He smiled slowly, his eyes speaking volumes. He wanted me. And more than that, he treasured me. I felt loved beyond anything I’d ever felt before.
“Hi, Alex!” Dale popped up beside me, swinging around on his seat like it was a carousel. “We’re about to clock off. Are you and Nate coming for drinks at the staff bar?”
If Alex was annoyed at our moment being interrupted, he didn’t show it. I wasn’t too annoyed either, even though I felt a little bereft. I already felt like I’d had more love at that moment than I deserved.
“Not tonight, Dale,” Alex said to him with a warm smile. “I’m taking Eve back to our bungalow for some rest.”
“Good,” Dale replied. “She needs it. But make sure she actually gets it,” he said reprovingly, waggling his finger. “Clover didn’t last the night, and I can’t have both of my staff off shagging guests in the daytime and not getting any sleep.”
I rolled my eyes at him. “Excuse me, Martin Two-Point-Oh? Our boss is gone for one night, and suddenly we’re your staff?”
He preened. “I’m the most senior. So I have to take the initiative.”
“And you’re the only one who’s not getting lucky in the daytime, I suppose,” I gave him a nudge and a cheeky grin.
Dale pouted. “No sassing the boss, sweetheart.”
“I guess it’s not through lack of trying, either,” I teased. “It seems like Nate is impervious to your charms.”
Dale cast a horrified glance at Alex. “Eve, stop,” he hissed. “He’ll tell!”
I laughed. “I don’t think there’s a person in this whole resort that isn’t aware of your crush on Nate, buddy.”
He groaned, and Alex clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry, Dale,” he said. “I’ll take it to the grave.” He crossed his hand over his chest.
I grinned at him. Alex was essentially immortal, and wouldn’t be going to the grave anytime soon.
Dale’s shoulders slumped in resignation. “Great,” he said sarcastically. “That’s great news.”
“Cheer up, hon,” I said. “It’s for the best. Alex tells me that Nate is a bit of a heartbreaker anyway. You need a new crush.”
“Well, the next time a hot, even slightly gay man walks into this establishment, I’ll transfer my crush,” he muttered.
“No need to be sarcastic,” I patted him gently. “If it makes you feel better, I’ll let you boss me around for our final few minutes on the clock.”
“Forget it. I’m no good at that, either.”
“Stop it. Just try. Tell me to do something, and I’ll do it.”
“Okay,” he visibly straightened up. “Eve, please go and put Mr. Verker’s jewelry case in the safe before you leave for the day,” he handed me a little, leather-bound case.
I nodded. “Yes, sir.” I flicked Alex a quick smile, and turned to the wall behind me.
The safe was set in the back wall of a broom cupboard, so that if we needed to open it while people were around, we could shut the door behind us. I popped open the invisible door, swung it open, and froze.
There was something on the floor.
An icy trickle of dread ran through me as I realized what it was.
In an instant, Alex was close to me. I could feel his large frame filling the empty space behind me, covering my back, his senses heightened, muscles tensed. “Eve. What is it?”
I pointed.
There, on the floor of the cupboard, was a circle of salt, a cluster of crystals, and a dead rat.
Chapter Four
Much later, I lay curled up in Alex’s arms on his bed. “I don’t know how long it would have been there for,” I told him. “Neither Clover or I opened the cupboard all night long. The last record we have of entry into the safe was early yesterday morning.”
“Did anything come up on the cameras?”
“Dale is looking now. He’s confused,” I furrowed my brow, feeling guilty. I’d smudged the salt line with my foot before Dale had seen it so that he didn’t panic. By the time he got to the cupboard, all he’d seen was a dusty pile of crystals and a dead rodent. “As far as he’s concerned, it’s not a security breach,” I said. “Just a careless staff member that spilled stuff on the floor. Plus, a little pest problem. He’s trying to figure out what idiot chucked a client’s things on the floor rather than put them in the safe.” I frowned. “And he’ll be trying to figure out who’s crystals they are.”
Dale had freaked out at first, thinking that the quartz clusters were precious gems of some sort, but, having been exposed to diamonds a fair bit, he realized at once that they weren’t very valuable. Besides, it wasn’t unusual for a guest to ask us to put non-precious things in the safe. I’d even had to put a vibrator in there once.
Alex held me a little closer. He’d built a little cocoon for us made out of pillows and soft blankets. It was incredibly comforting.
We were alone, but I wasn’t letting my lust for Alex overwhelm me. There were a few good reasons for that. The sight of that circle had rattled me. It had taken a hot shower and a long hug in Alex’s arms before I’d managed to shake the dread that had sunk in. Now, I just felt unsettled.
It wasn’t the sight of the circle so much, but what it meant. Danger. Someone, again, had gotten passed all our lines of defence, and had attempted to create a portal to bring something through from either the Angelic or Demonic Realm.
“It must be an angel that they're trying to call,” Alex murmured, reading my mind. “All signs point towards that.”
I gave a tiny shrug of my shoulders, relishing the feeling of sliding my skin up against him before the confusion and apprehension settled back in. And, a little nausea. Maybe I did have what Andrea had. “The only factor that indicates that is the crystals,” I said to him. “The salt circle could mean anything. The dead animal is just downright confusing.”
