13

When we left the building, I caught my reflection in one of the windows. I was shocked to see how quickly the positive effects Zak’s energy had, even cosmetically. My hair was voluminous instead of dingy and frizzy. The darkness under my eyes dispersed and my skin was glowing.

I was healthy again.

Prettier.

Not just pretty. I felt hot . Had I always looked like that or was I high after taking bits of Zak’s soul? I’m sure angel juice could erase years off a person. When we had arrived at Clove’s earlier I was barely making it through the doors and now I was leaving with a full-on strut. What was I supposed to do now, ask everyone to donate their life force to my beauty and sur vival fund?

“How are you so okay with this?” I asked Zak suddenly on our walk back to the dorms. There was no context leading up to that so it was natural for him to act confused.

“What do you mean?” Zak smiled innocently.

“Me. Demons. Everything.” Everything I knew about good and evil, light and dark. Mine and Zak’s partnership didn’t make sense. I didn’t think I was evil , personally, but who was to say?

I couldn’t be sure, but it seemed like he was trying to avoid eye contact. What if he felt awkward after everything? He always seemed chipper and composed but what if he felt violated? The thought made me sick to my stomach.

He didn’t like me touching him…

“Not many demons want or even have the opportunity to come to EXO,” he said, revealing no disgust in his voice, “This feels different.”

“You’ve asked them?”

“Not every demon I see. You’re still special, I promise.”

“Ha-ha.” I snorted, trying to keep things light like he was but I couldn’t stop myself from fumbling with my hands, “Jarmiel said it was strange that I had a will of my own and that’s why you asked me.”

Zak shrugged. “I think it’s cool that you’re here.”

Still refused to look at me.

“ Cool? What if I do something really bad?” I asked.

“You won’t.”

“How can you know that?”

He grabbed me by the shoulders, making us come to a halt. Finally, his eyes bore into mine. The brown from his crystalline eyes looked like candy caramel in the sun, melting into my soul. “I told you, I didn’t sense any malice inside you. Be comforted, because I’ve never been wrong. About that at least.”

I wanted to believe too, especially with him holding me there, planted in his convictions. There was so much about me that I was figuring out for the first time. My aunt knew and had all those years to help me. She hid me under a blanket of denial and magic. Zak wasn’t hiding me at all.

But why?

The more Zak’s stupid smile grew, the less upset about it I became.

I let out a sigh. “Sorry. I’m frazzled.”

“It’s a lot. I get it.” We stood for a while longer. His fingers on my shoulder softened and I could’ve sworn we’d gravitated closer. My heart skipped a beat, terrified to be in the vortex of Mercy’s gaze, but not wanting to escape either.

He pulled away first. “Wanna grab some dinner? I know you’re not hungry after your angel sampler but I’m starving.”

Zak needed to be renamed as The Angel of Tactlessness.

“I guess I should thank you for that,” I said, “I feel remarkably better.”

“Anytime you feel like you’re about to faint, just call me.”

I didn’t want to get caught up in any cutesy feelings, espe cially when he was supposed to be my commander. Captain. Whatever. But I couldn’t help wanting to be closer to him. Ev erything felt better with him around, like he was a literal sun and I the flower. As long as we didn’t cross any lines, I could admire him in secret, right?

He immediately started walking toward the cafeteria but I stopped. “You don’t want to clean up first?” I asked.

Zak’s eyes were already half-lidded and I had to slow down so as to not walk ahead. What if I’d taken too much energy from him that time? I felt bad making him tend to my stupid needs when he was clearly exhausted.

Could he ever stop being nice?

“If you can stand sitting next to me and my post-workout stink, then I’m good,” he said.

I wasn’t convinced but if I knew anything for certain about the angel, he liked his food. He’d be right as rain after a snack.

“If you say so,” I said.

Zak suggested something other than pizza. Pasta.

Same food groups, but whatever.

My stomach was full but I was hyper-aware of the feeling of lacking that followed. Cheese and carbs, my beloved comforts, just didn’t hold up to the life energy I took from Zak earlier.

I feast on souls….

I shuddered.

Zak finished well before I had and talked over his empty plate. “We’ll have to see how stealing energy can benefit you in combat. It would mean having to touch an enemy or comrade. Both sound risky. Undercover work might suit you.”

With an ability like that, being undercover made sense. I imagined a dark seductress sleeping in some evil dictator’s bed chambers, slowly draining him of life. “Maybe. I don’t think I could do it, though,” I said.

Zak chuckled. “No? Why not?”

“I’m not sure I’m comfortable using my body for that.”

He choked on his drink.

“Hang on! I’d never prostitute you off.” Zak sputtered his carbonated liquids and stumbled over his words. His eyes dropped, doing that annoying thing again where we didn’t look at each other. He rubbed his chin with his veiny hand. “I can see why you’d have those thoughts, though. Ah . This is why Lisha would be a better teacher for you. I’m already messing this up.”

“That’s not true.” I started but changed the subject before I said anything too heartfelt like he made me feel safe. Zak didn’t need to know how much I’d grown to like him. “You swear it doesn’t hurt when I’m stealing your soul from your hand?”

It was something I didn’t want to have to ask Peter, thanks to my lingering guilt.

“No. Then again, I don’t think you were really trying,” he said.

“I don’t want to try and kill you,” I said, “What does it feel like?”

His eyes flickered to mine once before returning to his barren plate. “Hm. Like a soft tug of a rope, pulling from the center. It’s not unpleasant, but for someone unawares, it could be tricky getting untangled from.”

Damn. So, Peter wouldn’t have known something was wrong until it was too late?

