The woman doesn't offer me her hand or a smile. She tilts her chin up before she returns her gaze to Sacha. A beautiful smile magically blooms on her face when she looks up at him. "I haven't finished telling you about the school that I built in Rwanda."

Alain Absil's hand tightens around mine. "Come, Ms. Saint, let me introduce you to some of the influential people and their sons and daughters here," he says, steering me away.

*****

"Alain." Sacha is grasping Alain Absil's arm. The ticking muscle in his jaw tells me that he's getting furious.

"That's nice of you, Mr. Absil," I chirp in before Sacha could say another word. "But really, you don't need to do that." I don't want nor do I need to be escorted by anyone, least of all by Alain Absil. I have no problem mingling around and charm anyone I fancy at a party like this, thank you very much.

"It would be my pleasure, Ms. Saint," insists Alain.

Ronan suddenly steps out from behind Alain Absil to stand right next to me as though he's been summoned.

The brothers look at each other as though they're having a secret communication before Sacha says to Alain, "It's very kind of you, Alain. But I wouldn't want to impose on you like that even while I'm busy doing my duty."

Hah! Duty! I flick my gaze at Elouise Absil. I hope she didn't miss that. Spending time with her is just a duty to him.

I resist an urge to smirk. After all, I'm trying to appear mature. But looking at the way Elouise is glowering at me, I don't think I've succeeded. My smile grows even bigger when I see the displeasure on Alain Absil's face. My immaturity isn't a curable condition.

Sacha's face remains cool even though I catch a twitch of his lips and a flash of amusement in his expression.

Ronan's mouth tugs up into a smug grin and he casually rests his elbow on my shoulder. The jerk. "Or she could spend some time with me. I don't mind getting to know my future sister-in-law better."

Alain Absil's face looks like he just tasted something sour and I can't hide another smirk. I decided that Ronan is suspended from his title as a jerk...until further notice.

My gaze travels from Sacha to Ronan, to Alain and Elouise then back to Sacha. What I really want is to be with Sacha but I know that's not happening. I guess you don't always get what you want.

I promised to behave myself and that's what I'd do. Even if it kills me. So, I go up on my toes to kiss Sacha briefly on the corner of his mouth. He places a hand on the small of my back and his beautiful sensual lips quirk up. I smile as I pull back and his amused expression comes into focus.

"I can take care of myself," I announce. I wish I could kiss his lips then tell everyone to get lost and kiss his lips some more.

"Behave," he whispers in my ear as though he could hear my thoughts before he lets go of me.

I sink my teeth into my bottom lip to hide another smile before I whirl around to walk away.

"You marked him," comments Ronan who is hot on my trail as I head toward one of the food stations. His voice is brimming with amusement.

"Damn right I did," I reply smugly before stealing a quick look at Sacha. He's now listening to Elouise Absil again with that same cool look on his face. His gaze flickers up to watch me at that very moment as though he could feel my eyes on him.

I smile a little. I don't know if he's aware that there's a little coral red lipstick marring the corner of his lips. I have to let those women know that he's mine.

"You don't need to follow me around," I continue telling Ronan. "I'm sure there are women here who are just dying to spend time with you. I don't want to be the one responsible for depriving them the pleasure of your company."

"How very considerate of you," he comments.

"I am a very considerate person. Now shoo!"

I find out that it's not easy to get rid of the Gauthier men once they have it in their thick skull that they need to stick to you like glue.

"Why are you still following me?" I ask Ronan thirty minutes later. Having him shadowing me around is trying my patience. When he's not taking away my drinks, he's scaring off men who try to introduce themselves to me or try to ask me to dance.

"I was told that you're a troublemaker. I wasn't aware of how much of a troublemaker you are," he says.

"How am I a troublemaker? I haven't done anything," I exclaim, scowling. "You won't even let me dance with anybody!" Jerk! He managed to claim the title back only after five minutes.

"Then let's dance," he says.

"I don't want to dance with you." I fold my arms over my chest and glare at him.

He just raises his eyebrow and watches me like he's looking at a toddler throwing a temper tantrum.

"I'm not trying to start any trouble." I'm just trying to distract myself from going over and scratch the eyeballs out of every girl Sacha's talking to and I was planning to do that the only way I know how- by drowning myself in the attention and admiration of men around me...maybe women too. I'm not too picky at this point.

If it's not for Ronan's interference, I'd be surrounded by at least four or five Nephilim men by now. They'd all be eager to get me drinks and dance with me. They'd be listening to my witty stories and be awed by my intelligence.

"Well, you will if he sees you flirting with other men," replies Ronan. "He's not even paying attention to the woman he's with. He has his eyes on you all the damn time."

I glance at Sacha who's on the dance floor with a blonde beauty. She's probably about his age and she's staring up at him with that awed look on her face. Sure enough, his eyes are on me before he slowly turns his gaze down to her.

