I couldn't arrive to the agents' living quarters soon enough. I exited before Harvey fully stopped the car.

"Go home, Harvey. I'll find my way back," I told him then closed the door before he could share his words of wisdom about the reasons why I shouldn't involve myself with a human.

The area around the building was deserted. Most windows were dark. Which one of them was hers?

The receptionist sat behind his desk, his eyes on the book in his hands. He glanced up from his reading, did a double take, then scrambled to his feet, his chair clattering to the ground.

"Elle Sanders," I told him. "Keys."

Pale faced, he rummaged through a drawer and gave me the key with a trembling hand. Leaving the hyperventilating vampire behind, I made my way up the stairs to the human's room.

The door opened, and I paused, taking deep whiffs of her scent. Demonic blood and gore had been a thick layer on her body earlier. But now, in her own space, her smell was distinct.

The shower was on deep inside the apartment. So that was why she didn't come charging at me.

Closing the door behind me, I cocked my head to the side. There was something about her scent... It was like smelling a perfume before opening the bottle. Her smell was distinguishable, but it felt as though it'd been... diluted. Interesting.

I strolled through the small apartment. The light was on, and the space smelled of her and of clove oil. A nice combination.

I stood on the doorstep of her bedroom. Should I go in? No. She would come out of that shower with blazing knives if she sensed my presence, and I wanted to have a chat with her clear-headed.

I turned off the light and sat down on a chair at the dining table. Leaning back until the chair stood on one leg, I closed my eyes and waited, impatient.

Aah, how long had it been since I was this thrilled about something?

The shower stopped. A couple of minutes later, the bathroom door opened and footsteps sounded inside her bedroom.

She paused at the doorway. I opened my eyes. I could see well enough in the darkness. Not as well as a shapeshifter, but better than most vampire.

The little human female crouched in the doorway. Knives flashed in her hands. She was a fast draw. She zeroed in on me a second later. How did she know where he was?

"It's rude to come in uninvited."

I chuckled. That smart mouth of hers. I snapped my fingers, turning the lights on. She narrowed her eyes, then gave me a smile as fake as it was sweet. "No housewarming gift? I'm disappointed."

I smiled. "A big mouth for such a small human."

I trailed my gaze down her body. Unlike the baggy hoodie she'd been dressed in earlier, she now donned a fitted sweatshirt and cargo pants. She was short, even for a human, but her body moved with a suppleness that belied a superior physical aptitude.

My eyes followed the curves of her body. She might move like a soldier, but she was definitely female.

My type in women had always leaned towards the sensual beauties, Most of whom were experts in taking advantage of their looks and femininity to get what they wanted.

This human, Elle Sanders, was more likely to use her weapons.

"Mhm, they keep telling me that," she said, narrowing those bright eyes my way. She really did not act like I expected a human would. Even immortals trembled in my presence. Was she simply reckless, or was there something that made her confident in the face of a powerful immortal?

Maybe it was time to check. My magic surrounded her. The darkness of it fully focused on this human with eyes of liquid emeralds.

My mental abilities weren't on the same level as Venus or Burak's, but they were considerable enough to control a human.

"Elle Sanders," I said, locking my gaze to hers. Her eyes were truly a wonder. "Elle Sanders. A human, yet not really. You're quite intriguing."

Her heart jumped. Oh yes, there was definitely something there. I found her mind with mine and slithered inside. I could not see past her walls, but that in itself wasn't unusual. Most humans subconsciously shielded their thoughts.

"You really should work on your complimenting skills."

Her accent. There was a hint of something I couldn't quite pinpoint about it. "Have you no sense of self-preservation?"

"I do. But it's kind of low on my list of priorities. Right below not sucking up to immortals. No matter if they were elders."

She snapped her mouth shut. It was as if she couldn't help herself.

But amusement flared at her words. What a delightful creature. I grinned. Her heart jumped again.

Taking hold of her body through my mind, I slammed her against the wall using my magic. Her feet hovered over the floor. I felt her resistance as she tried to move.

I lowered my chair and rose. Her heart raced, and her breathing quickened. I tried pushing past the walls of her mind to see if I could find anything of interest, but they were surprisingly sturdy. Hmm. I approached her, thinking about how a human could possibly be able to keep me from tearing into her mind. It had never before happened. It was not possible.

Which only confirmed my suspicions about Elle Sanders.

The woman in question looked at me as if she could kill me with her gaze. And then she shoved me out of her mind with enough force to make me take pause and make my magic falter.

She dropped to the floor, bleeding through her nose.

Maybe it was luck. I tried pushing into her mind again, unsuccessfully. No. Not luck.

She sat up, her hair glinting gold under the light. "Stay out of my head," she hissed.

Oh, yes. Definitely not human.

Nonetheless, her recklessness might cost her her life, and then it would not matter wether she was human or not.

I shook my head, floating the pack of tissues from the table to my hand. I surrounded her with a cushion of my magic, which went willingly, almost eagerly, to her. Pulling her up to her feet, I was amused when her eyes widened and she flailed her arm around to check if I was still controlling her body through her mind. Her relief was evident.

