by D. N. Hoxa
Besides, Kyle knew me. He knew the Raven and all the lives I took. He knew exactly how much I hated rats. And Kyle was no fool.
Chapter 20
The hotel room I was staying in was a far cry from the luxury suites I was used to, but I didn’t complain. In fact, I was a lot happier being there than I’d ever been in the giant bathrooms with hot tubs—though I did miss a long, bubbly bath. Still, the shower worked just fine and did its job.
An hour later, I was dressed in all clean black clothes and shoes, my hair tied up in a bun, and I made my way to the door. When I opened it, I almost jumped back, startled. Aaron was right there at the threshold.
“What the hell are you doing?” My voice came out a bit breathless.
“We do need to eat,” Aaron said looking at the watch on his wrist. “It’s almost three.”
“Oh.” I’d completely forgotten about food. My stomach was singing a not-so-happy song. I stepped out of my room and closed the door, heading for the stairs.
“Where were you going?”Aaron asked as joined me.
“My apartment.”
“You have an apartment?” He sounded surprised. I’d never mentioned my plans to him.
“Yeah. I wanted to move here permanently before…” before I met him.
“Were you allowed to do that?” By the Council, he meant. A bitter smile stretched my lips.
“Never really talked about it with anyone. I bought the apartment and took my time in preparing it, so I never really got the chance to tell the Council.” And now that he brought it up, I was a hundred percent sure they wouldn’t have let me leave the hotels they paid for. They could control me better that way. “Anyway, I’m sure it’s wrecked right now, and that’s if they didn’t burn it completely.” I was only half kidding, but I still had hope. “I still want to check it.”
We walked through the hotel lobby, and I headed for the entrance.
“Aren’t we just going to eat here?” Aaron asked, pointing at the restaurant to our left. “I told Dad I was meeting him here.”
“No, but go ahead. I'm in the mood for Cindy’s spicy chicken nuggets and French fries. I’ll see you later.” My mouth watered at the reminder. Cindy made the best spicy food in all of Chicago, if you asked me. It had been ages since I last ate there, and I could hardly wait.
“Wait!” Aaron called behind me. “You’re not going alone, Star.” It was almost a warning.
“You’re not the boss of me, Aaron. You sure as hell aren’t my babysitter. I’ll go where I want to go, when I want to.” I kept walking down the street, knowing that he could hear me because he followed me.
“I didn’t say you can’t go at all. Just that you can’t go alone. I want to come with you.”
Oh.
I stopped walking for a second until he caught up with me. Then, I rolled my eyes for him to see. “I’m not going to run away, Aaron.” It almost sounded like a fucking pleading because I was desperate for him to trust me.
“I know,” he said with a nod, and that stupid, beautiful smile was still on his face.
“You really don’t have to come.” How could he not see how much I wanted to be alone?
“I want to,” he said as he typed something on his phone—probably a text to Thomas.
“You should eat with your father,” I insisted.
“My father will be just fine eating by himself.”
I stopped walking again and turned to him with a loud sigh. “Just go back, Aaron.” I was already tired of arguing with him.
But Aaron raised his brow and studied my face for a second before he change the topic completely. “What’s wrong?”
Ugh. I started walking again. What the hell was it with him? How could he know the second I was just a a tiny bit upset?
“What are you?” I asked instead of answering. He stopped walking. I saw it from the corner of my eye, but I didn’t stop.
“What do you mean?” he asked a second too late as he followed me again.
“Exactly that. What are you?” He could try to deny it all he wanted. I was onto him.
“Uh, shifter?” He made it sound like a question. As if he was fooling anyone…
“Shifter, and…?” And I smiled because his pupils dilated, even though his muscles didn’t give him away.
“And nothing. I'm a shifter. You can't be two things at once.”
I smiled and made sure he saw it. “Never mind. I’ll figure it out soon enough.” I turned to cross the street without giving him the heads up.
