I swallowed. Erotic fireworks didn’t sound terrible. But a forever bond? My longest commitment was a Hulu subscription.
Kevin must’ve read the panic on my face because he laughed. “Relax. It’s rare. Most guys go their whole afterlife without imprinting.”
“And what about you?” I asked. “Is that the main goal?”
His eyes flickered, something wistful hiding under the humor. “I’d like it. Someone to love me until the end of time? Yeah. But if not, I’ll take rebirth. Try living again, and see if I can do it better this time. I want to find my daughter and be the dad that she deserves. I know that’s a long shot, and maybe I will never make the pearly gates. But the guilt is eating me alive.”
He wanted rebirth to find his daughter. I wanted to get my dick back. A flash of guilt flooded me. Here I was in Hell being the same tool that I’d been on Earth. Then again. If I didn’t audition for the HHB, I would be starting even lower on the totem pole. I wasn’t sure what I wanted out of the afterlife, or even if I'd hit level 50. But I knew some change was needed.
He asked, “Do you ever think about Heaven?”
“Sure,” I said. “But it’s invite-only, and I lost my plus-one.”
He laughed, but I could tell he was just being polite. “My daughter will be going there, I’m sure of it.”
“I hope you find her,” I said suddenly, surprising myself. “I really hope you do.”
We passed through a lobby where demonesses in pencil skirts sipped lattes while flame-haired interns carried trays of paperwork taller than they were. The place buzzed like Wall Street.
Kevin steered me toward a middle-aged demoness behind a counter markedHousing and Sustenance.She wore glasses and had a permanent frown carved into her forehead. Without looking up, she shoved a key and a plastic card toward me.
“Temporary housing. Food pass. Don’t lose either.”
I stared at the card. “This looks like a college meal swipe.”
“Same idea, except the food here won’t give you diarrhea.” She blinked her reptilian eyes once, slow and terrifying. “Usually.”
“Comforting,” I muttered.
Kevin just grinned. “See? Just like college. You’ll get used to it.”
I wasn’t convinced.
The dorm was a narrow, echoing hallway lined with doors. Inside, my room was spartan: twin bed, scratchy blanket, a desk bolted to the floor. It smelled faintly of brimstone and Axe body spray.
Dropping onto the mattress, I let out a long sigh. My brain felt fried from all the new information: auditions, levels, reincarnation, fated mates. It was a lot.
And under it all, one thought pulsed like a neon sign. Ivy.
She’d been kind. She’d smiled at me like I wasn’t just a corpse with a fashionable, new Ken-doll body. And for reasons I couldn’t explain, the idea of never seeing her again felt worse than eternal damnation.
I’d have to find her. Ask her more about this imprint thing.
But first? Sleep.
For the first time since dying, I let my eyes close and drifted under, sleeping like… well, like the dead.
CHAPTER FOUR
IVY
The sound of something clanging on the floor jerked me out of sleep. My first groggy thought was that one of Heaven’s cherubs had dropped their harp again. Then the smell hit me—brimstone, sweat, and yesterday’s egg salad. Definitely not Heaven.
“Get out of bed, rookie. You’ve got HHB duties.”
A sharp yank on my blanket followed Shana’s gravel-rough voice. I cracked an eye open to find the fiery-haired demoness standing at the foot of my bed, one hand on her hip, the other holding a mug that looked suspiciously like it had been carved from a skull. She had the kind of figure that could stop traffic and the kind of scowl that would scare the bravest of souls away.
“I am not here to cater to your pretty ass,” she added, tossing my blanket over a chair.
