Page 37 of Sleeping Redemption
I threw my hands up in the air. Wasn’t it obvious? “Bringing up what used to be.”
That’s right, Kinley. You don’t need to live in the past; you don’t need him. Look at all you have accomplished for me. He will only weaken your standing amongst the others in my ranks.
The Devil whispered in my mind, reminding me of my purpose.
“I’m just trying to make conversation. Isn’t there a part of you that wants to catch up on all that’s happened? We used to talk until sunrise and…” His voice trailed off while I stood there with a hand propped on my hip looking uninterested.
The longer I stood there looking at him, the more I had to convince myself that his return meant nothing and made me feel nothing. Look where my feelings got me centuries ago.
Dropping my hand from my hip, I walked past him, my shoulder unapologetically bumping his arm on my way by. “I’ll be in my office getting work done since I clearly won’t be taking you on as a client,Alex.”
Once I got into my office, I shut the door behind me, refusing to be distracted by Atlas’s presence. Flopping into the minimalistic black desk chair behind the oversized mahogany desk, I opened up my laptop and began scrolling through reports and updates. A side perk of the infotech industry was that it was a great front for gathering information on Lucifer’s other followers that were scattered throughout the country.
Encrypted status reports came in, allowing me to digest information relevant to Hell’s cause. Current hotspots where other fallen angels and demons were located included major metropolitan areas like Philadelphia but didn’t neglect smaller cities like Sauk Village in Illinois.
Burying myself in data and analytics for a couple of hours, my concentration was broken as my phone began buzzing on my desk, directly next to my hand. Glancing over at the screen, it was lit up with a picture of Z and I hugging with the sides of our faces pressed together while giving massive smiles. Her pitch-black locks looked aggressively jarring next to my light blonde tresses.
I tapped the speaker icon so I could continue using my fingers on my keyboard to send a few emails to a couple of the other representatives of Hell across the country.
“Hey, Z.”
Tiredly, her voice came through on the other end. “Lee-Lee, I’m calling to beg you to take mercy on me.”
My fingers came to a halt on the keys of my laptop for a second. With concern in my voice, I responded, “What? What’s wrong?”
“Woman! Please, stop fucking my brother,” she groaned.
I laughed, sitting back in my chair. “That’s why you called? I haven’t gotten laid in nearly a week.”
“It’s not funny.” The faint giggle at the end of her statement told me that she found it at least a little bit funny. “I haven’t been able to sleep all damn week, and I’m beginning to run out of names in my little black book of pussy.”
With a widening smile, I leaned forward and pulled up a few files on my computer. “That doesn’t sound like much of a problem to me. Congrats on getting laid all the time.”
She sounded fed up with my lack of empathy as she continued. “Ugh! It’s not just that. One minute, I’m blazing hot and then the next minute I’m hypothermic cold. How do you even function?”
“I have a thermostat,” I smirked at my snarky remark.
“You know damn well that’s not what I meant. Your emotions are like the most chaotic game of pinball I’ve ever experienced.”
With one final tap on the trackpad and blowing by her psychoanalysis of my emotional stability, I shut my laptop screen. “I just sent you some names from one of my client’s databases. She operates a kinky dating app service that sits on one of SIN’s servers. I’m sure you can find some backup fucks in there that suit your needs.”
Was it a breach of confidentiality? Absolutely. But Z could use the win right now.
Quietly, Zorah sighed before she accepted that I wasn’t about to cease my interactions with Rook any time soon. “Thanks,” she said begrudgingly. “You want to fill me in on what else is happening over there?”
Now, it was my turn to quietly sigh. “Nothing I can’t handle.”
“Lee-Lee, that’s not what I asked.” Her voice grew stern.
Pausing, I looked at my closed office door and knew that Atlas was somewhere just beyond it inside my home. I was unsure how much to dump onto Z, leaving me conflicted.
She interrupted my thoughts, “You can tell me, whatever it is.”
I suppose there was no hiding feelings from her these days like I did with everyone else.
My fingers played with a long strand of my hair, twirling it around my finger and then uncoiling it only to repeat the process. “Atlas has come back. According to Sylas, the human half of his cambion form was granted salvation. Someone decided he earned himself a set of wings.”
The stunned silence lingered so long on the other end of the line that I had to confirm the call was still connected.