When I walked into Cindy’s, it almost felt like home. The smell of spices was as heavenly as ever. There was only one free table in there, right in the middle of the dining room. Perfect. I could see the whole place from there as well as feel anything that wasn’t human for miles around.
Aaron sat across from me as I was still spreading my senses to feel whatever was out there. Nothing suspicious so far. The waitress that came to take our orders almost broke my focus because she couldn’t stop staring at Aaron. I wanted to strangle her and enjoy it, too.
Instead, I gave my order, and Aaron said he’d have whatever I was having. The waitress still didn’t turn her brown eyes towards me to acknowledge me. I hoped she slipped and broke her neck.
Unfortunately for me, she didn’t. She made it to the counter in one piece.
“So, where’s your apartment?” Aaron asked, halfway through the delicious food. It was still as perfect as I remembered.
“Not far from here. Close to the University of Chicago.”
“You went to college?”
I smiled bitterly. Why should that be such a surprise?
“No, but I was about to start classes,” I admitted reluctantly.
“What were you going to study?”
“English lit.” For some reason, I didn’t even think about holding any of this back from him.
“I wanted to study photography,” Aaron said, a sad smile on his face. I remembered the pictures I saw in his apartment in New York. They’d been really beautiful.
“Maybe we’ll get another chance after all of this is over.” Who knew how things would go? But making it out alive and well was a possibility, too.
“Maybe,” Aaron said, nodding, but he didn’t seem convinced. “Aren't you concerned that someone might be at your apartment, waiting for you?”
“I don’t think so. They wouldn’t think I’d go back there.” That I’d be stupid enough to go there, anyway. “Normally, I wouldn't, but I have something really important I need to get back. And I'm too nervous to sit around all day now that we’re here.”
“Should be fun,” Aaron said, but it wouldn’t.
I was a nervous mess when the time came to hail a cab again.
“I already miss the Base,” Aaron said as we waited on the sidewalk. “The silence…”
“Silence is overrated,” I mumbled, just as a cab came our way. I raised my hand, and it stopped in front of us. This time, we both got in the backseat. I tried to keep my distance and play it cool at the same time. It was hard because his long legs were slightly touching mine, and that was very distracting.
“Silence keeps you sane,” Aaron insisted. “Who likes noise, anyway?”
“I do! Noise is full of life.” That even got me a sad look from the driver through the rearview mirror. I ignored him completely as Aaron chuckled but didn’t comment.
Five minutes later, the cab dropped us a couple of blocks away from my apartment building as per my request. I wanted to be able to see and feel the building first from afar. So we walked in silence until I could make out the red bricks.
I analyzed every inch of the wall and every window, rooftop and finally, the entrance. The guard was standing outside with his arms folded in front of him, looking passively at the people that passed him by, just like he always did. I sent my senses and concentrated on the living things inside the building. I took my time because I wanted to be a hundred percent sure before I got in there.
The guard, whose
name was either Kevin or Gavin, was surprised to see me when I made my way to him. I could never get his name right no matter how many times I asked him.
“Miss Watson,” he said. “Long time no see.”
“Yeah,” I said, “I’ve been abroad.” I was never comfortable talking to strangers about myself.
“I see,” Kevin/Gavin said when he saw Aaron, and a knowing smile took over his face. Strange, but he didn’t comment. He just opened the door for us to enter.
“Fancy,” Aaron mumbled as we waited for the elevator. The marble walls of the lobby, the plants all around the place, the reception desk and a guy I didn't know behind it—my building apartment had really been fancy.
When the elevator arrived and we hopped in, all air seemed to disappear from the small space. I’d read too many elevator sex scenes for my own good. Now that I was in there, I couldn’t stop imagining what it would be like…
Awkward silence.
Thankfully, the doors opened before too many unwanted thought invaded my mind, and I carefully stepped into the hallway. My senses washed over the entire floor, and they told me that everything was in order. Nothing fishy. Still, I reached for the keys in my pocket and opened the door with caution. It never hurt to be more careful.
