Read Online Grave Matters by Jana Oliver - Free Book Online

cutting her out of the loop, again.
    You weren’t like this at home. “Is this the way it’s going to be from now on? You keeping secrets from me?”
    Beck sat on the end of the bed, looking more tired than she had seen him in a long time. “There will be things I can’t tell you, Riley. It has to be that way.”
    “Or what? If you do they’ll kill me or something?”
    His eyes widened, but he made no reply. His stunned expression made her regret suggesting such a thing.
    Riley took a deep breath, trying to settle down. “Sorry. So ... what can you tell me?”
    His nod said he accepted her apology. “Brennan was lettin’ me know that the woman they arrested, the one named Bess ... her daughter is gettin’ worse.”
    All because they couldn’t summon an angel.
    “Those guys were set up, Beck. None of them had that much power and they shouldn’t have been anywhere near that kind of spell. That’s way above their skill set.”
    Before he could reply, his phone pinged and he checked the message. Then promptly blanked it as if it was a state secret.
    She’d had enough. “I don’t like that you can’t tell me everything, like I can’t be trusted.”
    Beck put on his stone face. “I’m not likin’ it anymore than you are,” he replied. “But it comes with the territory.”
    Maybe not. When they’d started dating there hadn’t been any of this “I can’t tell you” nonsense. There was just demon trapping, not some secret organization of grand masters who had their fingers in all sorts of pies.
    Now it’s all about you and them. What happened to us?
    ~ - ~ - ~
     
    Beck sat in bed, trying to read, but it was useless. Riley’s emotions were all over the map now — fine one minute, in his face the next.
    Give her some time.
    Still, she did have a point; there was stuff he couldn’t tell her, secret knowledge that had been passed down from century to century. He’d found it so amazing when he’d first started down this path, but now he saw how his job could hurt a relationship. MacTavish had warned him about that, but Beck had reassured him that Riley would be okay with it all.
    Now he wasn’t so sure.
    She exited the bathroom holding one of his tee shirts.
    “Did you treat the wounds?” he asked.
    “Yeah. They still hurt.”
    After he reapplied the bandages, Beck turned off the light on the nightstand as she settled in next to him. If this had been at home, they’d forget the bad stuff, lose themselves in each other’s loving. But Riley didn’t turn to him now.
    He ran his fingertips down her uninjured arm, savoring the scent of her.
    “Night, Den,” she whispered, and then closed her eyes.
    He sighed. It wasn’t going to be easy to sleep next to her and not want more, but he wouldn’t push it. In some ways, it felt as if they were starting all over again.
    It’ll be better tomorrow.
    Beck put his arm around her and she snuggled closer, laying her head on his chest.
    “Sorry, I can’t tell you everythin’” he said. “But I can tell you some things.”
    Riley shifted her head so she could see his face. “Like what??”
    “You never asked what happened to me when I was in Hell,” he said.
    “I wasn’t sure if you wanted to talk about it.”
    “Well, it’s time you know.”
    Riley listened in silence as he told her what had happened after he’d been wounded by Sartael’s blade. What he’d endured while she’d sat vigil over him. How he’d known he was dying, how much it hurt to realize that he’d never see her again.
    “You’ve been to Hell, you know what it’s like,” he said.
    “For me, maybe, but not for you. Ori said it was different for everyone, even a Fallen.”
    Beck grew pensive at the mention of her first lover. “Lucifer said if I gave him my soul I’d live, I’d come back to you and no one would ever know what I’d done.”
    Riley jerked in surprise. “God, you didn’t. You couldn’t...”
    “No, I didn’t,” he admitted. “I love you more than