The Devil’s Reward: An Opposites Attract Romance (The Devil’s Soldiers)

Why does he call it a coven?

“Why do we have to get groceries?” Macy whines as we grab a cart and I lift her into it so she can sit down. After such a busy day at school, she’s going to crash soon, and I still need to get groceries before I take her home and get her ready for bed. It’s hard being a single mom sometimes, but I’ve become a pro at this.

“Because you insist on eating. If you don’t want an empty lunchbox all week, we need to buy things to put in it,” I explain as I push the cart forward.

Her eyes glint as she regards me. I can all but see the gears turning as she tries to figure out if she can squeeze me for some extras, like candy and chips. Or twinkies, any junk really. Lord only knows. My little girl has a sweet tooth, and she isn’t afraid to use it. “Okay,” she says simply, sitting down in the cart calmly, though her head is already swiveling to take everything in as I grab things off the shelves and hand them to her.

By the time we get halfway through the aisles, the cart is nearly full. Macy oh so helpfully pointed out a few things we needed, though I didn’t miss her sly attempts to add in a few extras as we went. Some I caved on, but others I didn’t, like the giant bag of chips that was almost as big as her.

I’m halfway down the canned food aisle when I hear a familiar voice say, “I swear to God, Shadow, if you don’t stop rushing me, I’m going to give you a reason to use that bail money.”

“The other jailbird’s here too, so chances are we’ll have to use it anyway,” Shadow’s deep voice replies blandly. “Why the hell am I here again?”

“Because you were letting Crypt settle in, and the other Prospects are busy,” the female voice reminds him. “Which means you drew the short straw.”

“Next time I’m measuring those straws,” I hear him mutter. I bite back a laugh as I slowly push forward to the end of my aisle before turning down theirs.

I immediately recognize Shadow and Rose from the mechanic shop, but I don’t recognize the other woman with him. She’s gorgeous. Much taller than me at five-ten, with beautiful dark brown hair pulled back into a simple ponytail, wearing a pair of dark jeans that hug her curves and a t-shirt that shows off her slim waist. Her toned arms sport a couple interesting tattoos. She’s wearing a cut like Shadow and Rose, but hers has something else on the front, and I can’t make out what it says.

“It’s my friend!” Macy screeches excitedly, making all three of them turn to look at us in surprise. My face flames, and I slow my movements instinctively. I’m not scared of them, but I also don’t want to interrupt. And I don’t know how to feel about seeing Shadow again for the second time today.

He looks over at us in surprise, and his eyes land on mine just long enough for something to flash in them before they move on to Macy. His face goes from scowling to smiling almost instantly, completely transforming. Rose beams at us, and the other woman smiles warmly. “Hey there, little con artist,” Shadow drawls. “How many more treats have you managed to swindle from the unsuspecting men in your life?”

Macy giggles loudly. “None. But I told Mom I should get some more while we’re here. You know, for when she’s hungry and wants a snack,” she adds with a convincing smile.

“Of course,” Rose says seriously, though her eyes are sparkling with delight when she looks at me. “She’s such a thoughtful little dear, isn’t she?”

I smirk. “Oh, she’s something alright. Sorry, we don’t mean to interrupt your shopping.” I glance at Shadow and bite back a smile when I see the annoyed expression he gives Rose and the other woman.

“Oh, no, this is far better,” Rose assures me. She steps forward and loudly whispers, “You’re saving us from the grump over here. He’s really no fun to shop with. Isn’t that right, Sage?”

Sage slowly grins. “We haven’t even gotten to the good aisles yet, either.” She winks at Macy, who giggles behind her hand, which is now covering her mouth as her shoulders shake. “I’m Sage,” the woman tells me, holding her hand out to me.

“Quinn,” I tell her, shaking her hand. “And this is Macy.”

“I’ve heard all about you, Ms. Macy,” Sage says to my daughter with a grin. “Charming this big guy out of his chips. Good job, sister. We keep these big bad men on their toes, don’t we?” She holds up her hand for Macy to high-five.

Macy high-fives her back. “Yeah! See, Mom, told you,” she tells me righteously.

“Uh huh, you did.” I look back at Shadow, who is watching us closely, and I feel my face flush when his gaze connects with mine. God, I need to get a handle on myself. It’s not like we’re alone and I’m trying to flirt with him or something. We’re in the middle of a grocery store, for goodness sake.

I quickly turn my gaze back to Rose, but I don’t miss the way she glances at Shadow curiously before her gaze comes back to mine. “We’re just getting a few things before I try to make dinner for the ravenous horde tonight,” she tells me.

I blink at her. “Ravenous horde?” I repeat in confusion.

She rolls her eyes. “Trust me, you haven’t seen anything until you see a bunch of grown men all shoving each other trying to get their food. Sometimes even on their second and third trips.”

Sage gives a mock shudder. “They think it’s manly, but it’s just plain sad,” she says with a shake of her head.

“I can’t say I have seen anything like that,” I get out, shocked. All I can picture is a bunch of men beating each other up and tossing people out of the way to get to the table. I glance at Macy and see she looks fascinated by the conversation. Uh-oh.

“She’s exaggerating,” Shadow interrupts. “It’s happened once, and that was a completely different situation.” He looks at me. “Don’t listen to her. We’re perfectly civilized.”

