by K. Webster
“Some dude named Zodiac mans the server room,” I start, but he waves me off.
“I have access to HEL’s server. Those goofs could never keep me out. Every time they write new programs to keep me away, I write new ones to let me back in. Sometimes, I crash their server for fun. Like when they make me angry.”
Connor and I exchange glances. It seems impossible for this guy to ever get pissed about anything.
“I can’t imagine you ever getting angry,” I chuckle.
He frowns at me. “When they took Love, I was angry. When they tried to tamper with Alpha”—he drags his gaze over to Connor—“I was angry. And when they got you, Omega, I was angry.”
“Oh.” I feel like a fucking doofus.
“I’ve roamed all over their network. It’s clean. Luc harbors information elsewhere because he knows I’ll find it if it’s linked to their server.”
I stare at the flash drive in my palm. “You’re going to make me go down there, into his hellhole, and put this in his computer?”
He nods and smiles as if it’s the easiest damn thing in the world.
“I don’t know—”
“That’s right,” he interrupts. “Omega, you don’t know. Trust me. Do this and I can fix this. But you’ll need to go there straightaway. One of my contacts has e-mailed me. Luc isn’t in his office. The time is now.”
He’s not in his office because he’s with Love.
Hope blooms in my chest.
Thoughts of Love and me together forever rush through me.
No HEL.
No Devil.
No stupid fucking job working as Luc’s minion.
My plans to end the evil incarnate are thwarted the moment Jes reaches out and grips my bicep.
Motherfucker! Not again!
“Touch him again and I’ll kick your ass,” I snarl to Benji.
He snaps his head over to me and glares. “Why do you care about what I do to him? He was talking to my girl. Pinhead is a fucking loser and shouldn’t be in the same vicinity as my girlfriend, much less talking to her.”
Ever since I started freshman year in high school, I’ve felt very out of place. I hit puberty and have filled out. Most of the kids fear me even though I’ve done nothing to make them feel that way. I annihilate on the football field, but outside of that, I’m quiet and keep to myself.
I’ve observed most of the kids in this school, including Benji and Ronnie, the kid he calls Pinhead. Both are pretty good guys. Benji is the all-American football star, and he has tried to become chummy with me during practices and in the locker room. It’s not him, the reason I don’t want to be happy and have friends. It’s the fact that I always worry about her while I’m at school.
She’s weak these days. A couple of years ago, Dad hit her so hard upside the head that she hasn’t been the same ever since. Some days, she stares at the wall, and I have to rush to get the house clean as soon as I get home from school so he won’t beat her. We’ve been lucky so far, but I’m afraid, one of these days, she’ll zone out when I have to stay late for football practice. Thankfully, they both attend my games and I can keep an eye on her from the stands. Dad, our town’s only bank’s president, has an image to uphold in front of his friends. If it weren’t from his order, I wouldn’t be playing football in the first place.
“He was just being nice. Lori was asking for his help about a math problem. It was innocent, Benji, and you know it.”
Lori, her brunette hair pulled back in a ponytail, peers at me with teary, thankful eyes. I watched for ten minutes as she attempted to explain this to him. With each passing second, Benji and Lori remind me of my parents.
“What, you want her too?” he snaps.
I roll my eyes at him. “No, I do not want her. I’m just telling you to leave Ronnie alone.”
Everyone has taken to calling him Pinhead. But not me. He has a fucking name.
Lori smiles at me, and when I look at Ronnie, he gapes at me. I flash them both a crooked smile.
“You’re really going to defend that dork to me. We’re brothers on the football field. Where is your loyalty?” Benji demands. His fists are balled, and his body thrums with the need to pounce.
It won’t be wise if he does. I lift weights at night in my bedroom, because one of these days, I intend on using my fists on a certain man who lives with me. Teach him what it feels like to get the shit beat out of him. My body is twice as thick as Benji’s. I won’t lose to this quarterback.
