by T. F. Walsh
“This is extortion,” Levi said. “I can take you to court and get them back.” While part of him debated with tossing Brent across the room and storming out, he hesitated.
“Do that and your tags will be incinerated. Until then, they’ll be hidden where you can never find them.”
Burning anger hissed through his body, demanding he rip Brent’s spine out. The fury swept through him like waves, all consuming.
Levi lunged around the desk, towering over Brent. His hand, snake-fast, clenched his shirt, lifting him out of his seat. Before Levi could control himself, he head butted Brent in the face.
Footfalls clapped against concrete floor behind him, and suddenly, someone tackled Levi, hands grasping his arms. They yanked him backward.
Brent collapsed onto his seat, which toppled over and he fell to the ground, blood pouring from his nose. Just the start of what was coming Brent’s way. Levi fought the restraints pulling him away, but they weren’t releasing him.
“Let it go, Levi. Don’t make it worse.” Jack’s voice was a wasp in his ear. Damn he loathed the guy.
“Fuck off!” Levi’s voice was a thunderstorm, ratting through him.
Two more hunters entered the room. These guys licked Brent’s ass as if it were ice cream.
Brent pulled himself to his feet and wiped his bloody nose. “I’ll ignore this incident Levi, but you have two choices. You work for me as a contractor, or I will use the full force of the law to sue you for everything you have. I’ll destroy you.”
No words formed in Levi’s mind and air barely reached his lungs as an inferno engulfed him. He’d kill Brent. “Give me back my tags.”
“When you’ve settled your debt.” He waved a hand at him as if Levi were an animal. “Take him out. You’re no longer permitted on Argos’ premises. We will assign demons for you to capture. Once your dues are paid off, I’ll return what’s yours.”
Numbness crawled through Levi’s chest as his heart constricted. What the fuck just happened? All that went through his mind was that he wanted to rip out Brent’s throat and ruin that suit with his bloody intestines.
Chapter 17
Cary quickened her steps down the sidewalk. She’d ran halfway across the city from the Lux hotel as she made her way toward the Argos warehouse. Sweat collected along her lower back, but getting to the building was priority. If she had money for a cab, she’d be there already.
The fire bubbling through Cary’s veins intensified. “Levi’s such an asshole. Fuck!”
She had collected the stone from the car last night after vanquishing it, then Levi stole the demon rock while she’d been sleeping.
That had obviously been Cary’s fault. It never occurred to her that Levi might take the rock to Brent. Made sense that boss-man would want proof. But Levi should have woken her up, told her what he was doing. Hindsight was a son of a bitch because nothing changed the circumstances.
She had two options if she intended to get the Argos job: hunt through the streets and pray she crossed paths with a demon before noon, or reach Levi first.
Calling Brent had crossed her mind. Great way to appear petty and desperate. No, she’d talk to him face to face.
Cary pushed into a sprint. Finally, the Argos warehouse came into view several blocks away. A huge one-story building with a flat roof, located next door to an empty lot.
She couldn’t ignore how Levi always jumped before thinking. If he ever discovered she was a cambion, he’d exorcise her before asking a question. That was why she had to keep her distance, not sleep in his bed. Pretending to be a human was her own foolish fantasy.
Once at Argos, she hammered a fist into the front doors. She wiped the perspiration from her upper lip and went another round of knocking.
The door pulled open.
Jack. The dickhead who’d cleaned the floor with her on her first test at Argos stood there. Despite the furious words on the front of her mind, she swallowed her pride and grinned. “Hey, is Levi or Brent here?”
“Got an appointment?” He lifted his chin, glaring at Cary as if she were a door-to-door sales person. Yeah, she pictured herself kicking him in the groin. Instead, she kept smiling.
“Get out of my way.” She pushed past him and entered the warehouse. Adrenaline buzzed through her veins. Cary didn’t want to discuss their issue in front of her potential new boss. What if Levi wasn’t even at Argos?