Alex nodded. “I can’t think of a single scenario which would call for the blood of an animal.”
“But there was no blood,” I reminded him. “The animal was just dead.”
“Which makes it even more confusing.”
“Occam’s Razor.”
I smirked, knowing he couldn’t see me. “You think it was some crazy human?”
He nodded. “It’s the most obvious explanation. Whoever it was definitely wasn’t an angel or demon or even Nephilim or Cambion. It’s not someone who knows the rules. So it must be a human, acting on what little information they could get.”
“And what human would kill a bird or a rat in a salt circle?” I muttered. “A crazy one. A sane human would not do that.”
“They’re not going to have any success,” he said gently. “I’m not one-hundred-percent sure about this, but the death of an animal in close proximity would actually inhibit the energy of the circle, not power it. No angel or demon will come through a circle under those limited circumstances, even if they wanted to.”
“What about a lost soul?”
“From Hell?”
I nodded. “You said before that humans can’t call angels or demons. The best they could do would be to call a lost soul. Maybe that’s what they’re trying to do? Maybe they want to call a tortured soul to wreck Revelations?”
Alex grinned. “So our perp has morphed from a crazy human to a disgruntled staff member?”
I shrugged. “Maybe. Although again, I can’t think of anyone that would do that. There are better ways to take revenge on the workplace. Everyone here is pretty happy,” I mused. “The jobs here are coveted. It was a miracle that I got my job. No one has been reprimanded or fired lately.” I furrowed my brow. “I should ask Martin, though. Just to be on the safe side.”
“You might be onto something there,” Alex said, giving me a squeeze. “It might be a human trying to call a lost soul.”
A weird trickle of dread slithered down my spine. “What if it’s a soul that hasn’t departed yet?”
“Huh?”
I swallowed, trying to gather my thoughts. “Alex, what happens
when a person dies?”
He cocked his head, trying to see where I was going with it. “They leave their bodies and are immediately assaulted with all the energy they’ve ever put out into the world. The negative energy overwhelms and confuses them, and causes serious pain. We’ve been over this,” he said. “Where are you going with it?”
“When do they actually go to Hell?”
“They’re drawn there straight away,” he said. “Most of the time they descend straight away, on their own volition. They’re drawn to similar vibrations, so the low-vibration of entities in pain and suffering flock together.”
It made me feel so sad and helpless. But I carried on with my line of thinking, just in case it helped. “And what about the souls that escape? Or souls that don’t go down to Hell?”
“The demons round them up, of course, and bring them to Hell where we can keep an eye on them. Some particularly confused souls manage to evade the compulsion to descend, although it must be unimaginably painful. Those are your poltergeists. They cause a lot of damage,” he said grimly. “It’s little wonder that the humans think that they’ve called evil demons. But no, they’re just tormented souls.”
“And some manage to escape Hell?”
He gave a quirky half-smile. “It happens all the time. One or two missing souls per day is not much of a problem. We round them up pretty quick. They’re a lot safer within the boundaries of Hell, and while they’re there, we can help them try and process some of their pain and guilt.” His chest swelled with pride. "Eventually, some of them manage to process enough that they can neutralize the negative energy inside of them, and ascend.”
“To Heaven?”
“Most reincarnate.”
“Ah. That’s right. Only a handful rest in Heaven, is that right? And even less go on to become Ascended Guardians, like your dad.”
“Right. But most of them choose to reincarnate, to try and do life again, the proper way. Which, of course, has its own problems. More often than not, they end up back in Hell. Usually for a shorter time, and the next time around, they are more likely to choose Ascension, but in the meantime…”
“More souls in Hell, pushing the boundaries,” I muttered. “More bodies on Earth, killing the planet.”
“More misery, more suffering,” Alex said gruffly, resting his chin on my shoulder. His stubble tickled my skin, grating softly like a loofah. It was a delicious sensation, and I savored it, but kept my hands firmly where they were, so I could concentrate.
“So why don’t you guys put more pressure on the neutralized souls to just have a rest in Heaven, or become Ascended Guardians?”
“We do,” Alex replied. “Or, I should say, the Archangels do. That’s one of Malach’s main jobs. Once a soul is neutralized, they depart from Hell straight away - their energy calls them to a higher plane. The angels greet them and try and talk them into becoming Guardians. Anything to keep bodies off the earth, and out of Hell.”
“So they’re not doing a great job?”
“They do okay,” he replied grudgingly. “They’re getting better at it.”
“But not quickly enough.”
“Not by a long shot. Hell is about to burst open. We can handle one or two escaped souls per day. Not several billion all at once. They’d destroy everything.”
I fell silent. I’d heard about poltergeists before, of course. They slammed doors and threw pictures off walls. “Would it really be that bad?” I said out loud.
“Yes. I know what you’re thinking, the ghostly activity that you’ve heard of before is peanuts compared to what they’re really like. Sinkholes, earthquakes, tornados, tsunamis… it’s rare for them not to be triggered by an escaped soul.”
“Oh,” I breathed out. “So anytime there's a natural disaster…”
“They’re usually caused by a pissed-off dead person.”
