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That was when reality came rushing back in.

Shit.

Chapter 15

No Friend of Lux

The man we planned to meet greeted us at a door a short walk into the facility, after we made it through a security check. It was luckily as smooth as we hoped it would be.

I eyed the brown-eyed, blonde-haired man who, on any other day, I might never pay a second glance—slim, casually dressed with nothing remarkable to separate him from the rest. Honestly, nothing about his appearance suggested he was a Hunter.

He was so forgettable.

My gaze slipped from a forgettable face to his hands, noticing quickly he didn’t have any calluses at all. Either Eddie had a great skin care regimen, or he’d never fought a day in his life. Which made me wonder what purpose he served at this facility. But the way Eddie stared at me, openly, brazenly, made me uncomfortable.

Phillip’s hand touched my lower back before it spirited away and my pulse thrummed, sadly not for the reasons it should.

I was still thinking about the other day and our little quickie romp session. We hadn’t discussed it, and Sloan came right at the five-minute mark like promised. Guilt hit. I chased the arriving Hunter with my eyes, sure he could see it all on my face, but Sloan only smiled and greeted me likehe always did. After that, it was business as usual. We discussed the plan, went to bed, and despite sharing one, Phillip didn’t touch me again.

Talk about mixed messages.

Then again, Phillip was the king of mixed messages. The nonchalant Austrian spent the morning getting ready for our mission, and I decided it was best to keep on task and spend my time worrying about how we’d get what we needed, and then get the fuck out. And while my gaze followed Phillip everywhere, it also strayed quite a lot to the beautiful and beyond kind Hunter who I’d also taken to pound town only a short time ago.

The Devil called, V. He wants his Hell back.

Eddie turned, sniffing and rubbing his nose after one look from Phillip forced him into action. He keyed a code into the door and the many locks keeping the door securely shut clicked before Eddie yanked it open. Sneering for the briefest moment, he motioned for us to go inside.

One look told me it was an archive of some sort, and the lines of boxes on endless shelves were as long as any large warehouse.

Paper documents in this day and age? Weird.

Eddie joined our group before the door closed behind us with a huge clanking sound, and I stiffened. Alarm rang in the back of my head for some reason, but I dispelled the feeling, knowing we’d planned this out perfectly and there wasn’t any reason to be wary. Even should something go awry, Phillip and Sloan were here.

Yeah, we got this.

Someone’s hand brushed against my back again. But when I reacted, Sloan leaned in and whispered to me. Right away I knew it wasn’t Phillip but the Brit who touched me this time. “Breathe, love.”

I sucked in a breath, flushing slightly. “Sorry.”

I could practically feel Phillip’s gaze when Sloan leaned in closer, smiling the way he always did with me. “You’re fine. This won’t take long, and I’ll be with you the whole way through.”

The Brit’s gentle words calmed a part of me I hadn’t even realized was bothered by this walk through a place that created me. Created monsters. I may put on a brave face most days, but these were the same people who killed my parents and genetically designed me from the very same blood as the creatures I was forced to hunt. It put me on edge just to travel through a place that my parent’s murderers likely wandered, too. And maybe I’d discover even worse secrets today.

Not sure what could be worse than my parents dying because of this fucking place or being a literal Frankenstein, but I’m sure life will figure it out for me. Just my luck these days.

Sloan’s hand wrapped around mine, squeezing tightly. Looking down and then back up at beaming sky-blue eyes, I was reminded of why my head and my heart yearned for him. Sloan cared, and it was blatantly obvious in every action he took and every word he spoke.

Being the immature budding woman that I was, one look at Sloan’s full lips reminded me of the kisses we’d shared, the hot breaths we exchanged, the way our bodies moved together, the perfect feel of him coming inside of me. It wasn’t long ago that his mouth and fingers had done the most tantalizing, pleasure-eliciting things to me, and I’d be lying if I said I never thought about it. Even with Phillip back.

Fuck.

Sloan was the farthest thing from Phillip. Polar opposites in literally every sense. Two ends of the spectrum. He gave me things Phillip never could, filled places Phillip never touched. Probably most notable was thatnothing the Brit did made me second-guess myself. A part of me knew Sloan was what I needed, and if I was smart, I’d let the thing I shared with Phillip fizzle out to nothing. Because no matter how I spun it, Phillip and I wanted different things—were different fucking people.

My throat was tight as I squeezed Sloan’s hand back, smiling and silently thanking him again. Suddenly, someone cleared their throat and I jerked my head over to find Phillip’s eyes narrowed on the two of us. I stole my hand back and crossed my arms over my chest, as if it’d somehow mask the attachment I felt towards Sloan from the Austrian now burning holes into my face. My throat constricted with guilt, something I noticed it was doing a hell of a lot these days.

Maybe rage, guilt, and frustration were the only things my teenage Hunter brain knew how to do anymore.

“This way,” Eddie called out, breaking through the silence. “I want this over, so don’t dilly-dally.”