Chapter 40

Travis Hudson was one of the best assassins in the guild.

Was, being the important term.

Lean and limber, Travis has a face that seems to be hewn from stone. His small body belies how dangerous he actually is. The curl to his lips makes him appear lethal, and his eyes are glowing with years of amassed wisdom.

Without a word, I hand him the bag of drugs.

While money may work in the real world to assert your dominance, here, we rely on a different currency. Drugs, booze, sex, and favors.

And since I don’t give out favors, and I sure as fuck don’t have sex anymore, drugs and booze it is.

Travis critically eyes the contents in the bag before nodding once, confirming I’ve done what I said I’d do. I should be offended, but in this world, everyone’s a crook.

We’re all a little mad here.

“I’m surprised the great Damien, Narian’s favorite little protégée, got caught,” he muses, leaning against the pillar with his arms crossed over his chest. He brushes at the white locks framing his face.

“And I’m not surprised that you got caught,” I retort in the cold voice I reserve for my enemies, friends, and acquaintances. Frankly, everyone who isn’t Nina. Travis stiffens at the proverbial ice I hurl at him. Weak. Fucking weak. How he was able to rise in the ranks as an assassin is beyond my comprehension.

Despite working for the same guild, the same man, I haven’t seen Travis since I entered the prison. He’s a shifter, a powerful one, and was immediately taken under Rion’s wing. With relations between shifters and the other supernaturals no longer as tenuous as they once were, I reached out to my contact.

“I heard you were caught trying to assassinate Raphael Turner,” Travis states.

“And I heard you were balls deep in the corpse of Councilman Draco’s intern,” I reply, face blank.

Travis throws back his head in laughter, slapping his knee. “Fuck, I missed your sense of humor, Red,” he says, referring to the nickname the other men at the guild called me.

My hands always ended up stained that color after a job.

“Did you get me what I wanted to know?” I ask, cutting to the chase. I’ve never been into this “small talk” shit.

“Yup.” Travis pops the P, lips circling. The easygoing smile on his face only serves to grate on my nerves.

“Tell me…before I kill you,” I deadpan, removing my favorite gilded knife from my jacket sleeve. I’ve considered giving this dagger to Nina as a gift—a little token of me that she’ll always have on her—but Abel talked me out of it.

“You’re hilarious. Good one, man.” He places a hand on my shoulder, and I eye the limb with narrow, penetrating eyes. Realizing his mistake, he quickly removes it and shoves it into his pocket. Smart man, going under the assumption he would like to keep it.

“Speak,” I demand.

“You’re right. The guild was asked again to take out Raphael Turner. Apparently, the client called Narian himself. There’s no way of knowing if it was a man or woman, due to voice distortion.”

“Did Narian take the job?” I ask curtly, already sifting through the numerous possibilities running rampant in my head. I’m still struggling to piece together how Nina fits into all this. Why her? Was she merely in the wrong place at the wrong time?

“Fuck, no.” Travis snorts. “Narian isn’t stupid enough to send his men after Raphael again. You were his best assassin, and you got caught.” He shrugs his shoulders.

“Is the same person who hired me the first time the one who contacted Narian the second time?” I inquire. I feel desperate, gnawing at the first real lead we have. My head spins with the onslaught of information.

“No clue.” Another nonchalant shrug. “Like I said, the voice was distorted, and we never met the client in person.”

But whoever that person is obviously has a shit ton of money. Narian’s services are not cheap.

“So, you’re positive Narian didn’t take the job?” I query.

“Positive.” Travis bobs his head decisively. “He laughed before hanging up on them.”

That sounds like Narian, twisted bastard.

“Anything else relevant?” I need to get to Blade and the others and discuss all that I’ve learned. More than that, I want to see Nina again.

“Yeah.” Travis scrubs at his smooth jawline. “Narian mentioned something about a compound. I think the client mentioned it too. Do you know what he’s referring to?”

My breath leaves me, and my lungs struggle to replenish their air supply.

Not just any compound, but the Compound.

Could it be the same one? The one my Angel escaped from?

It’s too much of a coincidence for me to think otherwise.

