The Devil's special Angel

t calms you-but the kind that presses on your c

gers curled into the sleeves of her hoodie, heart pounding harder than she wanted to admit. She

unning felt better

fixed on the road like it had personally wronged him. Everything about him screamed control. Power. Danger. A

her feel-like a deci

e finally asked, her voi

ce her way. "S

o I look like someone

like someone who hasn't

flin

to alleyways. Eventually, the scenery changed again-fencing, gates, security cameras. The c

rn for

he night like fire behind ice. Tall hedges, black pavement, and silence so deep it echoed. Damie

hesi

ome. It was a p

ristine stone. The night air was cooler here. Thinner. And the silence... it

n like a shadow returning home. She followed-unsure if sh

ngs. A massive staircase. Art that looked too expensive to be real an

e really l

g all the girls?" she a

ed at he

ve here

stl

stl

business... doesn't all

e meant. She didn't w

m off the main hallway-walls of books, dim lighting, and a co

is t

eezing," he said, motioning to th

wasn't the quest

nk either,"

"You drink vodka

sn't prete

t something in his eyes

," he said, a

too calm. Too quiet. The kind of dangerous that didn't yell-it whispered. The kind of d

know he'd killed. She felt it

ye

Something under all of it.

er like they remembered other ghosts. Her fingers trem

I doin

hell am

ve picked a stranger at a bus station instead

he ha

wanted someone to notice. To stop

ass of water and a blanket-yes, a damn bla

soft things,"

ing it beside her, along with

ooked

he was drinking herself into numbness. Didn't ask what she was running

iet, raw. "I had nothing. No money. No passport. I hitchhiked across

d at her, sa

ng. "And my dad... well. He liked to say I reminded him of he

ng there, he

whispered, more to herself than

?" Dami

or the first time, her eyes d

ok like you don

g in the cracks between them. Something uns

d to move or he'd explode. "I

n that empty, untouched way. She didn't see photos. No si

she'd ever stayed in. Soft sheets, warm lighting,

eed," he said, and then paused

harply. "I didn

espectful, detached

d, before he coul

over his

ow to be around

her. "Nei

licked shut, an

s pa

t. The room was warm. It was the first time she'd s

sleep. Not with h

kept one. It was habit. Ritual. Safety. The way other people took

e didn't. She d

ilence didn't feel

ad finally looked at he

d in his office, starin

e. Perimeter ca

eling. That something was shift

mpulse. And impulse, in his li

anything from him. She hadn't asked for his money or his story or

r. And that scared h

he let someone close

and opened the window. The night was cool, still. The k

ien kne

idn't ge

ls never