4. What is he?
I woke up in a very uncomfortable position. I rubbed my eyes and groaned at the pain in my head.
“How are you feeling?” a deep voice traveled to my ears.
I sat up straight and glanced around. I was in the passenger seat of a car, and beside me Damen was driving. He turned to me, to give me a concerned look.
“Where the hell are you taking me?” was the first thing I asked, when I came back to my senses.
Oh my God, how did I end up in a car with him? Last I remember, I was in…in the forest. Oh, shit, I had said some pretty bad stuff to him. And, after that he was really angry- actually scratch that, he was not angry…he was enraged and he…oh no!
I turned to him horrifically, “You did something to my mind. You fucking tore at my mind with your invisible claws!”
Damen inhaled a sharp breath, “I did not-”
“How dare you?!” I fumed, cutting him off, “you have no right to do that!”
“Lilith, I did not do anything,” he said calmly.
Ha! As if I would believe him. Ever since I had met him, all he had done was mess with my life…and, my heart. I didn’t trust him. Not one bit. He was no different than those other nincompoop supernaturals.
“Nincompoop supernaturals?” Damen asked, frowning.
I gasped, “Why are you in my mind again? What is your problem?!”
Damen rolled his eyes, “I was not in your mind. You said that out loud, Lilith. I didn’t enter your mind after that night of the masquerade. What you felt today…was not me. As tempting as it sounds, I would never try to tear your mind apart, Lilith.”
Huh? What? Why did it feel like he was not lying?
Stop, Lilith, have you already started letting your guards down? Don’t fall for his words! This is what he is trained to do: to control you, my inner voice almost screamed at me.
I sighed tiredly, and decided to ask him the burning question, which he was avoiding.
“Where are we going?” I asked in as civilized manner, as I could.
His eyes flickered towards me once, before he stared ahead again. There was a long beat of silence before he replied.
“We are going home,” he said, quietly, as if he had not just thrown a bomb on me. Those words were enough to turn my life upside down within a matter of seconds and this guy was acting as if it was no big deal.
I took a sharp breath, “My home is in the opposite direction.”
“Was,” he corrected me, “your home was there. Your new home is where I am taking you.”
I knew there was no use of saying anything. I would be wasting my energy which I should save at all costs if had to spend time with him. I knew what I had to do. I could find a way to get away once we reached, or even better, I could just be a huge pain in his ass, so that he would get rid of me himself.
I turned to him with a wide smile, feeling really happy with my thoughts. He glanced skeptically at me, before shuddering dramatically.
“Your smile is scaring me,” he made his lips tremble for added effect.
I retorted with some not very good words in return, which only seemed to amuse him for some infuriating reason.
And, I don’t know why he found my irritation so funny that he started laughing. I narrowed my eyes at him. But, without wanting to my gaze was caught by the dimple on his right cheek, which had become prominent because of his laughter. I never knew I would be so jealous of a dimple. Like, how? How could he have all the perfect and beautiful features of the world? It was not fair!
I had no control over the words that left my mouth after that. My curiosity got the best out of me and I finally asked him, “What are you, Damen?”
He completely stilled for a second, before slowly turning to look into my eyes, analyzing my expression. But, guess what? He wasted full five minutes on staring but, didn’t answer my question!
“Come on,” I prodded impatiently, “it’s not that deep. You can’t be a vampire, because they are easily distinguishable. And, I don’t think you are a hellhound, because I doubt you would have been a prince then. And, you definitely don’t fit the category of mermaids, pixies, eleves, etc. That leaves us with werewolves. But, you don’t seem like one to me. All you ever do is growl. I haven’t seen any other signs. So, what else is left?”
He gave me a long look, before blinking his eyes, “I must give you this, you are quite smart. ”
I flipped my hair smugly, “Yes, I am. I may have been a brat as a kid, but, I made sure to study my textbooks properly, especially the ones that educated me about the SNR.”
He raised an eyebrow, “Why the special interest in SNR?”
“You know,” I replied with a pointed look, “to know my enemies better.”
He clenched his jaw, “So, you still think of me as your enemy?”
I shrugged, not giving him a proper answer.
His knuckles became white from holding the steering wheel too hard. Hit a nerve, did I? Hopefully, he will soon realize that it would be impossible to put up with me his whole life and send me back to my home.