When the key clicked into place and the door opened, I sighed in relief. But when I stepped inside my apartment, I wished I had never gone back.
“Shit,” Aaron whispered when he followed me inside, and I thought shit, indeed.
The place was torn apart. All my beautiful furniture…everything was torn and broken. Even the chandelier was on the floor in pieces, and the thing had cost a fucking fortune. I made my way around the broken things, and I couldn't believe my eyes. I always knew that the Council would find out about the apartment. It was the one thing I hadn’t tried to hide, so I’d used my real name. I also knew that they would send someone there, but I didn't really believe they’d have the need to attack my poor apartment. The drawers were all empty and out of place, with the things that had been in them spread on the floor. My beautiful flat screen TV had a hole the size of a fist right in the middle. My dark red carpet was muddy and torn just like my two sofas. The glass of the table in the middle of the room was in pieces.
I made my way to the kitchen, already seeing red from anger. I saw the same thing there, except for more glass and porcelain pieces on the floor. I turned around and opened the door to my bedroom with a jolt.
I couldn't believe them! What the hell did they need to do this for?
My king-sized bed was turned upside down. My nightstands were completely ruined. All my clothes were on the floor, scattered around. My jewelry, too. Even my underwear, but I was way past blushing when Aaron scanned every piece of cloth on the floor.
My beautiful mirror was broken, too. The fuckers. I'd bought that mirror from a public auction because it had been almost an exact replica of my mom’s favorite one. I ran to the nightstand on the right side of the bed, my heart beating loudly from anger and fear. I dropped on my knees and pushed the bed frame away. It wasn't that heavy or I didn't notice it, but it gave away immediately. Only pieces of white glass and bare wires remained from what used to be my lamp. My alarm clock was nowhere to be seen.
And neither was the picture.
I opened the first drawer of the nightstand. Empty. The bottom drawer was out of its place and on the floor, upside down. Nothing was there, either. I grabbed the nightstand and brought it forward, to see if the picture had fallen behind. Nothing. I pushed my fingers underneath it and raised it to see if it had fallen under. Still nothing. I started to panic.
It was the only picture of my mother I had left. The only one I could find of her in my email before I deactivated my account for good. I needed that picture. It had saved me countless times.
“What are you looking for?” Aaron’s voice came from behind me, but I didn't have time to answer. I needed to find that picture.
I picked up a black shirt and threw it behind me. A book was next. I didn’t even see its title. Nothing in it. I threw it behind me. The artificial purple flower I kept for decoration in my room was on the floor, too. Nothing beneath it. I threw it behind.
Panic!
I dragged my knees along the room, picking up things, shaking them and throwing them behind. An ashtray. My hair dryer. My body lotions. A hair brush. My wooden jewelry box, empty and broken. Nothing.
My heart was beating so loudly, it was the only thing I could hear. I tried to pull the white wooden armoire forward to see if anything was behind it, but it was too heavy. My whole body was shaking, and I couldn't see anything clearly, but I did see Aaron come to help me pull. Once it was far enough, I went behind it and gasped.
There it was.
I took the picture from the floor, cleaned the dust off with my jacket, and sat there to analyze it. There she was, looking at me with those beautiful hazel eyes. Her honey blond hair was neatly placed over her shoulder. She was looking at me and smiling a Mona Lisa smile, more beautiful than any I remembered on her face. I couldn't figure out if she was smiling at me, if she was sad or happy, if she was hiding something, or if she was telling me not to look up because there was a monster right behind me. She was wearing that dark red, cashmere sweater Dad had bought her. It enhanced the green of her eyes and gave her hair a brilliant chocolate shine. She had her hands folded on her lap. Everything about her was perfect. Maybe it was the fact that she had been my mother that made me see her like that, but anyone with proper eyesight would say the same.
