“Seriously, Baby. What they’re doing sucks. They would be absolute jackasses to let you go.”
“Except, they’re probably joking with me, right? Having a laugh at my expense,” he snapped, then released her abruptly. If Judgment hadn’t been studying them so closely he might have missed her wince. The breath she released wasn’t one of relief.
“I’m sorry,” she said again, her voice pitched even lower. With each passing moment, she diminished herself. Her shoulders pulled in a little tighter, her chin went down, her eyes dipped. The fierce candle guttered in the gale, but it didn’t go out. No, her actions were a choice. The worthless piece of shit in front of her didn’t deserve the woman struggling against the dark rage consuming her… Hmm, he wouldn’t use the word partner.
“You will be,” the worthless piece of shit muttered, but the lack of reaction from Dahlia suggested she hadn’t heard the words.
Judgment’s brothers had.
They stared at the pair of them. Justice’s grayish-brown eyes grew more morose by the moment. Punishment, on the other hand, began to toy with a coin, fidgeting with it across his palm and then making it dance over his knuckles. The very contained action offering the first suggestion Judgment had seen of his brother’s true self in countless years. For the first time in millenia, Judgment could see their desire to intervene, to do what their grace demanded, but they didn’t act on it.
Dahlia folded her arms, hugged herself more, rubbing her palms against her biceps. The fierce red flush of the marks Alex had left on her biceps stained her pale skin like blood on snow.
“Let’s go,” Alex snapped as he tossed a couple of bills on the table. She didn’t argue even if her drink had barely been touched. Snagging her purse, she hesitated for one, endless moment. Her gaze not on Alex or even on Judgment’s irritatingly useless siblings, but on another man seated at the bar. A man she gave a swift, negative head shake to and then a faint tremulous smile.
Swinging his gaze, Judgment frowned. The tall man leaned against the bar, his attention—like Judgment’s brothers—focused on Dahlia. The russet, reddish-brown of his skin glowed under the lights from overhead. His eyes were almost tawny and his lips parted as the barest hint of a smile curved them.
He looked almost pleased.
Almost.
Judgment pivoted.
Dahlia was gone.
His brothers?
They lifted a drink to each other as if in a defeated toast, then knocked it back, but they looked far from happy.
Punishment even stole a glance toward the door.
That decided him and he moved. They couldn’t have gone far.
Whoever Dahlia was, Judgment had to know more.
Now.
Humid, sticky air assaulted him when he stepped out of Sinner’s. The sidewalk was mostly deserted, just a few passerbys here and there. He easily caught sight of the couple crossing the street at the next intersection. Even from a distance, Alex was nearly dragging Dahlia behind him, seemingly unaware or uncaring as she struggled to keep up with his fast pace.
Judgment jogged to catch up, careful to not alert them to his presence. It wasn’t hard for someone like him. Humans saw what they wanted to see, and if he put even the smallest amount of effort into it, they couldn’t see him at all.
He followed them for two blocks before they entered a moderately upscale apartment building. As if Dahlia sensed the night was only going to get worse, she tried to extract herself from his punishing grip. Just like in Sinner’s, she wasn’t strong enough to be a match for Alex as he pulled her to the stairwell instead of the elevator bay. The lobby was deserted, and chances were, no one would take the stairs at this time of night.
Where was the night guard? The front desk was empty but a steaming cup of coffee sat on the counter. Dahlia must have been on the bad side of Luck tonight.
“I have to stop by my mother’s, Alex. Let me go, she has a package for me and she’ll worry if I don’t show up to get it.” Her voice was strained, her face scrunched up in a pained grimace.
Alex shoved the door open and yanked her inside, distracted enough for Judgment to slip through undetected. He might be able to hide his presence, but he couldn’t walk through walls, or doors.
“What the fuck ever. Your mother hates me, and if she thinks she can keep you away from me, she will.”
“Let go of me, Alex!” Some sense of