"Let me guess, you have a penthouse in New York as well," I hummed absentmindedly as I stared out the windows of the taxi, watching the massive steel skyscrapers pass us by. We'd landed in New York City at around 11 pm, and while I thought it would've been dark, it was far from it. The city was bathed in a golden light, defiant against the night. It shimmered with life, with people bustling about and bars packed to the brim.
"No, actually I don't," Grey murmured back, rubbing his thumb across the back of my hand. I turned to look at him beside me, furrowing my brows in surprise.
"I have three. I rent two of them out, though. The third is my personal favorite, and I refuse to share it," he chuckled cheekily, cerulean eyes glimmering with reflections of the city lights.
"How many places do you own, exactly?" I rolled my eyes playfully at him. He tightened his sharp jaw a little, pursing his lips in thought.
"Not sure, actually. I got into some property investments back in the early 2000s. I have my favorites that I keep private, but the others I either rent to celebrities and politicians or sell to the highest bidder," he shrugged, as if such a statement were commonplace.
"Sometimes I forget you're not my age," I snickered and his lips broke into a dazzling grin.
"Only by a few centuries," he retorted playfully and I huffed, looking back out at the glorious city passing us by. It looked so different in my dream. All of this golden light- it had been snuffed out like a candle, covered in inches of silver ash. I could see it so clearly in my head, even now when I was awake.
"Try not to think about that, love. There's still time," Grey murmured softly against the nape of my neck, pressing his lips against my skin. Sometimes I forgot how adept he'd gotten at empathizing with me. It's like I just loved to forget who I was dealing with. To me, he wasn't some centuries old ridiculously powerful Fallen who happened to have control over death. To me, he was just Grey. The same annoying guy who'd sauntered into my organic chemistry class and called me a cheesy Latin name he knew I wouldn't understand.
"When will Siena and the others get here?" I sighed, changing the subject. Grey withdrew his lips from my neck and sat up a little straighter.
"Not sure. Probably soon. Michael wants all the heavyweight here as soon as possible," he explained gruffly. I turned to look at him, amused.
"Heavyweights?" I snickered.
"Yeah, all the angels he knows are going to make huge dents in Hell's Army. The ones who have some weight to throw around," he eyed me playfully.
"So who? You, me, Siena, Barachiel-?" I trailed off, waiting for him to finish.
"You and I, Siena, Ravenna, Barachiel, and Zadkiel," he replied.
"Ravenna? I guess I figured she wouldn't be fighting all too much since she doesn't have wings. And Zadkiel?" I questioned. Grey shook his head quickly.
"Ravenna has wings. You just haven't seen them yet. She has demon wings. Like you saw on Siobhan. Zadkiel isn't as strong of a fighter as Siena or Barachiel, but he's a good strategist," he explained. I huffed, pressing my lips together.
"Where exactly is this penthouse of yours? I'm exhausted," I mumbled annoyedly and Grey chuckled under his breath.
"We're almost there. You'll like it. It has a great view of the city," he replied softly as I leaned back and rested my head against his shoulder. He draped an arm lazily around me and rested his cheek against my head.
"When do your places not have great views?" I quipped sarcastically and I felt his chest rumble in a snicker.
"Fair point. I have great taste," he shrugged nonchalantly.
I hummed back in agreement, some random pop song filling the comfortable silence that followed. Luckily, our taxi driver seemed uninterested in our conversation. Either that or he thought we were crazy. Probably both, come to think of it.
We turned down a few more streets before driving alongside what appeared to be Central Park for a few blocks. Then, the cab swerved to the side and haphazardly parallel parked along the sidewalk. Grey and I clambered out, thanking the driver and paying him before grabbing our backpacks and strolling down the sidewalk. Grey led me up to a massive European style building, giving a doorman a subtle nod as he held open a glass door for us.
The lobby had pristine white marble floors and pillars that stretched up to the high ceilings above us, decorated with massive chandeliers that glistened in the artificial light. There were a few lounge chairs situated around a modern fireplace to my right, and a large black desk with several attendants to my left.
"Welcome back, Mr. Grim," one of the attendants flashed Grey a brilliant grin and he bowed his head slightly in acknowledgement. Mr. Grim? That sounded like something out of a children's novel.
"Death was often characterized as the grim reaper in American media, so I chose it as a fake name when I purchased my properties out here," Grey mumbled under his breath in explanation, as if he knew the questions that had been racing through my head a moment prior.