“Brent’s not in the mood to see anyone this morning.” Jack’s voice floated behind her, but she didn’t care or have time for Jack’s complaints. She marched across the room, targeting the office in the back corner.
A couple of hunters were in the back, sparring in hand to hand combat, with a small audience.
Inside Brent’s office, Cary found him sitting at his desk. He dabbled a handkerchief to a bloody injury at the corner of his eye. The only person who would dare lay a hand on the CEO was Levi.
Brent’s gaze lifted. “Sit.” His voice was strained. He lowered the tissue from his face, revealing split skin at the corner of his eyebrow. Cary swallowed the nervousness gathering at the back of her throat. His wound could only put Brent in a crappy mood.
Cary slid into the seat across the desk from Brent. She toyed with asking him if he was okay, but she figured Brent wouldn’t appreciate her prying.
“I was going to call you today,” he said.
She shifted in her chair, sweat collecting at her nape. In Brent’s company, she felt as if any moment he might declare he knew she was a cambion. But she was here to discover if Levi had handed in the stone.
“I… Last night, Levi and—”
“He told me.” The snarl that hung off his last word confirmed Levi had caused Brent’s injury. Blood bubbled from the cut.
While curiosity swarmed through Cary’s mind, she couldn’t help but feel pity for Brent. He ran an organization with varied personalities, including hot-headed, testosterone driven hunters like Levi. That would challenge anyone. Cary believed Brent was doing the right thing with Argos, keeping innocents protected, and in a lot of ways, it reminded her of her father. And sometimes that came with pissing others off.
Brent reached into his drawer and placed a black stone on the table. Warmth spread through her chest at seeing the stone she had in her pocket the previous night.
“Levi told me you and him destroyed the speck demon.” His gaze dipped to the rock and back at Cary. “I would have preferred to see you capture a fiend on your own.” He paused, staring at Cary with a stoic expression. She held his gaze, refusing to let him sense her unease.
“But,” he said, “I understand the demon that had possessed the Corvette was tough as it had outsmarted Levi several times.” Brent wiped his injury with a handkerchief. “I’m in the market for a new hunter.” Brent stretched out his free hand. “Welcome to the Argos team.”
“You’re shitting me?” Had Cary heard right? All her jobs had been dishwasher jobs, cleaning offices, anything requiring no qualifications. But… Damn, hunting demons was her forte. “I can’t tell you how much this means.” She shook Brent’s hand—strong and icy cold.
“You’ll be on probation for three months.” He broke their handshake.
“Of course.” Damn, she’d take the job even if Brent offered a twelve-month trial period. On the inside, she was in the middle of party central, celebrating the news.
“Immediate start. Let me get the paperwork.”
While Brent stood and made his way to the cabinet in the corner of the room, Cary sat frozen, convinced she’d wake up from a dream. “I got the job?” Her stomach fluttered, even if she did sound stupid blurting that out loud. Who cared when she had a full-time job in the field she excelled at—demon slaying. The world ought to rain with streamers and balloons to celebrate because never in her fantasy dream had she expected that to happen. Not after Levi took her stone.
That was the thing about Levi. He might do things the most unexpected way, but he always meant well. Cary’s earlier anger at him
melted into a puddle of guilt. But it didn’t take away from the fact he was a wild card, unpredictable, and put hunting before everything else. She sniggered on the inside at the irony of her thoughts… Levi was doing what Cary’s father had taught her to do, yet she was the one going against her dad’s training.
But was it so wrong to want a life with friends and maybe a boyfriend? Regardless, Levi was probably no longer working for Argos. Getting rid of the car was part of the agreement, she remembered him telling her. So even more reason for her to start a new life with her new job, get an apartment in Detroit, and move on from Levi. He’d return to his hometown, Ann Arbor. Her stomach churned at the notion, but she pushed it away, reminding herself, she got the Argos job!
After an hour of signing papers and filling out forms to order her weapons, Cary left with an extra skip in her step.