Was Raphael Turner’s murderer involved with the group who hurt Nina?

Red splotches erupt in my vision, and my hands curl into fists. I have the sudden, irresistible urge to enact vengeance on all those who wronged my Angel.

Including the assassin before me.

He may have helped me, but he’s still a threat. His loyalties are as fickle and precarious as a shard of glass. At the drop of a hat, he could be the one slicing a knife across her throat.

I can’t let that happen.

Before he can blink, I lunge forward and cut a clean line from ear to ear. Those glacial eyes of his glance up at me in shock and horror. Gradually, that horror turns into understanding. At the end of the day, we’re all murderers. I have no doubt he considered doing the exact same thing to me.

I don’t relish in this particular killing. It’s not fun or orgasmic. It’s a job, one that I need to do in order to protect Angel.

Wiping the knife on Travis’s shirt, I slide it back up my sleeve and enter the corridor. Someone, at some point, will find his body.

I won’t be around when that time comes.

After revealingmy findings to the twins, Rion, and Blade, I move to the cellblock where Bronson is with Nina. They’re sitting on his bed, her head beneath his chin, as he talks to her about his mom and sisters. Apparently, the oldest sister is a skilled hacker who once hacked the government’s system to remove a parking ticket from her record.

“I wish I could meet them.” Nina sighs, leaning farther against the hulking shadow wolf. Bronson kisses her head, a serene expression on his face. He looks at utter peace with her in his arms. For a brief moment, jealousy burns a hole in my chest.

“You will, my queen. One day. You’re not going to be stuck here forever.” His words scratch at the hole, rendering me breathless.

The thought of Nina leaving…

Is it selfish that I don”t want her to ever leave? That I can’t compute a future without her? I’m so used to her light that the darkness seems like a distant memory. The prospect of her leaving…

How long will it take her to forget about me?

Everyone eventually does. I’m a shadow, a ghost, hovering just on the outskirts but never participating. With Nina, with my Angel, I feel whole. Warmth suffuses me, wrapping me in its heated embrace.

Clearing my throat, I step forward, interrupting their interlude. Bronson’s eyes flash umber, but he doesn’t stop me from entering his cell. I keep my voice and face inscrutable—vacant, almost—as I stare at him.

“Blade has requested to see you,” I say haughtily. Lie.

Bronson hesitates, staring from me to Angel, but she gives his bicep a reassuring squeeze.

“Go,” she urges. “I’ll stay with Damien.” When he refuses to budge, she giggles, getting to her feet and pushing at his shoulder. “Go!” He turns, snaking an arm around her waist, and devours her lips with his own.

The little green monster makes an appearance again at how easily he claims her. Like he has every right to. Like he’s hers and she’s his. Like they belong together.

A flush spreads up her cheeks, softening her dewy features, before she steps away from him and links her arm with mine. With anyone else, I would have them flat on their back with a knife to their throat.

But this isn’t anyone else. This is Nina, and she’s the only one allowed to touch me at will. I actually encourage it.

“Bye, Bron!” she calls, wiggling her fingers. He kisses her forehead, his eyes swarming with a dozen different emotions she’ll never be able to see without the help of her powers.

“Bye, goddess.”

He gives me a look that threatens pain if any harm comes to her. I nod back to show him I understand and comply. No one will be stupid enough to hurt my Angel when I’m beside her.

“Where are we going, Bitch Mage?” she asks, skipping beside me.

I stumble to a stop at the horrendous nickname. “What?”

This lady never ceases to surprise me.

“Rion told me that Bitch Mage is your nickname,” she explains with another twinkling laugh. I could listen to that sound every second of every day and never tire of it. Warmth infuses my entire body.

“He did, did he?” I question lazily, already picturing a million different ways to murder the shifter.

But alas, he’s her mate, so I suppose I’ll let him off with a warning. One.

“Do you not like being called Bitch Mage?” she asks innocently. When I remain silent, staring stonily ahead, her lower lip wobbles. “I’m sorry, Damien. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.”

Oh, shit.

