I’m sitting on an uncomfortable chair in a large room. A massive steel and glass desk is in front of me, and the place is almost entirely encased in steel-framed windows from which I can see the cloudless sky. It’s a penthouse office, probably in the business section in North Astley.
I shift slightly, and I hear the crackle of leather beneath me. At once the cold metal object presses harder into my temple, and inthe vague reflection of the window, I realize it’s a gun. Being held by one of the Devils. Igor Fars.
Ice rushes through my veins, and I forget about the nausea and the headache.
I stare at the reflection again, trying to make out the other presence sitting on the couch behind me. Logan Colt. Another Devil.
What’s going on?
Even in the washed-out image in the window, I note the little quirk at the edge of his lips that reminds me of a class clown. I’ve invariably had one in all my classes, and I’ve always done my best to avoid them. I’d rather be ignored than made into the butt of their cruel jokes. I wonder if Logan Colt was the clown of his class.
A second later, I don’t wonder anymore. He definitely was.
“Damien was right,” he chuckles. “She’s something, that’s for sure.”
I barely have time to register those words before he adds, “Too bad we have to kill her.”
I can’t help the whimper that rises in my throat. It’s crazy how life starts to look good when you’re staring at the end of it.
I’m not ready to die.
Igor Fars grunts and the gun shifts slightly as he eases his finger onto the trigger.
I squeeze my eyes shut and wait for the shot, my heart beating loudly in my ears, my hands coated in a thick sheen of sweat. I wonder if it hurts to get shot through the head. I can’t decide if I’d rather it did. Somehow, it feels worse to just... go. Suddenly and completely, no warning. One second you’re there, the next, nothing. Like you never existed at all.
DoI exist though? Did I ever? Is this, whatever it is I’m floating through, actual existence?
My thoughts are suddenly and violently interrupted by the loud bang of a door. I practically jump out of my chair at the sound. But surprise turns to fear when I hear the deep voice I’d recognize anywhere.
“I told you boys to wait for me.”
Fuck me.Damien Wells just walked in. If I’d had any doubts before, they’ve just evaporated. I’m in deep shit.
The deepest shit I’ve ever been in, and that’s saying something, as someone whose life up till now has pretty much been one long steaming pile of excrement.
He walks toward me, his dark, dangerous eyes glued to me. He reaches out a hand and I flinch, but my backward movement only serves to remind me of the cold metal against my skull. I’m trapped. Fuck, fuck, fuck.
I never thought I’d be wishing myself back at Ben’s.
A moment later, I breathe slightly easier when the Devil CEO lets his fingers fall against my temple before dragging them slowly down the side of my face. Well, at least he didn’t punch me. But I know punches. I’m used to them. What the hell is this? What is he doing?
My nausea returns as he crouches to my level, his eyes still focused on mine. I can’t tell if he’s amused, annoyed, or furious.
“What have we got here?”
I blink up at him in confusion. My gaze meets his and I shudder, goosebumps pebbling along my arms.
Those eyes do something to me. They were enough to frighten me when I saw them on TV. But to be inches away from them... my skin grows ice-cold.
They’re unnatural. Everything about him is unnatural. His face is too symmetrical, and his black hair makes a harsh, unforgiving contrast to his skin tone. He’s tall and lean, but his bent arm forms creases in the fabric of his shirtsleeve that hint at the wall of muscle beneath. Another shudder rips through me as I imagine that rock of a man crushing me. I know he could do it. I know he could stomp out my life with one fist. He radiates power, and it makes me feel more insignificant than ever.
Like a motherfucking jellyfish.
But the worst is those eyes. Two pools of darkness that I find myself irresistibly drawn to. Black holes that attract everything to them, only to eat them alive.
And that’s what scares me.
I remember once when I was a little girl, I went to New York with Mama. It was the first and only time we left the state. Mama took me all the way up to the Empire State Building, and when I looked down on the tiny cars and the tiny people below, I nearly passed out.
