Page 44 of Angel I Am Not

I wanted the confrontation. I wanted the second his confidence cracked, the fear that followed, and the moment I finally felt him give.

“Yo, Zel, take five. I got this one.”

Marcus stepped into my path and nodded toward the kid. I should have let him. That was what Dante wanted, to recognize the urge, step away from it, and to not consume every opportunity just because it was sitting in front of me.

I looked past Marcus just as the kid shoved at the other bouncer. My restraint lasted approximately half a second. “Nah. I got him.”

“Zel.”

I was already moving. I crossed the remaining distance and caught the kid by the throat before he had time to swing the bottle. His back hit the nearest wall, my fingers tightening just enough to make him drop it.

The broken glass hit the floor, and his bravado disappeared almost immediately. There it was, that moment when his pupils widened and his pulse jumped beneath my palm. The sharp smell of fear cut through the liquor rolling off him, and something inside me settled for one perfect fucking second before I wanted more.

“Thought you knew them,” I said.

His hands closed around my wrist. “Man, I’m sorry.”

Terror flooded his expression and I wanted more of that too. “Thought the rules didn’t apply to you.”

“I said I’m sorry.”

His knees buckled as the people around us went quieter despite the music still pounding through the club. I could feel the shift spreading outward, that dangerous pull in my essence catching on every appetite already sitting inside the room.

The kid’s fear deepened while the people watching leaned in, waiting to see what happened next. Someone nearby laughed too loudly, and a woman at the edge of the crowd pressed closer to the man beside her, her attention locked on us while he dragged her against him.

More. That was what Gluttony did. It didn’t create desire out of nowhere. It found the want already there and whispered that whatever someone had wasn’t enough yet. Another drink. Another kiss. Another bite. Another second watching some asshole beg.

The kid sagged farther in my grip. “Please.”

The word scraped against something hungry inside me, and my fingers tightened. I didn’t need to hurt him. Hearing him plead felt good, and the second it felt good, I wanted to hear it again.

“Zel.”

Someone grabbed my shoulder, but I shrugged them off without looking. The kid whimpered, and fuck, that sound was even better. Two strong arms hooked beneath mine and ripped me backward before I could chase it.

I snarled, fighting the hold as the crowd broke apart around us. Whoever had me didn’t bother arguing. They dragged my ass through the nearest staff door and out into the cool night air, where my back hit the brick wall hard enough to knock some of the hunger loose.

I surged forward again, but a familiar pressure slammed me back against the wall. Pride. I knew who had me before I properly focused on his face. Luc always felt too controlled, even when he was fucking furious.

“Get your shit together,” he snapped.

I bared my teeth at him. “Let go.”

Another presence moved into the alley beside him, carrying the kind of energy that always made everyone else seem a little more willing to fight. Wrath.

I laughed once, breathless and still riding the edge of the rush. “Morningstars. Been a while.”

Nick leaned against the wall a few feet away like he hadn’t just helped drag me outside. “You looked busy.”

“I had it handled.”

Luc glanced toward the door behind us, his grip tightening in the front of my shirt. “You had a twenty-one-year-old begging on his knees while half the club was about to start losing their fucking minds.”

“He deserved it.”

“That isn’t the point,” Nick spat out.

“It usually is.” Luc’s grip tightened in the front of my shirt, but instead of pissing me off, the resistance scratched at another part of my appetite. There was something satisfying about pushing against someone strong enough to push back, especially when Luc had always been so fucking controlled about everything. I could have kept going too, turned this into another thing to indulge in until one of us finally gave, but I forced myself to drag in a slow breath instead.