“Your mom?”
Aaron’s voice startled me. I had been so lost in my own thoughts that I had completely forgotten that he was even there. I couldn't stop staring at the picture in front of me. Mom had been sitting on the porch, and Dad had caught her off guard while she was looking ahead of her, lost in her thoughts. I had been outside, too, playing with a four-year-old Ella. I could see Dad’s reflection in the window of our house behind Mom’s back, where he was standing on the porch with the camera on his hands.
I nodded, inhaling deeply.
“I know she passed away, but how?” Aaron asked in a whisper, sitting on the floor next to me.
“Cancer.” Fucking cancer.
Since she died, I hadn't told anyone about Mom except for Kate. It felt kinda good to let it out like that, even if it was with Aaron. Especially since it was Aaron. He had seen the worst possible moments of my life. He’d seen me when I was most vulnerable. He’d seen me break down more than once and had seen the side of me I tried so hard to hide from the whole world. I wanted to hide what was really inside of me from him more than anyone else, and yet he was the only one who seemed to see it.
Without another word, I stood up, more than ready to leave the place for good. I couldn't stand seeing what was left of it a second longer.
But then I felt it.
The feeling washing over me became stronger with every passing second. It was the same as always: small needles piercing my skin slowly, not in an entirely unpleasant way. It was weird. And it meant a supernatural creature was nearby.
I put my index finger in front of my lips to tell Aaron to keep quiet. Slowly, I tiptoed across the room and motioned for him to get behind the armoire we’d pushed out of place. He shook his head once, his brows narrowed. I wanted to kick him in the groin, but I just rolled my eyes. I wasn't asking him to hide! I wanted us to have some advantage over whoever was in my apartment.
I slid Mom’s picture in the back of my waistband while drawing Bob out. The feeling was pulling at me harder now, and I heard the entrance door crack open.
Nephilim. Whoever the creature was, it was a Nephil. I could feel his strong energy and his heavenly aura as he took a couple of seconds to probably look around at the disaster that used to be my apartment before he slowly made his way toward my bedroom. I held my breath and waited with Bob in hand after checking for one last time to see that Aaron wasn't visible from the door.
One second, two, three…<
br />
I saw the Nephil’s shoulder first. I grabbed it and pulled him to me, and then pushed him back against the wall next to the door. My hand was on his throat the second his grabbed mine. I stopped tightening my fingers around his thick neck as soon as I realized who that face belonged to.
I didn't even know why I was surprised. Irony.
“Arturo,” I said in a whisper. The strangest thing, he let go of me the second he recognized my face.
“Bella,” he breathed, almost desperate.
As if I was going to fall for that. I touched Bob’s tip to that soft spot under his chin and made him raise his head up so he could only look at me with half-closed eyes.
“What are you doing here?”I asked him, my voice a threatening whisper, even though I already knew the answer. The bastards had chosen him to keep guard and come after me. Probably because they thought that our history together would make me have second thoughts. How wrong they were…
Aaron stepped out from behind the armoire, his eyes dark and his movements completely silent. One look at him made you think of the word danger.
I nodded once at him and turned back to Arturo, who had his hands up and pinned against the wall as he watched me, which was still a little confusing. Why wasn’t he fighting back?
“What the hell are you doing here, Arturo?” I asked again, pushing Bob’s tip a little deeper in his skin.
“I came to find you,” he whispered, and I almost laughed. Aaron was right behind me, watching the man I had pinned against the wall like he could tear him apart with his eyes alone.
“Yeah, I figured that much. How long have you been guarding this place? How long have you been looking for me?” I asked as I explored the possibilities of how I could use this happy encounter to my advantage.
“Today. I ran away today,” Arturo said, his voice still as weak. I leaned in to look at him more closely.
“What do you mean you ran away?”
“I-I-I…they…they killed my Anastasia, bella,” he said, and he almost looked like he was going to cry.