Page 73 of Where Angels Fall

He glances down again, thumb brushing the girl’s cheek absently, his lips forming a tight line.

“If you’re looking for him,” Harvey murmurs, “you’re not looking across the city.”

His eyes lift to mine.

“You’re looking under it.”

My mind spins, itching to pass this information on to Leon. We need to fucking find Zeke, and we need to fucking execute him the way he did to Thomas.

Thinking about Thomas has my chest cracking, remembering the way Maddison screamed, the horror that glinted in her eyes when she saw his head bleeding out on the floor of the club. I've tried texting her, but she's avoided every message. She's hung up on all my calls. She hasn't sought me out the way I expected her to.

For now, it's what's best. She needs to be as far away from this club as possible if Zeke is going to come into our fucking territory and kill our men in our zone. But that doesn't mean she gets to fucking ignore me.

My eyes drop to the girl, who almost looks asleep, except for the way she lazily blinks up at the man, adoration and subservience in her gaze.

“And where is this girl now?” I ask, already knowing the answer.

Harvey doesn’t answer, and that’s all the answer I needed, my lips curving the slightest bit.

“Shipment will arrive early in the morning,” Harvey changes the topic of conversation, looking over my shoulder to Kaleb, who deals with our weapons. “Bring reinforcements; there is an extra risk on drops of this calibre. And know that Zeke will know of it, somehow.”

Kaleb doesn’t acknowledge him, but I know he has it all planned. I nod, standing up, ready to get the fuck out of here and call a meeting with my men. I take my first breath when I sit on the leather seat of my motorbike turning to Kaleb.

“Scope out the harbor before the delivery; no doubt there'll be Wraiths lingering around ready to take what's not theirs.” Kaleb gives me a single nod. “And bring me back one of them. I need to tear someone's flesh from their body.”

This gets a reaction from Kaleb, if only slight. His lip curling up a millimetre as he nods, throwing his leg over his back and revving it to life. I rev mine but don’t follow behind him. Pulling out my phone, I text Leon and get him to give me the location of Maddison. He replies instantly, giving me the location of a restaurant where she's having a meeting.

I fly down the street to the location he sent me, and I instantly see her through the glass windows, my eyes gravitating toward her in an instant.

She’s seated at a long table with her father and three men I don’t recognise. But they all look the same with their gelled hair and dark suits; relaxed postures, the casual confidence of people who think the world bends for them.

My angel sits perfectly straight.

Her smile is in place. That flawless, practiced curve that I fucking despise. The one that fools everyone but me.

Though once you’ve seen the real thing, the smile that shows off her impeccable teeth and glints in her hazel eyes, the difference is so stark it has me grinding my teeth.

There’s no light in her eyes now. No spark or heat. The woman who danced days ago, uninhibited and sinful, is gone. What’s left is the haunted, hollowed-out version I found her as.

Her father leans in, scotch in his hand, and his dead eyes are cold in a different way that my angels aren't.

Haunted, yes, but with that added cold evilness. Minutes drag by as the men talk; glasses are refilled. She glances toward the window once. Not searching. Not hopeful. Just tired.

Something in my chest tightens.

Finally, she pushes her chair back, saying something I can’t hear. One man reaches for her hand, far too confidently, and she extricates herself smoothly, leaving the table.

I memorise the man’s face, and vow to rid him of that hand, once this war is over.

I wait until she’s through the doors, following quickly behind her. She rounds the corner, shoulders slumping the second she’s out of sight of the restaurant. Her blonde hair is pulled back in a clip, her perfect body hugged tight in her sexy as fuck office outfit.

I finally feel calm; the racing thoughts and heavy weight giving me a moment of relief. I stride behind her.

“Angel,” I breathe.

Her entire body stiffens in front of me, but she doesn't turn back. Faltering for a few steps, she continues her walk. My brow furrows, heart beginning to race again.

“Angel,” I grind out. She gives me nothing. “Fuck this,” I mutter, gripping the back of her neck and pulling her into an alleyway with me.