by Sadie Moss
“Trinity, our job is to have more souls on our side,” Anderson lectures. “That means they’re good, uncorrupted, without sin. Or at least that their good deeds outweigh whatever sins they’ve committed in life. So if they die, then they die. What matters is where they go after they die, not whether or not they’re staying alive.”
His callous answer makes anger burn hot in my chest, but I shove it down.
“Well, will you at least tell those in charge to see if they can look into it?” I press. “It’s our job to prevent needless suffering. To enable this kind of thing to continue would be… bad, wouldn’t it? And we’re not bad. We’re good. So we need to do good things like look after people and be compassionate.”
Anderson still looks a bit indulging, like I’m a little kid who hasn’t learned the realities of life yet, but he inclines his head. “I can pass it on to the committee. It will take a while, though, I should warn you. It’ll have to go into a subcommittee and have a proposal drawn up, and then into the committee proper where it’ll be voted on…”
Geez, no wonder nobody can get anything done.
This was the kind of thing I got impatient with when I was Upstairs, and it’s why I got kicked out—temporarily. I bypassed the rules and made an executive decision because I didn’t want to deal with miles of red tape. I sort of forgot how annoying all this committee stuff could be.
“Right.” I try to keep my tone patient and upbeat. “Then you guys can do that.”
“And you will focus on redeeming the sins,” Anderson says, his voice growing stern. “That is your mission, Trinity. Do not get distracted. It’s good that you’re making some progress, and I understand that it takes time. But we are expecting this to happen sooner rather than later. We need all seven sins on our side as quickly as possible. That is your focus. Understood?”
I swallow down my questions and frustrations. “Of course.”
“Good girl,” Anderson says, and then he steps away from me.
When I blink, he’s gone.
Chapter Three
TRINITY
I turn invisible and fly back to Beckett’s penthouse apartment. It’s easy enough to get inside, since one of the men—I suspect Remington—left a window open for me to quickly climb through. The entire top floor is owned by Beckett, and many of his walls are just floor-to-ceiling windows that you can’t actually open, at least in the main area. But in the smaller rooms like the bedrooms, there are actual windows you can open for a light breeze or something.
When I get back into the main area where everyone else is, I see that the four of them are sitting on various pieces of furniture in the living room. Phoenix is somehow taking up an entire couch by himself, which honestly kind of takes talent. Ford’s on one of the barstools near the wet bar, Remington is in a lounge chair, and Beckett’s half-leaning against the bar because he will never relax ever, I suppose.
“Are you guys just… sitting here?” I ask, confused. They’re not even arguing.
“We’re contacting the others,” Remington explains in a low voice.
When I look closer, I see that his eyes are glowing blue. The men’s eyes flare a bright color when they’re taking in more power or using more power. I wouldn’t say that they have magic, necessarily, not the way that witches or other magic users do. But they have something.
When people indulge in the particular sin that one of them represents, I can see the men inhaling the power like it’s pure oxygen. I’m not sure humans can see it—I think I notice it because I’m an angel. I can see past the glamour, so to speak.
“How?” I scrunch up my nose.
I can see that their power is flaring, but I’m not quite sure how they’re using it.
“We’re all connected.” Remington’s eyes keep glowing even as he speaks to me. “Not exactly psychically, and not quite telepathically. We can’t read each other’s minds, but we can call to one another for help. We know when one of us is in extreme pain or danger, that sort of thing. It’s quite basic, but it gets the job done.” He smiles reassuringly at me. “You’ll meet the others in just a moment.”
“Hold on to your butts,” Nix murmurs, and I can’t tell if he’s annoyed, amused, or warning me.
I don’t have time to figure it out either, because the next thing I know, a naked man is standing beside me. I scream in surprise and jump back, breathing hard.
Wow, okay, so when Remington said the others would be there in just a moment, he really did mean…
The guy is just here. He just appeared.
“Are you telling me we didn’t have to track down Phoenix and Ford? That we didn’t have to make our way through all those protections around Nix’s house to get to him in person?” I ask Beckett, confused and frustrated.
