Page 16 of Soulless Angel

The man fumbled to do his pants up, his eyes widening when Havoc helped Daire pin him against the building. The two of them easily held him in place despite his efforts to fight them off.

“What the hell do you want?” the guy shouted. “You followed me here? What the fuck?”

Daire punched him in the face, slamming his skull into the brick building behind him. “We’ll ask the questions, asshole. Who’s running the VIP area at Paradise?”

The guy yelped in pain, his hand going to his bleeding nose. “I don’t know. Nobody does. Nobody uses real names there anyway. I can’t tell you anything.”

“Tell us who JD is. You have to know something.” Grabbing the man’s hand, Havoc bent his fingers backwards one by one.

“Nobody knows for sure who he is. I think he’s more of a behind the scenes guy. Really, I don’t know anything else. Please, let me go. I can’t help you.” He stank of desperation.

“You go back there to participate,” Daire pointed out. “Why would we let you go?”

There was nothing he could say to that. He didn’t even try. Instead, he reached into the pocket of his black leather pants and withdrew a switchblade. He flicked it open, swinging at both Havoc and Daire.

The blade caught Daire on the arm. As the blood welled up, Daire lost his mind.

He slapped the knife out of the man’s hand. Grabbing him by the throat, Daire slammed his head into the brick over and over. Havoc’s gun wasn’t needed. Daire didn’t stop until the man hung limp in his grasp. Blood and brain matter smeared on the brick wall.

I covered my mouth with a hand, unable to look away. Raina stood next to me, nodding in approval.

“I’ve gotta give Daire credit,” she said. “He gets the job done.”

“Search him for the swipe card,” Havoc said, helping Daire dig through the dead man’s pockets.

“Nothing.” Daire glanced over at the Mercedes. “It must be in the car.”

Before anyone could search the car, sirens rang out, telling us it was time to go. Someone must have called the cops. Why would they do that? Shit.

“Fuck, let’s move.” Havoc grabbed Raina’s hand, pulling her along with him.

We hurried back to where his car was parked, leaving the scene as the sirens grew louder. I checked the knife wound on Daire’s arm as we sped away. Nothing too detrimental. When I suggested stiches, he promptly shot me down. Stubborn as a mule.

“So that was a bust.” Raina slumped in her seat, pulling off the wig she wore.

“At least he can’t hurt anyone else,” I said, staring out the window.

We were no closer to getting this job done for the Sinners than we had been to begin with. I watched the streets pass as we headed back to Paradise for Daire’s car. I was starting to think we’d never succeed. Maybe the Sinners had known that from the start.

CHAPTER NINE

CLOVER

The next day in class was an exercise in futility. Try as I might to focus on what the professor said, my brain kept swimming away. I kept flashing back to last night. To the man in the alley.

Watching Daire smash his brains against the brick building had shaken me up, although not as much as it once would have. I had no problem with seeing the end to a horrible person like that. I’d accepted that being in love with three vigilantes, who’d recently joined the mob, meant facing these situations. Part of me couldn’t help but wish that we would get a reprieve from the danger and mayhem. Some normalcy would be nice.

I’d killed the man who’d tried to sell me to the highest bidder. That had changed me. Forcing me to become someone else. Someone I had to be in that moment. Justice needed to be served.

But was it who I wanted to be all the time? Did I even have a choice anymore? Sometimes, I wasn’t sure how much more I could take.

I stifled a yawn, checking the time on my phone. Raina, Lyra, and I were meeting for lunch after this class. Briar couldn’t make it. She had a class. Lyra had chosen a restaurant down the street. I’d been there once before. They had great tacos.

When class finally let out, I texted the Angels to let them know where I was going. Not that they weren’t tracking my every move. The crisp fall air slapped me in the face as I exited the school. That felt good. A nice reprieve from the heat of summer.

Raising my face to the sky, I basked in the sun for a moment before continuing onward. The walk to the restaurant took about five minutes. Enough time to breathe some fresh air and wake up a little. Both girls were already there when I arrived.

The first thing I did was order a stiff drink. Maybe it should have been coffee instead. Right then, I didn’t care. I needed to take the edge off and soften my mood.

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