Two
Xin
It'd been three days since the clandestine meeting where Gabriel had made his offer, and now I was on my way to his place to hear the details of his plan.
Whenever Pythor or one of my other demon friends had explained to me how they'd felt when they first recognized their mate, I'd always felt like they were exaggerating. Surely the feeling couldn't be that intense?
Fated mates were supposed to be your perfect match, the person—or persons, in some cases—who filled out all the empty spaces in your soul, who fit you like a perfectly matched puzzle piece.
While fated mates were rare, my demon friends had been finding theirs one after the other, and I had a feeling it was Fate's way of thanking us for taking up the job to protect humans from the escaped dark souls.
I'd expected to find mine at some point, but I'd never expected how ardent the connection would be right up until the moment Gabriel walked into that cold, musty room and made everything else disappear.
I'd barely heard the things he said—and I certainly wouldn't have if I wasn't a demon—as my mind buzzed with the realization that he was mine.
When he'd given me two days to think about his proposal, I'd already known I would say yes, but still I'd waited.
I had a feeling he wouldn't accept an immediate response.
He seemed like the type of man who took his time making decisions, which was another reason why I'd said yes.
I couldn't just come out and tell him what I was and how we were connected.
This was the best way for me to get close to him.
I glanced up at the apartment building as I reached it. The front was mostly glass, the building thirty-two stories tall with a sleek, modern design that seemed to be everywhere in this city.
Staying incorporeal, I walked past the doorman, through the expansive lobby, and then teleported up to the seventeenth floor. I could've simply teleported there from home, but I'd wanted to get a look at the area around the place so I could ensure Gabriel's safety.
I wasn't in the human world just to play Robin Hood, after all, and I would never let a dark soul—or Mammon, the demon who'd lost his way and joined the dark souls when they escaped—come anywhere near my mate.
Stopping in front of apartment 172, I became visible as I took a deep breath and knocked. Footsteps hurried toward the door, and then he was in front of me, in a more casual outfit than the last time I saw him.
He was shorter than me, but broader, with strong, muscular arms and thick thighs.
His t-shirt wrapped around his torso in a tight fit, his jeans hugging his thighs in a way I had to force myself to look away from.
His copper brown hair was mussed, as if he'd been running his fingers through the strands repeatedly.
"Hey, come on in," he said in his deep, warm voice as he stepped aside, and I walked into his apartment, glancing around as he closed the door.
The furniture was modern, all sharp edges and glass tops, and barely looked used.
The white walls were decorated with black-and-white prints of random objects, and a shelf full of fake potted plants and more framed prints sat against the far wall.
The couch was dark brown, with a straight back that didn't look very inviting.
All in all, the room appeared to be straight out of a catalog, and not a place Gabriel used often. Didn't he have friends over? Or watch a movie on his giant flatscreen when he ate his dinner?
"This way," he said, leading me through the living room and down a short hallway to what turned out to be his study.
Now this room looked like it was his. Stacks of papers and notebooks covered his desk, and a shelf of books sat behind the desk in the center of the room.
The chair cushion had molded into the shape of his body, telling me he spent a lot of his time here.
Two more chairs sat on the other side of the desk, and he must've brought them in from another room because they clearly didn't match the rest of the furniture.
"Renée should be here any moment. Would you like some water while we wait?
" Gabriel asked, and I shook my head. I wanted to ask him questions about himself, get to know him a little, but I had a feeling he wouldn't like that.
He had his guard up—I could feel it, and I didn't want to push too soon and scare him off. I needed to earn his trust first.
A tinny knock reached my ear, and Gabriel must've heard it too because he hurried out of the study. I followed him, a little worried but mostly curious since the knock hadn't come from the front door.
At the back of the living room, outside the huge glass windows, stood Renée. She waved when she spotted us, and Gabriel swore under his breath as he hurried across the room to let her in.
"What the hell?" he exclaimed as Renée landed inside with one smooth jump, and she shrugged.
"You told me not to get spotted."
"How did you even do that? Did you actually take the fire escape up seventeen floors?" he asked as he closed the window and led the way back to the study.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Renée teased with a wave of her hand, and I smiled. I liked her.
Renée threw herself into a chair, her legs hanging over the armrest as she glanced around.
"Glad to see you, Xin. I was hoping I'd get to work with you."
"Oh?" I asked, surprised, and she grinned.
"Oh yeah. You've become very popular in certain circles over the last few months. Nobody had ever heard of you, and then boom, you were everywhere."
I didn't know what to say to that, so I turned to Gabriel, hoping he'd start talking. He seemed to understand because he blew out a breath, then cleared his throat, as if preparing himself.
"I'm glad you both decided to join me. Let's get started. Today, I just want to lay out my plan, and then we can discuss it in detail and see if anything needs changing."
I nodded, and while Renée sported a bored look, I could tell she was listening too.
Gabriel
I squeezed my hands into fists so they wouldn't see how shaky they were.
I'd been making this plan since I was eighteen, though I'd only gotten serious eighteen months after that.
I was twenty-seven now, and I'd spent the last nine years doing everything I could to bring this plan to fruition, and now that I was so close, I was terrified.