I don’t even hear his answer though. My gaze flicks back to the man now standing a couple feet in front of me, and all other thoughts fly from my head.
First off, he’s naked. Second of all, he’s… hard.
No. Not just hard. I think his dick is wet.
Holy crap, was he just…?
“You couldn’t have waited ten more minutes,” the man says, and a hot shiver runs down my spine. His voice has a warm, purring sort of quality to it. I can almost feel it brushing down my back like caressing fingertips. “I was in the middle of something. Literally.”
“You have enough sex, you’ll survive,” Beckett shoots back dismissively.
His voice barely penetrates the thick fog in my brain.
I can’t stop staring.
Heat is sliding through me like molten lava, and I almost whimper as the man—Lust, the personification of Lust, it has to be—shifts his weight. It’s like getting hit with that sex dust all over again, only even more so. I can feel myself getting unbearably turned on just from his voice and the way his muscles flex.
He’s got rich brown hair and amber eyes, and gorgeous tattoos all over his body. I want to stare at them for hours—no, map them out with my fingers—no, with my tongue.
But it’s not just tattoos that decorate his body. He’s covered in scars too, angry slashes that cut across his chest, arms, and even his face. One bisects his left eyebrow, continuing down across his cheek below his eye, as if someone tried to slash his face and just barely missed blinding him.
The scars are terrifying and mesmerizing at the same time, and although they diminish the perfect beauty of his features, they somehow make him more attractive.
My gaze roves hungrily over his entire body, and only when it reaches his eyes again do I realize that he’s been studying me just as closely as I’ve been studying him.
His amber eyes flare like twin flames, and my breath hitches as our gazes lock. One corner of his mouth tilts up in a smile that promises nothing but pleasure.
“Hello, beautiful.” His voice drips into my ear like honey. “What’s your name?”
“Trinity,” I whisper.
Or maybe it’s a whimper. It’s hard to tell.
His cock is… it’s hard, and big, and I want it inside of me so badly I can’t think of anything else. His fingers flex in the air, and I want them too. I want all of him. I can’t even think straight.
He grins and takes a step toward me, and my head tilts up unconsciously, my mouth opening to receive his kiss, to beg for it—
But then suddenly Beckett’s large body is between us, standing in front of me.
“No, you fucking don’t, Sawyer.” There’s a hard edge to his voice. “Weren’t you just in the middle of sex? Leave her alone.”
Sawyer. Sawyer.
Holy crap, his name is the sexiest thing I’ve ever heard. But Beckett is sexy too. I know he is. I’ve felt how sexy he is. What his hands and tongue and lips can do to me.
I press myself up against his back, wrapping my arms around him and sliding my hands up his chest as I bury my nose in the fabric of his shirt. The earthy, spicy scent of his cologne seems to surround me, making my heart beat harder.
“Please, Beck?�
�� I whisper. “I need…”
My fingers curl into the hard muscles of his chest. My mouth won’t quite form the words, but my body knows exactly what it needs. What it wants.
I want one of them, or all of them, to touch me. To kiss me. To fuck me.
Beckett gently—more gently than I would’ve thought possible—pries me away from him and steps out of my embrace. Turning to face me, he takes my wrists in his hand so I can’t move anywhere or try to touch him again.
“Sawyer,” he growls over his shoulder. “Knock. It. Off. You get plenty of orgasms a day, you don’t need another one.”
I know Beck’s only holding my wrists to keep me from climbing his body like a tree, but that’s not what it feels like. All I can imagine is him pinning them above my head, holding me in place while he drops his head to kiss me, his tongue sweeping my mouth.
Another little shudder wracks my body a second before my wings pop out, big and fluffy, like a mating ritual.
“Oh, for cryin’ out…” Ford growls.
But his reaction isn’t the one I notice. Sawyer, who’s been watching me with a hungry intensity in his gaze, rears back. All the smooth seductiveness drains from his expression. Now he just looks angry and confused.
