The Beast

Chapter 28

Chapter Twenty-Eight
An Angel

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HANNAH

   No one spoke after the last body hit the ground. All I could do was watch Lev. Watch as he fixed his posture with a stoic expression. Watch as his chest rose in even breaths. Watch as he played with his beloved knife.

   Until he lost his footing.

   "Lev." I rushed forward, but stopped short when he tensed.

   I froze, watching him with a halted breath when his cold, hard eyes met mine. His attention felt similar to having a predator watch me, and yet, my fear had nothing to do with the danger he possessed. 

   My gaze drifted to his waist. To the obnoxious wound seeping his white shirt with blood.

   "Lev," I whispered again, unable to say anything else as I stared at his injury. "How... why did you let yourself get hurt?"

   Lev never allowed anyone to get close enough to inflict damage. He's tactical, smart and well trained. He knows better. He knew better.

   His silence thickened the tension in the air. I struggled to look away from the wound, but when I did, my chest sucked all the air from my lungs.

   Lev's expression turned white, as if he was staring at a ghost.

   I never looked away from him. I couldn't, even if I tried.

   Without thinking, I took a step closer to him. In the corner of my eye, I caught Nico tensing, but he blurred in the background, along with everyone else—alive or dead.

   Having Lev's attention felt like a chord wrapping itself around my heart. It was intense and strangling, but I couldn't imagine living without it.

   Something dark settled across his features. And then he began to move.

   My heart leapt up my throat when he strode across the distance separating us. With each step that pounded against the concrete floor, my chest expanded.

   He stopped when our toes nearly touched, and for the first time since I woke up, my shoulders drooped. My eyes ran across his hard features. The tension in his eyebrows. His slight glare. His jaw that didn't seem to smooth out.

   The blood dotting his face did nothing to hide his beauty.

   Lev suddenly lifted his knife-free hand, and Nico jumped forward before coming to a grinding halt when Lev tucked my hair behind my ear.

   The underlying anger in his eyes didn't vanish. Not until his fingers trickled behind my ear.

   I silently yelped and jerked my face into his hand to block him from tickling me again. Lev stilled.

   Against my face, Lev's grip tightened. When my eyes flickered to him, I held a breath when I saw his face pale with realization.

   "Hannah?" He spoke my name with a rough edge.

   Carefully, I peeled my cheek away from his hand. He clearly did not like that.

   One moment, his hand hovered on my shoulder. In the next, a clattering sound echoed in the room before both hands clasped my face. Holding me still.

   His eyes captured mine, and he held me tighter, disbelief making him stumble closer, until there wasn't an inch of space between us.

   His hands were warm and somewhat wet—probably from the blood. But I couldn't pull away. Not when he looked at me like he couldn't believe I was standing in front of him.