Page 32 of Soulless Angel

“Torturing someone for information might be our only option at this point,” Cash said, turning off the kitchen light. “Let’s worry about it another day. I’m beat.”

We went upstairs where Daire was falling into his bed. “Help me, Angel. I can’t get these pants off.”

Entering his room, I wrinkled my nose. “You smell a bit smoky, Daire. Maybe you should shower.”

“Want to give me a sponge bath?” He winked, mustering a playful grin.

Despite his attempt to flirt, his eyes rolled back in his head as his pill took full effect. No doubt he was exhausted. Deciding that he wouldn’t make it through a shower right now, I helped him take off his clothes.

“You need to sleep. We’ll deal with the shower in the morning. Do you need anything?” I finished pulling off his jeans, leaving him on his bed in his underwear.

His response was a soft snore. Pulling the blanket up over him, I left his room and went to check on Blaze.

He’d managed to drag himself into the shower. I popped in to see how he was doing, finding him slowly toweling off.

“Are you okay?” I grabbed the brush off the counter, dragging it through his hair. It was long enough to flop onto his forehead, something I found irresistible.

Blaze sat on the edge of the tub, closing his eyes as I brushed his hair. “I will be. I’ve survived worse.”

That was true. His body still bore the scars from his time with Brady. I couldn’t help but glance at the cuts and burns that marked him.

“You two will need to skip classes for a day or two. You need to rest before we have to go into Paradise as VIPs. No matter what happens that night, I’m never going back to that place. Fuck the Sinners.” I sighed, feeling the fatigue of the day.

“Are you sure you’re up for that?” Blaze wrapped his arms around me, pressing his face against my stomach. “You’ve done more than enough. I don’t want you to go through something like that.”

“Don’t worry about me.” I stroked a hand through his damp hair. “I just want this over. I want to be done with all of it.”

“Me too.” Blaze lightly touched his nose. “Fuck. My face hurts like hell. I think I need a painkiller now. I left them downstairs. Do you mind grabbing me one?”

While he got himself comfortable in bed, I went downstairs for his pills and a glass of water. At Blaze’s request, I stayed with him, cuddling up against him. He was restless for a while, struggling to settle until the pill kicked in. That’s when I was able to sleep too.

Fitful and stressful, my dreams were a mess of random images. From the men who’d chased me to the body they’d been transporting, and two of the men I loved bound while a fire threatened to consume them.

Only when Blaze rolled over and wrapped me in his arms did the horrible dreams cease. I clung to him, needing him to keep me grounded. When I finally awoke in the morning, I felt like I had barely rested. This was going to be a long day.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

BLAZE

I skipped classes for two days, doing my best to rest at home. It wasn’t easy. On the third day, I said fuck it, packed my shit up, and went to campus.

Music classes weren’t nearly as fun as usual. My nose was swollen twice its size. Dark purple bruises stretched out beneath my eyes. The lingering headache from taking a baseball bat to the face was starting to wear on me. I didn’t like relying on pills to keep the pain at bay. Unfortunately, listening to a class filled with musicians play instruments at top volume sure as shit didn’t help.

Also, if one more person asked me what happened, I was going to lose my shit. My go to response had become, “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

After my last class let out, I went to the cafeteria to meet Cash and Daire. The three of us were going to track down Jet and have a little chat. He’d made a bold move by trying to blackmail us. Maybe he was king shit as the leader of his campus cult but he was nothing and nobody to us. Jet had just made the worst mistake of his life so far.

Cash was already waiting in the cafeteria when I arrived. Two girls in cheerleader outfits were trying to chat him up, doing their best to flirt. Flipping their hair and batting their lashes didn’t get the reaction they wanted. His expression remainedcold, entirely unimpressed. When one of them attempted to squeeze his bicep, he jerked his arm out of reach.

As soon as he spotted me, he walked away, ignoring their disappointed pouts. I understood completely. Nobody mattered now that we had Clover. She was our everything, and everybody else paled in comparison.

“Shit,” Cash laughed. “You look rough in the harsh light of day. How are you feeling?”

“Like I’ve been hit in the face with a baseball bat. How do you think I feel?” I didn’t share his humor. Nothing about my aching face was funny.

When Daire strolled up, obviously a little high on pain pills, I wasn’t the only one looking rough. The lump on his head had started to recede. The bruises down the side of his face were still blue and purple. Not to mention the knife wounds from Raina. We were a fucked up looking pair.

“Do you think this is really a good time to confront Jet?” Cash eyed the two of us. “He’s not going to back down without a fight, and I don’t think either of you are up for a fight right now. Probably better not to take another hit in the face any time soon.”

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