“She’s an angel? What the hell are you four doing associating with an angel?”
“As if you’ve never fucked an angel,” Ford snarls, surging to his feet and also placing his body between Sawyer and me.
“I haven’t, actually,” Sawyer shoots back. “Because I happen to know what’s good for me.”
“Then you know it’ll be good for you to fucking leave her alone, too,” Ford snaps. “Trin’s not for you.”
Now that Sawyer’s no longer exuding sensuality, I can focus again—my brain no longer feels like pure mush. I’m still turned on, but it’s low-level enough that I can ignore it.
“Sorry,” I whisper to Beckett, feeling a flush warm my face.
He shakes his head as he releases his grip on my wrists. “It’s not your fault. It’s just Sawyer. He does that to everyone except us. Usually it’s not as strong, but… he was in the middle of fucking someone when we called him. His powers were in full force.”
“Oh. Okay.” That makes me feel a tiny bit better, but not much.
Ford and Sawyer are now arguing, and Remington’s trying unsuccessfully to diffuse the fight. Beckett takes it all in at a glance, pressing his lips together. Then he looks back down at me.
“Stay near Remi, angel. He’ll look out for you. I’m going to go get my brother some damn clothes. Remington?” he raises his voice. “Catch Sawyer up on what’s going on. Ford? Don’t break anything in my house unless you’re prepared to pay for it.”
With that, Beckett stalks off.
Nix snorts. “Killjoy. I would’ve liked to see you two go at it.”
At first I think he’s talking about Ford and Sawyer, who are still deep in their argument, but then I realize he’s looking at me. And that means…
Oh.
He’s talking about Sawyer and me.
He would’ve liked to watch us have sex.
Another rush of heat slides down my spine, but I ignore it, popping my wings back into my body so they’re not taking up a ton of room. I have no idea what I’m supposed to do with these confusing feelings. If I thought it was bad on the drive back from upstate, that was nothing compared to this.
It’s just Sawyer, I tell myself. He’s Lust, and he’s making me feel like this.
I pretend I didn’t even hear Nix’s comment, since I have no idea how to respond. A snappy comeback would probably be appropriate, but I can’t come up with a good one, and I’m afraid if I open my mouth, the residual lust burning in my veins will make me say something I’ll regret.
Following Beckett’s advice, I sidle over to stand near Remington as he finally breaks into the argument between his brothers long enough to tell Sawyer about the portals and our efforts to close them.
“And so that’s where we’re at,” he finishes up, his green eyes shining seriously. “The demonic portals are causing more chaos on Earth, and we have no idea how to stop this… hydra head situation that’s going on with them. So we’re hoping that as a united front—”
Sawyer scoffs, his lean muscles shifting under the colorful tattoos. “A united front? Remi, you understand that none of us have been united in some time? And with good reason.”
“We’re hoping to put aside those… issues.” Gluttony appears undaunted by his brother’s words. “At least temporarily. We’re stronger when it’s all seven of us together.”
The naked man looks a bit skeptical, and it suddenly occurs to me that Remington hasn’t offered him a favor from me to sweeten the deal. Neither have Ford or Phoenix. None of them have even mentioned it, in fact.
Do they not want me owing a favor to Lust?
Beckett strides back in, tossing a pair of pants at Sawyer. “I know you’re allergic to shirts, but at least put these on.”
The chuckle that pours from Sawyer’s lips makes my core clench, but he does as he’s told.
“So, we’re helping out the precious little angel here?” He looks over at me as he tugs the pants on, and his eyes fill with heat again. All the nerve endings in my skin seem to switch on at once. “You sure you trust her? I could… see if she’s telling the truth. Find out what she really knows.”
Ford growls, getting up in his brother’s face as his fists clench.
No actual words are exchanged, but Sawyer puts his hands up in a gesture of surrender. “All right, all right. Don’t get your panties in a twist.”
