It was a long night.

It always was when he had company.

There was the heat, and moisture, and movement.

Sometimes there was pain, but sometimes he liked it painful.

If Fen couldn’t handle a little pain, then this wasn’t the right profession, and he might as well be begging on street corners, but that was where the real danger lurked. People were more likely to get caught up with a bad crowd and dragged into a world deeper than the rock bottom lives they lived—unable to escape, unable to breathe.

He decided it was best to work from home, letting men in when they came to call. He’d open the door and tell them he’d been waiting all this time for them, longing for them to get there—many were regulars, very little were newcomers. It was a long night, either way.

At least at home, he felt like there was safety among the other misguided people in this rundown building, perhaps someone would care enough to come if he ever needed help. It was doubtful, but hope seemed to be the only thing worth holding onto at this point in his life.

One of these days, he feared inviting the wrong one in.

Then Kellen showed up, high on whatever concoction of drugs he’d mixed with the half-gone bottle of liquor in his hand.

His shirt open shirt exposed the handle of a large blade resting against his stomach. Fen had never been cut by that blade, thankfully, but he knew plenty of people who were. Kellen preferred his victims to wear jagged scars or carry missing fingers as a reminder not to fuck with him. If someone weren’t lucky, he’d slice off an eyelid, chop off a hand or pry off their fingernails one by one.

The man was a fucking psycho—always high, always unpredictable. He might whisper sweet nothings into an ear before biting it off.

And Fen never did have the guts to kick him out.

Nights with Kellen were like clockwork; he fucked Fen too hard and raw, sometimes forcing him to roleplay a painful rape or making him beg for things he never wanted, then passing out cold under the weight of drugs and booze.

Tonight was no different.

Fen let out a sigh and shifted out from under Kellen’s now- limp body. He checked to ensure there was a pulse and helped himself to the cigarettes lying beside Kellen’s jeans and tiptoed past the unconscious man to the open window where the night welcomed him.

The air was cold and brought goosebumps to his sex-damp skin.

He took a long drag of his cigarette, allowing the bitter taste to fill his lungs until he couldn’t breathe and only exhaled after it started to burn. Fen folded his arms against the chilled metal and rested his aching head, honestly just wanting to sleep, but too afraid of being so vulnerable if Kellen woke from any drug-induced nightmares.

His half-lidded eyes peered down into the dark alley, where only rats roamed freely: nothing but garbage and rot, wet smells that lingered against his nose. Lights hanging from wires flickered, and a few weren’t lit at all, cloaking parts of the alley in darkness and making it all the more dangerous. Sometimes, he heard laughter and a lot of screaming. The screaming never lasted long, but their echoes played in his head like a sick lullaby.

When his eyes grew heavy, he closed them for only a moment.

“Hey there.”

A familiar voice as warm as warm milk and honey roused him from his rest, and he glanced down.

Standing in the alley was a young man, the same one who passed through these alleys every night at the same time.

Endless blue eyes filled with wonder and innocence watched Fen from below his window, and the stranger offered a cherubic smile, revealing perfectly white teeth. And those angelic features lay guarded by fallen strands of gold hair like a halo of light. Tonight, he had on a gray turtle-necked sweater and neatly ironed khakis under a clean beige coat—hell, even his shoes were shined.

“Aren’t you cold?” He asked softly.

“I like it cold,” Fen said, too tired to deal with his shit tonight.

There wasn’t a chance in hell Angel Boy was walking home from work, so Fen assumed the guy was a regular for someone else on this block, but that thought was crossed off and replaced the suspicion that he was a cop looking for trouble.

“Let me come and warm you.” Angel Boy smiled, beautiful and bright.

Fen’s eyes narrowed.

If this guy was an undercover cop, he was fucking terrible at his job.

Finishing his cigarette, Fen flicked it into the alley.

“Get lost,” He said sharply and left the man standing outside.