I’m like a jellyfish. I survive.
Her words ring out in my mind. Was that all she had been doing? Surviving? Would she have reacted in the same way if anyone else had touched her? IfGabrielhad touched her?
My insides twist in a sick, cold feeling.
“Told you,” says Elias, still staring at me, as though he’s studying my reaction. “She doesn’t want you. Doesn’t mean I can’t get her back for you…”
Yes, I realize with a surge of determination. I don’t care what she wants. It’s never been about whatshewants. She’s mine, whether she accepts it or not. If she really is alive, I’ll find her, and I’ll show her who she belongs to. I’ll make her wish she’d never been born.
A short vibration breaks into my thoughts. Elias sheepishlypicks up his phone, and clicks on something.
“There we go. The message.”
He shows me the screen: it’s a photo of my pet. She’s unharmed, sitting in a small, ugly living room, leaning back on some sort of velvety couch. Her eyes are closed, as though she’s mid-blink. A peaceful expression is on her face.
“We helped her start anew,” he explains. “We got her an apartment and a job. We gave her what she wanted most—independence.”
“Why would you do that?” I ask, my eyes narrowing in suspicion.
“Well, because we’re nice,” answers Elias, and Logan rolls his eyes. “It was a joke,” the Angel hastily adds. “It’s because we want your help, obviously. We gave her independence, but we can take it back just as easily. Bury the hatchet, hand over Vincent, and I’ll give you your girl’s address.”
He smirks at me, a look of victory on his face, and a new wave of anger surges in me. This time, it’s directed at him, at his stupid confidence. To think he believes he can fuck with me, and do it gleefully, too.
No onefucks with the Devil.
I lift my arm up again, and he just has time to register absolute shock before I pull the trigger.
“What. The. Fuck.,” breathes Logan, as Elias staggers backward, clutching the remnants of his face, before crumpling to the ground.
I stare at the lifeless body stretched out before me, my anger subsiding as the realization hits me that I just killed the one person who can direct me to my pet.
I nudge at the corpse, grimacing. “May have been a bit rash,” I comment drily.
Logan snorts. “Youthink?”
Eight months later.
8
Seraphina
The burning hot water from the shower hits my head, and I close my eyes, letting it enfold me in its warmth. Each drop pummels my skin and sinks into my freezing insides, and I can pretend for a moment it’s warming me up.
I crouch in one corner of the shower, in a fetal position, curling myself into a ball as I allow my tears to mingle with the water.
It’s the only time during the day that I allow myself to feel. Thoughts of Damien, of his love, or at least, of the love I once believed he felt, wash over me, and I try to pretend I’m back with him, that I’m once more experiencing those months of bliss.
But the bliss inevitably turns to a nightmare, images of the voluptuous blonde girl crowding everything else out. He didn’t choose me. He never would have chosen me, and I was crazy for believing it. He choseher, and all I ever was to him was a hole to sink his cock in, a mild annoyance that turned into something so grating he ordered my death.
Twice.
The first time, he failed, and I went back to him cheerfully. During those months in which I was happier than I’d ever been, he was plotting to kill me again.
“Think about it,” Noel had said just before leaving, while handing me the keys to the apartment. “People who’ve had shitty experiences remain victims all their lives. When you’re abused as a kid, you go back to the same type of monsters. I don’t know much about all that psychobabble, but I know enough. I get you’re blindsided, but you should’ve accepted it a long time ago.Just stay away from men, sweetheart, because they’re all going to fuck you over in the end. It’s inevitable.”
Since that day, I carry his words in me like a motto. They’ve even replaced Mama’s.Men take what they want, then leave you lying in the dirt.
After letting me get accustomed to my new place, Noel took me to meet the owner of the gas station he’d gotten me a job at.
