Chapter 6

Iroughly yanked my fingers through my hair as I paced the length of my warehouse apartment. It was similar to my other places around the United States and Europe. Warehouses were cheap, but they also seldom held enough attention for anyone to wander too close out of curiosity. It left my places safe from prying eyes, and the security systems helped keep squatters from taking over. I hadn’t been to this one in particular in more years than I cared to remember. The faceless property manager I’d hired years ago kept it prepared for me, just as he had all the others, thanks to the very generous salary I paid him.

I turned my head again to look back at the closed bathroom door, hearing the sound of the shower I couldn’t escape from if I wanted to. But the fuck of it all was, I didn’t want to. I had allowed myself to be ruled by instinct to protect this girl from the danger I didn’t even fully understand. I just knew that the fear on Syn’s face told me I needed to leave before whoever those fucking vampires worked for found out who I was. There was no way I could have left without the girl.

The instinct to protect was so strong that it was impossible to fight, so I brought her with me. It wasn’t until we had pulled into the warehouse lift that I noticed the mark on her frozen wrist—one that matched mine perfectly.

I grunted and ran my hands over my face, feeling the stubble that was shadowed along my jawline and cheeks. A fucking mate. One I didn’t know existed or could ever exist. This is exactly what I got for choosing to live so far removed from the world that I should have been a part of but carefully held myself away from for hundreds of years. The little I did know was only from the short interactions I’d had over the centuries with others who were like me. Well, not like me, exactly. No one was like me. I was a true monster in every sense of the word.

Syn was the one and only I had let in far enough to get to know me. Even then, it was such a small piece, and only because she pushed like a mother fucking demon for that tiny sliver. I should have been more concerned for her welfare, leaving her behind the way I had, but she hadn’t lived as long as she had without being able to defend herself.

I glanced back at the bathroom door again as the sound of the shower ended. That girl in there, though? She was human. She was defenseless against demonkind. She was helpless against me. A part of me was turned the fuck on at the thought, the larger part of me wanted to kick my own ass and was determined to get her somewhere safe, and the only place that could be was away from me. But I had yet to work out how I was going to accomplish that and still protect her. Because the overriding need, above all, was to ensure she was safe.

I growled low in my chest, the sound of a dangerous hum not unlike that of a rattlesnake poised to strike. “Fuck!” I had a mate, and I couldn’t do a goddamn thing about it.

I imagined again for the thousandth time what she must look like in that bathroom. I had grabbed her while she was wearing little more than what someone would consider lingerie, so I had a good idea of how her body was formed—pure perfection. If I could design my ideal woman, she would check every mark.

Her hair was like a sheet of rich mahogany, and her eyes seemed brown at first glance, but the closer you looked, the more easily you could catch the myriad of colors hidden in their depths—greens, and golds, with slight hints of blue. They were mesmerizing, and it was all I could do to pull myself away from her when we first arrived. If I had to guess, I would say she had more than a little bit of Native American ancestry.

It didn’t matter that she was the first woman I found myself attracted to and was tempted to actually take for myself; I would find her a safe place and leave her there. Perhaps she had a family I could take her to.

As soon as the door opened and she walked out hesitantly in her bare feet and wearing nothing but my shirt riding low on her thighs, nearly every thought left my brain. I blurted out the first words that came to my lips.

“Tomorrow, I will take you to your family.”

The color immediately leached from her face, and the nervous smile she had been wearing instantly slipped from her plush lips. She broke eye contact and dropped her gaze to the floor while I clenched my jaw tight to keep myself from demanding that she give me her eyes again.

She twisted the sweatpants I hadn’t noticed she was holding in her hands and cleared her throat. “I, uh, couldn’t keep the pants on. They were too big, even by rolling them up. I’m sorry.” She darted a look back up at me before turning away, heading to the small sofa sitting in the middle of the otherwise bare room. “Don’t worry about taking me to my family. I have a safe place to go. I’ll be fine. I doubt there will be any issue with those guys anyway once Syn clears it up.”

I tilted my head as I watched her jerky movements while she made herself comfortable on the seat, appearing as if she were preparing to lay down for the night there.

“Those guys? You do realize what they were, right?”

Her whole body gave a violent shiver as she held up her hand as if inspecting it for something. “Vampires,” she whispered so low I could barely hear her from my place across the room. I watched as she turned her hand over, inspecting it.

“What’s wrong with your hand?” I asked as I walked closer, needing to be near her but also curious about her actions.

She shrugged her shoulder before tucking her arms together, her hands under her thighs. “Nothing, it seems. I think I just imagined something that didn’t happen, I guess.” She shook her head as if trying to erase a bad memory.

I stopped next to the couch. “What do you think you remember that didn’t happen?”

She glanced up at me, startled to see I was so close, and for a long second, stayed silent as we stared into each other’s eyes. When she broke away, I held in the growl that wanted to erupt from my chest again.

“I thought I cut my hand open. I remember the pain and everything. But,” she held up her palm for me to see it in the low light. “There’s not even a scratch.”

