappearing. Another vision is descending, and she’s terrified that it’s the obsidian’s dark hold on her.

  An obelisk appears, powerful and tall. And whole.

  Arielle holds her breath, waiting for it to crack and crumble. They always crack and crumble.

  But it remains as is, punching into the sky, a stone monolith that’s withstood the ages. Strangely, her stomach starts to ache, the hollow feeling growing exponentially. In a breath, she’s hungry. Starving. So ravenous she almost doubles over, trying to alleviate the pain.

  Gluttony.

  Before she can move, a bright figure appears beyond the obelisk. White robed and white winged, it runs toward her, hands outstretched. Although she can’t make out any features, whether the figure is male or female, she knows it’s an Innocent. And that they’re scared.