by Maya Daniels
“Why am I here?” Suspicion is making me act like a coward, but I can’t help myself. This is the last thing I needed at this point.
“To see that not everything is as black and white as you were made to believe.” Leaning down to look at me, braced with both hands on the roof of the car, Eric smiles mischievously as his hair falls down, covering half his face “I won’t let anyone eat you, I promise. I can’t promise I won’t try, though.” Winking at me, he straightens up and closes the door before walking around the front of it with his eyes on me.
Clenching my fists, I glare at his stupid smiling face through the windshield and gather my wits about me. I came all the way here like some idiot, so I might as well see what’s going on. The weight of my guns pressing on my thighs feels like a comforting hug and my fast heartbeat slows down a little. I’ve never missed a target in my life, and I can get out of here if I need to, so I should stop freaking out and deal with it. Getting out of the car, I slam the door a lot harder than necessary, making him wince.
“Let’s go, then! Lead the way.” Lifting my chin stubbornly, I watch him shake his head and sigh before I follow him inside the building. And yes, I did shamelessly keep my eyes on the round globes of his ass that the black leather pants are hugging lovingly, making me envy the material.
My feet slow down on their own when we enter what looks like a reception area of the place. The floor tiles look scuffed by many walking shoes and have cracks that make random patterns on the floor. The walls look freshly painted with a few random paintings of pastures and mountains hanging here and there, making it look so ordinary it’s almost ridiculous and absurd. There is a door leading further into the building on my right and a semicircle desk in front of me with two fake potted trees on either side of it. A young, dark-haired woman, with her hair wrapped in a tight bun and a silky red shirt, sits behind it, glaring at the computer screen until she lifts her head and a smile spreads on it when she looks at Eric. That same smile slips, turning into a frown when she notices me next to him.
“Loren, how are you?” Eric smiles as he greets her, and her brown eyes turn to him.
“As good as ever, Eric. How are you?” she purrs. Her eyes flick to me when she says it, suggesting it wasn’t simply a polite thing for her to say to him.
“Same old. Is Maddison here yet?” Ignoring her hints, he leans on the desk, casually pulling me closer to him by the belts around my hips. The woman doesn’t miss this action, and her eyes narrow at me. It’s so surreal that I just stand there, letting monster boy handle me like an object while all I can do is blink.
“Yeah, she just got here a few minutes ago with her entourage. Should I let her know you’re here? And who should I say you are with?” One pencil thin eyebrow raises in question.
Rapping his knuckles on the desk twice, startling me out of my skin, Eric pulls himself up to his six-foot-something height. “Nah, I’ll just go right in. Thanks!” Giving Loren’s startled face a crooked smile, he puts his hand on my lower back, turning me around, and starts leading me towards the closed door. As he pulls one side open and ushers me to enter in front of him, I turn to look over my shoulder. Loren is glaring daggers at my back, but before I can be sure that her eyes were starting to glow with a yellowish light, the door closes behind me. Surprisingly, my gut GPS stays silent, not alerting me to anything evil. It’s the only reason I go obediently where he’s leading me.
“Your girlfriend is not happy you’re touching me.” Stepping sideways, I make him drop his hand to his side. We’re in a long, empty hallway with many doors on each side. At the far end are double doors with a nameplate on one side, too far away for me to read.
“What are you talking about?’ Frowning, he strides towards the double doors with purpose.
“Loren didn’t look happy you were touchy-feely,” I drawl as I speed up my steps to keep up with him. I don’t know why I’m saying these things, because I couldn’t care less what he does, but I can’t stop the words pouring out of my mouth. Maybe I am possessed, I think gloomily to myself.
Eric chuckles and decides to ignore my snarky comments, for which I’m grateful. At least one of us is using his brain today. We walk in silence for a bit, and as we near the double doors at the end of the hallway, they crack open as if sensing our presence. My heart speeds up at this, and I become very alert to every sound in the hall, or lack thereof. I didn’t notice until this very moment that it’s unusually quiet here, like in a soundless chamber. My feet slow down and then stop a few steps away from the partly-opened door.