This is happening. Cary was a demon hunter employee at Argos. Her father would be mortified. He’d remind her that fighting alongside others made her vulnerable to being revealed as a cambion. But considering her dad vanished from her life, he didn’t get a say in what direction she took, and that felt right.
Outside, the warm wind was a caress across her cheeks. When voices from the side of the warehouse caught her attention, she quietened her stride.
“Screw you,” she head Levi bellow.
Her breath caught in her lungs. She rushed to the edge of the building and found Levi facing off with three hunters, one of them Jack. One ran the back of a hand across a bloody nose. Levi’s back faced Cary, and his posture remained rigid with fists by his side.
“I. Need. To. Speak. With. Brent,” Levi’s patronising tone climbed.
“Leave the premises before we call the cops. Don’t make this worse, Levi,” one guy said.
Levi stepped closer. Two of the hunters recoiled while Jack stood his ground. And while Cary imagined Jack getting a deserving beating, Levi would end up hurt with three against him.
Cary sped up toward Levi. “Hey. Been looking for you.”
He glanced over his shoulder, his hardened eyes softening the moment his gaze landed on her. “Give me a moment.”
She was by his side and snaked an arm around his. “Let’s head out of here. Don’t waste your energy on these guys.”
“Yeah, listen to her. Piss off,” Jack piped up. “Brent doesn’t want to see you.”
Levi stiffened against Cary, and the corded muscles in his neck twitched. Yep, that wouldn’t end well. She recalled the way Jack had hit her during her first test, how he didn’t hold back, and laughed in her face. Releasing her hold of Levi, she strolled up to Jack.
He cocked an eyebrow and stood there, arms folded across his chest.
She swung a punch, clipping him below the eye. Her knuckles stung at once, but damn the hit was worth the pain.
Jack’s hand flew to his face, his mouth twisted into a grim line. “Fucking whore.”
Before she could stop herself, she side kicked him in the gut, sending Jack reeling backward. The other two hunters made whoop sounds as if they were in a school ground. Spinning on her heels, she dusted her hands and approached Levi. “Can we go now?”
Levi’s mouth curled upward, and he gave her a small approving nod. He joined her as they headed back toward the main road.
“You’ll never cut it as a hunter at Argos.” Jack’s words floated on the wind. “Once a bitch, always a bitch.” The guy was a piece of scum and she wouldn’t waste another breath on him.
Levi slid an arm down her back, drawing her alongside him as they fell into step, walking away from Argos. “What are you doing here?” he asked.
She glanced up at him. “I got the Argos job. Even after you took my stone.”
“Your stone?” He cut her a look while the bridge of his nose pinched.
“I finished the demon last night, while you laid around the pool.” She smirked.
“After I weakened it for you. Which was why I gave you credit to Brent.”
Sure, last night, she hadn’t told Levi about Brent’s requirements, but she also needed the irritation out of her mind otherwise she’d go insane. “But you knew I needed a stone to get this job, and still you took it. Brent said he’d give me the job if I captured a demon last night and gave him the stone this morning.”
He stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and drew her toward a closed up storefront. “Look, I get why you’re upset, but Brent would only accept the stone from the possessed Corvette to prove I’ve destroyed the demon. And why didn’t you tell me Brent gave you only one night? I could have helped you bag another demon in time.”
She shrugged. It was futile arguing about misunderstandings and things she should have done. While a big part of her annoyance was that he took the stone, it bugged her more that he did so without thinking of her. But pushing the point wouldn’t get her anywhere because that was Levi. Always did things his way.
“Thanks for the credit. Appreciate it,” she said instead.
“So if you got the job, why are you giving me crap?” Something dark flittered behind his gaze, but it vanished as quickly as it appeared.
How to explain her messed up thoughts without delving into her feelings toward Levi? Besides, she had to make sense of her own emotions before blurting them out. Levi was dangerous territory for someone like her. Yet in his presence, the world seemed safer, filled with opportunity, and no longer lonely.