“You can’t go your whole life bullying everyone who pisses you off. It may work in high school, but it doesn’t fucking work in the real world,” I tell him as I think of my dad. “After high school, this is the sort of shit you would get hauled off to jail for.”
I wish my dad would get hauled off for damn sure.
“What are you? The police?” He laughs back at me, but I see the wheels turning. He’s lost the inner fire to pick on Ronnie.
“Not now. But later? Possibly. It makes you a bigger man to defend the defenseless, not attack them. You want loyalty? Brotherhood? Be a fucking man and stop acting like a fifth-grade kid,” I growl.
The entire hallway is silenced at our standoff.
“I am a man,” Benji blurts back, his cheeks taking on a light-pink hue. Embarrassment shines in his eyes.
“What if someone messed with Bralon? He’s skinny for his age and picks his nose a lot,” I chuckle as I think about Benji’s thirteen-year-old brother.
“I would be pissed. He has learning disabilities. It isn’t his fault he’s the way he is,” he barks.
Like I said, Benji isn’t a bad guy. I’ve observed him for nearly a year.
“Exactly. Protect the innocent, Benji. Protect them from hate. Ronnie is someone’s little brother or someone’s child. He doesn’t deserve to get his ass kicked for helping another person in kindness.”
Nobody in the hallway breathes as Benji and I converse.
Benji observes me with astonished eyes. “Are you really going to be a cop?”
“Maybe. This town sure as hell needs a couple of badass cops. Have you seen the bullshit graffiti on Main Street?”
Benji’s nostrils flare. “Some fucker tagged my grandpa’s barber shop.”
I smile at him and pat him on the shoulder. “So do something about those people. Not these.”
He squares his shoulders as I let my hand fall away. With fierce determination, he storms over to Ronnie, who flinches.
When he slings his hand out, I at first think he’ll hit the kid but I exhale in relief upon realizing what is happening before me.
“Thanks for helping my girlfriend, Ronnie.”
Ronnie stares back but holds his hand out to accept the handshake. “If your brother ever needs any help with his schoolwork, I tutor after school.”
The bell rings for class and everyone parts ways, no doubt feeling much lighter and inspired.
“Oh, Leviathan, you need a vacation badly.” Jes smiles broadly at me as he removes his hand from my arm. “Whatever happened with the rest of the story anyway?”
I flick my gaze over to a bewildered Connor.
“Benji and Ronnie went on to be partners at our town’s police department while I chose to go off and join the Marines.” My smile is wistful. “They’re still there. Those two guys have zero tolerance for bullying and work heavily with the schools to prevent what they can.”
“What about Lori?” he questions, though I suspect he already knows the answer.
I smile. “She married Benji. And her sister married Ronnie.”
Jes chuckles. “Omega, you like fixing stuff too—the unfixable. I like you. I really like you.”
My chest swells with pride. I don’t know why I care if Jes likes me or not, but I do. I feel really fucking good about it.
“I like you too, man.”
We all stand, and Jes hugs me.
“Make me proud, Leviathan.”
“MAKE ME PROUD, Leviathan.”
I blink my eyes
open and realize the whippings have stopped. Luc is still here, but I refuse to look at him.
“I will,” I lie through my labored breathing.
All sense of the present was torn from me as he beat me and I was dumped into the past. Now, I feel dazed and dizzy. My face is wet from tears, and snot is running from my nose. I sniffle and pray that he will just leave.
“Of course you will. Because,” he says as he drags the leather belt across my swollen and bruised ass, “worse punishment is in store. In fact, I won’t just demote you to a fucking Reaper. I’ll drag your ass straight to Hell, where you can join your friends.”
The screams.
The begging.
The agony.
I gulp down my terror and nod emphatically. “I will please you, Luc. Whatever you say. Whatever you want.”
“Very well. I’m off to see another woman since you were too insubordinate to service me. You’re no longer my favorite, Love. It is hard to become a favorite around here, and you ruined your place with me. I will have to see some hard work on your part to even considering trusting you again. By tomorrow, I want to see Father Owen do something so sinful it will make all of the angels cry. You have the power to do that. Prove to me that you can and I will reward you.”