I was silent.
Alex shuffled up against me again. “Not always. But they trigger a lot.”
“And they’re not rational at all, are they?”
“Not in the slightest.”
“So you couldn’t call one up and try and direct it to wreck something?”
He shook his head. “You might as well ask a duckling to breakdance.”
I chuckled. “Okay, weird. But listen, can the souls … I don’t know… possess someone? Make them do something?”
“There have been instances of souls attaching themselves to people, and to objects. They’re malevolent, but don’t have much energy to feel anything other than pain. They can be a drainer, but that’s about it.”
“So there’s no chance that there’s a soul attached to someone around here, making them do stuff?”
“No, Eve. Why? Were you thinking of someone in particular?”
“Hannah,” I said despondently. “I can’t stop thinking about her. I remember so clearly feeling her soul when she was murdered, when I first saw her dead body on the ground. I could feel her pain and her confusion.” My shoulders hunched. “It was awful.”
“She would have descended to Hell straight away.”
“But remember what Mr. Savage said? That he thought he could hear her screaming?”
“Lots of humans imagine that, once their loved ones have passed on, especially if it was violent. It’s just an echo, it’s not her soul hanging around.”
“But what if it was?”
“Eve,” Alex said gently, stroking the bare skin of my shoulder. “If Hannah's soul were still here, Revelations would be rubble. I’d have my mom and all her friends come up to get her. They’d be raiding my fridge right about now.”
“Oh.”
I lapsed into silence again. For a while, all I heard was the sound of Alex breathing soft, deep, slow breaths into his big lungs. It was soothing, but I still felt unsettled.
“Do we have any plans?” I mumbled, tiredness starting to overwhelm me.
“You’re going to ask Martin about any disgruntled staff. To find out if it’s just a wacky human with a grudge. I’m going to call Zel tomorrow and see if he has any updates on the whereabouts of Vane, and if he’s spotted Mags anywhere. Nate is on the trail of the Quarters, to find out if they’re going to send more assassins after you.”
“I think that’s all my enemies covered,” I muttered sarcastically. “At least now that Hannah’s dead, she’s not a living danger to worry about.”
“Are you still worried about Hannah?”
I thought about it. “I’m not worried about her being here,” I replied. “I think I’m just feeling guilty. I still feel terrible that she was killed instead of me.”
To his credit, he didn’t point out that she was an awful person, and he’d much prefer that it was her and not me. It would be a mean and petty thing that someone else would say, but Alex was the bigger man, in every single way. A hot flush ran through me; heat rose in my core. But I didn’t follow the impulse.
“It’s weird,” I said out loud.
“Hmmm?” He leaned forward and stroked my hair off my face.
“My feelings for you are deeper than yesterday, and the day before that,” I said slowly. “My heart is so full of you that it’s rock-solid, full to the brim, and still growing.”
He chuckled lightly. “I know exactly what you mean. You’re the most delicate, beautiful, and most precious thing I’ve ever seen before in my life, but your soul is solid titanium.”
I grinned. “I’ve never loved you more, and I'm probably going to love you even more tomorrow. I want you in every single way that you can possibly imagine…”
“But I’m finding the temptation of holding you in my arms relatively easy to resist-”
“Because you’re holding me in your arms,” I finished for him.
He nodded. “There’s nothing more on this Earth that I want more than to have you, but I can hold back, because I love you.” He squeezed me tighter. I sank into it, into him, with all my body. My head rested back on his chest, and I sighed out a breath, the tension in my lu
ngs melting away.
“We’ll find a way, Eve,” he said softly, the vibrations of his voice causing goosebumps to rise on my skin. “And when the end comes, at least we know we’ll be together.”
“In every way I can possibly imagine,” I whispered back, my lips on his skin.
Chapter Five
The next night I was back on the reception desk. Clover had the night off, and Dale and I were having our usual amounts of fun, running errands for crazy rich people.
But he was right - there were fewer guests around than usual.
Martin came in late and snuck around the desk without me noticing. “Hello, boss,” I greeted him. “How’s the tummy?”
He patted his enviable flat stomach. “Back to normal, thanks, Eve!”
I smirked at him. “Dale told me you took a sickie.”
He chuckled. “It was a good time to do it. Things are relatively slow around here, you guys have got everything under control. And to be honest,” he lowered his voice and leaned in close to me. “Now that Hannah’s dead, my workload has halved. I swear, when she was around - and alive - I spent most of my time either putting out fires for her, or dealing with staff members complaining about her.”
Once again, a sick feeling of guilt flooded through me.
Martin must have noticed, because he straightened up and his mouth drooped. “Still horrible, of course, what happened to her. I’m sorry that you were the one to find her like that too. It must have been terrible.”
“I still have nightmares about it.”
“It was a terrible thing,” Martin whispered. “I hear that Bentleigh Savage almost didn't survive it. My sources tell me that he’s gone a little crazy. Walking out of board meetings, trashing his Maserati, that kind of thing.”
“Do you think her spirit is haunting him?” I hoped my tone wasn’t too serious, but serious enough that if Martin suspected anything, he’d tell me.
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