“I wasn’t going to let him die. We butt heads, but I don’t wish him dead.”
They more than butt heads. “Fine. I gotta go.” I turn to face Gem and nod, not willing to give a public display of affection. He smiles. My heart warms, but on the outside, I scowl. I like what we have. We care about each other. We have mind-blowing sex. Aside from my family and work with the Guild, he gets most of my attention. That doesn’t mean it’s a lot, but it’s more than anyone else gets. We’re not exclusive. I don’t want to be, and so far, neither does he, but that fucking smile speaks of change.
I don’t like change.
I pull my hood over my head. Gem frowns. “I’ll be here for another week—we’ll both be here. As much as Zhang wants to go home, we can’t.”
I keep my lips in a line. Is that a hint he wants to do this again?
“Tell my brother you’ll fucking text him and get out of here,” Zhang says.
“I don’t care if you’re in line to become an angel. I don’t take orders from you, Zhang.”
Zhang is the antithesis of Gem, who takes orders like the beautiful slut he is.
“I’ll take that smile to mean you’re thinking something dirty about him. Good enough. Go,” Zhang says.
I’m not smiling. Am I? Fuck. I am. I wipe it from my face. Adjusting my hood, I turn and leave out the door without more than a grunt.
* * *
Too much yelling. That’s what’s happening beyond Uncle Ryan’s office door. I open and then slam the door to interrupt them and announce my arrival.
Treyu is slumped in the brown leather chair in front of Uncle’s desk, and he’s more miserable than usual. He’s covered in the same rusty-brown demon blood Zhang was, and now it’s all over the damn place.
“There you are,” Uncle Ryan says. “It’s about time. Where have you been?”
“Out with friends, sir.”
“While you were ‘out with friends’, Treyu nearly got himself killed flirting with the Centaurus boy.”
I would retort that it was the same Centaurus boy that saved his life, but then he’ll know I was with two Centaurus boys. It’s not forbidden, but it’s frowned upon enough that we don’t mention it to Uncle Ryan or our father. It causes even more chaos than is the norm around here because Centauruses and Orions don’t mix.
Except me and Gem.
Uncle Ryan is an old star. He used to be a war general before we fell. He hasn’t stopped being one, but he lost ‘war’ from his title. He’s still the man in charge around here, but he heads a division on Earth as general. There isn’t a need for war generals of our caliber on Earth.
“I wasn’t flirting, sir,” Treyu says.
“Did I say you could speak yet?”
“No, sir.”
Setting my assault rifle against the wall—be back in a second, sweetheart—I level my uncle with a steady gaze of matching intensity. “What’s the problem?”
“While he bickered with Zhang, humans nearly had their souls sucked away. I know that Zhang landed the lethal blow, but it shouldn’t have had time to attack at all. His assignment was to secure the demon before it began causing havoc. Giving the demon time is what almost cost him and humans their lives. He’s lucky no humans died, or we’d have more pressing issues on our hands.”
Treyu’s expression says it all; Uncle’s words are true. “What does this have to do with me?” I ask.
“Why weren’t you with him?”
“Wasn’t my assignment, sir. If he wanted me with him, he would have texted me.”
Treyu gives the slightest of headshakes. Shit, I’ve fucked up.
“Yeah, see, I knew he would refuse to rat you out, but I checked his phone log. He texted you three times. No response.”
Fuck.