“Of course I will,” I rush out and fixate my eyes on the soaked-from-my-tears sheets.
“My conclusion from all of this is that Omega has somehow pickled your brain. I’ve told you a thousand times. Love doesn’t belong at HEL. Get it through your thick skull. Because if you don’t, I’ll deal with him in a much worse way than I’ll deal with you. I like you, Love. You please me some of the time. Omega? He’s a thorn in my side, but he’s my responsibility. One more slipup on your part and he’s gone. Understand, Love?”
“I don’t love him,” I lie. “Do with him what you want. He’s good in the sack. That’s all. And he’s my partner on this assignment. My loyalty lies with you.”
“One doesn’t exist for thousands of years like myself and not see right through bullshit, Love. Every fucking thing that has come out of your mouth today is bullshit. You’ve pissed me off, and I need to leave before I do something regrettable to one of my best employees. Do your fucking job right and life will go on as it has been. You’re the creator of your future, and right now, you’re fucking it all up for him.”
I remain in place until the door to my suite slams shut.
Holy shit, I pissed off the fucking Devil!
Now, getting downstairs into his office is going to be damn near impossible. Everything I’ve worked so hard for is for nothing.
But you have Omega. That’s worth something. Worth everything.
Defeated tears well in my eyes. I may only have him for another day. Luc has been spooked and will stop at nothing until he’s picked me apart to find the truth. The truth will send him into a tirade. One thing’s for sure now—I need to see Jes.
On shaky legs, I stand and wince in pain. We may be immortal—until the day Luc decides to dispatch us—but we can still get hurt. And right now, my muscles ache and my ass burns. But the damages go deep below my surface. Not just my body, but down to my very soul.
I scramble until I find a long, hot-pink maxi dress and forgo putting underwear on my fiery ass. After slipping some flip-flops on, I rush out of my suite. Everything in me calls to go be with Omega in his bed, for him to comfort and soothe me, but I can’t. He’ll only get angry at Luc and do something that ruins everything. I need to get to Jes. Jes always helps me. He’s like my very own dealer—a man with a drug so powerful that I’m high from the effects long after I see him.
I step onto the elevator and push the lobby button. Sinister elevator music vibrates the metal box and gives me the heebie-jeebies. Normally I can tune it out, but lately, I’m so out of my element. Everything I’ve worked years to construct is crashing down around me.
When the elevator doors slide open, I step out and someone attempts to enter. The moment our chests touch, I melt.
“Omega,” I gasp as I grip his shirt and inhale him.
His arms encircle my waist, and he pulls me away from the elevator door. “Love.”
I whimper when his hands thread into my hair and he tilts my head to look at him. Dark eyes shine back at me with determination and love. My heart and soul call out to stay here and bask in his protection and adoration.
“He hurt you,” he growls, his thumbs swiping over my tear-stained cheeks.
The man before me blurs as the earlier threatening tears win over and spill down my cheeks. “I’ve been hurt worse.”
A fierce, animalistic growl reverberates from him. “I will find out how to kill him. And when I do, the bastard won’t have a chance. He won’t hurt you as long as I can help it, Love. I will protect you until death.”
I sob because things are unravelling way too quickly. For a while there, I had hope—hope that Omega and I might truly be able to have a life where we could love one another. But now, I realize, this too will be stolen from me.
His lips find mine and envelops me in only a way he can. Everything about Omega infects my very essence. I lose myself in his masculine scent and gentle yet strong caresses.
He kisses me as if he’ll never kiss me again. Which is probably true.
He kisses me as if he’s binding his soul to mine forevermore. This I hope is true.
He kisses me as if to tell me that he has a plan to fix this mess we’re in. This I pray to God is true.
“I have to take care of something, Love, but I promise you I’ll find a way for us to be together. Do you trust me, angel?”
