The Redeemable Read online

  Would it be crazy to live here? To live with strangers?

  Yes, but I was going to do it anyway. The door locked and my medical bills were crippling. When I'd asked Tolliver how much the rent would be, he'd made a slightly disgusted noise and insisted there would be no need to pay rent. They were all loaded. Eli was an elite neurosurgeon. Tolliver and Sam were both highly paid models who flew all over the world together. Lux was a champion UFC fighter and Valery owned a famous restaurant in Brooklyn. I wasn't sure what Oz did except fill out his Levi's like a boss.

  Someone cleared their throat and I turned. Lux stood behind me, wearing loose sweats that hung so low on his hips that I was literally praying he'd step on the hem and I'd get an eyeful. His T-shirt had the name of some Martial arts Dojo in the Bronx. I couldn't tear my eyes away from his chesticles.

  You need to get laid. Ace wasn't wrong.

  “Val said dinner is ready if you'd like to join us? We try and all sit down together at night, whoever in the house that is. Sometimes there's no one here except Oz, depending on our schedules.”

  It was the most I'd ever heard him talk, and I was again shocked by how gentle his voice was, although it was rough. It felt like I've water over heated skin. Delicious but shocking. He spoke quietly and with a kind of hesitancy that made me think he was worried I'd spook and hightail it out of here.

  Ha, no chance. At this rate they'd have to pry me out with crowbar.

  “I'd love to.” I stood a little too fast and wobbled dizzily. Lux grabbed for my arm, steadying me again.

  “Sorry. Dizziness is a side effect of pretty much everything.” Lux still hadn't let go of my arm, and the aura of comfort I'd felt back at on the subway platform enveloped me again. I stared up into his luminescent grey eyes, and held my breath.

  Lux shook his head and stepped back, letting me walk past him toward the door to the lower floor. Although he didn't touch me again, I could feel the warmth of his hand hovering just above the flesh of my lower back, ready to catch me again if I needed it.

  We rode down to first floor, which was apparently Valery's apartment. The couch I'd woken up on had been in Eli’s apartment on the 4th floor.

  The smell of cheese and butter met me in the doorway and I followed the delicious smell into the kitchen. And then I stopped dead.

  It wasn't just a kitchen. It was the kitchen of my dreams. An industrial oven and cook top. Double door Smeg fridge with built in touch screen. Stainless steel benches with copper bottom pots hanging from the pot rack above the island bench.

  “I think Cady just had a big O, and it was Val's kitchen that got the honor,” Oz laughed from where he was setting the table in the formal dining room.

  Lux whacked him over the back of the head. “Be respectful.”

  Oz just smirked at me, completely unrepentant. My face was flaming.

  Lux pulled out a chair for me in the middle of the table, and I sat down. The table was a long farmhouse style. A small vase of daisies sat in the center. It was shabby chic in the middle of upper-class Manhattan. I was interested to see who sat at the head of the table in this household of large men with, from what I'd seen so far, large egos.

  Oz plopped in the chair to my left and Tolliver sat directly opposite me. I was unsurprised when Eli and Lux took either end of the table. That left a spot for Valery, who was carrying in a huge casserole dish of mac and cheese. He placed it on the table in front of me, then returned with a bowl of steamed greens and chicken mignon's piled high on a serving plate.

  “Sorry it isn't anything too fancy. Next time I will plan better,” Val apologized, and I had the urge to lean over the delicious food and kiss him for his thoughtfulness.

  “This looks amazing. Seriously, I was going to go home and eat cheerios out of the box for dinner.”

  Valery clicked his tongue against his teeth disapprovingly. “No more. From now on you eat with us, no?” His eyes twinkled as he passed the bread rolls to Tolliver.

  “Arcadia hasn't chosen to live here with us yet, Val. No pressuring her,” Eli admonished, but there was a hopefulness in his eyes that I didn't really understand. It was almost as if they wanted me to live here with them.

  Oz broke the silence before it got awkward. “Oops, forgot dinner music. Mini-Oz, play ‘Dinner party music to impress a pretty girl’ playlist.”

