“What’s wrong now?” I murmured without looking at him, not intending it to be loud enough for anyone to hear. Adam laughed sourly. Of course, with his supernatural senses he had heard me.
“Hello there,” a velvet female voice addressed us. Adam’s eyes closed and he massaged the bridge of his nose with his fingers.
“Maureen,” I read from his lips, as it was too low for me to hear it. I turned around and looked at her ivory face, framed by a mane of bluish black hair. Her big eyes held a half amused, half irritated expression as she eyed me from above.
“What do you want this time?” Adam asked her sarcastically, flashing his green eyes open and fixing her with a disapproving look. His already tense body stiffened a little more.
“What I always want,” she pouted. Her head tilted to one side, making the curtain of black hair swing back over her shoulder. Her eyes tightened slightly before she lifted her lashes and looked at Adam from under them seductively. Her mouth twitched up a little at one corner. “You.”
This girl really had nerve, coming here, telling him this. I looked at her, taking in her appearance. Without a doubt she was pretty. Her body was perfect and she balanced her weight on high heels like there was nothing easier in the world. Her slender long legs were stuck in tight black jeans and her shirt gave a pretty good idea about the proportions of her torso. I noticed that a large proportion of the male audience was gaping at her.
She waited for an answer for a few seconds, then placed her hand in Adam’s hair, stroking his head and sliding over his cheek lightly. I felt jealous little thoughts infiltrate my head.
Adam pulled his head away and drew back a little. “I told you a hundred times, Maureen, I don’t love you.”
“See, that’s the problem, Adam—” She purred, angelic. “—I do.”
“Don’t start again,” Adam shook his head, “I told you, it’s over and nothing you do is going to change that.”
“It’s because of her, isn’t it?” She turned her attention to me, her mouth still a perfect pout, but her eyes showing a tiny hint of maliciousness. “I don’t understand you,” she purred at Adam, and then at me. “You’re an ordinary little thing.” The malicious hint spread over her whole face for a brief second.
“Leave Claire out of this,” Adam intervened harshly.
“Oh, worried about her, are we?” Her purr had become a cold evil melody that didn’t match the overly friendly smile under her malicious eyes, which she directed back at me.
Her gaze incapacitated me.
“It’s none of your business,” Adam snarled at her. “Can you just go, please?” It sounded like the last word cost him a lot of effort. I gave him an approving look. Yes, I wanted her to go away, to just disappear. Her presence made me cold and uncomfortable. The way she looked at me, like I was Adam’s little toy that she could lock up in a drawer whenever he had been naughty.
“Is there a problem?” It was a familiar voice which came from behind me. Instinctively I slid back on the couch a few inches towards the source of the voice. A hand touched my shoulder from behind and rested there, fingers squeezing it.
“Jaden,” I breathed, relieved.
“Hello Claire,” Jaden whispered into my ear bending down for a second. “Hello Adam.”
Adam nodded at him, “Jaden.” His expression was unreadable.
“Mhh,” Maureen purred, obviously pleased with what she saw behind me. “You haven’t introduced me to your friend.” She laughed a girlish laugh at me. “How impolite of you. I’m Maureen,” she held out her hand to Jaden who didn’t lift his from my shoulder to shake hers. Instead he greeted her in a very polite tone.
“Good evening, Maureen. It’s nice to meet you.” I couldn’t tell if his face matched his melody, but Maureen gave him a flirty look.
Everything in my body screamed dangerous, though I couldn’t really relate it to a special reason. Maybe it was her evil eyes or the way she flirted with Adam and now Jaden, too. I simply hated everything about her, especially that she was after Adam. I hated how perfect she moved, how seductively she shifted her weight from leg to leg, not looking unbalanced once, how her black hair shone in the dim light and how her figure caught the attention of almost every man in the room. She was a relationship’s nightmare, simply by her appearance.
I also didn’t like the way Adam glared at Jaden behind me, like he was seeing danger there, too.