“Good morning!” Eric strides right through it, pushing it all the way open with his shoulder, but I stay where I am.
“Any news?” A musical woman’s voice sounds from the inside, making my body relax from the stiff posture I was frozen in.
“We’ll see.” Finally, there’s a sound like someone is pulling up a chair, and a deep sigh follows it “Come inside, cupcake. No one is going to eat you here.” Anger bubbles up at his words. He’ll never let me live that down, it seems. Squaring my shoulders, I strut inside the office, not closing the door.
“And who do we have here?” The musical voice belongs to the most beautiful woman I have seen in my life. Thick waves of bright red hair fall around her shoulders and down her back. Porcelain skin covers high cheekbones, button nose, and pouty reddish lips that look naturally colored. Just looking at her perfect face and blue eyes, so bright they look fake, would tell you that there is no way in hell she’s human. She’s sitting behind a large, dark mahogany desk that should belong to a museum, not an office, as I assume this is. No one can be that perfect. Of their own accord, my eyes flick to Eric’s smiling, stupidly handsome face. Yup! Not human!
“Maddison, meet Helena.” There is laughter in Eric’s voice, and I have no doubt it’s because I’m gaping like an idiot at the beauty in front of me.
A movement from behind her gets my attention and that same second the spell of whatever she had me under shattered. Pulling my guns with both hands, I point them in the faces of the two men standing behind her. I don’t know their names, but I will never forget those faces. Eric jumps from the seat he has taken, but the woman just watches me intently, not batting an eyelash over the guns pointed in her direction.
“What the fuck is going on here?” I snap at Eric, not taking my eyes off the men in front of me. “You two are dead!”
“Is that what they told you, Hel?” The blond hunter I’ve seen around sanctuary my whole life quirks a smile. “They said we’re dead?” He looks at the dark-haired one standing next to him. They were team members, and we were told they died on a mission six months ago. They look very much alive to me.
“You brought a hunter here, Eric?” Maddison lifts an eyebrow in question, but she doesn’t look one bit worried if that’s the case.
“She’s not a hunter anymore.” Eric’s words make the two presumably dead hunters gawk at him like he just sprouted horns and my stomach tightens in knots. “Michael tried to kill her last night inside their sanctuary.”
“Interesting!” Her eyes narrow at me like she’s trying to read my mind. “Why would Michael bloody his hands when he has others doing his dirty work for him?” Her words sound like she’s thinking out loud, not asking a question.
“That’s what’s been bothering me as well,” Eric answers anyway. “I figured that if anyone can convince her that not everything is like what they tell them in that damn Order, it’d be you. I didn’t even think of Marco and John.”
“It’s a trap!” The blond hunter snaps, and pulling a small crossbow, he points it at my chest. “She’s everyone’s favorite in the Order. There is no way Miss Goody Two-Shoes isn’t a hunter. She’s their perfect pupil, their creation.”
My guns are still pointed at their faces, and we have an awkward standoff in this not-so-large office while Eric and Maddison look bored with the whole display. I can’t deny that seeing the two men whom I assumed were dead gave my mind whiplash, and this entire t
hing is made worse by my gut feeling staying quiet. There is not even a tingle or a hint that there is evil around me. That means they are not possessed or turned evil. They just look pissed and if I’m not mistaken, scared of me.
“Why would you bring her here?” the dark haired one asks Eric, glaring at him.
“I’m not joking. Michael did try to kill her. She would’ve been dead if I hadn’t pulled her out of there.” Eric is looking straight at Maddison when he speaks, totally ignoring the two men and their ramblings.
“Why would he do that, Helena?” Her voice makes me look at her, taking my eyes off the two hunters across from me.
They both jump towards me as soon as I look away like they’ve been waiting for the distraction. I can’t say I blame the hunters, because I would’ve done the same. You never take your eyes off your target. The sound of the arrow being discharged from the crossbow sings in the air and I twist my body, pirouetting, letting it pass an inch from my chest. It rips my jacket off, but at least it’s not embedded in me. I haven’t yet stopped the movement of my body when a blur of action happens and both hunters are unconscious in a heap on the floor with Eric standing over them with murder in his eyes.
