Ask the Oracle (4 page)

Dreo pulled away to meet his gaze, Gray saw the flames had died down to a steady

smoulder.

“We are desperate, Grayson Muir,” Dreo whispered. “We need you. Will you help us?”

Gazing into those fiery eyes, Gray felt his mind fog with lust he knew had nothing to do

with Dreo’s powers, and everything to do with his own rampant libido. Simply put, he

wanted Andreo Demos with a fierceness he’d never experienced before. Gray knew the

attraction he felt was stupid. It was dangerous to have a relationship with a Demon, be it

simply sexual or something more. Demons were dangerous. He understood that fact better

than most.

As an Oracle, he’d witnessed much of the depravity the world had to offer, both human

and paranormal alike. If he gave in to his attraction for this Demon, he would be putting

more at risk than just his heart. The smartest thing to do would be to just walk away. It’s not

like he needed the money. His profession was in high demand and, therefore, had a very

lucrative fee that reflected that fact. He was set for life. Unfortunately, people would be at

risk if the situation escalated. That was something he couldn’t let happen. He was willing to

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JJ Black

21

risk a lot to keep the innocents of the world safe, even his own soul, if it came right down to

it.

Decision made, Gray leaned into the Demon’s hard body, lifted his head and brushed

his lips against Dreo’s in a soft whisper of a kiss. He flicked out his tongue, desperate for a

taste of the man holding him. He knew he was playing with fire, but when it came to Andreo

Demos, it seemed he had no control.

Dreo snagged Gray’s bottom lip between his teeth, briefly, before kissing away the

sting. “Does this mean you agree to help us?” he whispered against Gray’s mouth.

With a final pass of his tongue over the seam of Dreo’s lips, Gray pulled back and met

the Demon’s lust-blown glaze. The beauty of his expression was like a punch to the gut. Gray

inhaled deeply, trying to force air back into his lungs.

The whole situation had ‘train wreck’ written all over it. That fact had him second-

guessing himself. He was normally able to maintain a level of professional distance on any of

the cases he took on. In order to be effective—and stay sane—a minimum degree of

separation was necessary. Without it, he ran the risk of letting his emotions lead his
Sight,

which increased the chance of inaccurate visions. It also raised the risk that he might not be

able to
See
anything at all. His lust for Dreo had his emotions running at an all-time high and

he had never been one for letting his dick do the thinking for him. Besides, Dreo was a

Demon. Gray still wasn’t convinced the man was on the level. For all he knew, Dreo could be

a homicidal Demon, hell-bent on Gray’s torture and ultimate destruction.

Gray took a breath and gave Dreo the only answer he had.

“Let me think about it.”

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ASK THE ORACLE

22

Thursday morning had Gray back in his office, wrapping up a consultation. It had been

three days since Dreo had stormed out of his office. The man had made it abundantly clear

that Gray’s answer to his request for help was unsatisfactory. After growling out what he

was sure were some choice Demonic curses, Dreo had kissed him within an inch of his life

before demanding Gray contact him once he had made his decision. The Demon had then

slammed a business card down on his desk before vanishing from the room without a trace.

Gray would have believed the whole confrontation had been a product of an overactive

imagination and sleep deprivation if it hadn’t been for the subtle scent of sulphur lingering in

the air and that damn business card that had been taunting him from the corner of his desk.

He had spent the last few days jumping at shadows, half expecting the man to just

appear and demand his compliance. Every time a tall, dark haired man walked by, he caught

himself looking to see if it was the gorgeous Demon. The disappointment he felt when the

Demon didn’t show was definitely something he hadn’t expected. While he was still

convinced that getting involved with Andreo Demos would be the worst decision he’d ever

made—even worse than the time he’d agreed to let his elderly neighbour lady set him up on

a blind date with her grandson, who’d ended up having a strange obsession with ingesting

tin foil—he could admit that there was something about the other man that intrigued him to

the point of distraction.

Ridiculously, Gray had been under the mistaken impression that Dreo returned his

feelings. The last few days of silence, however, had put the kibosh on that line of thinking.

Gray berated himself for his foolishness. He was never one to fall so quickly. His track record

with relationships was shit. Because of that, he’d learned to always be cautious when

entering into a new relationship. From men who were caught up in the allure of being with

an Oracle, to the plain old everyday crazies, it was hard for Gray to let down his guard.

Getting involved with a Demon would be a guaranteed broken heart. It was best to clear his

head of all things Demon and focus on what was important—his work.

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23

His meeting that morning was with the CEO of a major engineering company. Some

might think that was strange, but people came to him from all walks of life, seeking all kinds

of information. Anything from who they should marry, to whether or not it would be a bad

idea to start mass marketing nuclear weapons. He had heard it all. Thankfully, this client’s

needs were much more mundane. The middle-aged business man just needed insight into

the best direction to take his company for future growth and profitability.

It was Gray’s policy to never dole out advice for people to follow. In his opinion, that

was a completely different line of work, one he had no desire to delve into. All he did was

see possible futures. Who was he to decide what the best one was? It was Gray’s belief that it

was his job to present the options. When faced with all the possible outcomes, most people

were able to choose the best course of action on their own. Very rarely did it become a matter

of trying to choose the lesser evil. In those cases, he had a psychiatrist, an Empath, a life

coach, an accountant and a private detective that he referred people to, depending on their

need. He was only equipped to deal with
Seeing
—everything else, he left to the professionals.

