I’M GOING TO pass out.
His office was so fucking hot that all I can think about is getting as far the fuck away from it as I can. The moment the door slams behind me, I run a frustrated hand through my hair.
I hate Love.
Sort of.
I hate the fact that she betrayed me. I’ll never get over that. But I also hate the very idea of Luc touching her. Even though she’s not mine, I feel a possessiveness over her. I always have, from the moment I laid eyes on her. And I lose myself to the memory.
“Holy shit, Al. Check out the legs on that one,” I growl as I nod in the direction of the dark-haired angel.
“Leviathan,” he mutters in annoyance.
My shoulders tighten in frustration once I realize she works for the other side. What a damn shame. She’s striding down the hallway as if she owns the fucking place. The way she sways her curvy hips with every step causes my dick to thicken in response.
Fuck!
Her skirt is short—so fucking short—and in a minute, Alpha might have to roll my tongue up off the floor.
“Goddammit, she’s fine,” I mumble mostly to myself.
“Yeah, and way out of your league,” he laughs, punching my arm.
I ignore the sting so I can continue my blatant staring. Everything about this woman drips sex. Her tight, black skirt hugs her hips deliciously so. The pink, V-neck, sleeveless top she’s wearing dips dangerously low, revealing the cleavage of her pert tits.
I’ve never wanted a woman so badly in my entire damn life.
As she passes each of the dorm rooms, she flirts with sexy smiles and the batting of her eyelashes. This woman could have any man she wanted. Including me.
When her dark eyes meet mine, I see it. Her confident gaze falters as her smile falls. Is my hair fucking whack today or what? Nervously, I run a hand through it and shoot her a smug grin.
“Did you get lost, angel?” I question as I step in front of her path.
Her steps halt, and she chews on her lip. I want to chew on it too.
“I’m no angel,” she giggles. Her laughter is joyous music to my ears, and I know I’ll have this woman one day —careers be damned.
“What’s your name?” I invade her space and inhale her like the animal I am. Whatever shampoo she uses should be outlawed over here at HEA because it puts devilish thoughts into my head—thoughts of how it would feel to have my fingers tangled in her hair while I make love to her sweet body.
“Lovenia.”
With a lopsided grin, I wink. “Nice to meet you, Love.”
This girl is mine.
Even though my memory is of Lovenia, I can’t help but think about Alpha. Once I came here, all contact with him ceased. All contact with HEA ceased. I was ashamed of what I’d done and willingly retreated to the dark side. And, since Al never showed up over here, I can only imagine he’s a Seraph Guardian now or has somehow found a way to convince them to let him be with Lark. For his sake, I hope it’s the latter.
Every part of me screams to get back upstairs to my suite. To fucking veg out the rest of the day in my bed, ignore the bullshit hand I’ve been dealt.
But I can’t.
I won’t.
I need to talk to her about our new assignment. But really, I just want to make sure she’s okay. I don’t trust that fucker not to hurt her. He’s the fucking devil, for crying out loud. I know that Love is a big girl, but she’s not invincible.
The ping of the elevator startles me, and I watch with interest as a Reaper emerges with a dark soul in tow. I still don’t understand how they make the souls follow them, but it’s as if they are invisibly tethered to the Reaper. The dark soul seems terrified, and his begging makes my skin crawl.
“Welcome home, asshole,” the Reaper laughs, but it’s empty. Heartless. Evil.
It causes bubbles of nausea to fill my stomach.
The Reaper walks over to the door I almost opened earlier and grips the handle. When he jerks it open, horrifying screams ring out into the hallway. The tortured shrieking, infinite and never ending, grips my heart and threatens to make my head explode. I fall to my knees and smash my palms to my ears to block it out.
The heat from all the way down the hallway is blistering, and my stomach seizes with the need to puke. It’s too much.
Close the fucking door!
Dragging my eyes up, I see bright light spilling into the hallway. The Reaper, with a wave of his hand, guides the dark soul who is thrashing in a desperate manner against the unseen magnetic pull. The soul bursts into flames before he even makes it to the door, and his agonizing screeching makes its way through my palms and into my head.
Too fucking much.
The Reaper laughs as the soul is yanked beyond the door. Once he’s crossed the threshold, the Reaper kicks the door shut and the room is silent aside from my ragged breaths, which draw the attention of the Reaper.
