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7 Face to face

***POV - Enigma

I close the door quickly behind me. Jeren and Kayla are already waiting, sitting on the steps leading to the entrance.

“You’re late,” Kayla says.

I look at my friend, her skin the color of peanut butter, her red lips pulled in a smile. A rainbow blanket of hues is the only way to describe her extravagant fashion style.

“Yeh, very late,” Jeren scolds, her all-black outfit - like their personalities - a stark contrast against Kayla’s.

“Sorry, Harron extended my training session, but he just left for Creperum … soooo you know what that means, girls … someone will arrive soon for a surprise visit,” I pull them up and we start walking down the street.

“Eh, you mean TWO someones,” Jeren laughs. Every time Harron needs to leave Earth, both my grandfathers send someone to ‘protect’ me in his place … so Jeren is right … two persons will arrive soon.

“Ug, your uncle seriously needs a life!” Jeren scolds, hooking her arms into mine. “Or an online dating profile … handsome man with pointy ears looking for a mate so as not to harass his niece anymore!”

We burst out in laughter and I have to wipe away the tears rolling down my cheeks.

Well, technically Harron is my uncle, but he’s also assigned by my grandfathers to protect and train me, and most importantly, to keep me out of sight. Since I can remember, we’ve been hiding here on Earth and he’s the closest thing I have to a father. My real father died before I was born, and my mom only exists in bibs and blobs of distant memories.

“Shall we get coffee from the pub? My head is still tingling a bit from last night’s sudden teleportation.” Kayla also hooks into me, rolling her eyes.

“We can’t go there, remember, Kayla dear.” Jeren gives her a serious look.

“Oh, yeah, I forgot about the asshole fays and the sexy wolves we need to avoid. Bummer.”

Okay, I might have fibbed that the 3 guys were all wolves, but in my defense, I was just too drained to explain everything; I still am – drained that is. I just couldn’t sleep … had dreams about a certain demon boy all night.

“I could for sure do with a hunky beefcake in my life,” Kayla dreams.

I’m not even going to answer that – Kayla tends to fall in love with any man that just smiles in her direction, believing in happily-ever-afters and all that shit.

“But we can get coffee.” I steer them to a caravan where the air is filled with the smell of cheap coffee and oily food. The fluttering sensation downunder pushes up and I almost gag.

My stomach seems to sit in my throat since last night so I decide it best not to attempt drinking anything. I order only 2 cups.

“They were pretty hot, just saying. And maybe one of them is my destiny,“ Kayla is still lingering on the subject I would personally like to forget.

“… the one that will ask me to be his forever,” she places her hand holding the takeaway cup on her heart, her face clouded with a deep-in-love look.

“Ug, Kayla, you’ll make me throw up! This is real life!” Jeren reprimands her and then continues, “There’s no such thing as true love! Those wolves are just in the business of having a good time with stupid human girls like you …”

A blonde girl quickly brushes past us, anxiously looking over her shoulder the whole time. She looks scared to death, clinging to her backpack so tight her knuckles are white.

“… so,” Jeren is still busy scolding our friend, “… get that cotton wool head of yours back to earth, doll.”

I stop so abruptly that Kayla spills her coffee. She gives me a disgusted look.

“Eni, what the hell?” But my eyes are on the chubby girl, desperately scanning the area, her cheeks flushed and her chest heaving up and down as she’s trying to regain her breath. She’s for sure not used to running.

I grab her arm and she lets out a high-pitched yelp before slamming her hand over her mouth.

“Sorry, I just want to help. What’s your name?” I let go of her arm and hold up my hands to set her at ease.

She looks around frantically searching for someone or something. Sweat drops shine on her forehead and trickle over a blue moon tattoo down between her eyes to drip from the end of her nose.

“AAAAmy,” she stutters.

She stands there, trembling with fear, looking as if she’s not sure if she should stay or run. Then my senses tell me that multiple eyes are watching us.

“Is somebody following you?” I try to keep my voice as calm as possible, to gain her trust. She nods her head a few times, her eyes big and stiff, and I can hear her increased heartbeat.

