“I’m great, thanks Hannah!” Clover sang as she pretended to type on the keyboard. “How are you?”
“Just fine.” She shrugged. “Or I will be once I get away from you desk rats. I’m afraid I’ll never get the poor-person stink off me if I hang around too long.” She sighed dramatically and pushed her perfectly blow-dried hair back off her shoulder.
“Sorry about that, Hannah,” I said smoothly. “But if it bothers you, you could always wait for your daddy over in the lounges.”
“I was, dipshit,” she sneered. “You think I want to come and talk to you losers? I want something.”
“Your wish is my command,” I announced, crossing my arms over each other and blinking, just like a genie.
Hannah’s face grew pink; she knew I was mocking her. “You’re on thin ice, newbie,” she snarled. “I could get you axed, just like that.” She snapped her fingers.
“Well, lucky for me, I almost got myself axed right here on the desk a couple of nights ago,” I said amiably. I kept my face smooth, but my pulse was thumping. God, I hated her. “And your daddy is keen for it to stay out of the papers. So I think I’m pretty safe.” I gave her a full, happy smile, so she could see that she wasn’t ever going to get to me.
Hannah’s face went from pink to purple; I thought she was going to take a swing at me. Nobody was ever rude to her. But Dale, obviously deciding I was suicidal, hung up on his fake phone call and bumped me out of the way with his hip.
“What can I do for you today, Hannah?” He spread his arms wide, and she blinked at him. I was reminded of a wild animal trainer, attempting to draw the predator’s attention toward himself. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
“As a matter of fact, you can, Mister McChunky.” She swiveled around and gestured to the corner of the lobby. “Who is that man on the far couch? The one on his phone?”
I hadn’t seen anyone there. I would have noticed if a guest was there. We always checked our surroundings for guests before we dropped our smiles and chatted among ourselves. But we all looked over and saw Alex sitting there on the seats by the east wall. He was framed beautifully by the vertical garden behind him; lush ferns and trailing fronds cascaded down, echoing his long, loose hair. A simple, crisp white shirt clung perfectly to his muscular body, the sleeves rolled up his powerful forearms, and he sat facing away from us so we could see his profile. He was talking on his cell phone, his beautiful, sulky mouth set in a frown.
He was so perfect he made my throat close up.
“He looks like a well-groomed Tarzan.” Hannah licked her lips lasciviously, and I felt a stab. “Who is he?”
“That’s Aleksander Sorensen,” Dale told her. I wanted to punch him. “He’s an arms dealer.”
Hannah’s eyes flew wide. “Mmmm. Dangerous. I like it.”
“He came here with another man,” Dale blurted out in a wobbly voice. It might have been because I was stepping on his toe.
“No matter.” She flipped her hair. “I can tell he’s at least a little bit hetero. He’s been on the phone the whole time I’ve been waiting. I just need a conversation starter. Arms dealer, you say? And where’s he from?”
We were all silent.
“Europe,” Clover finally mumbled.
“God, you are all awful at your jobs,” Hannah rolled her eyes. “Aren’t you supposed to know everything about our guests?”
I cleared my throat. “Well, some of them take their privacy very seriously, Hannah.” I gave her my most condescending smile, eyebrows downturned so she could see the obvious fake-pity on my face. “And, between us girls, if he’s refusing to get off the phone to flirt with you, I think you should probably take the hint.”
Dale slammed me out of the way with his hip again, and Clover threw her arm out wide as if to shield me. But she was pointing toward the ballroom door. “Look, Hannah, there’s your dad!”
Bentleigh Savage was finally coming out of the ballroom, chatting with a couple of the more senior managers. Hannah’s attention was diverted, but she whipped her head back and hissed at me. “This isn’t over, bitch. Pretty soon, you’ll only wish you were dead.” With a final flip of her hair, she turned and stalked away.
Considering everything I’d learned in the last twenty-four hours, her threat was so ridiculous that I couldn't help but snort with laughter. Hannah heard it, but she was already ten feet away and her father had his arms out to welcome her, so there was nothing she could do.
