Page 63 of Greed

With a flick of my wings, I floated over the tank and stared down at Skeet, who was splashing and yelling for help. I could see the massive gray shape rising from the depths of the tank as it streaked for its next meal. It looked like a huge missile with teeth. It reminded me of the image on the film Jaws as it swam with increasing speed for Skeet.

Skeet screamed as the massive shark broke the surface of the water with the force of a train. The entire bus-sized beast breached the surface and hovered in the air like a whale at a show. I could still hear Skeet screaming as he disappeared into its mouth and was about to be swallowed whole. The shark froze as it reached the pinnacle of it’s rise and everything slowed down. I pulled the flaming sword from the sheath at my hip, and with a mighty spin and swing, the shark was cut into two. The tail portion landed in the water and was quickly devoured by the others waiting below. Stabbing a hole into the belly of the beast, I reached in and grabbed a bloody, slime-covered Skeet—his small body shook, his eyes frantic as they stared at me. I dropped the remaining carcass into the tank and flew over the stairs of the now silent colosseum. The only sounds were Skeet’s chattering teeth and hooves on the stone steps.

“Tell me, Skeet, was that fun?”

“N…n…no Master.”

“I didn’t think so. Destroy them. They are an abomination, and not supposed to be here. Fucking necromancers.” I pointed to the tank and the zombie sharks that had been turned into mindless killing demons. “Find a better form of entertainment that makes as much money and doesn’t involve killing live humans for sport.” Skeet nodded and ran up the stairs toward the large doors. “Oh, and Skeet…” The demon stopped and looked at me. “You no longer have any signing authority. All entertainment must be passed through me first.”

“Yes, Master.” He ran off out the door.

I turned back to the tank, unable to shake the dead girl’s image from my mind. I rubbed at the strange ache in my chest. I had to get back to Earth.

I didn’t know why, but something told me that my Minetta was in danger.

I practically ran out of the elevator and turned to jog toward my office. “Shilo! Where are you? I need you,” I yelled. The man appeared seemingly out of nowhere from behind me. I jumped as he called my name. “I hate when you do that,” I said and resumed my jog toward him.

“Sir.”

“I need to find Minetta. I’ll have to go out for a while, and I’m not sure where she is staying. I have connections, I can have them start searching.” I pulled out my phone.

“Sir.”

“I have this feeling that something isn’t right. I didn’t listen to my instincts once before, and I’m not doing it again.” I pushed through the outer sitting area of the office and marched across the floor to the closed door of my office.

“Sir,” Shilo barked out and jumped into my path. He held his arms out wide to block me from opening the office door. I pulled up, not sure what to make of the uncharacteristic behavior. “You have company,” he said quietly.

“What kind of company?”

“Of a certain female variety. One you may have been wanting to find.” Shilo’s lip curled up, and my heart skipped a beat. Straightening my suit, I nodded and calmly walked into the office as Shilo opened the door.

And there she was, sitting in my office, a sweet piece of candy that I wanted to roll around in my mouth and taste. She was wearing simple attire, jeans, and a button-down blouse, and she was stunning. She was perfect. Swallowing hard, I had to force myself not to rush across the room, take her into my arms, and ravish that mouth.

She looked up, and her blue eyes locked onto mine. Like an iceberg slowly dripping into the ocean, so was the cold-casing around my heart. It had not beat like this since the last day I laid eyes on Callista. I sucked in a sharp breath as the emotion made me want to sink to my knees.

“Hi,” she said quietly as she stood.

“Hello.” Regaining my composure, I looked around the office and then back at Minetta. “Why have you come? I distinctly remember the last time we spoke, you said you never wanted to see me again.”

Her eyes dipped to the floor and then back up. “What would you say if I told you I may have overreacted, and I’d like to try going to dinner? Just the two of us this time. No more weird double dates for a while.”

My chest heaved, but I forced myself to appear relaxed. I closed the distance to meet her in the middle of the room, and the little electrical charge that accompanied her presence danced in my chest and under my skin. I watched her reaction like a cat with a mouse as I drew closer. She shifted from foot to foot, her hands rubbing at her arms—she had to feel the same thing I did.

“What about Michael,” I asked as I stopped in front of her.

She made a disgusted face. “He’s a jerk.”

The laugh rumbled from my chest as her face turned into the cutest glare I’d ever seen. “Many would say that I too am a jerk.”

“Maybe, but you’re a jerk cut from a different cloth.”

“So true.” Unable to help myself, I cupped her cheek and ran the pad of my thumb across the bottom lip that was continuing to tempt me.

My hand itched to touch her, to see if she was as soft as she looked, and my body sighed with just that gentle touch.

“Little bird,” I whispered. Her pulse leaped around wildly, the blood pounding visibly on the side of her throat. “Do I make you nervous?”

She swallowed hard. “Maybe,” she said, making me smirk. “Okay, a whole lot. I’m really not sure how I ended up here.”