“HHHHunters.” She struggles to get the word out. Hunters? Here? In Portland? I’ve never encountered one, but I know they are the assassins of Creperum that deal with problematic supernaturals. Harron warned me several times to stay as far away from any hunter as possible cause they are rumored to be psychopathic killers at best.

An uncomfortable treble snakes down my skin forcing all my hair to stand on end as my senses capture something creeping closer. Inside I tense up, ready to fight, but outside I look calm and I fake unawareness. I try to find the source of my uneasiness as unnoticeable as possible. Then I smell them a few yards behind us, blocking the way forward. There are at least 3 - one is a wolf, but I’m not sure about the rest. I’m not stupid enough to take on more than one hunter, so the only option is to go back.

“Girls, we need to go home – NOW.” I’ve said these exact words more than a few times since making friends with them. They may be human but they know the drill.

Without hesitation or asking any questions, Kayla and Jeren grab onto each side of Amy, and we walk with big strides down the street.

“I have a feeling that it’s useless to run this time.” Kayla comments.

“Come on, Kayla, we never get caught,” Jeren counteracts.

“Amazing, but I think Kayla might be right,” I think to myself.

“I’m always right.” My artsy friend scolds and I realize I’ve said it out loud.

Suddenly a wonderful smell sends a strange chill down my spine and it’s as if all my senses jump to stand at attention all at once. I look around but don’t see him, but I know he must be close.

“Faster girls!” We increase our speed slightly and the next moment a muscled wall slams into me, the force causing me to fall back and land sprawled on the ground, cradled between strong legs, my arms sprayed on my sides, my wrists held firmly to the sidewalk in grips that feel like iron bars – and for the first time in my life, I can’t move. For the first time, someone is stronger than me. For the first time, I feel utterly helpless and I’m not sure I like it much.

And then, as if the embarrassing pose I’m in is not enough, the smell hits me head-on, making me even more uncomfortable. I inhale deeply, just to make sure you know, and the amazing woody aromatic fragrance suffocates me. I take another deep whiff, just to be extra sure, and close my eyes. It’s definitely, by far the most phenomenal smell in the whole world, and like a drug, I think I’m hooked. It’s not that I’m weak … but shit … who wouldn’t get addicted to this – I mean, come on. A luscious smell that I can only describe as a combination of aromatic herbs with top notes of pink pepper, grapefruit, and Bergamot, middle notes of Jasmine and nutmeg, and base notes of Incense, Amberwood, and Sandalwood. Another sniff, just in case I’m wrong. Okay, I’m not wrong - it’s undeniably the best smell my oversensitive nose EVER smelt and its source is sitting in a rather awkward position right on top of me.

I slowly open one eye, just an inch, to focus on a shocked face just staring at me as if in a trans. Tingles seem to run up and down my body like an electrical current experiencing a short. Is that supposed to happen? Never heard of it before … but what do I know.

“You came into me very hard,” are the words that escape my lips … could I say anything more awkward? Let me try to fix that.

“Not that you came into me … in case you were thinking I meant something else … which I didn’t … with into me I mean my body … and with hard I mean your body … eh ok, I’m shutting up now …“ I close my mouth before anything else can slip out.

“That would be my preference,” he snickers. “I’m going to let you go, but don’t try anything stupid. We don’t want innocents to get hurt, do we?” I nod my head, my eyes on his T-shirt-cladded chest. The lovely scent is wrapped up in a very VERY hot parcel. Ug, why is this happening to me?

Then he jumps up and scratches the back of his head uncomfortably, looking into the distance. We both know exactly what’s going on but are trying to drag out and avoid the issue by not looking each other in the eye. I’m so uncomfortable and blabbering out of bounds is a flaw I have whenever I feel flabbergasted like this.

“Eh, your parcel is kinda hot … “ I slowly get up and dust off my pants, the anticipated fear of excitement still running through me.

“Oh boy,” Jeren gasps and I notice the girls, still tangled into each other, standing in a row, the wolf holding onto an uptight Jeren’s arm.

“My parcel?” the demon asks with a frown. What did I just say? Fuck. I meant his body … not his … eh … I feel the warmth burning up my cheeks. I decide to keep my mouth shut, so instead, I just pull up my shoulders awkwardly.