“What is wrong with you?” Clover screeched in the lowest whisper she could muster while keeping a happy smile plastered on her face just in case anyone was looking. “Are you insane? Do you know what that girl could do to you?”
“We’re not talking just getting you fired,” Dale did his best ventriloquist impression, speaking out of the corner of his mouth while grinning. “She’d plant drugs in your room. She’d dress up like you and punch another guest. She’d… she....”
“I get it, guys. She’s bad news,” I said lightly. I didn’t care about Hannah. She’d die like the rest of us. Probably sooner rather than later.
But more to the point, I didn’t care because now that Hannah had moved away, I could see that Alex was watching me. He leaned forward, arms on his knees, piercing blue eyes focused directly at me. He wasn’t on the phone anymore. While I stared at him from across the lobby, he lifted his head and gestured with his hand, beckoning me toward him.
Clover followed my line of sight. “Ohhhhh, Lord, that man is delicious.” Her eyes flew wide. “Is he… is he waiting for you?”
“I don’t… I don’t know…” I murmured. “I better check to see what he wants.”
I was vaguely aware of Hannah, standing with her father and the rest of the senior management, over by the fountain in the front entrance. I could feel eyes on me—stabby, hateful eyes. But I just didn’t care. It had been less than a couple of hours since I last spoke to Alex, but it already felt like too long. He drew me to him like the blazing sun.
He stood up as I approached, he was so tall I had to tilt my head back to look at him. I’d come too close. “Hey,” I squeaked out. “Any news?”
He frowned. “Yes, none of it good. There are ranks of demons and hosts of angels that are losing their damn minds. It appears that everyone thinks the war is coming.” His brow furrowed further. “But nothing has happened to set it off.”
“Apart from the horsemen, you mean.”
“They’re more of a symptom, rather than the cause. There’s lots of prophecies…” He closed his eyes and grimaced. “God damn. That girl is coming back.”
“What girl?” I said, spinning around like an idiot.
Of course, it was Hannah, and she was clattering toward us on her heels, a big, red smile stretching her lips.
“Heeey,” she cooed to Alex. “I see you are finally off the phone.” She swung her lithe, sinewy body directly in between Alex and me and swished her hair in my face. “I wanted to introduce myself. I’m Hannah—my dad owns this little place.” She swung her hand around the cavernous reception room in a mock-humble gesture.
“Uh, hi.” Alex took two steps back. “Nice to meet you. Sorry, I was just asking Eve here something.”
Hannah gave a girlish laugh and didn’t even turn around to look at me. “Eve has to go; she’s needed at the desk. And I’m not sure how much help she’ll be. She’s the most junior night staff,” she whispered conspiratorially, making it sound like I was mentally deficient. Her expression brightened, and she leaned closer to Alex. “But I’m free to give you a hand. I do a lot of the operations around here. I know the ins and outs of every little thing. I’m sure I can help you with anything you need.”
My breath hitched in my throat. That bitch. The closest thing she got to the operations of Revelations was sampling the wares. I was about to interrupt, but I looked down and noticed that she was taking tiny steps backward in her red spike heels. The right one was only inches away from impaling my foot.
“Uh, no, it�
�s okay, I was just thanking her for helping me with something…” Alex had a confounded expression on his face.
It only enraged me further. I had no doubt that he was used to beautiful women coming on to him. I thought he would have turned her away quickly. Why was he enthralled with this awful girl?
“Oh great!” Hannah said brightly. She swung around to face me, hitting me in the face with her hair again. “You can go, Eve,” she said, slowing down her words as if I were stupid. She turned back to Alex, hooked her arm through his cozily and started to lead him away. “I wanted to ask you, have you seen the caves yet? Daddy has set up a dinner in the crystal cavern tonight; only for a couple of special guests. Ten-course degustation, matching wines... and we’ve got a hatted chef. Would you like to join me?”
I’ve never wanted to kill anyone in my life, not even when they were trying to kill me. But if I had a knife in my hand, I would quickly, easily and happily have driven it into Hannah’s back, without hesitation.