As tears flood Nina’s milky eyes, panic overtakes me. I desperately grab at her shoulders, my mind scrambling to come up with a solution to stop her tears. Chocolate, wine, and books. The perfect combination for any emotional female.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

A beatific smile overtakes her face, and she throws her head back in laughter.

“Were you…?” I trail off, dropping my hands to capture one of hers. “Were you teasing me?”

“Yup! And you fell for it!” She laughs, the sound so joyous and carefree that my own laugh escapes, unbidden. Her gorgeous eyes widen as she turns towards me. “Damien, did you just laugh?”

“You’re evil.” I drop her hand to wrap my arms around her thin waist. Over the weeks, she has gained a sufficient amount of weight back. She’s nowhere near her ideal weight, but she’s better than the skin and bones she’d arrived as.

As she tilts her face up, I have the irresistible desire to kiss her.

I’ve never kissed a girl before.

Sure, I’ve fucked them, but I always considered kissing an intimate act between two lovers, one that involves feelings and emotions. It was the one thing Narian never did to me. I thought I was broken, even more so than everyone suspected.

What type of man hasn’t kissed a female?

Her luscious lips are curved up in a radiant smile, and I wonder how soft they’ll feel against my own.

I step away, my body crying out as her warmth leaves me. She would never want to kiss a man like me.

I’m a monster.

Some people are monsters through circumstance only, but there are others who enjoy what they do. I fall firmly in the latter category. There’s nothing more satisfying than my knife entering flesh and watching as the life drains from my enemies’ eyes. Nothing more satisfying, that is, except for the temptress in front of me.

“Let’s go to my room.” I pull her down the corridor, my cold mask firmly back in place. If the mask was to ever break, I’m afraid the entire world would understand exactly how much she means to me.

We pass a group of Incubi who stare at Nina appreciatively. One glare from me has them cowering in the corner. Women and men alike eye us as we move down the hall of cells, curiosity, disbelief, lust, and anger in their gazes.

I mentally tally the number of people I have to kill. Hopefully, Blade can forgive me.

My room is at the very end of the hall, the only one without bars as a doorway. It used to be a guard’s station back before we scared them all off.

It’s my personal sanctuary, the one place I can go to escape the dissonant chaos of this world. Never before have I allowed someone to enter it, not even Blade.

Holding my breath, I push the metal door open.

I know she’s in my mind when a soft gasp escapes her. Surprisingly, it doesn’t feel invasive—I actually don’t notice she’s there.

I love that she can use me, use my eyes, to experience the world. It’s an empowering feeling, and it makes me feel even closer to her.

Despite wanting to turn towards her, I keep my gaze fixed on the room, allowing her to look her fill.

A single bed rests against the wall, adorned in pristine white sheets, not a speck of color in sight. While the rest of the prison floor is variations of cement and stone, I have rich brown carpeting. Two dressers flank either side of my bed, and my acoustic guitar rests against the wall. It’s one of my prized possessions. It took me weeks of favors to procure. A door against the far wall of the room is open to reveal a spacious and surprisingly modern bathroom.

“You live here?” Nina breathes in amazement. I don’t bother to confess the reasoning for my arrangements—that I beheaded the guard who once occupied it.

“Yes. It’s not much, but I made it my home.” Finally turning towards her, I see that her eyes are dilated and her lips are parted. I yearn to rub my thumb across the plush lower lip, but I restrain myself. “It can be your home, too, if you’d like.” My voice is cold, expressionless, but even I can’t hide the hint of longing just beneath the surface.

To have her in my personal space…

It reminds me of the only thing I’ve ever wanted in this world—someone to trust, to love. Her. Forever.

“I’m actually kind of jealous,” she admits after a moment. She gesticulates wildly. “I don’t even get a cell to myself.”

I smirk, placing a hand on the small of her back to propel her towards my bed. She sprawls across the mattress, her thick obsidian hair cascading around her. Any other girl would be wary about being in a room alone with me, or they would be scheming to get me in their beds, but not Nina.

Fuck, she’s too good for this world. For me.

“I didn’t know you play the violin,” she states after a moment of comfortable silence.

I stare at the girl oddly. “Violin?”

She gestures in the general direction of my guitar.

“Angel, did you mean to say a guitar?” I ask with a twitch to my lips.