Remington puts an arm around my waist and leads me away from the two of them, dropping his head so it’s closer to mine. “Sorry about him.”
“What does he mean?” I whisper. “About finding out what I really know?”
“Sawyer can make anyone desire him. Men, women—doesn’t matter. They go so crazy with the need to get off, the need for him to fuck them, that they’ll do anything for him. Including give up closely guarded secrets.”
My eyes fly wide open, fear and arousal both shooting through my veins so fast that my heart rate spikes.
That’s a scary thought. But then, I probably shouldn’t be so surprised. Beckett can manipulate people through their greed, and lust is just a very specific kind of greed, isn’t it?
But the idea that Sawyer could get me to spill all my secrets makes me clamp my bottom lip between my teeth so hard it hurts.
Remington catches the look on my face, and he grins softly as he uses one finger to tug my lip out from between my teeth. His fingertip brushes over my chin softly before he pulls his hand away. “Don’t worry, Trin. We won’t let him do that.”
“We can’t let those fuckers from Below ruin Earth.” Phoenix spreads his arms, taking up even more of the couch. “Come on, man, do you have any idea how much work that would be? No more beautiful humans for you to fuck all the time? And if you don’t fuck ’em, how can I watch you? Nobody wins here. So let’s help out, okay? It won’t be too hard, and then we can go back to our regular lives.”
Sawyer seems to consider this. He glances at me and sighs. “It’s a pity you and I can’t get to know each other better, beautiful,” he tells me. Then he looks back at the others, who are bristling. “Fine. I’ll help you—but first I need to go back and take care of the poor woman I just ditched. I never leave a lover unsatisfied. Beck? I need a transport charm.”
Beckett’s lips press into such a hard line that they nearly disappear altogether. I think there’s a good chance he’s considering throwing Sawyer out the window like he once threatened to do to me. But then he disappears again and comes back with a small round orb, about the size of a marble, which he slaps into Sawyer’s outstretched hand.
“I’ll add it to your tab.” Beckett levels a look at his brother. “Don’t think I haven’t kept up the ledger just because we haven’t spoken in years.”
“Oh, I know you have.” Sawyer flashes a de
vilish grin, the tattoos on his forearm rippling as he rolls the little ball around between his fingers. “I’d expect nothing less.”
With one more glance at me, he tightens his grip on the orb and vanishes.
“He’ll be back soon enough. I think you’ve piqued his interest, sweetheart.” Nix catches my gaze and winks. Then he turns to his brothers. “I suppose Envy is next. Let’s put out the call to Knight.”
Chapter Four
TRINITY
It actually takes some time to get ahold of Envy, or Knight, as he likes to be called.
I’m curious about these other names that the sins have chosen—why they chose them, and when, and how. Have they had different names over time, or has it always been the same one? Did they give themselves the names, or did their brothers choose for them?
Sawyer gets back before Knight arrives. He’s still only dressed in Beckett’s jeans, but now there are scratches from fingernails on his chest and a couple hickeys on his neck that weren’t there before. He looks extremely self-satisfied, and less hungry, and I don’t feel the overwhelming urge to shove him to the floor and rub my body all over his. I still feel very much attracted to him—and oddly fascinated by him as well. I’m intrigued by his scars and tattoos, curious to know the story behind them, but I’m no longer stupid with lust.
That’s good, at least. I could never focus on anything if he had that dial turned up to full power the entire time.
I don’t quite know what to do with the fact that all the men were so protective of me when it came to Sawyer. And none of them offered to tell him about the favor.
Do they not like him? Or do they just not want me to give in to his lust? I’m not sure.
Tucking those questions aside for later consideration, I settle in on the couch on the small amount of space Nix isn’t taking up as we wait.
Knight arrives silently.
It’s fitting, I guess, because envy itself is silent. The emotion creeps up on you before you know it and then slowly eats away at you. It doesn’t announce itself like lust, or wrath, it’s not obvious like gluttony or greed. You don’t even realize that it’s there at first, until it’s too late, and all you can see is green.