“I’d really love to stay, gentlemen, but I think I have more important things to take care of right now.” She looked at Jaden for a second and then gave Adam a long, intense gaze, like she was trying to challenge him to follow her. He shifted in his seat, and for a brief second I thought he was going to stand up and go with her, but he stayed, looking uncomfortable and torn.
Maureen gave me a last malicious smile. “Claire.” She nodded like she wanted to be polite and then stalked away towards another room and out of sight.
“I’m sorry about that,” Adam moved closer on the couch, taking my hand. I felt Jaden’s fingers leave my shoulder and turned around slowly, to thank him. When I turned my head, he was gone.
“Where is he?” I asked Adam a little confused.
“Seems like he headed off.”
“Without saying goodbye?”
“Hm—” Adam watched my eyes search the room for Jaden, but he was definitely not there anymore. I saw Amber, Lydia and Richard playing at the pool table. The three of them seemed to not have noticed anything.
“Shall we join them?” I suggested, trying to shake off the bitter taste of the situation.
“Sure.” He shrugged, not taking his eyes off me. “How can you be so calm?” he asked, bemused.
“I’m not calm,” I admitted.
“But I don’t sense any distress from you?” his forehead creased. “How do you do it?”
“I’m not doing anything,” I defended myself. It was true, I wasn’t doing a thing to keep my feelings to myself. He must have sensed how uneasy I had felt with his ex-girlfriend eying me like I was nothing.
“I just sense you, without any special feelings radiating off you.” He shook his head and closed his eyes, concentrated. “Strange,” he muttered.
“Maybe you were just too distracted by her,” I suggested cattily, not wanting to go any deeper into the topic. “Don’t worry.”
“Yes, maybe you’re right,” he smiled. “Let’s get back to normal then?” he asked and pulled me to my feet, his head gesturing towards the other three.
“May we join you?” He asked Amber.
She nodded and we teamed up, the three girls against the two boys. Adam and Richard got along well.
Lydia was pretty good at pool, I noticed; but Amber and I sucked.
“Careful, that’s not supposed to be used as a weapon,” Richard joked when Amber pushed one of the pool balls hard and it jumped off the table towards Lydia.
Adam snickered away behind him as he watched Amber and me failing shot after shot. Lydia tried to keep up our spirits.
“Come on, try. I can’t do it on my own—and they deserve to lose.” She winked at us, fuelling our motivation a bit. Our team became a bit better with every new game we played, but in the end Adam and Richard had a great time winning against us again and again until we finally gave up and let the two winners play against each other for a game. We sat down at a small table near the boys.
It was easy to forget Adam wasn’t human when he blended in as perfectly as he did now. Nobody would suspect anything. The only thing suspicious about his behavior was the accuracy of his aim. It was a little bit too professional. I found myself forgetting about Maureen, Jaden and the demons. The moment felt normal and good—actually, I was having fun, even if I didn’t win against my heavenly boyfriend. I sipped from my nearly empty glass and wished this moment would last for a while.
It was predictable that it wouldn’t. Not even these rare moments were meant for me. When I got to my feet to get another soda from the bar I noticed that someone was fo
llowing me. I took a little detour to be sure I wasn’t paranoid, but my follower shadowed my every move. At the bar I squeezed between a girl and a broad shouldered man and attracted the attention of the bartender.
“A soda, please,” I ordered and he headed off to pour my drink.
I looked around, afraid that my shadow had come too close. It was a man around forty, blond shoulder-long hair pulled up in a pony tail. I looked back to the pool tables trying to catch Adam’s eye, but he was out of sight; so were the others. They would be absorbed in their game.
The man eyed me critically and then turned around and headed away. Relieved, I paid for my drink and headed back to the others. I didn’t bother Adam with the incident—maybe the man hadn’t been after me at all. I wouldn’t have been surprised if I actually had become paranoid after all that had happened. I placed the glass on the table with the others.
