27. Ariyan #2
“Tears in this world of ours are a valuable asset,” I said, voice soft. “Please do not waste yours. Especially not on scum like that pig.”
He nodded, then leaned into my touch almost desperately.
And while he did, I remembered the first time I saw this boy at one of our parties, not even three months ago.
I knew he wasn’t cut out for this business, and yet, he was so keen on making money that it was impossible to persuade him out of it.
Or maybe I didn’t try enough. Either way, it was my fault he was here right now. My sin to bear until the day I died.
“You’ve had a rough night.” I moved my fingers through his soft locks of hair before sitting on the edge of the bed. “How about you close your eyes for a bit? I’ll stay with you.”
He smiled at me, a smile I didn’t at all deserve.
“T-thank you.”
Moving closer, he put his head in my lap while I continued to stroke his blond curls.
He was too innocent for this world, too pure and soft.
The longer he stayed in this hell, the more he’d suffer, until nothing would be left inside him, and those blue eyes of his would become an empty shell of the person he once was.
“I won’t t-tell anyone about w-what happened,” he muttered.
“I know.”
Slowly, I moved my hands down his head, stroking his warm skin with the pads of my fingers while thinking what a shame it was that his beautiful face was now covered with bruises.
“Can you do something for me?” I asked, voice almost a whisper.
“Y-yes.”
“Could you think of a happy memory? But don’t tell me what it is. Just… think about it.”
With his eyes closed, he hummed a low yes before his face relaxed, a small smile taking over his plump lips.
I smiled with him, appreciating this rare moment of purity in a tainted world, before I grabbed his neck and, in a sharp move, snapped it.
A painless way out of this hell we call life.
In seconds, all this boy’s suffering ended, and his pure soul was finally set free into a place where no one could hurt it anymore.
Looking at his head, which was still in my lap, he seemed so peaceful and beautiful that my chest ached with jealousy. If only dying were that easy for me, I would have done it in a heartbeat.
A minute later, one of his men walked into the room. The men he kept here to spy on me. Still not taking my eyes off this beautiful angel, I brushed his hair away from his brows.
“Please treat him with respect. If not in his life, then at least in his death.”
This was the hardest part of my job—them. Those poor men and women. At times, I felt like Kharon, who rowed the souls of the dead across the Styx, bringing them to Hades.
This was why, even though I knew everything about my beautiful sirens, their name was the one thing I didn’t dare to ask for. After all, I already carried one dead person’s name, and the same as the name of this blond angel whose blue eyes I’d never see again, I didn’t deserve it.
Incidents like the one that had just happened left me drained and angry, and I swore that the ambassador would pay for what he’d done tonight, not to me, but to this boy, who deserved much more than this life.
* * *
After reaching my office, I pulled out my phone, the one that only held one number, and dialed it. The line rang and rang, the sound slowly getting on my nerves until he finally picked up.
“It isn’t like you to be calling me first,” he said, his voice hoarse from all of the smoking.
“The ambassador. I never want to see him here again,” I hissed, my hand on the verge of shaking.
“That’s even more unlike you, Ariyan.”
He’s right.
“He broke my rules.”
That made him chuckle. “Rules are made to be broken, Ariyan.”
“Eduardo—”
“It is the way of life, and you know it better than anyone.”
I bit my lip, hating myself for calling him. “He touched me.”
“Many have.”
A shudder ran through me, and I held the phone tighter. “We had an agreement. You promised no one would ever touch me again if I followed your orders, and I do so every day—”
He clicked his tongue, the sound as sharp as a knife, cutting me off.
“Now, then, Ariyan, is that really why you called me?”
Darting my tongue out, I licked the bruise on the corner of my lip.
“That boy he…” I took a deep breath. “He was only twenty-one.”
“He failed to do his job, and by now, you of all people know how things work here.”
I did.
If a siren failed to do their job, that was it for them.
No second chances.
No loose ends.
No empathy.
“When’s the day you’ll kill me?” I asked.
He sighed. “And why would I ever do that?”
Staring at the wall ahead, I didn’t move so much as a muscle.
“I might fail you, too.”
“You’re smarter than that, or else, you would have been long dead.”
I pressed my teeth together, feeling the strain in my jaw.
“Now, then, since I’m aware of how much you hate being touched, I’ll accept your request about the ambassador. For the time being, he won’t be attending the hotel.”
“Thank you,” I said, forcing the words out of my mouth.
The line went still, and in those seconds, I felt the disgust crawling under my skin, seeping deep into me like the venom of a snake.
“I will be paying you a visit soon. Until then, keep up the good work.”
Ending the call with an unfortunate promise, he then hung up, not bothering to say another word.
Not that he needed to say any more, as even now, I felt his hand wrapped around my throat, slowly suffocating me.
Out of breath, I placed the phone back on the desk, then pressed my palms against the hardwood, closed my eyes, and took deep breaths.
Life was always hanging by a thread. I should know it by now, and yet, this despicable man never ceased to remind me of it.
“When is the day you’ll kill me?”
“And why would I ever do that?”
“I might fail you, too.”
“You’re smarter than that, or else, you would have been long dead.”
I gritted my teeth, my jaw aching from the pressure, before I opened my eyes and stared at the wall ahead.
Just then, my phone tinged, not the one I’d just used.
Looking at the screen, I saw it was a text from Sinclair, saying they were willing to pay one hundred grand for El Embriagado’s first fight.
Finally, something I could work with.
Moving away from the desk, I grabbed my phone and shoved it into my pocket before leaving my office and going straight down to the parking lot, where I got on my bike.
It had been a week since I’d allowed my dog off his leash, and it was about time I put it back on, only so much tighter, until he could hardly breathe.