Page 26 of Reaper & Ruin

“Deal,” she beamed as she hooked her finger around mine to seal our promise.

The cabin buzzed with fresh energy as Atlas adjusted the flight plan with the captain and Heather rattled off a growing list of things she wanted to see in London. I leaned back in my seat, one arm still around her waist, and let her voice fill the space instead of the thoughts in my head.

The ones that made me worry and wonder if the nightmares I had about monsters in our cabin, stealing away my little sinner, meant more than they did.

Chapter Eight, Life

Istood under the hotel shower, arms braced against the tile. The scalding water poured over me, but it didn’t help. I still felt grimy—under my skin, behind my eyes. London had been sunny all morning, like it was trying to trick people into thinking it wasn’t a miserable place to be. But now, early evening, it was doing what London did best. Pouring down with rain.

My head throbbed with jet lag. I hadn’t slept properly in days, and my body was starting to crash. Not that I wanted sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, the dreams started again. Same scenes. Same faces. Breaking glass. Tranq guns. Reaper going down as I did the same. Heaven missing.

And I’d wake up pissed.

They weren’t nightmares. Not really. They were warnings. My subconscious trying to mess with me. I hated feeling useless. And more than anything, I hated that there was nothing I could do about any of it—yet.

I tilted my head back under the spray, letting the water run over my face until it stung. My body was tense, coiled as if I were ready to be shot at. My chest ached, not from pain but from the pressure of being this still. I was trained for violence. Action. Chaos. Passiveness didn’t come naturally. I’d only just about managed when I was watching Heaven, and the excitement of that had made the stillness go away.

This was not that.

Today had been long. And frustrating.

Meeting Sapphire hadn’t helped. I’d wanted to like her. I knew I was supposed to. She was someone Silver cared about. But the second I saw her, I’d judged her. Spoiled gang heiress. Fancy clothes. Perfect posture. A billionaire used to being obeyed. I’d made up my mind before she spoke.

Which made me a hypocrite.

She wasn’t useless. Her parents were murdered, and she was sad. And she wasn’t sitting back and doing nothing. No, she was leading a war. She’d earned her place, and some respect. And Silver gave a shit about her. Which was more than I could say for myself and the people I was supposed to care about.

The guilt sat heavy. I stared at the drain and thought about the real reason I was probably inclined to find Sapphire annoying, and not nice.

About the woman I’d abandoned to help Silver, and never once tried to find.

The shower door opened.

“Need a hair tie,” Heaven said casually. “Don’t mind me. I promise not to touch your butt, even if you drop the soap.”

I swallowed the unusual bout of emotion in my throat. “Sure.”

“Atlas?” I didn’t look over. Her voice had already shifted.

She stepped into the shower fully clothed a second later.

“You’re still dressed,” I muttered, as I stared at Gio’s shirt getting soaked to her skin.

“Do you want me naked for moral support?” She grinned.

I tried to force a smile. “You want shower sex,malyshka?”

She laughed and peeled off her top. “Sure. But not now. I wanna take care of you.”

That made me pause.

“What?”

She didn’t answer immediately. She grabbed the shampoo, motioned for me to sit down on the shower ledge, lathering my hair the moment she could reach. Her fingers worked through the strands gently. No jokes. No sarcasm. Not an ounce of anything other than softness.

“What are you doing, Heaven?” I placed my hands on her ass, squeezing out of habit.

“You look sad,” she said. “I want to stop you from looking sad.”