  I laughed as light piano music played in the room.

  “Do you have a playlist for every occasion?”

  “Almost every occasion, I think.” He passed me the greens. “I'm still working on one for the apocalypse.”

  Finally my plate was loaded and I was staring down at my food like it was sent from the heavens. I couldn't even remember when I ate anything that even smelled as good as this did. With rent and medical bills, I didn't have a lot of money left for non-essentials like food, so I ate mostly grilled cheese sandwiches and cereal. I once experimented with combining the two for variety, but it wasn't a good outcome.

  Unusually, both Valery and Oz ate with single minded focus, ignoring the table conversation and their fellow diners. I could understand it. My first bite of Valery's Mac and Cheese was basically a biblical experience. Luckily, my other three dinner companions were happy to pick up the conversational slack.

  “What kind of work do you do?” Eli asked as he sipped his wine.

  “I work for a temp agency, mostly administration stuff. It isn't overly exciting but it pays the bills. Well most of them anyway. I'm not anyone's idea of a perfect employee candidate.” I cleared my throat awkwardly. “So Lux, when is your next match? Game? Fight thing?”

  A small smile curled his lips, and there was something about his hooded eyes and that sexy ass smirk that went straight to my ovaries. “It's called a fight. The next event is in 12 days. You should come. A couple of the guys always come watch, I'm sure they'd be happy to bring you along?”

  He looked at Tolliver.

  “Unfortunately, Sam and I are in London for Fashion Week.” He actually sounded regretful to be flying to the other side of the world to attend glamorous parties and wear beautiful clothes in lieu of watching two grown shirtless men beat the hell out of each other. I surreptitiously perved on Lux out of the corner of my eye. Yeah, it'd be a tough choice for me too.

  “I'll bring her,” Oz said through a mouthful of food. Tolliver's brows rose high, and even Eli looked surprised.

  “You never go to these things,” Valery said, and I couldn't work out if it was a statement or an accusation.

  Oz gave me the weirdest look before taking another mouthful and answering. “What can I say, I'm feeling more energized.”

  “Have you been sick?” He looked healthy as any six and a half foot man with full ginger beard and shoulders the size of a Mack truck could look.

  “You could say that, I guess. But nothing for you to stress about,” he hooked an arm around my shoulders and gave me a quick side hug that felt way too nice and was over way too quickly.

  I needed to go home so I could separate my hormones from my sense of rationality, though apparently my rationality had abandoned me in my hour of need. What was the point of an imaginary voice in your head if she let you do crazy things because of a few hot guys and a pretty house?

  Seven hot guys, Arcadia. And there is a rooftop hot tub by the pool. A hot tub! Ace was beginning to sound a little unhinged, which was never a good sign.

  We finished off the main, and I helped Valery clear off the plates, much to everyone's protests. But I stubbornly persisted.

  Carrying the dirty plates to Valery's kitchen, I rinsed them and placed them in the state of the art dishwasher.

  “I have some serious kitchen envy right now.” Val laughed, “You are welcome to come down and use it at any time. The pantry is always fully stocked,” he said, pulling a tray of ramekins from the oven. Each one contained the perfect chocolate soufflé.

  He transferred the dishes to a tray quickly. “Grab the chocolate sauce from the warming rack and the clotted cream from
the fridge.” I hustled to do as he said, though my eyes never left those light chocolate creations.

  Ever since I was a kid, I loved food. I guess it was probably because my parents were a little older and very well off when they had me, and they basically treated me like a third adult. We went to fancy restaurants and the opera and other places that don't typically see a lot of four year olds. That slowed of course when I got cancer at twelve and stopped altogether when my parents died when I was sixteen.

  But those years eating in the finest dining establishments had given me a lifelong Iove of good food.

  “We should tell her. We don't have much time,” Tolliver whisper-shouted, as I rounded the corner into the dining room.

  “Tell me what?”

  Ah dammit, I knew it was too good to be true! Ace pouted.

  When I was met with only silence, I asked again. Predictably it was Eli that answered. I was beginning to sense he was unofficial leader of this strange collective. “There are some small details you should know about us, but I'd prefer not to say until Sam and Ri get back. Lux is texting them now.”