“Gmf,” Jeren is pouting, being the cynical suspicious one, following logic instead of emotion. Kayla taps her with an elbow being the total opposite. She stares at the blonde wolf, looking like she hasn’t eaten for a month and suddenly came face-to-face with a freshly baked bread – hungrily drooling at the sight. Ug, the poor gullible girl will one day end up a gum tree because of her naivety.

Lastly, Amy … the only one scared stiff, frightened eyes frozen on the demon before us.

“Told you we won’t get away.” Kayla bends to look at Jeren who in turn holds out her hand for Kayla to shake.

“Well done, Kayla, well done,” she scolds sarcastically.

Why did I end up with these two clowns in my life? Maybe I shouldn’t have saved them from those bullies on the first day of kindergarten. They haven’t left my side since then and naturally, when they eventually found out about my abilities, they thought I’m as macho as it comes, able to handle any situation. So they foolishly don’t fear anything while I’m around. They believe I’m capable of fighting any monster … and I always joined that belief… until today.

There’s just something different about this demon, something dark and scary - I can feel it in my guts. But it might turn out to be the stupid butterflies in my stomach, I’m not sure. I desperately try to act as if he doesn’t affect me, but that would be a major ass lie. He definitely affects me - in ways I don’t want to get into right now. Let’s just say that the combination of the smell, the lingering bond, and his pretty-boy looks can only mean trouble – one way or the other.

The demon crosses his arms, displaying his biceps in a mouthwatering buffet I can’t look away from, the hint of a tattoo peeping from under his sleeve, piquing my curiosity to explore that body.

I tuck my hands into my pockets to keep them from ripping his shirt off, and try to focus on anything else, but an invisible force drags my eyes to his smile that causes the dimples in his cheeks to deepen and I’m sure it will bring an iceberg to boiling point in 5 seconds flat. Well, I’m hot right now and … lost, I’m fucking lost in a girl-meets-sexy-boy induced coma.

“Okay, if we can cut through the sexual tension … we haven’t officially met yet,” the seemingly friendly blond wolf says and I wonder how long I’ve been staring at the devil. Every fiber in my body wants me to turn and run, run as fast as I can as far away as I can … but I can’t leave my friends. I blink and swallow hard. This is a freaking nightmare!

“I’m Luan, and this is my brother Zagon,” the wolf holds out his hand and Jeren is the first to react. She takes his hand and shakes it.

Amy looks like she’s going to faint and Kayla only manages a pathetic little wave that looks more as if she’s shooing away a fly in real slow motion.

I just nod slightly then turn my head to gape at the side of the building next to us – not ready to look fate in the eye. Pun intended. I already know what he is to me, but I’m not yet willing to acknowledge it.

Although the bond is just an indication of who Selene thinks you should be with, still leaving room for choice – I’m not sure what to expect and I don’t want to challenge fate too much. What if, and this is a big what if, I fall for him and he walks out on me? He doesn’t look like the commitment type and I for sure as hell don’t want to add a broken heart to all the other complications in my life. And I also don’t want to end up as some devil child's love-puppet or sex-toy. Nope, it’s best to keep my distance.

“Jeren, Amy … and this is Kayla.” Jeren pulls a still immobilized Kayla closer to her, hiding Amy protectively behind them. Or at least she tries to. Zagon? What a strange name … strange but I like it.

“What’s your name?” I know the demon is talking to me. His voice radiates authority, but it doesn’t have the desired effect on me, it just pees me off because even his voice is fucking perfect, like velvet, deep and husky. But if he thinks for one moment that I’m going to cave and submit, he’s in for a big surprise. I’m no push-over and I’m anything but submissive.

“None of your business. What do you want from us?” I snap and before I can even count to one, he grabbed my arm into an icy grip. But I’m not going to be intimidated by any boy, especially not this one. I growl softly, trying to keep my horny beast contained before it ruptures from inside revealing its carnal nature.

Now I’m even more sure that I have no place in my life for this kind of nonsense. He drops his arm – a confused frown forming on that perfect face.

“Information, for now.”

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