My eyes flutter closed, and I sigh. Omega has always treated me better than I deserve. But I still enjoy it. He heals broken, burned pieces of me I thought would remain charred until the end of time. His presence completes the fractured parts of me I thought could never be repaired.
“I trust you, Omega,” I murmur against his lips as my tears stream down my cheeks. “But in case it doesn’t work, know this. I loved you from the second I saw you. When you spoke, when we flirted, I knew that you would mess up everything but in a good way. I wanted you to know the real me—to discover that I’m not just some evil Leviathan. Being the Devil’s minion means it’s okay to be selfish. But being someone with an out-of-place conscience, I knew more had to be done. That I couldn’t get distracted by you.”
He peppers sweet kisses all over my swollen lips.
“Omega, when I’m with you, nothing else matters. The missions and wars between good and evil fade into the background. You burst into my heart beating your chest like a damn ape demanding I give you my heart, and I did. I just handed it over willingly. I love you, Omega. If this all goes south, no matter where we end up, know that I will be somewhere loving you as much as you love me. The absolute horror of Hell wouldn’t even come close to demolishing the love I will harbor deep inside for you. I won’t beg for mercy or plead for my soul, because deep down, you’ll always be there with me. Comforting me. Protecting me. Loving me.”
His dark brows furrow as his eyes dart back and forth, searching for the meaning behind my words. “Why do I feel like I won’t see you again?”
I sniffle and bravely lift my chin. “Because you probably won’t. I feel it too, Omega. The foreboding. Something will happen and everything will unravel. Promise to always find me in your heart, please.”
He leans in and brushes the softest of kisses on my lips, causing my eyes to close. “I promise that this shit isn’t over. You’re not going to Hell, and neither am I. We’re about to fuck up Luc’s world, and I want you waiting for me when I get back.”
I pop my eyes open and gape at him. “You sound so sure.”
“Baby.” He smirks in smug confidence. “I’m Omega—a fucking warrior in love with two brave women who are one. Nothing will stop my quest to solidify my happy future. We don’t belong over here, and I’m going to bust us right the hell out of here. Do you trust me, angel?”
God, I love it when h
e calls me angel. Seems so wicked and decadent considering I’m furthest from being one.
“I trust you.”
His grin is my undoing, and I almost don’t need to go see Jes. Omega brings joy into my heart in his own ways. But Jes satisfies my soul in a whole other way—a way I will never lose a craving for.
We kiss once more—simple and not nearly long enough. Then he tears away from me as if it physically pains him to do so. A sob hangs in my throat at watching him leave me and enter the elevator.
“I’m coming back for you,” he promises with ferocity as the doors close shut.
My heart shatters at the loss. I hope so, Omega.
As I push through the glass doors to HEA Corp, I try not to lose hope. Omega is confident that he can do whatever he thinks he’s going to do, and I pray that he can. This whole plan to bring him to HEL was concocted by Pallas. He promised me that Omega was strong enough to handle a broken heart and would eventually come around. Even when I begged him to find another way—aside from making sure Omega was banished to HEL along with me—he told me that this was the way it had to be done.
That I needed Omega’s strength and ferocity on my side.
Pallas is such a smart strategist. Even when I hardly agreed with his plans, I knew they were good ideas. Omega has been a warrior his entire life, but he is a warrior with a strong, loving heart. He belongs here at HEA. And even though I took that from him, it was only to delay something better. I hope everything falls into place before Luc catches a whiff of the bigger plan.
Dear Lord, I pray that Omega does what needs to be done and with speed. Our talk in front of the elevator probably slowed him down, and now, I’m consumed with worry.
“He will succeed,” Jes says.
I look up to see him grinning at me with his hands on his hips in front of the elevator.
Waiting.
He always waits for me.
It’s as if he knows what I need—has direct access into my heart.
“Oh, Jes!” I cry out and run for him.
Once I reach him, he wraps me in a fierce hug, warming me with his very presence. I sob into his chest as I allow my friend to hold me.