  I edged toward the door. “Shit, Ace was right about this. You guys are serial killers or something.”

  “Ace?” he was on his feet, walking slowly towards me.

  Argh, I was getting frazzled and everything was starting to slip. “Never mind. I'd like to go home now.” Although I did throw one last longing look at the soufflé. Until we meet again, Soufflé.

  “Of course, Lux will drive you home, if that's what you wish. But I beg you to stay until we can explain everything. I swear on my Hippocratic oath that we would never do anything to harm you in anyway.” Eli seemed so earnest and sincere, I found myself wavering and he could see it. “After the other guys get here and we tell you our story, if you still want to go home, we will put you in a cab and you will never have to see any of us again.”

  I bit my lip hard, torn and confused by his sincerity. So I did something I hadn't done in years. I asked Ace for advice.

  Oh she talked to me a lot over the years, handing out unsolicited advice and opinions like candy on Halloween, but I hadn't spoken back to her since I was eighteen and onto my fifth psychiatrist.

  Do you think I can trust these guys? I asked, and I could sense Ace’s shock and surprise. Or was it my shock and surprise? See, this is why I stopped talking to the voice in my head.

  I think so. There is something about them that feels, I don't know, like home? Familiar even. They haven't done anything untoward except feed you and offer you a place to live, which sounds suss but may be completely altruistic. If they wanted to do anything awful, just Lux could have tied you up and killed you by now, burying your body its drum in the basement.

  I screwed up my nose. Thanks for the visual, Ace.

  I tuned back into the room to see Eli looking at me like I was an enigma he couldn't quite figure out. Welcome to the club, buddy.

  “Fine. I'll wait and hear you out. But I want to go home after that.”

  “Done.” Eli placed a hand on my elbow and led me back to the table. “Please sit.”

  Valery placed a ramekin on a small plate in front of me. He held the chocolate sauce above the plate, pouring it from the jug in a long steady stream of chocolatey goodness.

  If they murder me, I hope someone put on my headstone, ‘Died for the world's most perfect soufflé.’

  Ace snorted. Consider it done.

  We ate in silence, just the sound of Oz's playlist and the tinkling of cutlery echoing around the room. I was just scraping the chocolate from the bottom of my bowl when the door opened and Sam and RI walked in.

  Ri gave me a big smile, his dimples and white straight teeth practically blinding in their perfection. It was enough to make my broken heart stutter.

  “I'm so happy you are still here, Beautiful Girl. I was worried this lot had blown it all.”

  I swallowed hard and consciously tried to calm my heartbeat. Sam looked nervous, and for some reason that was amping up my own anxiety.

  “Everyone's here. Get to it.”

  Lux, who'd been suspiciously quiet until now, looked me straight in the eye.

  “We are all dead.”

  Chapter Three

  I blinked. My mouth opened and closed, but I had nothing to say to that. Ri rubbed his hand over his face.

  “Fucking hell, Lux. This is why we let Eli do the talking.”

  “Do you guys mean metaphorically or something? Are you a doomsday cult?”

  Oz laughed and Eli shook his head. “No, we aren't a cult. Valery, get the book.”

  Valery stood from the table, walking with heavy feet to the living room. He picked up a heavily gilded tome from the bookshelf and brought it over. It was a beautiful leather-bound book that I instantly wanted to stroke. The title was in French. He flicked to a page in the center and handed it to me.

  Staring up at me from the pages of a book that had to be at least a hundred years old, was Valery, and dressed in a powdered wig with rouged lips. Underneath, in beautiful looping script were the words ‘Marquis de Roux, 1788’.

  Valery looks good in that shade of lipstick. I wonder if he'd share.

  I looked at Valery. “Is this an ancestor of yours?” I asked hopefully, ignoring Ace again.

  “No, that is me,” Valery said.

  “Wow, you look good for 220 odd years old there, Val." I sounded like a bitch but I hated that they were making a fool out of me. “Look, this is ridiculous. If you don't want to tell me, just take me home.”

