Chapter 6: Slow day

Zachiel's POV

I watch the little demon dog sleep.

She’s a bit restless, but that’s to be expected. I want to touch her, but I can't form any emotional connection with her. She’s so beautiful, if I can say that.

I usually don’t like brunettes, but Nerina’s body pleases me greatly. I briefly close my eyes at the memory of having entered her earlier. She was so wet, and I wish I could have enjoyed the act, but my focus was elsewhere. It had to be that way for this to work.

Nerina tosses the covers off during her sleep. My eyes go straight to her bare, perfect breasts. Not too big, not too small. Just the perfect handful I would love to hold. But, unfortunately, she isn’t here for my pleasure. No, I’ll have to seek that elsewhere tonight.

I just had to come here and see for myself if she’s okay. I’m about to put her at risk, and her chances aren’t good, given past occurrences.

“I’ll let you rest now,” I whisper in the darkness of her room.

She murmurs something unintelligible as she sleeps, turning over and wrapping herself in the sheets. I hope to consume her dreams; I want to be the first thing she thinks of when she wakes up. It will be easier to bring her back to my residence tonight if she wants to come. She has no choice, but I prefer things to be easy. I’ve had demanding and dramatic dogs enough to last several lifetimes. I want Nerina to be different, to submit to my whims and fall in love with me in a way that will make it impossible for her to fight against what’s coming her way.

I sigh with regret for having to leave her now, but the longer I stay here, the fewer restrictions I’ll have, and the last thing I can do is crawl into her bed and show her that sex with me isn’t the clinical mating we had engaged in before, but a wild and depraved event that I know she will love.

If that were the case. I sigh again and disappear, leaving Nerina alone in her restless sleep.

Nerina's POV

I wake up the next morning, finding it strange to have slept again. When I’m in my true form of black stain, I don’t sleep, eat, or do much of anything because I don’t need to. But as soon as I take on a human form, all the human behaviors fit like they’ve been imprinted.

I get up and head to the kitchen to eat something. Everything in the kitchen is well below the standard of the delicious meal I was served last night, so I dismiss it all with a sneer. I feel a slight shiver pass through me and look over my shoulder, but of course, there’s no one there.

I shake my head to rid myself of the feeling of being watched and reflect on my encounter last night. It was far beyond strange, even for my taste. One thing I can’t deny is that it was worth it. Not the sex, which had been simply boring, but the experience of it.

I’m not naïve enough to presume that I’m special because I slept with the Devil. He undoubtedly takes a new bitch, or three, every night, but there was something about it that I can’t quite identify. If it had been a wild night of euphoric animalistic sex, I wouldn’t be so inclined to think this would happen again. The fact that it was so passionless and boring, to the point of being clinical, makes my brain work overtime trying to figure it out. I’m sure he’s going to invite me back, and that, I’m certain, is a little special.

With a renewed sense of vigor, I take a shower and get dressed for work in my drab gray suit and comfortable heels, assuming all the trappings of human existence, and head out.

I find the escalator that takes me straight to my ‘office.’ After settling into the uncomfortable bench, the red light immediately turns off to tell me there’s a Reaper waiting for me with a soul to make the reservation.

I open the little door, happy to have something to do immediately, and find myself face to face with a rather attractive Reaper, if it weren’t for the sneer on his face. I smile back, giving it my best, while the Reaper practically throws his scroll at me, pulling his hood further down.

I take the scroll, unroll it, and absorb the information.

Male - check.

I take a look at the soul to determine its temperament and mark the ‘terrified’ box with a smile. I really love a good, scared soul.

My eyes scan the page to where I need to sign and stamp when I hear the Reaper’s name.

“Evan?” I mock before I can stop myself.

“What kind of Reaper name is that?”

Evan, the Reaper, looks at me and pulls his hood back again, revealing his brown hair, and his sneer deepens, piercing me with a cutting look from his brown eyes. “What kind of admin bitch name is Axel?” he asks disdainfully.

I stare at him, then at my badge. I glare into his eyes, spitting out, “It’s Axelle. It rhymes with gazelle.”

“Well, Axelle-rhymes-with-gazelle, sign the damn scroll so I can get out of here. I have a job to do.” Evan barks.

Completely annoyed now, I scrawl my name at the bottom of the scroll and stamp it hard enough to shake the little table. I shove it into the slot and slam the door in Evan’s face.

What an idiot.

I also have a job to do, though it’s a drag on a huge level, especially when I have spasmodic Reapers to deal with. Almost immediately, the red light turns on again, and I open the door. It better not be Evan back to annoy me.

It’s not. It’s another silent Reaper I’ve never seen before, with a rather amusing soul.

I eagerly check the ‘amusing’ box, sign, and stamp the scroll, and he goes to Tasks. That lucky guy will probably be back on Earth soon in a really comfortable position. It occurs to me that I can still cause a bit of chaos and confusion in this job, and that might make it more interesting. If I start marking the wrong boxes, the souls will be generated into demonic essences and then sent all over for tasks they’re not suited for. I laugh as I think of all the mistakes that would happen, and it excites me a bit. Plus, why should all these amusing newbies get to go back when I’m stuck here in this horrible job?

“Don’t even think about it.” A voice echoes behind me, making me jump. I turn and see Roberta hovering over me. “What you mark on this scroll affects everyone, even you. Don’t make me stand here like some kind of babysitter.”

The idea of spending the whole day with Roberta hovering over my shoulder makes me rethink my twisted plan.

Shaking my head, I murmur, “Understood.”

How did that huge girl know what I was thinking? Or am I so clearly miserable with my reputation for causing havoc that it doesn’t take a genius to add two and two? Yeah, probably that, and not some hellish power to which I can only dream of having access.

Roberta nods fiercely and disappears. I barely have time to turn around when the light goes on again.

Man, what’s going on today? Or is this a normal day, and yesterday was a painfully slow day at the office?