“I’m still pissed at you for taking the stone. Just so you know. But what was up with those hunters?”
He fell quiet for a moment, scanning an elderly woman near a bus stop across the road. “Brent’s a fuckhead. And I’m now working for Argos on a consulting basis, but don’t ask. It still isn’t sitting right with me. I’ll be getting legal advice first.”
She didn’t quite follow what he meant, yet the dark tone beneath his words told her to avoid the topic. He’d talk about what happened when he was ready and that was fine by Cary.
Levi pulled her closer by an elbow. “Listen, how does dinner tonight sound? We can celebrate your new job.”
While a part of her screamed yes, another part reminded her the smart decision was to keep her distance. To break things off and not prolong whatever was going on between them. Cary now had a job and could look after herself. Maybe she could afford to buy a second-hand car.
Except, as she stared up into Levi’s mocha gaze, her body buzzed with an adrenaline to get closer.
Levi’s lips called to her.
“So, is that a yes for dinner?” he asked while his gaze never left her face.
She nodded, not trusting her voice in that moment. Levi leaned closer, his head lowering, and his mouth grazing hers. She ought to pull away before she lost herself because she couldn’t help herself around him. But when his finger pressed into her back, drawing her closer, her heart fluttered. His tongue pushed past her lips, tangling with hers. Her hands sailed to the back of his head, needing more. The guy had a way of driving her to the point of insanity with a simple kiss. No, scratch that. Nothing simple about his kiss. Not when her veins thrummed with desire, when her stomach tingled, and nothing else in the world existed while in his embrace.
Chapter 18
Levi’s body buzzed with sexual hunger.
“No girl could ever pass up your kind of dessert,” Cary said, laying on her back across his hotel bed, propped up on elbows, her sexy gaze luring him closer. Damn, the girl drove him insane.
Levi’s cock hardened at her nakedness. Her pebbled nipples called to him, as did the glistening curls between the apex of her legs. They’d just gone a round of fast, hair-pulling sex, and his mind filled with taking her again. He climbed on the bed, placing his body over Cary’s and ran his tongue over each breast. “Babe, you’re the only treat I ever want.”
A devious smile played on her lips, and she parted her legs beneath him, her warmth a wildfire. The tip of his hardness nudged her welcoming entrance, but instead of claiming her as he craved, he pressed his body against he
rs, forearms resting on either side of her head, their mouths inches apart. He could get lost in her green eyes, brighter than a grassy field after a rainy day.
“I’d like us to start over,” he said. “Me taking you out on a proper date, spoiling you with gifts, the whole shebang.”
She chewed on her bottom lip as if she contemplated eating chocolate cake when on a diet, and it took every strength of resistance to not dive in.
“I think we’re way past that first stage,” she said and smirked.
He kissed her nose and said, “This past week has been crazy with the speck demon and Brent, but nothing compares to meeting you. Now that most of the crap has calmed down, I want to know more about you. Your past, your favorite sport, which side of the bed you prefer to sleep on.” That wasn’t him in the slightest, because he never wanted to move forward so fast with a girl. But Cary captured his heart and attention, and being in her company had the crappy world and his shit fading away.
“You really want that with me?”
“Fuck, yeah.” He kissed her, intending for a small peck, but instead his mouth claimed hers, his tongue darted forward, tasting her, devouring her. And as her hips lifted to meet him better, he adjusted his cock and slid into her fire. His body trembled with the desperation to be fully submerged into the beauty that had claimed him.
She moaned, and her eyes shut as her body quivered. Cary’s legs locked around his waist, tilting her pelvis for a deeper penetration, and he pounded into her, giving her what she desired. Euphoria surged through him as her walls squeezed him, and it wouldn’t be long before he exploded again. So he stopped, and stayed inside, loving how she squirmed beneath him.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Babe, I’m never going to let you walk out of my life.”
She lifted her head and layered his mouth with tiny kisses. “Who said I want it any other way? But you live in Ann Arbor. I just got a job in Detroit.”