  Valery sat back down on his chair with a great sigh. “It is the truth. My name was Valery de Lyon, the last Marquis de Roux. I died during the French Revolution, guillotined in the streets of Paris because I ate sumptuous feasts every night while the people of my fiefdom starved to death in the fields. A portrait I commissioned hangs in the Louvre. I was loaded and hedonistic and I died horribly for it.” He sounded sincere but he couldn't possibly be telling the truth.

  “Yet here you sit, your head completely attached. Eli must be one hell of a surgeon.”

  “I am, but I died a hundred years before Valery was even born.”

  I was beginning to think that this whole day had been a prank, an elaborate scheme for someone to post on YouTube for hits. If that was the case, they better cut me in on the money they made at my expense

  I pressed my fingers into my temples. “Okay. What about you? When did you supposedly die?” I asked Lux.

  “Around 70 BC by the Julian calendar.”

  “You are all insane. I mean I thought I was nuts with the voices and all, but you guys are certifiable.”

  “Voices?” Eli asked, instantly in doctor mode but I ignored him.

  “Let's put aside reality for a second and pretend you are all super old yet literally look like models-”

  “I only died in the seventies. Just sayin’,” Oz interrupted.

  I gave him a hard look and he mimed zipping his lips.

  “As I was saying, you all look pretty youthful to me. And alive. So what are you? Immortals? Vampires?”

  Tolliver physically winced, and Sam shook his head.

  “This is going to sound crazy no matter how gently you break it to her. Maybe Lux had it right, just put it all out there and rip the Band-Aid off,” Ri suggested. “I'll get the brandy.”

  He disappeared into Val's kitchen and returned with a bottle of brandy and eight glasses. Not that I was going to get drunk around these guys. I still wasn't convinced they weren't some kind of cult going to lock me in their basement as a way to reproduce come the Zombie Apocalypse. Though they totally chose the wrong girl if that's why they were going to all this effort.

  Lux took a deep breath. “Just try to think outside the box, okay?” I shrugged and he continued. “We are the physical embodiment of the seven deadly sins given a redemptive second chance at life because the big guy is not so bad.”

  “The big guy? You mean God?”

  “No, the Devil. Who we were in our
former lives meant we were relegated to his domain,” Sam explained.

  “The Devil is the good guy? This isn't thinking outside the box, Lux, this is thinking outside the stratosphere.” I was beginning to understand how Alice felt in Wonderland; I was definitely tripping my way down a rabbit hole right about now.

  Oz had moved away from the table and laid on Valery's couch. “I wouldn't say that he was a good guy. He's still the Devil. He's just a lot more forgiving of humanity's foibles than the other guy. But he isn't someone I'd trust in a bar fight, you know?”

  Uh, no. I didn't know. I'd never been in a bar fight or met the Devil. There was literally nothing in that statement I could relate to.

  “Just a quick recap guys, just to make sure I've got this all. You are all dead, as in formerly alive people.”

  Lux nodded.

  “You all went to hell and met the Devil.”

  This time Eli nodded too.

  “And now you are zombies back in the world to atone for your sins, so you decide to become models and UFC fighters?”

  Tolliver laughed mirthlessly and shrugged.

  I sighed and stood up from the table, walking over to the couches where Oz was lying. I was tired, mentally and physically. Today had just been too much. I could hear the scrape of chairs as everyone stood to follow me. I eyed the only sofa and Oz moved to sit up, offering me his spot. It was kind of sweet. I sat down where his feet had been, tucking my own feet under me.

  “Other than some musty old books, can you prove what you are saying?”

  Eli sat down on the armchair opposite me. “Well yes and no. Normally, if we went out amongst the humans, we would instill part of our sin in them, causing them to act a certain way.”

  I frowned.

  Say what, now?

  Oh, good. I wasn't the only one who was confused as hell about this.

  “I'm not explaining this well. Think of our sin as contagious. We infect those around us with it.” He pointed to Ri. “Take Orion for example-”

  “Wait, Ri is short for Orion? That's… a pretty nice name,” I quelled my enthusiasm a little.