“So…” I asked again, “what are you?”
He turned to face me, and I almost jumped in shock because his stormy blue eyes were now flashing purple, something that didn’t make sense at all and something that scared me and intrigued me at the same time.
“I am the monster you take me for,” he growled in a low voice, but, that was enough to almost make me pee in my pants.
I hadn’t spoken a word to Damen after he scared the shit out of me in the car. That’s why I didn’t ask him any questions when he stopped the car in the middle of nowhere, even though I was itching to bombard him with a million questions at once.
“We have a thirty six hours journey left ahead of us, it’s better to make a stop,” he said, sensing my curiosity.
I stared straight ahead, trying my best to not meet his eyes. because I knew that even once glance would mean being held captive by them for a long freaking time. I tapped my foot restlessly when I felt his gaze burning holes at the side of my head.
“Could you like stare at the trees or the mosquitoes?” I asked rhetorically, still not turning to look at him.
“No.”
The nerves! I turned to him, ready to give him a piece of my mind but, my words got stuck in my throat when my eyes landed on his beautiful face- the face of a fallen angel. So, God really did play favorites, huh? He had definitely crafted this man with all the time and care in the world.
My trance was broken the corner of his mouth lifted up in a smug smile. Shit. He had caught me checking him out.
I huffed with whatever dignity I had remaining and started walking forward.
“Where are you going?” Damen’s voice followed me.
“Anywhere that is away from you,” I snapped.
“The cabin is right here, though,” he pointed in the direction of....thin air.
“Look Damen, if you expect me to sleep on the forest floor, with wild animals roaming around and-”
I was cut off when Damen grabbed my hand and started pulling me along to wherever he was going. He stopped right in front of two big trees that seemed like they were the dead end of the forest. Damen effortlessly walked around the trees, dragging me along. We emerged in front of a cave.
“Whoa, what’s all this? You have a secret cave in the forest?!” I exclaimed.
“No, this is just the way to my cabin,” he replied, again pulling me along.
We entered the cave, and let me tell you, I thought that I had turned blind for a second. But, then, Damen switched on the flashlight of his phone. We crossed the cave which was not really as deep as I had expected and upon reaching the other side, I couldn’t help but gape at the sight in front of me,
A comfy, little wooden cabin was staring back at me, and I had to blink my eyes again and again to make sure that I was not dreaming.
The inside of the cabin was as promising as it had seemed from the outside. It was a cozy little place, with a fireplace in the living room, a kitchen, a bathroom, and one very comfortable looking room.
Um, wait a second, did I just say one room?
I ran my eyes around the place once again, and came to the horrid realization that there indeed was just one room. Oh no.
Damen emerged from the said room, with a set of night clothes in his hands, “I am going to go showe-”
I grabbed the set of clothes from his hands, “You know what I will go and clean up first,” this way I could call dibs on the bed...wow, I am such a genius, “and, since, you were so kind as to not bring my clothes, I am going to take these. Thank you.”
I rushed inside the bathroom before he could protest, and took my sweet time taking a nice, hot shower. I put on Damen’s clothes and smelled them like a creep. It’s not like I wanted to, it’s just that the smell was so addictive…so intoxicating…ew, what! I snapped out of my daze and walked out of the bathroom quickly.
But, I stopped right in my tracks, when I saw Damen sitting on the couch in the living room, gripping the armrest so tightly that his knuckles had turned white. His breathing was harsh, and his head was hanging low, in an intimidating manner.
“Um,” I started cautiously, “you don’t have to be so mad over such a small thing. We can sort it like adults, you know? If you want the bed, you can have it, but-”
I paused when he lifted his head up and I got a look at his darkened eyes. Oh my God, what in the name of-
I jumped at least three feet in the air when he let out a loud roar, flashing his fangs and claws emerged on his fingers, digging deep into the armrest.
“Go and lock yourself in the room, right now!” he all but growled at me.
“B-but why?” I asked in a shaky voice, cowering away from him. What was with this mood swing? What happened all of a sudden?
“Because,” his voice came out low this time, as his breathing got even messier, “you are in heat,” he stood up, growling and in a blink of an eye, flipped the coffee table against the wall, clearing his path towards me.
Well, looked like I was in some deep shit.