She sits up abruptly, cheeks crimson, before lowering herself back onto the bed with a groan. As always, she’s wearing a short dress that reveals her ample curves and shapely legs. As she stretches, arms raising, the hem rides up past her thighs.

If anyone else were to see this, I would probably kill him or her on the spot.

My cock twitches in my pants, desperate to escape its confines and bury itself, balls deep, inside of her. Would she sheath my cock like a glove? Would she be warm? I imagine so, especially since she was made for me.

I have no doubt about that.

“I can play for you, if you like.” The offer escapes my lips before I can reconsider. As soon as it’s out there, I can’t take it back.

Her white eyes gleam as a slow, beguiling smile pulls up her thick lips. It’s hard to believe that something as simple as this could cause such genuine amusement. But, then again, Nina has never been a normal girl.

“Yes! Please!”

Chuckling at her enthusiastic response, I grab the guitar off a hook on the wall and adjust the strap. Quickly, I strum each string to make sure it’s still in tune.

The last person I’d played for was my mother when we lived on the streets, before Narian took me in. Her pimp had given the instrument to her as a gift, and she had given it to me. I remember awkwardly plucking at the strings as a god-awful screech emitted from the instrument. It took dozens of trips to the library and over fifty hours of YouTube videos before I taught myself how to play.

Nina sits up completely, eyes trained on me, and I lose myself in her hypnotic stare. Those blind, sightless eyes see me with an unnerving intensity. I’m stripped bare before this gorgeous female, all my sins on display. However, I don’t feel as if I’m being judged.

She sees me, the good and the bad, and accepts every facet.

Continuing to stare at her, I begin to play. It’s an easy piece, something I could even teach her, but one that holds a special meaning.

It’s the first song I ever wrote.

Weeks ago, after she fed me in the throne room. This tiny slip of a girl had gone up to a grown man capable of evoking fear in the strongest of prisoners and fed him. They saw my ice; she saw my warmth.

Tears well in her eyes, and a soft smile breaks open her face. She looks so fucking beautiful. Angelic. With the light from my lamp haloing her head, I can almost believe she was sent straight from heaven to redeem me. Save me.

When I finish, those tears have dried, but the smile remains.

“Damien…” She trails off, slack-jawed. “That was beautiful.”

“That was for you,” I admit.

She moves to her feet, smoothing down her white dress and then wringing her hands in front of her waist. Indecision flashes across her face before it turns into resolve. With sure strides, she steps forward until she’s directly in front of me.

“I want to try something,” she whispers. I can scarcely breathe, scarcely think.

Before, my heart was racing. Now, it stops momentarily before stuttering to life again. It thunders in my ears.

Her smell wraps around me, like oranges and ginger. I wonder whose body wash she used this time.

Before I can focus on that further, she leans forward and presses her lips to mine. I freeze beneath her tender assault, body going rigid, before I force myself to relax.

My first kiss.

I timidly move my lips over hers, familiarizing myself with what she likes and dislikes. She tastes even better than I imagined. Her hands rest on my shoulders, pulling me closer, and I let her.

She’s my anchor, keeping me tethered to the here and now.

Her fingers deftly undo the first few buttons of my shirt as our tongues swirl in a languid tango.

I want her.

I need her.

A knock on the door interrupts our moment.

I snarl, lips pulling back from my teeth, as Nina separates from me. My body immediately misses her soft curves pressed against my hard ones.

Fucking shit.

Who knew a kiss could feel so amazing?

And that kiss would’ve definitely led to other avenues if the cumstain hadn’t interrupted us.

Removing my dagger, I stalk towards the door, preparing to slaughter whoever dared to knock.

I’m surprised to see Blade standing at the door. His face is taut with strain, dark shadows beneath his eyes. His haggard appearance isn’t all that uncommon, but when his eyes flicker around me, towards Nina, I feel my own unease escalate.

“Nina,” he breathes in relief.

“What happened?” I ask, donning my ice mask again.

Blade’s eyes flicker to me once before settling on Nina, as if he can’t look away. “Someone challenged Nina to a duel. She has to fight in the arena.”