Terrified of messing up, of not getting everything I wanted, of ending up in prison if I failed.
At first, I hadn't wanted to involve anyone else. I'd worked my way to becoming Patrick's assistant simply so I could do it all myself, but that wasn't possible.
I didn't trust easily, and even though I'd handpicked Renée and Xin—a few hackers had taken up the challenge I'd sent out, but Xin was the fastest, and the only one to donate the full amount to a charity instead of pocketing it, telling me they had morals that aligned with mine—I was wary of them.
People always had their own motivations, their own goals, and I knew they could betray me at any moment.
The only person I trusted in this world was Aisha, and it'd taken me years to develop that trust.
Yet, if I wanted to make Patrick pay, I had to put my trust in these two people. I had to hope that they wouldn't betray me, if only for the sake of money.
"Last time, I told you a little about Patrick Lewis. He's our target. When we're done, I want him to be left with nothing, and I want him to rot in jail for his crimes."
"So we're doing the police's job because they're too corrupt to do it?" Renée asked with a raised brow, and I shrugged.
"Yes, and no. Patrick is smart, always has been.
Every time he has stolen from his company, he's done it in such a way that the trail always leads back to one of the other employees.
Usually someone who works under him, but sometimes he has also implicated people from other departments.
He's good at covering his tracks, and even if the cops suspect he's behind it all, they don't have enough evidence to prove it. "
"Or they just don't want to find it," Renée muttered, and I couldn't argue with that. While Aisha was a good cop, she and I both knew not everyone in her department was. It was why she'd agreed to help me with my plan in the first place.
"Are we going to steal from him? Or find some evidence for the cops?" Xin asked, their voice low as their light brown eyes gazed steadily at me.
"Both," I answered after a moment, dragging my gaze away from them so I could speak. "We're going to steal his precious art, then prove that he stole it all himself. We'll also steal money from his company, and lead the cops straight to the account so they can use it as proof to arrest him."
Renée and Xin were silent for a long moment as they mulled over what I'd said, and I let them think. I wanted to know what they understood, what insights their specific points of view offered them.
"What did he do to you?" Renée asked finally, and I blinked, surprised by the question. I should've expected it. It wasn't like I could hide my contempt well when it came to that bastard.
"My brother used to work as his assistant," I said, and Renée whistled, clearly making the connection.
"Where is he now?" Xin asked, though I sensed they'd already guessed it.
"He died seven-and-a-half years ago." I gave them a few more details, just enough so they'd know exactly what this mission meant to me.
"Fuck," Renée mumbled, shaking her head, while Xin's whole face softened.
"We'll make him pay," they murmured, their conviction strong despite their soft voice.
"Okay," Renée said, clapping her hands as she sat up straight in her chair. "First, we need to know everything there is to know about this Patrick Lewis. Where he lives, what he drives, what he eats. Everything."
"I work for him, so I can get you most of the basic details, but Xin, you'll need to dig into him for deeper details."
"Dude," Renée said with a shake of her head, and I bit back a smile.
Xin stared at me for a moment, then shook their head.
"I'm on it," they said, then dug through the pockets of their coat.
They held out a hand to each of us, a smartphone balanced on each palm.
"These are untraceable. We can use them to communicate.
I've already deleted all traces of the emails, and we should only use these phones to contact each other from now on. "
"Cool!" Renée said as she grabbed her phone, a childlike excitement on her face.
I reached for mine, and the tips of my fingers brushed against Xin's palm.
My eyes flickered up to theirs, and they blinked at me slowly, like a cat.
Their skin was hot, almost feverish, and I lingered for a moment too long before coming to my senses and jerking my hand back, the phone clutched tightly in my grip.
Exhaling a shaky breath, I slid the phone in my pocket, then swallowed to clear my throat.
Xin glanced toward the doorway, their brows furrowing, and a moment later, I heard familiar scratching at the door.
"Who's that?" Renée asked, instantly on alert.
"It's just my dog." He'd been my brother's dog, and while I'd never been a fan, he was all I had left of my older brother.
"A dog? Let him in!" Renée exclaimed, and I glanced over at Xin to check they were fine with it, only to find them watching the door with sparkling eyes. Damn dog lovers.
With a sigh, I unlocked the door, and the large gray-colored greyhound pushed his way into the room, his tail wagging rapidly as he scented the newcomers.
"Oh my god, he's so big!" Renée exclaimed, and I knew we wouldn't be getting any work done for a while now.
Sitting back, I let the two of them shower their love on Gray—my brother didn't have a creative bone in his body—while he soaked it up like a starved animal.
He acted like I didn't take care of him, like I didn't let him sleep in my bed just because Kevin used to.
Xin glanced up, half of their face still hidden in Gray's fur, and our eyes met again, something passing between us. I didn't know what it was, or why it made my heart beat faster, but I knew that whatever this was, I needed to ignore it.
The work I was doing was too important. I'd spent my entire adult life working on this, and I couldn't afford any distractions, not until Patrick Lewis was safely behind bars where he couldn't ruin anyone else's life.
I forced myself to look away, dropping my gaze to the papers in front of me. These were all that mattered. Avenging my brother's death was the only thing I could focus on, no matter how my heart reacted every time I looked at Xin.