“I’ll be back in a minute,” I told them and headed for the bathroom. This time nobody followed me. I put the former incident down as paranoia and opened the door to the bathroom.
It was a neat little room with three further doors, leading to the cubicles—all free. I washed my hands and face to refresh myself. The cool water was soothing on my wrists and the skin of my face. I let the droplets of water dry on it with closed eyes, relaxing and breathing.
“Are you really that stupid, to wander off alone,” a tenor voice asked into the silence. I jumped and my eyes flew open looking straight into the mirror.
A pale face looked back at me, long ash-blond hair framing it, eyes wide open with fright. I recognised it as my own. But behind my shoulder another familiar face stared at me. I stared back into his, frozen in place. His face was a mask, unreadable, the blond ponytail still dangling left and right from his last movement. Apart from that, he was still and noiseless, he didn’t even seem to breathe.
No matter how much I wanted to, I couldn’t move, and I didn’t think it would help that much if I tried. I just waited for what was about to come.
“Sorry, that was rude. I should introduce myself,” he indicated a bow. His features still a mask as his head inclined with the too fluent movement. “I’m Volpert. And you’re Claire.” He held out his hand.
I didn’t move, frozen in place.
“Now, that’s rude of you,” he accused. “Hasn’t anybody taught you manners?”
I just stared at his reflection in the mirror coming closer. The way his lips pulled up at the corners for a moment in a surreal twitch, made his face look even more a mask—a mask of evil.
“I hate one way conversations,” Volpert told me with false sadness in his eyes. “You know, you give away so much about yourself and the other doesn’t grant you insight into her mind at all.” He shook his head. “Frustrating.” He walked around me so he faced me, and my eyes snapped on his. They were a steely gray, cold and hard.
“Frustrating and boring.” He eyed me from every angle as he circled me in the small room without touching me once. “You had better warm up a little. If you don’t speak to me, I don’t see a reason to let you live.” At the last sentence he pulled up one corner of his mouth in an apologetic gesture. Nevertheless, his voice was deadly.
The tone let me unfreeze.
“What do you want?” I asked into the small room, desperate.
“Hear, hear, the girl owns a voice.” The second corner of his mouth pulled up into an amused sneer. “And such a beautiful voice it is.” He reached out a hand as if he was about to touch my throat with the tips of his outstretched fingers, an edge of greed in his eyes, but pulled it back before he made contact with my skin. His eyes snapped back onto my face.
“What do I want,” he repeated my question, making it sound like he was musing, letting a cloud of silence swallow him for a moment.
“I want many things, Claire,” he continued thoughtfully. “For example, I want a new suit.” He looked down at his body, my eyes following his unwillingly. He wore a perfect black suit, a black shirt with a black tie underneath it. One of the sleeves had been patched up with some other material, like someone had torn out a piece and replaced it with another fabric. A silver amulet was dangling from his neck, resting on the tie. I had seen those before on the demons that had attacked me a few weeks ago. “I want a mansion in Florence. I want to kill you.” He laughed darkly.
My heart accelerated and adrenalin rushed through my veins, preparing for the upcoming fight which I knew was already lost.
“You see, I want many things.” He finished his circle around me, coming to a halt in front of me. “Lucky you, it’s not about what I want—not today.”
I inhaled deeply and refocused on the conversation. As long as I kept him talking he wouldn’t kill me.
“What is it about then?” I asked, trying to buy some time in the hope that either Adam or Jaden would notice my absence and come to my aid.
“You ask too many questions instead of giving answers.” He folded his arms and leaned back against the wall next to the basin.
“You didn’t ask me anything,” I pushed out between my teeth.
“Cheeking me, are you?” He lifted one eyebrow, amazed. “So I’ll ask you something.” He played with his amulet. “How come you always get away?”
“I don’t,” I hissed, “not this time.”
Volpert seemed amused by my feeble resistance. “That’s not an answer to my question.”
“I don’t know—guess I’m just lucky.” I tried again.
