He left early this morning.

I woke up to the sound of his shower running. I heard him moving about in his room. Then I heard his footsteps halting in front of my door. I stayed in bed even though my heart was telling me to go sprinting through the door to be in his presence, just for a few minutes because I don't know when I'm going to see him next.

Even when he was standing there on the other side of the door, I was already missing him. Maybe it's a good thing that he's going away because I was getting too close. Too attached. Too vulnerable.

He stood in front of my door for a good while as though contemplating whether or not to come in. When he finally moved on, I felt deflated. I felt as though a part of me was being ripped away.

I didn't get a lot of sleep last night either. I did a lot of thinking. I relived our kisses a thousand times. I'm sure the kiss didn't mean anything to him but it's still playing on repeat in my head. My lips and body are still tingling from his touch. I'd been kissed before, but never like that. Never with such urgency and hunger. He kissed me as though he needed me. He kissed me and now I feel marked and claimed.

I take a shower and when I get out of the bedroom, it is way past eight. Everything is quiet and the place feels different. Empty. Maybe because I know he won't be coming back later today.

I find the two women stationed inside by the door as usual. Both don't acknowledge me when I wander to the kitchen and make a fresh batch of coffee. I pour myself a mug before I prepare some for them.

"Here's your coffee," I tell them. I place their steaming mugs on the console table before I begin sipping my own. "Nice day, huh? I think today's a good day to go shopping."

"You're not supposed to go anywhere," says Jenny immediately.

"Oh, really?" I tilt my head, giving them a confused look. "Are you sure? Last night Sacha said I could go...hmmm..."

They look at each other and I swear that the two of them would very much like to murder me right where I'm standing.

I hide a smirk and flounce back to the bedroom with the coffee mug in my hand.

Today, I want to look as plain as possible but I can't resist putting on a cute white skater skirt paired with a powder blue top that brings out my eyes. I leave my hair down but again, I can't help from swiping a tiny bit of lipgloss on my lips. Lastly, I put on white ankle socks before slipping on a pair of white sneakers.

Then I stand in front of the mirror to inspect myself critically. Nope, I decided. I'm too beautiful. It's impossible for me to look plain.

I watch the two guards closely when I come out. They don't look happy and with grim faces, they open the door for me and step back to let me out.

We take the elevator to the underground parking garage where they head straight for a big black SUV. Alicia lets me in the back before she goes to the driver's side while Jenny sits in the passenger seat.

It is a quiet drive that feels too hostile for my liking so I fill in the silence with my chatter until one of them pointedly turns the radio on. Loudly.

That's rude, but oh, well...this one-way conversation isn't much fun and I'm running out of things to talk about anyway.

Alicia drives to the upper east side without asking me where I would like to go shopping but we stop not too far from Bloomingdale's.

I take in a deep breath of not-so-fresh city air as I step out of the vehicle. Ah, sweet freedom! Well, I'm not free yet, but I soon will.

I breeze in and out of the stores and their changing rooms like a pro shopper that I am the minute we arrive. My guard, Jenny refuses to hand me the credit card to pay for the purchase when I ask for it, but that's okay. I'd happily let her deal with something as mundane as paying for the purchase if that would make her feel powerful.

In less than half an hour, my babysitters' hands are full of bulky shopping bags. The mall is getting crowded just as I expected since it's Saturday.

I watch them closely as they follow me around, darting from store to store with glazed eyes. Their movements are getting clumsier and more and more uncoordinated.

An hour later, I'm free. I nimbly weave around the crowd of shoppers and tourists while they're having trouble putting one foot in front of the other.

The sleeping pills that I stirred into their coffees are working...and the coffee was decaf.

Those pills were from two years ago when I had trouble sleeping. I was worried that they've expired and weren't going to work as well, so I might have put a bit more than I should.

I am a resourceful half-demon and I am nothing if not thorough. I'm very good at spending money that doesn't belong to me too.

Life lesson; Be careful, girls! Don't accept drinks or candies from strangers...or your prisoner.

Dashing out of the mall, I fast walk a few blocks away and borrow a phone from a server who can't take his eyes off of me.

I'm not sure if Juniper would take an unknown number but thankfully she picks up after the third time. "Hello? Who is this?" she says warily.

"Hey, it's me, Danica."

"Oh, hey," she says dispassionately. "What's up?" There are sounds of music and people talking and laughing in the background.

"I'm somewhere near Fernstaine's on Park Ave. Can you come to pick me up?

"I'm kinda busy right now," she says. When Juniper says that she's busy, that means she's either in the middle of a party or a hookup.