I was trembling with rage, watching Hannah lead Alex away, almost unable to move.
I felt a soft arm hook around my waist. “Come on, sweetheart,” Clover whispered to me. “Back to work.”
She moved me back behind the reception desk and gently pushed me onto the stool. “Here,” she said, handing me a tablet. “Pretend to memorize the register. We’ll cover you.”
I scowled at the blank screen. “This sucks so much.”
“Honey, we’ve all been there before.” Dale sang softly while he tapped away on his keyboard.
“I doubt anyone has ever been in my situation before. Never ever,” I said quietly.
Clover giggled. “I’m in this situation on almost a weekly basis, hon. It happens a lot; I like someone, and they’re more interested in another pretty, rich guest.”
I looked up from the tablet and furrowed my brow. “That’s not what I mean. He’s not…I mean, I’m not... I’m not mad at Hannah for...” I frowned. “I mean, I’m just….”
“You’re jealous,” Dale said quietly.
“I’m not.” My teeth were clenched so hard I could barely get the words out. “I just hate her so much.”
Clover rubbed my knee. “We all hate her, babe. But she just snagged your man out from under your nose. Of course you’d be livid.”
“He’s not my man.” I felt so confused. Strange emotions were swirling within me, all squirmy and dull and at the same time. It just felt awful.
Dale gave a short bark of laughter, but quickly smoothed out his face when I glared at him. “Sorry, Eve. But you clearly like him, and he is obviously at least a little bit interested in you.”
“He’s not.” Well, he was, but not for the reasons Clover and Dale thought.
Clover’s voice was soft. “Eve… I don’t… I don’t want you to get hurt. But, as we keep telling you, this could be fun for you! Liking boys is fun. And you obviously like this one. You don’t have to follow through, you don’t have to do anything about it. Just—”
“I don’t think you have to let yourself,” Dale cut in. “I think that you do like him. Just go ahead—have a crush on him.”
I scowled.
“I’ve got a crush on Nate,” Dale smiled sweetly at me. “I know it’s not going to go anywhere, but it’s still fun. A girl can dream.”
“Lust is nice,” Clover nodded in agreement. “The build-up is almost as fun as the release, if you know what I mean.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” I said dully.
Clover looked into my face and raised her brow. “We’ll leave you alone for now. But just let yourself feel this stuff, Eve. It’s part of being human. I know that it’s tough for you, but it’s all normal.”
I didn’t know what to say, so I just nodded. To tell the truth, I was a little blindsided.
I’d never felt lust before. Sure, I could appreciate masculine beauty, but as soon as the thought turned to having that beauty on top of me… my insides clenched up, and I felt like being sick. Farrah, my therapist, said that I might overcome this in time. Enough to have a normal relationship with a man. Hopefully.
Had I?
When I looked at Alex, he made my insides hurt. But it didn’t feel bad. It felt… good.
Of course I wanted to kill Hannah. She humiliated me and belittled me. That was nothing to do with how I felt about Alex, though.
I poked around my feelings a little more, exploring in the way that you’d gently prod your sore tooth with your tongue. There were a lot of painful spots. And the more I poked, the worse it felt.
If I had a crush on Alex, it was futile.
For one, we were all going to die.
And there was no chance a man like that would be interested in me. He was sticking around for now, probably because he thought I was some kind of magnet for trouble and he’d get more answers about the apocalypse.
But he’d gone off with Hannah meekly, like a lamb to the slaughter. She’d wrapped her talons around him and carted him off to Daddy. Tonight, he’d be dining with her in the caves while she smiled her wide, red-snake smile at him and flicked her pretty blond hair back.
That was it. I’d finally worked out why I was so mad. I’d imagined Alex as a take-no-prisoners warrior kind of guy. I automatically assumed that he’d see right through Hannah, that he’d see how awful she was, and say something horrendously rude to her to get her to back off. I thought he would have defended me, at least.
And he didn’t.