"At this rate, they're going to accuse him of not even trying," continues Ronan.

"Oh, go eat shi..something, Ronan!" I stomp off.

What a miserable party this is. I haven't even seen Katherine since after we came down the stairs together. I haven't seen Elias around either. There's only one more place I haven't been to and checked for them yet.

I march off to the well-lit backyard. There are candles floating in the pool. Tiny fairy lights are strung over the pergola like curtains. They are threaded around the trees and hedges and even spread on the grass. The lights look like stars in the inky midnight sky.

The sensual voice of the singer inside can be heard out here through the speakers.

I look around and for once, Ronan has left me alone. The crowd is smaller here but I still don't see Katherine and Elias anywhere. Those two might have the right idea and skipped the boring party.

"There you are," says a voice from behind me.

I slowly turn on my heel and my gaze meets Alain Absil's sharp dark brown eyes. He seems very determined to have the pleasure of my company tonight.

"I've been wanting to talk to you, Ms. Saint."

My eyes are narrowing on him. Watching him warily. "What can I do for you, Mr. Absil?"

His lips quirk up into a strange little smile. "Listen, Ms. Saint," he says, moving closer to me. Invading my personal space. "I'm sure you're a good girl." The patronizing tone of his voice indicates that he thinks otherwise. "But this is not the place for you. The Gauthiers are good people. Sacha Gauthier is like a son to me. I watched him grew up from a young boy to the man he is today.

"He is our leader. He is destined to do great things and he needs a good woman to stand beside him, supporting him. He deserves a great woman." He pauses to spare me an intense look before he continues. "And we both know that that woman is not you.

"You're a demon's spawn. You bring destruction with you the moment you were born. You can't help it. It's the way God made you. Look around you, Ms. Saint. As I said before, you don't belong here."

I clench my jaw and my fist tightly. My pulse is racing from my anger and I'm sure my eyes are blazing red. "Who are you to decide such things, Mr. Absil?"

"I'm someone who really cares about Sacha Gauthier," he replies, giving me a sympathetic smile. "If you truly care about him, you'd let him have what's best for him."

He leaves me after that delightful little speech and it's a good thing too- I'm feeling murderous.

Instead of going after him, I grab two flutes of champagne from the passing server. I would have grabbed more if I had more than just two hands.

A young Nephilim man sidles up to me. "Is that one for me?" he asks teasingly, referring to one of the two glasses in my hands.

"Nope!" I gulp the drink down one after another too quickly and cough.

The man laughs. "It's a sin to let a beautiful woman like you roaming around and drinking alone," he says.

I ignore him as I motion another server with a full tray to come over.

I want the man gone. The truth is, I knew that getting the attention of other men won't help distract me from Sacha. I came out here not only to get away from Ronan but to escape the sight of Sacha talking to or dancing with another statuesque beauty in there. Meeting Alain Absil is just a bonus.

"Leave the tray here," I tell the server, patting the table closest to me. He sets the tray down, bows and leaves. Good man.

"My name is Micheal," says the Nephilim. "And you are...?"

"Not interested," says Ronan, placing a hand on my back.

The man raises both hands up with an easy smile. "Sorry, didn't mean to step on your turf, Ronan."

"Buzz off, Micheal," says Ronan. "And take the tray with you." He plonks the tray in Micheal's hands.

"Darn Micheal," he mutters as the man walks away with the tray.

"Buzz off, Ronan," I tell him.

"Look at you," he drawls with that annoying smirk on his face. "I left you alone for two seconds and you're already half-drunk."

"Not even close," I mutter. "I'm tired. I'm going back."

That makes him smile in relief. "Oh, great! Let me walk you to your room. I swear Sacha was about to murder me when he saw that you weren't with me."

Darn Nephilim.

*****

I'm not drunk but I'm pleasantly buzzed, I tell myself as I brush my teeth for the night.

What is Sacha doing right now? Would it be hilarious if I went back to join the party?

All of a sudden, my heart thunders in my chest and I stagger back. Dread pools in my stomach like a heavy block of ice and my skin heats up.

I clutch the counter and my toothbrush falls from my mouth into the sink.

I glance up and catch the sight of myself in the mirror. Dark raised veins are bulging out, throbbing against the pale clammy skin of my face, neck, and arms. My eyes are fiery red.

The feeling intensifies and suddenly it's hard to breathe. My heart is pounding so hard, it feels as though it's about to burst out of my chest. My skin is on fire and my abdomen muscle tightens painfully that I press a hand to my stomach. I keep another hand tightly holding on to the counter to stay upright.

What's going on? Am I dying? What is wrong with me?

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

Hello dearies!

My next update is going to be on Friday evening (est). If you want to read three chapters ahead, go to Inkitt:

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Much love,

Nicole♥