I reached out and took her hand in mine and ran a calloused fingertip across her smooth palm. It was flawless. “Did one of the vampires lick you or drink your blood?” Her whole body jerked in shock at my words, and I let her hand go when she gave it a slight tug.

“The blond one, the leader of the group… he, uh, he seemed fascinated by the smell and started licking it.” She turned pale with her words, and I wanted to smash something.

“That mother fucker,” I rumbled low and viciously.

She jumped up from her seat to face me. “What? What’s wrong?” The scared expression had me wanting to find the vampire and finish ripping his head off his shoulders. Syn and her command to stop be damned. I forced my breathing to slow as I took in the girl.

“Vampire saliva can heal wounds; it’s how they drink from humans without leaving a trace. When he licked up your blood, he healed you.” I took in a calming breath before looking her in the eye. I had figured the guy was obsessed with the way they were determined to take her with them, but now I was sure it went so much deeper. “Sometimes they become fixated on certain people based on the way their blood smells or tastes.”

She gaped at me in disbelief. “You think he wants me?”

“I think he will stop at nothing to get to you.”

She dropped back down onto the seat and hugged her torso, slightly rocking as she shook her head. “That’s… I don’t know what that is. Why me? I am nobody. Why would a vampire be fixated on me?”

“There’s no reason I can explain to you. To be honest, my understanding of vampires and other supernatural creatures is limited,” I said with a grimace.

She looked up at me with fear in her eyes. “There’s more than just vampires? Are there werewolves, too?”

At that, I shook my head. “Uh, no. Shifters are actually vampires with a gift for shifting. The only other shifters I am aware of are demons who can change their form. Usually to fit in with humans more easily.”

I watched her shake her head in disbelief as she took in my words. “Demons and vampires can shift. But, hey!” Her tone grew more high-pitched, edging into hysteria. “Werewolves don’t actually exist. So that’s a win, right?”

I glanced around, wondering what the fuck I should do. This conversation was going to take some time, and I didn’t think she would be comfortable with me sitting smashed up next to her on the cramped couch. With a sigh, I walked back to the kitchen and opened the small refrigerator. I grabbed two bottles of beer and took them back to the girl. Fuck, I needed to find out what her name was. I handed her one of the chilled bottles after removing the top and watched as she brought it to her lips, taking a tiny sip. She wrinkled her nose up in distaste, and I hid my smirk behind my own bottle. I made myself comfortable on the floor with my back against the wall.

“I’m going to try to make this as condensed as possible since the full explanation could last a year or more of non-stop talking, and I don’t know about you, but I could use some sleep.” I paused, waiting for her to agree after taking a larger sip. Her grimace wasn’t as strong as before. It seemed my little mate was a bit of a lightweight.

“Demons have been around since time began. There are different realms of existence. Much of what humans are taught is based on truth but pretty far from reality. There is the Underworld, as it is universally known, where Demonkind are from. Then, of course, the Earth realm. Others exist, but as far as I know, I have never come into contact with a being from one. For all I know, they could be invisible, like ghosts.”

“That’s not disturbing at all,” she muttered into her bottle, her eyes looking a bit glassy.

“But, since we are talking about demons, the important thing to know is that there are more breeds of demons than there are races of humans. Basically, every mythical monster you’ve ever read about has a basis of truth in it.”

“They are all demons.”

There was the slightest slur to her words, making me chuckle. Unfortunately, the sound was foreign to me and came out more like a snarl. I was grateful she was too busy draining the last of her beer bottle to have noticed.

“They are almost all demons. Some either don’t exist, or vampires are responsible for the stories.”

She squinted at me and slumped over in her seat, tucking one hand under her head and the other between her thighs, showing off the mating brand. The shirt she was wearing had ridden up so high it was barely covering her ass anymore, and it was taking all my self-restraint not to give in and take a long look. “And what are you?”

At her question, I decided I was done explaining for the night. I stood up quickly, downing my own beer in one large swallow. I picked up her bottle from where it rested against the floor. Before I walked away, I stopped and looked down at her. She looked sleepy, and as much as I hated to leave her on the small couch to sleep all night, she was small enough to fit somewhat comfortably, even if her feet would hang off a little. She was far safer there than in the bed.

“No one knows what I am, babe.”

She blinked slowly up at me. “But you are a demon. I know you are.”

“Yeah? How do you know that?”

“Because I’ve been waiting for you to come to me from the shadows since I was a little girl.”

I jerked, my spine going stiff at her soft, barely coherent words. But as I stared down at her, she let out a quiet snore, sound asleep. I backed away slowly, then turned and headed toward the kitchen, quietly setting the bottles down on the counter.

Before I got ready for bed, I went to the chest at the foot of the bed, opened it, and pulled out a folded blanket. There were always extra supplies in my homes, just in case I ever decided I wanted to stay longer than just a few days.

I carried the blanket over to the woman who fate had apparently decided should be my mate, and carefully laid the blanket over her, cautious not to touch her body in any way.

When I was finally lying in bed after a long, cold shower, I reflected on everything I had done wrong in my life, and wondered how I had been offered someone so perfect. I lay staring at the industrial ceiling tiles and wondered how I could make myself walk away.