So I was hurt. I didn’t even have to acknowledge how I felt about him; it was there the whole time. And I felt rejected and let down.
Apocalypse be damned. This was much worse.
Chapter Twenty-Four
As far as nights go, it was a long one for me. I stayed behind the desk for the most part, and wandered around the lobby whenever I got so irritated that I wanted to itch my skin off. There were barely any guests coming and going to keep me entertained, and Clover and Dale refused to let me leave the desk, just in case I tried to track down and murder our boss’s daughter.
I didn’t blame them. My murderous rage did not subside.
At various points in the evening, either Clover or Dale would duck out to run some sort of errand for someone, but one of them would stay with me to make sure I was okay.
Every now and then, a vision of Alex and Hannah having a cozy dinner in the caves would invade my brain, and I would have to stop what I was doing, and let go of whatever I was holding in case I crushed it in my hands.
I had to reprint a lot of invoices that night.
Toward the end of our shift, Dale was out at the bungalows helping one of the night porters, and Clover was on the phone with a hysterical PA, when the other line lit up.
“Eve, you gotta help me,” Mickey the security guard pleaded. “I’ve been called out to Moira and Arnold again; they’re trying to hit each other with their walking sticks!”
“Where’s Martin? I thought he fixed all this?”
“He’s in the caves. He’s overseeing that bigwig dinner that Mr. Savage has put on.”
I scowled at the mention of the dinner in the caves.
“Please help me,” Mickey pleaded. “My conflict resolution course didn’t cover this!”
I glanced toward Clover—she was still on the phone, her face sympathetic. I could hear a high-pitched squeaking coming from her earpiece. The overburdened assistant was clearly offloading every bit of information about her client that she could possibly think of. Clover would probably be a while.
“Okay, Mickey, I’ll come on out,” I told him. “They probably need a snack. Low blood sugar can do terrible things to people.”
I heard him sigh in relief. “But in all seriousness, Eve, I don’t care if these two are in their nineties; they should both be in jail.”
I smirked for the first time that night. “Oh, I agree.”
I hung up the phone and snuck out from behind the reception desk. I knew Clover would try and stop me, so I didn’t look back. I headed
toward the kitchens, which were deserted. There were usually one or two chefs and kitchen hands running around, but from what I’d heard, they’d all been commandeered to run dishes down to the caves. They would probably all be doing the pack-down right about now. I gritted my teeth and grabbed two bagels and a couple of jelly desserts and plopped them on the tray.
I backed out of the kitchen with the tray in my hand and moved through the lobby, heading for the bungalows outside. Clover spotted me and waved her arms frantically, but I ignored her and kept going.
It was cooler outside now; we were a few hours from dawn, but the air had condensed, dropping the temperature slightly. The humidity covered the leaves with a very soft dew. The jungle smelled amazing; the earthy scents of the fertile soil mingled with the smells of fresh citrus and sharp, acidic sap. I took a deep breath, filling my lungs with sweet air. It was invigorating, like a plunge into the icy saltwater.
I knew I could handle Moira and Arnold. Nothing had worked so far; they both hated each other, and were now so old that they were stuck in their ways. And I did agree with Mickey; their fights weren’t really funny. They were sad and abusive. Most people thought they were too frail to inflict any real damage on each other, but it would only take one unlucky shot, one quick blow to the head with a cane, and one of them would be dead; the other would be a murderer.
And that’s probably a sin too difficult to process.
They were in the bungalow closest to the main building, so I didn’t have far to walk. I balanced the tray on one hand and knocked on the door.
Mickey wrenched it open, a look of panic on his face. I could see the elderly couple behind him, both hunched over their walkers, facing each other. They were trying to balance enough on one hand so they could use the other one to lash out. “Eve, thank God you’re here. Please, sort this out!”
I pushed my shoulders back and walked into that bungalow with my head held high. “I don’t know why you’re worried Mickey,” I said loudly so the older couple could hear. “You could just call the police in, and they’d both be arrested.”
Revelations: The Black Chalice (Revelations Series Book 1) Page 18