His lips tipped.
Unfortunately for her, Angel was one of the nosiest people she would come to know.
His fingers were light but firm around her wrist. They stopped her in her tracks. Ray turned to look up at him, her honey eyes dead as her hair swayed with the sudden gush of wind. Angel blinked in surprise.There was something seriously wrong with this girl,he couldn’t help but think as a slow smile curved his lips.
She’s insane.
“Any explanations?” he asked and saw her eyes narrow further. His smile turned into a half-smirk when she shook her head and went to rip her hand from his. But Angel didn’t relent. Just leaned down to stare at her emotionless eyes. Again, with the flowery scent and the hint of blood, Angel paused for a second before grasping his thoughts.
“He tried to kill me last night.” She replied as if she were stating a fact, “I returned the favor today.”
“While you were asleep?” he asked and Ray looked away, not having noticed the amusement on his face.
“Yes.” She said and looked down at her phone, “He wasn’t very good at it.”
Angel snapped out of his thoughts, scoffing out a laugh, “Dios,” he breathed and saw her tip her head back as cool wind washed over them, “Are you sure you’re alright?”
It was then the slight shake of her hand stopped, and she tilted her head to look at him. The smallest speck of emotions pierced those honey eyes as a smile he didn’t believe for one goddamned second graced those lips.
A sudden image of her lifting her dress and revealing that garter slammed into his mind, and Angel reared back. He blinked, a sudden rush of heat and annoyance washing over him as he let go of her and stepped back.
“Have you started caring suddenly, Angel?” she purred, and he froze.
Maybe it was the cool gush of the wind, or that smile, or the way she said his name. But it felt as though a wave was crashing down upon him. Awe, giddiness, and then replaced by the increasing pace of his heart and annoyance, rage.
What. The. Hell.
“I meant sane,” he amended not very clearly but she’d already turned away. He could hear her soft exhale as she dipped her chin and started walking away from him. That blue mini dress, those waves of hair, it was all so insanely dizzying that Angel had to pause for a second. Blink past whatever nonsense his mind was conjuring and breathe out.
Ray didn’t stop again. Not when he tried to repeat his previous words. The familiar rush of irritation flew through him and he revelled in its normality before grabbing it by the neck and hauling it in his mind, “Are you always this calm after you’ve killed someone?” he asked, striding ahead to walk beside her in a frenzy.
His hair swayed with the wind as the hint of the previous smile disappeared from her face, “You aren’t?” she asked, and Angel shrugged as they wove through the crowd. It was back to normal, but there was a part of him that wanted her to share parts of herself with him. But for that, he’d have to begin.
“The first death I ever experienced was my mother’s,” he said without pausing and felt Ray’s shoulders tense beside him. He hummed under his breath but continued, “After that, not killing people wasn’t an option anymore. So I sort of became numb to it. But I’m never calm after, not like you are now.”
“What do you do then?” she asked after a brief pause and Angel breathed out, his eyes averting to gaze at the ocean.
“I head out in my car, with the windows down.” He started softly. Knew she was listening to him, “I head to a lonely spot. A place where I know my voice would echo.”
“And then you scream?” she asked and Angel huffed out a laugh.
“I find a secluded spot to sit without making a single sound.” He said and wondered if a part of himself wanted someone to find him in those times. Wondered if that was why he was telling her all this.
If Ray was surprised, she didn’t show it. And he took that as a way to explain,
“It's very loud.” He continued a bit tightly, “No matter how you kill someone, it's always loud. Those screams or the sounds of the blood, it’s too much in that moment. So, I find a place where I can hear nothing.”
Angel fell silent after that, torn between turning around to catch a glimpse of her expression and keeping his gaze averted. But in the end, when Ray stopped in her tracks behind him, the part that wanted to see her expression won. Angel stopped a few steps forward. But when he turned, she seemed far closer than he thought she would be.
Those honey eyes were looking at the ocean floor, the air around them making her hair sway lightly. He adjusted the collar of his shirt when her eyes snapped to his, her expression still the same. Maybe he shouldn’t have seen it. But he caught the way a sheen fell over her eyes and her jaw ticked. Once. Twice.
“Why are you telling me this?” she asked finally, and Angel looked away, already having expected the question.
I don’t fucking know.
“I told you.” He said, his voice dry in his throat, “I’m on your side. I’m looking for a peaceful alliance.”
He heard her footsteps hurry close to him, closing the space between them as her fingers wrapped around his collar and hauled him forward. Surprised, Angel stumbled forward, his eyes flashing in annoyance as she glared up at him. The first break in her cool exterior,