“It gets even more interesting,” Maddison muses, not blinking an eye at the shit going on around her. “Why would the Archangel want to kill you?”
This time it’s not just words coming out of her mouth, it’s a demand for an answer, and I’m tired of all the crap that keeps happening around me. Re-holstering my guns, with a heavy sigh, I walk up to the closest chair and plop down into it, scrubbing my hands over my face.
“Because I’m not human.” At my words, Eric’s head snaps in my direction, forgetting all about the two men at his feet. “I’m half angel—” Maddison frowns at that — “and half demon.” My eyes lock on Eric’s and the shock there is unmistakable.
“My, oh my! Life just got very, very interesting, cousin!” A huge smile spreads over Maddison’s face and her eyes turn pure white, glowing with excitement.
The office is so quiet you can hear a pin drop, while my eyes flick from Eric’s face to Maddison’s white, glowing eyes. My heart keeps beating erratically in my chest, and the headache keeps increasing in intensity until it’s bordering on a migraine. I’ve never had headaches in my life, apart from a few that were a result of a little concussion I’d gotten while training. It must be the stress of the week piling up that’s making me want to hit my head against the wall until the pain is more physical, or else I knock myself unconscious. Looking away from them both, I start fiddling with the belts around my hips, avoiding the questions that hang unspoken in the air between us.
“Well, so they said.” Clearing my throat uncomfortably and frowning at the buckles like they hold all the secrets in the universe, my quiet voice breaks the silence. “I’m not sure it’s the truth. I mean…” Looking up and flicking my eyes from one to the other, I shrug a shoulder. “It seems I’ve been lied to my entire life. Who’s to say they started telling the truth now?”
“That’s not possible!” Eric’s voice slices like a whip, making me flinch from the barely-contained anger in his words.
“What do I have to gain by lying to you, monster boy?” Snapping at him through clenched teeth, I try my best not to pull a gun out and put a bullet between his beautiful green eyes. Maddison chuckles like this whole thing, my life going to shit, is amusing her to no end. I glare at her next, and her smile only grows, making me wonder if her perfect cheeks are hurting from how wide her mouth is stretched.
“You don’t get it, cupcake! It’s impossible, because all hybrids like that, half angel-half demon, are dead. The Archangels never let them live more than a few days before they are discovered and killed.” Crossing his arms over his impressive chest that’s straining the fabric of his t-shirt to its limits, he looks down his nose at me.
“Stop fucking calling me cupcake!” Rage bubbles in my chest and my body lifts from the chair as if I’m readying myself to attack him, which isn’t far from how I feel at the moment. “I said that’s what Michael told me before he tried to attack. I want nothing to do with the demons, nor do I have anything in common with the abominations.” Deflating, with a deep sigh, I scrub my hands over my face again, as if that would make this whole nightmare go away. “I pray I have nothing in common with them.” My whispered words behind my hands weren’t as quiet as I had thought. A growl rumbles from Eric’s chest, making my head snap up to look at him.
He’s still standing behind Maddison’s desk on top of the two unconscious hunters, and my eyes flick to her face. The white is gone, her eyes going back to their unnaturally blue color, and her perfect face is set in a frown that doesn’t take away from how beautiful she is. Tilting her head to the side, she studies my face for long moments before her eyes travel down, then up my body, taking me in as if she’s taking my measure but finds me lacking. The thought hits me hard that I don’t know anything about these people, and here I am telling them my secrets and putting my life in more danger just by being around them. The familiar feeling of anger washes away my fears and self-pity as I lift myself off the chair and place my hands on my hips.