Sage snorts. “Yeah, you keep thinking that.” She looks at me. “You’ll have to stop by sometime and see for yourself.”

“Yes!” Rose cries excitedly. “We always need some good women around.”

“Oh, ah, thank you, but—”

“Can we, Mom?” Macy interrupts before I can politely decline.

Shit. How am I going to get out of this one? “We’ll see,” I say noncommittally.

“Don’t worry, we’ll work on her,” Rose promises Macy with a wink. “We won’t keep you, but don’t be a stranger, Quinn. We don’t bite, promise.”

“You just lure innocent victims into the coven before they can escape,” Shadow mutters, but still loud enough for us to hear him.

“What’s a coven?” Macy asks.

“Nothing, sweetie,” Rose answers before I can think up an explanation. “Shadow just likes to be silly.” She gives him a cool stare, which he returns, unapologetic. She reaches into her back pocket and pulls out a piece of paper before reaching around Shadow and pulling a pen out of his pocket. He narrows his eyes at her in warning, which she and Sage both ignore. Both of them quickly write on the paper before handing it to me. “Here are our numbers,” Rose tells me. “Text either of us and we’ll set something up. I’m serious, Quinn. I think you’ll be an excellent addition to our group.”

“Um, thank you,” I reply, putting the paper in my purse. “It was nice to see you both again,” I tell Rose and Shadow. “And nice to meet you,” I add to Sage.

“You too,” Sage says cheerfully as she starts moving down the aisle. “Come along, minion, we need to get this done.” Rose snickers as she follows her, leaving Shadow to scowl after them.

“Don’t let them draw you in,” Shadow mutters to me as he passes. “Run, and run far.” Then he grins at Macy and adds, “Keep those boys on their toes, sweetheart. And remember, boys are disgusting until they’re my age.”

She looks up at him wide-eyed. “But you’re so old,” she whispers, shocked. “I don’t want to be ancient before I like someone.”

A small burst of laughter gets past my lips before I can stop it. Instead of being offended, he just grins and says, “Fine, until they’re your mom’s age then.”

Macy moans. “She’s old too,” she huffs. She turns away from him dramatically.

I hide my smile behind my hands when Shadow turns towards me, eyes bright with amusement. “Guess we’re ancient, Ms. Holt,” he tells me with mock sadness. “Hope you’ve picked out a nice plot.”

I pull my hands away and smile at him. “Apparently I better start looking.”

We share a smile and then he looks away and heads off with a nod. I watch him go for a few seconds before I turn around and keep on walking. “He’s cute,” Macy says coyly as I stop to grab a couple things off the shelf. “You should go out with him.”

I pause and look at her. “What?”

“You should go out with him,” she repeats. “Grandma and Aunt Pey say that you need to get out more and meet a man. And something about webs. Mom, are you going to play with spiders or something on a date? I hate spiders.” She shudders in disgust.

I am going to kill my mother and sister for talking like that around Macy. What were they thinking? They know Macy is a sponge who repeats everything. I somehow manage to reply calmly, “No, honey, I’m not going on a date with Shadow. We know each other through my work, that’s all.” I don’t touch the webs part.

Macy shrugs. “Okay. But if you do, he seems nice and I’m okay if you go out with him.”

“Thanks” I say drily. “Let’s finish up and get home, okay? What do we want to have for supper?”

“Chicken nuggets,” she replies instantly.

I nearly sigh. That’s her go-to meal, besides pizza. “We’ll see,” I say. Now to figure out what other healthy things I can stick on her plate.

We take another twenty minutes to finish shopping and get checked out, but by the time we’re heading to the car, Macy is out of the cart and walking beside me, happily chattering away about the projects she’s working on with Parker at school. The two of them are thick as thieves, and I’m glad Macy has a friend. She has another friend at school too, Maddie, but she’s closer with Parker since they spend so much time together.

When we reach the car, I see immediately we’re not alone. Shadow is standing by a motorcycle straddled by another large man, next to a truck that is already holding the two women. I give them all a polite smile as I get Macy settled into the car and then start to load the groceries into the trunk. I stop when a large set of hands reaches around me to grab some more bags. “You don’t have to do that,” I protest to Shadow.

“Rose will have my ass if I don’t at least help a bit,” Shadow replies with a nonchalant shrug.

I blush when he looks down at me, and we stare at each other. He really is good-looking. I can’t help but stare at him, even though I know I shouldn’t. “Um, thank you,” I finally stammer. “I appreciate it.”

He clears his throat and nods, twisting away to grab the rest of the bags and shove them in my trunk. “You’re welcome.” When he finishes, he steps back and lets me close it, but before I can grab the cart to return it, he shakes his head and takes it. “I got it.”

“Thank you, Shadow,” I say with a small smile.

He nods at me and returns it to the cart corral a few feet away. The women in the truck are smiling at me as I climb into the car.

I pull out of the parking lot and head for home. I force myself not to look in the rearview mirror. This has to be the craziest grocery trip I’ve ever had. And I’m not sure if it’s a good thing or a bad thing. If I keep running into Shadow, the chances are good I’m going to do something crazy or stupid.

Neither of which are good options. Especially not with a man like Shadow.