“Big, bad Leviathan can’t handle the screams of the damned. Maybe you should go back to HEA with the rest of the pussies,” he taunts upon seeing me on my knees.
Something in me snaps, and I clamber to my feet. Rage fills every inch of my body, and I explode. His eyes widen when he sees me charging toward him. I know it’s the fucker’s job to bring the damned to Hell, but dammit, I hate him for it anyway. It’s a sick fucking job.
The slimy fucker has barely turned his back to me to run away when my shoulder connects with his. He’s scrawny in comparison to me, so I easily slam him along and into the wall.
My fist connects with his jaw and he cries out like the pussy he accused me of being. Punch after punch, I wail on him until I’m tired and my chest heaves. His bloody mess of a face is already swelling.
“What’s your name, Reaper?” I demand.
“J-J-Jared,” he sputters out.
I climb off him, but when he makes a move to get up, I push him back down with the steel toe of my black boot. “Jared, fuck with me again and you’ll be joining your buddy in the closet over there,” I threaten. “Do you understand, asshole?”
The pussy nods wildly.
“Good. Now get the fuck out of here before I feel like fucking you up some more.”
Once I take my foot off his chest, he scrambles up and hurries toward the elevator. There’s no way I’m taking it up with him, so I wait until the doors close.
I may work for HEL, but I in no way have the stomach for what the Reapers do.
After prowling back down the hallway, I stop in front of Luc’s door. Following that debacle, I’m definitely waiting for her. There’s no telling what the fuck sort of sick shit Luc will expose her to, so I need to make sure she’s okay until I can get her away on our assignment.
The elevator doors open again, and I ball my fists, eager to punch that idiot if he pops back out. But when Corson and Gabe step out, I exhale in relief. Corson may not be one of my favorite people with his blue, gay-ass suits, but I do like Gabe. Seeing him calms me a bit.
“Take it to Zo,” Corson instructs as he points to another door in the long hallway.
I’m about to call out to warn Gabe, but when he opens it, no flames from the fiery pits of Hell engulf him.
I wonder what’s beyond that door. I’ll have to remember to ask Lovenia.
Corson waits for Gabe, but when he notices me, his mouths pops open in shock. “Omega, what are you doing?”
Groaning, I stride toward him. “Waiting for Lovenia. We’ve been assigned together, and Luc needed to talk to her alone.”
Corson smirks knowingly, and I have the urge to smack the shit out of him. Instead, I purse my lips and fold my arms across my chest.
“What are you doing here?” I throw back at him.
For a brief moment, his eyes flicker in surprise. He’s my boss, under Luc, but I’m not afraid to speak directly to him.
“Taking care of business,” he says smoothly.
His tone is light but his shoulders are tense. He’s hiding something, but I don’t know what.
“Omega,” Gabe blurts out in shock as he emerges from the mysterious door.
“Gabe,” I greet back.
He and Corson exchange a glance I’m not meant to interpret, and I suddenly feel like my trust in Gabe should be limited. Call it a hunch.
“Funny thing. Luc never mentioned to me an assignment for you and Lovenia. Care to share what it is you’re doing?” Corson questions.
I furrow my eyebrows at him. “I’m not sure I’m privy to disclose the details of our assignment. If Luc wanted you to know about it, I’m sure you would have been the one to deliver the word of our job.” The smug grin on my lips is immediate. I kind of like having the upper hand over this fruit.
“Remember your place, Omega,” Corson snaps.
“Want to have a drink later?” Gabe asks me as if Corson and I aren’t about to punch the other out.
No. “Yeah, sure,” I mumble against my wishes. But maybe I can ask him about the door and what he was doing in there.
“Great. Come on, Corson. A new wave of Reapers will be here soon. You don’t want to be late,” Gabe says.
I sense that Gabe is attempting to separate us. Maybe he is a friend. Shit—only time will tell.
“Bye.” I wave them off.
Corson glares at me for a moment longer before storming off with Gabe on his heels. After tossing me an incredulous look, Gabe steps onto the elevator with him.
What the fuck is up his ass?
I walk back over to Luc’s door. Then I cross my arms and wait, straining my ears to hear through the door.
A pleasured moan echoes through the walls—one I recognize because she’s made the noise when I was deep inside her, owning her body.
Lovenia.
I fucking lose it.