Her face was very expressive. It was a wonder she survived this long in her line of business wearing her emotion on her sleeve.

I handed her a tissue and sent the box back to the table. "As I said. Very intriguing."

She snatched the tissue, never letting go of her knives, and wiped the blood. Her eyes narrowed on me, as if I was a misbehaving child she would scold and not one of the Five. What a woman. This close to her, her small stature was even more pronounced. But that wasn't what caught my eyes.

Her eyes.

Those eyes looked even more impossible, and that hair... My fingers twitched. I never thought I would ever find hair to be riveting.

"What do you want?" she asked, evidently irritated.

I smiled. "Just checking. You seem to have an interesting set of abilities for a human."

She pursed her lips and shrugged.

"Who taught you to fight?" I asked.

She blinked. Her eyes had not once slipped from mine. When was the last time someone had the courage and the ability to meet my eyes and not flinch, even once?

"I learned. Here and there," she said, shifting slightly on her feet. Her hair glinted with the motion. Gold.

I could hear the lie in her voice and see it on her face. "Hmm."

I couldn't resist. I'd barely raised my hand when she brought those toothpicks up between us. I paused, raising my brows at the weapons. The last person who'd dared raise a knife at me... I didn't even remember. But for some absurd reason, I was not insulted. Even my magic did not lash out at the blatant threat. It was rather placid. It still surrounded her, as if intrigued by this new creature who didn't fit into any mold, neither a human nor an immortal.

I snatched the knives out of her hands using my magic. She gaped at them floating behind me. My hand finished the trek to her hair. Interesting. It felt softer than it looked.

A door opened in the hallway outside.

Elle pulled back, her eyes comically wide. "What the hell are you doing?" she asked, flabbergasted.

Footsteps echoed outside. I dropped my hand and stepped back. "You have company."

Reluctantly, I pulled my magic back from her. A knock sounded on the door. She frowned.

"You're not going to invite your friend in?" I asked.

Her frown deepened to a scowl, eyes narrowed and full of suspicion. She barely glanced at the door.

"Do you really believe you can stop me if I want to hurt you?" I asked, beyond amused by her confidence. But then again, she might prove to be a pleasant surprise in a fight. I was almost tempted to test that theory just to see how she fared against me.

Surprise filled her face.

"You're easy to read," I said, putting her out of her misery. "Every thought is written on your face."

She tried her best to done a neutral expression, but only succeeded in looking like a bored kitten.

"So why haven't you?" she asked.

"Haven't I what?"

Another knock sounded on the door. The fox's voice called her name.

"Hurt me."

Why, indeed? I smiled, not completely sure of the answer myself. "I find myself intrigued. It has been a while, and I would hate to cut it short."

While that was the reason my interest in her began, there was something more to it. There was something more to her. And I was hit by the feeling I should keep her in my life for the time being, until I was sure what it was about her that pulled me out of a centuries-old restlessness.

My response was met by a fluttering of her heart beat. She did not like to be the subject of interest of one of the Five. Smart woman.

She side-stepped me and snatched her knives from the air, walking like a crab to the door to keep me in sight. I chuckled. She glared at me.

When she looked at the door to open it, I pushed the window open with my magic and jumped through it, landing on the ground, and melted to the darkness of the woods around the building.

Leaning on a tree, I watched her window. A second later, her blond head popped out, looking left and right with a slightly freaked out expression.

I smiled. What a wonderful way this day had turned out. I left the area despite my wanting to do otherwise, and kept to the shadows as I walked away.

Breathing in the night air of the city was a pleasant change of routine. It seemed for the foreseeable future, my day-to-day life would become less dreary. Even guilt, my life-long friend, retreated in the face of the green-eyed wonder.

"What an entertaining encounter," I mumbled. Once I was leaning against a tree next to the headquarters of the Order, I called Harvey on my phone. I could mind-link Harvey, but he was out of reach. Technology made everything easier.

"Is she still alive?" was his dry comment as soon as he picked up.

I didn't honor it with a response. "I want everything you can find out about her," I said. "Everything."

"The Order's file isn't enough?" Harvey asked.

"No. I want you to look into her. You're more meticulous than the Order."

"A compliment? How rare."

Harvey's words echoed Elle's earlier one. I smiled. "Get to it, Harvey."

I ended the call before he could ask any more questions. Harvey was the closest person I had to a friend. He had been in my side for quite a long time, and he was one of the very few people who could take liberties when speaking to me without consequences.

Charles exited the building a few minutes later. He headed straight for me.

"Sire," he dipped his head.

"Charles. You'll be in charge of something," I said.

"The demon killer case?" He asked.

"That, too," I said. "But your priority is to keep an eye on Elle Sanders."

"The human?"

"Yes."

He frowned, but nodded.

I pinned him with my gaze, my magic uncurling around me. "And Charles?"

Charles stood up straighter, hands clasped behind his back. "Sire."

"Keep her safe."

--- ---- ---

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