THE UNDYING | TWILIGHT

10. Temperance

It's only three o'clock? Dahlia stared at the wall clock in disbelief, her mouth agape. I thought working for an organized crime family would be dangerous and exciting, but this is just as boring as any other office job!

Having nothing to do and nowhere to go, Dahlia decided to dig through the drawers of her desk. In the first two, she found stacks of useless files that she didn't feel like paging through, but in the last drawer, she found a designer purse that was full of interesting things, like cherry red lipstick, hair products, hand lotion, a pair of sunglasses that were much too big for her face, and, best of all, a leather wallet full of money.

The purse belonged to a beautiful Italian woman named Adrianna Labruzzo. Dahlia found her ID while she was going through her wallet, but seeing a name and a face certainly didn't stop her from swiping the dead woman's cash and shoving it in her bra.

Demetri was passing by the front desk while Dahlia was digging through the purse, and when he saw that lowlife sticking her dirty fingers where they didn't belong and stealing Adrianna's hard-earned money, something inside him snapped.

"You filthy little vulture!" he growled, and then he ripped the purse right out of her hands and whipped it against the wall.

The purse exploded upon contact. Its contents flew out like shrapnel, spraying over the both of them. Bits of glass and plastic disintegrated upon striking Demetri's armored flesh, leaving him completely unscathed. Dahlia, unfortunately, was not so lucky. Demetri could smell her blood in the air, pungent as a steaming pile of cow dung; it clogged his nose and made his stomach churn.

"You are so revolting," he couldn't help but say, and then he grabbed her wrist and yanked her to her feet. In an instant, his fingers dove into her bra, making her gasp and squirm like someone had dumped a bucket of ice down her dress. The sensations lingered long after he'd withdrawn, clutching the money in his fist.

Whimpering, Dahlia squeezed her eyes shut in anticipation for his next attack, and Demetri chuckled at the sight of her. "What a pathetic little thing you are."

He had much more to say — and do — but an unsettling presence forced him to stop. Twisting his lips into a smile, Demetri glanced over his shoulder. "Hello, Heidi."

The mahogany-haired beauty was standing with such poise, her face perfectly composed and without a single line or wrinkle, but her eyes were full of fire. "What are you doing?" she asked. 

"Catching a thief in the act." He showed her the money as proof, not that it mattered.

"Come with me, now."

"With pleasure." 

Straightening himself, Demetri smoothed out his jacket and dusted off the powdery debris before following Heidi around the corner. In hindsight, he shouldn't have bothered to clean off his jacket because it got dirty again when Heidi slammed him against the wall. Strangely, his jacket was all he could think about as the she leered at him.

"I don't know what you're planning, but you'd better stop right now because I'm getting sick of cleaning up your shit."

"But you do it so well, Heidi." He flashed a charming smile, but even that couldn't stop Heidi's hand from lashing across his cheek, her sharp fingernails carving deep into his skin. The wound mended itself in seconds, and Demetri just laughed.

"What's so funny?" Heidi asked.

"You are, Heidi, for thinking that you have any authority over me."

Now, Heidi was laughing. "Oh, I know I don't, but Aro does." She paused for a moment so that she could watch that arrogant smile leave his face. "You think he doesn't know what you're doing? Come on, Demetri, I thought you were smarter than that."