“Now how about you two tell me who the hell you are, huh? I know you’re a demon!” Pointing an accusing finger in Eric’s face makes his lips twitch in humor at my words, and my fingers twitch with the need to slap it off his handsome face. “But who are you, Maddison? Or more importantly, what are you? Monster boy here said I would see for myself that I’ve been lied to. The only thing I’ve found out so far is that these two traitors are still alive. Apparently switching sides is a thing now. Nothing else!” Agitated, I wave my hand in the direction of Eric’s feet, and as if on command, a pained groan comes from the tangled hunters on the floor as they start moving sluggishly.
“You didn’t tell her anything?” Maddison looks over her shoulder at Eric, and he only shakes his head slowly before lifting his arm and his hand scoops the hair that’s fallen over his face, pushing it back. My eyes follow the movement on their own like they are connected to him by an invisible thread. It pisses me off to no end, but I can’t seem to stop myself.
“She thinks demons don’t talk, all look grotesque, and eat humans.” A look passes between them that I can’t decipher before they both look at me intently, making dread pool in my stomach. “How do you explain something to someone who refuses to look past her prejudices and beliefs?” Shaking his head sadly, his shoulders drop a fraction as if he feels defeated, and that confuses the hell out of me “She’s not ready to see the truth, no matter what I tell her. I thought you’d have better luck. A word of caution, though, she’s more stubborn than a mule.” Winking at me, he walks around the desk, passed me, and drops into the chair he occupied when he first stepped inside the office.
“What made you think that demons don’t talk?” Maddison’s musical voice makes my eyes snap in her direction and away from Eric, for which I’m thankful because the jerk knows the affect he has on me, and that twitching smile seems permanently attached to his face. I study her face for a moment, but I find only curiosity there, not malice.
Shrugging a shoulder, I plop down on my chair following Eric’s lead. “I’ve been an active hunter for three years, now. I hunt every night to make sure this world is safe from the abominations.” Looking intently at her, I expect her to scoff or make a comment, but she only nods slightly as if encouraging me to keep talking. “That’s all I’ve come across, all I’ve seen and sent back to Hell,” I finish after she doesn’t interrupt me. She keeps staring at me for so long that I have to fight the urge to start fidgeting in the chair.
“You’re sure that’s all you’ve seen?” Her blue eyes are penetrating, like she can look into my soul, and I look away from her only to get locked into Eric’s green, intent stare. An unwanted image of the huge black demon with large twisted horns dragging Amanda away comes to my mind as if screaming liar, and I flinch internally.
“That was all…” Lo
oking away from Eric’s knowing stare, I turn to Maddison. “Until yesterday. First, a new type of demon took my best friend away after he killed her.” My eyes flick to Eric. “Then monster boy here came to my rescue for whatever reason…”—He gives me a sad smile, making my insides twist, so I look away from him— “…twice. He came to my rescue twice.”
Nothing seemed to faze the beautiful woman sitting behind the large desk until now. At my words, her perfectly-shaped eyebrows hit her hairline and her blue eyes widened comically as her head snapped in Eric’s direction while her mouth opened slightly as if she was in shock. Frowning, I turn to look at Eric as well and realize he is not looking at Maddison at all. His focus is centered on me that a shiver passes up and down my spine, making me hyperaware of his nearness. Goosebumps cover me from head to toe at his complete attention. Caught like deer in headlights, I can’t seem to look away from him no matter how hard I try, even while alarms are blaring inside my head that nothing good can come from having his full attention. After what feels like an eternity, he releases me from whatever spell he had me under and looks to Maddison, shrugging his shoulder nonchalantly, not concerned at all that the woman looks like she froze from the shock of my revelation.
“We’re getting off track here.” Another look passes between them, making me push away my internal debates to narrow my eyes at them. Maddison snaps out of her shock, too, and now she is looking at me with a whole new interest that I’m not sure I like. “I believe she asked who, or what you are,” he tells her.
“Yes, I believe she did.” Maddison starts talking, but two heads pop up from behind her, startling me so much I’m out of the chair, guns pointed at the hunters, before I know I’ve moved.
“She is Lilith’s daughter.” The blond hunter groans as he lifts himself up and turns to help his friend like he didn’t just drop the biggest bomb of the century.