Volpert eyed me silently, tilting his head to one side. “You’re not lucky, I know that much. You carry a mark. I want you to tell your angel to join us for a little chat.”
“What’s a mark?” I acted stupid, hoping he wouldn’t notice, trying to distract him.
“The mark an angel left on you when he first spread his wings. Come one, don’t act stupid.”
We had been in there for around ten minutes, it would be only a matter of time until somebody would enter the bathroom and I would get a chance to escape. I only needed to get through the bathroom door so I would have people around me and I could ask for help, or simply scream for Adam. I was pretty sure the demon wouldn’t slaughter me in a room with other people around—neither would he hurt Adam there. As far as I knew, demons were committed to keeping a low profile, just as angels were.
“Speak,” he ordered, quiet and deadly.
“You must have the wrong person.” I tried to look fierce.
“No. You know exactly what I am or you would have tried to escape. You know your human feet wouldn’t carry you to the door before I could react and take you down. You didn’t look too surprised, seeing a man in the ladies’ room. All I saw in your eyes was the cold fear you should feel, recognizing me for what I am.”
I shuddered, the hair on my neck standing.
“I suppose you got our warnings?” He laughed darkly.
Images of Colina’s dead body and Nigel’s twisted furry shape flashed through my mind.
“I see, you got them.” He watched me closely. “I think you should really call your boyfriend now,” he suggested in a commanding tone, stepping closer, back straight and posture threatening. I could smell his cologne, some designer fragrance; it matched his suit.
I backed away one step without taking my eyes off him. “I’m sorry, I—just can’t.”
“This means you prefer to die in his place,” he commented on my statement. His voice was still perfectly polite but he flashed his teeth in a malicious smile. “Good for me.” He lifted his foot to take another step closer. “Your angel will suffer alongside you anyway. I already told them we should have killed you the first time right away, but they wouldn’t listen. Always the same,” he mused aloud, “enslave, not kill—
“But it’s good you refuse this simple request—it means we’ll have a little fun together before you die. And so we will with your friends and with your angel afterwards.” One of his hands reached out for me and I felt hot pain sear down my spine. It made my knees give way and I crushed
against the wall with my back, screaming out in pain.
“Oh, does it hurt?” he asked with faked concern. “I wouldn’t have to do this if you were just a little cooperative, dear.” His smile was gloating.
“By the way, have you talked to your sister lately? If you don’t start opening up a little, I think I will have to send somebody to take care of her, too.” He lifted his hand again, sending new tremors through my pained spine. My eyes rolled back in my head and I groaned with pain.
“Do that again, and I swear to God I will tear you apart.”
I blinked as I heard Volpert shift in surprise at the new participant in this little bathroom get-together.
“Nice of you joining us,” Volpert greeted the newcomer with false enthusiasm. “You can join the queue, it’ll be your turn right after she dies.”
“Definitely not,” Jaden hissed at the demon, and something white radiated from his lifted hand. It hit Volpert’s chest, and he sank to the floor.
“Claire, can you stand up?” Jaden asked, pulling me up by one arm. “We need to get out of here. He’ll be incapacitated for a few minutes. Get Adam and run. The others will be safe as long as they’re in public and far away from you and Adam.” I stumbled to my feet, my legs unstable at every step, and he opened the bathroom door for me only as much as I needed to slip through. He stayed back with the unconscious demon.
As I almost fell into the bar, a man helped me stabilize myself.
“Hey there, are you okay?” he asked as he pulled me upright with two strong hands.
“I’m fine, thank you—lost balance.” I shrugged. “Clumsy.”
He accepted my explanation and I hurried on.
Amber and Lydia had joined the guys’ game, Lydia playing with Richard and Amber with Adam, as I rounded the corner darting towards them. Adam was the first to notice me. His face instantly turned into a mask as he looked at me.
“We have to get away—quick,” I said in a low voice while I headed for them, trying to look as normal as possible. I hoped he would hear me over the background noise and music, because no human ears would have ever heard that, even if they had been right next to me.
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