What the fuck? I glanced back at Axton, unsure whether she was playing some game or telling the truth. He only shrugged, apparently at as much of a loss as I was.
I wouldn't put it past anyone to lie and misrepresent themselves, but an Angel pretending to be stuck in one form? If it were true, that would explain why she wasn't even granted a designation. She would be a shame to everyone, especially her family.
My eyes narrowed, and my lips tightened as I studied her. The Angels were fucking with us. That was the only explanation as to why they would send someone they would typically hide or kill as soon as her 'defect' became obvious.
"That's quite all right. I believe we could all use a walk after being in that stuffy room for so long. Come," I decreed as I turned. "I do need to slip away for a moment, but Grim Grouping Mannix will ensure your safety until I return."
Just as I disappeared, I heard her call out, "Thank you."
What the fuck have I gotten myself into?
Chapter Four
I shouldn't have left them with the Angel, but I needed to have a moment free from prying eyes. The well at my center had long since overflowed, saturating me with emotions of every kind, and it took so much control to keep from lashing out. If I wanted to behave in front of the spy, I would have to rid myself of at least a portion of it.
As I sped away, I was too wrapped up in the relief my Grim form gave me to notice that I was being followed. It wasn't until I reached the forested area that I realized I had a tag along.
“Zella.”
Kian's soft voice startled me, causing me to jump and spin in a circle. He stood beneath the canopy of spindly fingerlike branches. When he tossed his hood back, his eyes searched me, trying to pull clues from my stance and posture. He wouldn't find any. I'd trained my body to lie so much that it came unbidden. My insides resembled shredded paper waving in the wind, but my outside screamed strength and power.
Loosening my hold on my visage, I slid my hood off as well, revealing myself to him. Those lovely blue eyes darkened as his gaze darted around my face, picking up on the tiny clues that I wasn't as whole as I projected.
His hands rose as he offered himself to me. Chewing on my lip, I hesitated. I needed violence and the release of pressure that made itself known in the pain of a sore throat. But a hug wouldn't be awful, right? He waited patiently as I decided.
When I lifted my foot and took that first step, he mirrored me. We drew together until I found myself within his arms, where I pretended that I could hide away from the world.
As his warmth and floral scent enveloped me, I sank into him, allowing him to hold me up for a moment.
“Tell me,” he whispered. “Maybe I can help. Maybe I can't, but I know I can listen. Can't promise I won't try to fix things, but if that's not what you need, just pop me and remind me that not everything needs fixing.”
“It's not a big deal. I feel terrible for disappearing for something so ridiculous.” I turned my head so that my cheek rested on his shoulder and wrapped my arms around him.
“Hey, none of that. You're allowed to have feelings about things, even if others might see it differently. You know, when I got placed in the Grouping, I fucking hated it. Everyone else was running everywhere with smiles and telling everybody who they were grouped with. Not me. It only meant another bunch would end up screwing me over in the long term, right? That didn't happen, of course, but at that moment, I wished to rip those grins off of their faces,” Kian admitted.
“I can understand that,” I chuckled. “I've never wanted to be a Master. They just took my mother's number from me, and I'm even further away from her. Now I'm stuck with not only a bunch of assholes under me, but I also have to figure out how to convince those assholes to do a job they get nothing from since there's no energy transfer from the death. Not to mention, it's an entire world of souls that has to be cleared in very little time.