He wrapped up his client consultation quickly. It was a straightforward request and

would take just one sitting to get the information the man desired. Gray led him to the lobby,

where Sarah would get him set up with his appointment.

As he rounded the corner, he caught a whiff of sulphur a moment before he registered a

familiar figure looming in the corner of the lobby. His heartbeat picked up to a frantic pace,

despite his efforts to remain indifferent to his presence. The man was gorgeous. Dressed in

dark denim, a black T-shirt, and a steel grey military jacket, Dreo still managed to look regal

and imposing. His long fall of hair had been pulled back into a queue, allowing Gray to be

hit with the full power of those amazing eyes. He nearly gasped aloud at the raw need he

saw reflected there. Gray had hoped the Demon’s effect on him during their last meeting had

been a fluke, never to be repeated. It was clear that was not the case.

Doing his best to ignore the man, Gray walked his client over to Sarah, giving his

assistant a brief explanation of what they needed to have set up. With their appointment

finalized, Gray bid the gentleman farewell before turning his attention back to what he was

now considering ‘his Demon’.

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24

“How can I help you today, Mr Demos?” The words were polite and professional. His

suggestive tone was anything but. Gray drank in the sight of the tall Demon as he fought

back the urge to climb his body like a tree. Man, did he want another taste of that.

“There are many ways you can help me, Grayson Muir, but for now, we will settle for

the matter of you taking on my case and discovering who killed our Lord. I have allowed

you more than enough time to consider the matter,” Dreo stated firmly. “I need your answer.

If I cannot secure your assistance, we will need to look into other means of resolving the

situation.”

Gray frowned. “When we spoke before, you insinuated that I was your only option to

fix the problem. Now, you seem to be brimming with solutions. What’s changed?”

Crossing his thick arms over his chest, Dreo scowled down at Gray. “I never said that

you were our only solution, just the best one. We have other means of flushing out the

perpetrator, however, they wouldn’t be as tactful as having you discover the truth.” Dreo

shrugged, dismissively. “In lieu of other alternatives, we can always declare a hunt for the

guilty party. Eventually, he or she will be brought to justice, but innocents may be harmed in

the process. Utilising your gifts would help us minimise the reality of unwanted violence.”

Dreo’s expression was fierce, further inciting the hunger building inside Gray. He was

consumed with thoughts of his Demon stripping him bare and mounting him in the office

lobby, without a care to may see their coupling. It was disconcerting to say the least. While

Dreo’s expression was all business, Gray could see the barely contained fire in Dreo’s eyes.

He wasn’t as unaffected as he might like to appear. Gray smirked, a sense of victory filling

him.

“Sarah! How’s the rest of my day looking?” He threw a look over his shoulder, smiling

in the face of her scowl. She really hated when he shouted for her.

“You’re clear for the rest of the weekend,” she announced a few key strokes later. “You

don’t have another appointment until Monday afternoon.” Her smug expression made Gray

want to pinch her. She knew he wasn’t happy about this job. He’d been hoping she would be

a good friend and give him an out. Glowering at her lack of loyalty, he received a finger

wave in response. Giving her up as a lost cause, he turned back to the sexy Demon who was

staring at him expectantly.

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JJ Black

25

“Fine!” Exasperated, he grabbed his jacket off the stand by the door. “If you need

anything, I’ll probably be unreachable. Hell gets terrible cell service.”

Sarah laughed. “I’m sure I can hold the fort for a few days without anything

catastrophic happening. You boys have fun.”

“Yeah, that’s real great advice for someone taking a trip to the Underworld,” Gray

grumbled. He left the office with the sound of Sarah’s laughter still ringing in his ears and a

feeling of foreboding burning in his stomach. Hell was a dangerous place at the best of times.

Heading there in hopes of flushing out a killer was a death wish in the making. Gray hoped

that any death involved with their trip wouldn’t be his own.

* * * *

Travel to Hell was surprisingly easy, a fact that Gray was extremely grateful for. All it

took was a bit of privacy and a few muttered words from Dreo and, before he knew it, they

were standing in a marbled courtyard under a hazy black sky. It only took a moment for a

wave of sticky heat to settle over them, practically suffocating Gray with its weight. Gray

was grateful he had dressed in light clothes and left his jacket at home, as moisture was

already beading on his skin. He struggled at first, gasping and choking for air. It was similar

to trying to inhale in a sauna, magnified by a thousand. Taking a few deep gulps, he sighed

in relief when he eventually settled back into a normal breathing pattern.

No longer in danger of asphyxiating, Gray allowed himself a moment to take in his

surroundings. At a glance, the Underworld didn’t appear that different from a normal

human town. Homes and storefronts lined the streets and littered the landscape. Men,

women and children wandered freely, running errands and just going about their lives.

Everything was just so…normal. It was almost too easy to forget the fact that this wasn’t a

regular neighbourhood and these weren’t ordinary people. Any doubts he had about that

were quashed when an explosion sounded, shaking the ground and rattling windows.

Instantly alert, Gray focused on finding the location of the disruption.

Trusting his senses, Gray turned his gaze towards the outskirts of the civilised little

mecca. When the glowing flames of the Pits came into view, there was no doubt in Gray’s

mind that they were the source of the disturbance. They sparked and hissed as hellfire broke