I think Zak felt my stir of emotions and decided to make it better by saying, “But hey, after some practice, you can have a boyfriend and not kill him.”

My glowing cheeks were probably blinding him so I hid behind my hands. “Why are you like this?”

“You are embarrassed easily, for a Demon,” he said.

“Shut up.”

“That’s not very nice.”

Shit. He was right. I shouldn’t have been so comfortable as to disrespect an angel, but when I looked up to apologize he was still grinning. “You spook easily too,” he said, “I’m only teasing. Or am I?”

“I really don’t know.” I folded into my chair. Did one have to be playful and obnoxiously optimistic to claim the title of a merciful angel?

“Lisha wouldn’t tease you as much but she’s also not as much fun as I am,” Zak muttered.

“What’s your deal with her?” I asked, “You tease each other a lot too.”

His brows touched. “She’s my rival.”

“Rival?”

“Yeah. Everyone needs a good, healthy, rivalry.”

It was my turn to laugh. I’d thought there was some serious bad blood between them but they had just been playing. “So you just mess with each other?”

“ Mhm. She could probably kick my behind in a real fight.”

“You’re an angel, though,” I said, “What is she?”

He leaned across the table, darkening his gaze as if he were about to reveal the biggest secret of the universe. “A rarity even in our world. An ancient glory that made both heaven and hell once tremble. A wrathful goddess of the stars and mountains.”

I rolled my eyes at his theatrics. “Okay, and that is?”

Zak just smirked. The way his crystal irises glimmered reminded me of the jewel-like scales from Lisha’s neck.

***

I never did get an answer.

It was much later when we decided to walk back. Zak provoked me further about my blushing problem, to the point where I almost said “To hell with it” and punched him.

I didn’t but it was tempting.

Zak took a breath from his ceaseless chuckling. “Sorry. Just trying to thicken your skin. You might get stupid comments from your peers about being a succubus. I hope you know that my teasing comes from a good place.”

I smiled, feeling genuinely grateful for him. It would have been scary if Zak hadn’t found me. If I’d lost Naomi in the portal and was left to my own devices, I would’ve been alone. Sure, I could hide out and take my meds, but eventually it would run out. I’d need money for supplies. The image of me dying until I lost control and attacked someone made me gulp..

Wait. I had to replay what Zak had just said in my head.

“Did you say succubus?” I asked. Clove had brought them up too.

“Yeah.”

“ Sex demons? Really?”

Zak shrugged. “They’re known for stealing their victim’s souls through touch. They also enjoy tormenting them to the brink of insanity, but I digress.”

“But I don’t—”

“Yeah, I know you wouldn’t do that. Succubus or not, you can handle it. You’re a tough cookie.” His small words of en couragement shielded me briefly from the horrifying realization that I could be related to the winged demons of lust. It made the most sense. Hadn’t I been in Peter’s bed when everything went horribly wrong?

Gods… But regardless of how stressful all the revelations had been, I felt like EXO was where I needed to be. I had no freaking idea what I was doing before. Whether or not I could be useful to EXO was yet to be seen but part of me really hoped I could be.

“Thanks,” I said, “I’d be pretty lost without you… and EXO.”

“Speaking of lost things, why do you think it’s so hard to reach your aunt? ” Zak asked.

The air had gotten colder and made my skin prickly. I looked up at the stars getting brighter in the sky, envious of their clarity. “I don’t know. I know she had plans to keep us off the grid, but now I’m out of the equation.”

“I see.” He breathed out his nose. “We’ll find her. I’d like to talk to her too.”

It was kind, but would his offer keep me indebted to EXO? I wanted answers from Naomi too, but what did the angels have in mind for her? If Zak was gracious with me, maybe he’d go easy on her too.

Zak came to a halt outside of the dorms. “Thanks for joining me. I hate eating alone.”

I snorted but was still flattered. “Like you don’t have plenty of willing participants at your disposal.”

His eyes narrowed playfully. “Are you judging me for my angelic charms?”

“I just didn’t know angels could be so conceited.”

“It’s called self-enlightenment , Jess.”

I cracked a smile, enjoying our little exchange. Probably too much. I did feel a twinge of jealousy knowing he was like that with everyone. It was stupid but a real and fleeting feeling I had. He was just naturally a nice person.

“Glad we could get some answers today,” he said, “I hope you’re feeling better about things.”

“Me too, I—”

But I stopped.

A dark figure loomed behind Zak. The man showed up with out a sound. He was tall, dark-haired, and had red eyes that glittered at the moon.

“Cupcake?” he said.

No way . The creep from jail?

His dry voice was a startling greeting to my ears. “What are the fucking odds?”

What was he doing there? He couldn’t have been released already. At least, from my first impression of him, he’d gotten into some real trouble.

The vampire strolled toward us with all the leisure in the world. I could feel Zak’s intense stare and took that to mean he wasn’t thrilled either. “Aiden.”

Aiden . That was his name.

“Not happy to see me?” Aiden’s smile revealed his canines. “It’s good to be home, Zakiel.”

Zak deflected his loud satire. “This is the last time. Be on your best behavior.”

Last time? What did that mean?

Aiden carried an air of trouble with him, significantly more potent than when we’d been confined. The deep ruby color of his eyes was striking, even in the night. “We all know Daddy won’t let that happen,” Aiden said, “but if you keep recruiting pretty things, I might play along.”

He cast his eyes down at me. I hadn’t said anything, but watched in disbelief as he opened the doors behind me. His slow turning of the knob was as irritating as it was painful. I knew where Aiden was going, and yet, my heart sank even lower when he finally let himself inside.

He was going to live there. With me. In the same building.

Aiden sang and let the door slowly shut behind him. “Later, Cupcake.”