It looks like I'm going to have to find another way. Maybe I will call Nico after all. "Right! I'll talk to you whenever..."

"But hey! I could send Pavel over," she quickly says before I can hang up. Pavel is her family's driver. "I'll text him...right now."

"Uh...yeah, sure," I reply. "I'll be at Loew's Regency." If I had my phone and my purse with me, I wouldn't have needed her help at all. But beggars can't be choosers.

I give the man who lent me his phone a quick kiss on the cheek. "Thank you!" I tell him.

He smiles and his cheeks turn ruddy but he still can't seem to look away. It's a normal thing for me. I've been known to cause a traffic accident or two. But that doesn't mean I don't enjoy every little bit of the attention.

The glittering lobby of Loew's Regency is quite comfortable with many sitting sections and I stay in a quiet corner facing the entrance while waiting. The Nephilim guards might not be in full control of their faculty when I left them but who knows how long that would last. It certainly took longer than I thought it would for them to feel the effect of the pill.

I wait a long while for Pavel to arrive. I take in a deep breath of relief only after I sit in the back of their Bentley.

"Hey! Where are we going?" I ask the driver fifteen minutes later when I notice that we're going on a highway. It's pointing nowhere toward Juniper's place.

"Astaroth requested your presence," answers Pavel.

Damn Juniper! I should have known better when she offered to send Pavel to pick me up. It certainly wasn't out of the goodness of her heart.

"Hey, when your father says jump, you say how high," she tells me when I call her on Pavel's phone a while later. The music is so loud on her end that she's practically shouting in my ear. "Come to my place later. I'm having a party!" she yells before she hangs up.

I give the front seat a swift kick but Pavel doesn't seem at all fazed.

Twenty minutes later, we approach the tall gates of Astaroth's mansion.

There's a rusted old model Toyota Corolla blocking our way. With an irritated sigh, I lower the darkened window.

"What's the holdup?" I ask one of the guards.

He nods toward the guard post and there's a woman about two or three years older than I am, yelling at the guards.

I don't even have to extend my hearing to hear her yelling, "I have to see him. Why won't you let me in? I am his daughter! I have proof!"

I shake my head before I tell the guard, "Tell her to move the car so we can enter."

The guard nods before he goes to her. He says something and the woman turns her head. For a few seconds, her eyes connect with mine before I raise the window back up.

Another one of Astaroth's bastards. I don't even want to know how she figured out that Asta Saint is her father. It happened once before and I'm sure her claim is legit.

Vanity is Astaroth's main quality and he sees his offsprings as the extension of himself. He must have hundreds of sons and daughters all around the world and out of those hundreds, he only claimed a handful. He handpicked the best looking, the most cunning, the most talented and powerful, with the least humanity.

The woman is beautiful, but not enough. She's not as breathtakingly stunning as Deedee was or as sexy as Dimitra. She has too much humanity in her too, I doubt she could slit someone's throat and watch them die without blinking if asked by Astaroth. Or let herself be killed only to be resurrected long enough to exact vengeance like Deedee did. Astaroth has no use for her.

She refuses to move, so one of the guards moves her car out of the way. I doubt she could see me but she glares at me through the tinted window as Pavel drives us past the gates. Her glare is venomous and full of bitterness.

Illegitimate with no mother to raise her, her life might have not been easy. But however hard her life is, I'm sure she's luckier than any of us who were claimed by Astaroth. She has no clue what her father really is and she doesn't know how lucky she is.

I take another look at her through the back window and watch her studying the tall stone fence.

I hope for her sake that she won't try to climb up the fence to get into the mansion. She'll be shredded into tiny bits and pieces before she even gets to meet Astaroth. There are half Yeth- hell hounds and half Rottweiler creatures prowling the perimeter at all times and they are vicious. Not that meeting Astaroth would do her any good.

As I watch the familiar greenery surrounding the pond and over the top water fountains, all thoughts of the woman disappear. Now I'm thinking about my meeting with Astaroth. I should be scared that I have nothing to report.

I'm also thinking about Sacha. Where is he now and what is he doing? Is he with another woman? I wonder if he's aware that I'm no longer under my bodyguards' protection and that I'm not coming "home" tonight.

**************************************

Hello, dear readers!

Danica is such a handful, don't you think 😉. My next update is going to be on Tuesday evening (est). If you want to read three chapters ahead, go to:

https://Inkitt.app.link/RA_NicoleRidd3y

I want to thank you for reading, voting, commenting, following, and for all your support and love. 

Have a great weekend and stay safe!

XOXOXO

Nicole♥