"What first name did you choose?" I questioned, glancing at him briefly out of the corner of my eye as we approached a set of silver elevators.
"I'd rather not talk about it," he huffed, pressing the up button on the elevator. My lips curled into an amused smirk. This ought to be good.
"Bob?" I guessed with a suppressed snicker and he tightened his jaw, shaking his head a little.
"John," he grumbled back and I fought back an amused snort. Of all the names he could've chosen- he chose the single most predictable male name. At least he didn't choose Chad. I would've lost it if Grey has chosen a frat guy name like Chad.
"You're so creative," I chuckled sarcastically as the elevator doors slid open with a ding. We stepped into a mirrored elevator with soft orchestral music playing in the background.
"Like you could've done better," he retorted playfully, folding his arms across his chest like a pouting child.
"There's thousands of names out there. I'm positive I could've done better," I snickered, earning an eye roll from Grey.
Slowly the elevator came to a halt and dinged as the doors slid open. I followed Grey down the pristine white hallway to a black door at the end of it. What intrigued me about this particular door is that there didn't appear to be any sort of key scanner or lock on the ornate handle. Rather, there was a black screen on the wall next to the door. I watched in curiosity as Grey leaned forward, his eye directly in front of the screen. After a moment of silence, the door clicked and Grey gripped the handle, pushing it open.
I wondered why Grey had such a high level of security for this apartment, when his one in Paris had a simple lock and key mechanism. However, those thoughts fell silent as my eyes examined the beautiful penthouse. The floors were a dark wood, starkly contrasting with the white walls and massive windows overlooking Central Park. To my left was a huge modern kitchen, and to my right a grey sofa and marble fireplace.
"Aren't you going to tell me my parents have great taste?" Grey teased, referring back to when I'd first seen his house in Washington and I'd expected he was living with adults. Little had I known that Grey had amassed quite a decent amount of wealth on his own and was old enough to found the country I lived in.
"I don't even think I have a snide comeback to that. This place is incredible, Grey," I breathed out, slowly walking over to the massive wall of windows. It was a straight drop 100 stories down to the road below, providing an incredible viewpoint of the city. I felt like I could see everything.
"Really? No snarky comeback? I'm disappointed," he chuckled and I felt his fingers interlace with mine. "I have a surprise for you."
I spun around and looked up into those stormy cerulean eyes. Somehow, after all this time, they still mesmerized me. How someone could have such a beautiful color as a part of them- I had no idea. God had truly pulled a Picasso when she made him.
"What? Is Siena here?" I glanced behind him, half expecting her to actually be here. Grey rolled his eyes in silent laughter and shook his head.
"Sometimes I regret ever introducing you two. Ever since then, I feel like I became the third wheel," he teased and I shook my head.
"Such a drama queen," I retorted playfully. Grey sucked in a breath and led me through a door next to the fireplace, into a massive master bedroom. The bed was absurdly huge, covered in a white duvet. I stared longingly at it as he dragged me past it and to the closet.
Closet? Really? He knew me right? I wasn't exactly a clothing connoisseur.
Then he flicked on the light in the closet and I saw it on the hanger. A black battle suit hung there with veins of shimmering platinum bleeding between the plates of glistening black armor. Next to it hung a similar battle suit, but instead of silver, it had dark charcoal between the armor plates. I'd loved Siena's new battle suit when I'd seen her, and now I had my own, as did Grey. I couldn't wait to put it on.
"That's the first surprise. This is the second," Grey spoke softly as I turned back to look at him. In his hands, he held a sword in a silver sheath. The sheath was ornately carved with swirls and stars, all the way up to the hilt of the sword. The hilt was bejeweled with two stones- a dark green emerald and a dark grey gemstone I couldn't identify. Slowly, I reached forward and took it from his hands.
It was lightweight, but I could tell it was a sturdy metal. I gently pulled it from its sheath, as if it could somehow break. The blade glistened in the golden city light that bled through the windows. It was beautiful.
"It's yours. I had Barachiel make it specifically for you," he explained. I gingerly pushed the blade back into its sheath and leaned up, pressing my lips against Grey's.
"Thank you," I smiled, pulling away and setting it aside. "God knows I'll need it."
HEY! Sorry- another filler chapter. We're almost to the Reckoning and I'm procrastinating so I'm sorry. The world kinda sucks right now and I know how this is about to go down so I'm just- trying to hold off for a while until I'm in a place to mentally do this justice.
Hope y'all are good. I love you all. Sorry it's taking forever. Life is weird right now.
-TJ