Charles handed me a towel. I shook my hands, demonic blood splattering the grass, and accepted the towel. Wiping down my arms only smeared the blood further, and the smell was unpleasant. I had to take a proper shower.

"Corry has the location," I told Charles. "Go with the team."

"Yes, Sire," Charles said. He hesitated. I raised my brow. Charles straightened. "I think agent Kim should come along. She deserves to be there as she's worked on the case from the beginning."

Hmm. "Very well. Take her along," I said. Charles nodded and turned to walk away. "And Charles?"

"Yes, Sire?"

"Tell agent Kim I'm offering her a position to work directly for me," I said. "Nine-tailed foxes are very resourceful and talented creatures. We'll best utilize her abilities if she works directly with us."

I might be mistaken, but Charles seemed to perk up. His eyes brightened. He gave a firm nod. "Yes, Sire."

I smiled, watching him rush back through the trees. Oh, yes. The little fox would be perfect for him.

I walked to my house, deliberately taking the long way back. It had been an interesting couple of days.

The demon was still alive in the cell, which was an interesting development, considering I thought he would be dead after I was done with him. I'd thought I wouldn't be able to control myself.

But I was. My magic had been surprisingly... collected. The darkness that lurked within was no longer pushing against my control.

Perhaps keeping busy with the Order and the soldiers was a good idea. But deep down, I knew it had something to do with Elle Sanders.

Elle sanders.

She was not a human, of that much I was certain. There were ways to make an immortal's outer aura simulate that of a human. But the question I kept coming back to was: why? Why would an immortal, a young one, choose to live as a human? It did not make sense.

After a couple of hours, I reached my house, glancing at the cabin next to it where she was being kept. The junior soldiers stationed outside looked like they had been in a fight. One of the senior soldiers was lecturing them. When he saw me, he headed my way.

"Sire. The human tried to escape."

My mood instantly lifted. Of course, she did. "And?"

"The juniors tried to stop her."

Since I could feel her inside that cabin, I assumed they succeeded. I waited for the soldier to continue. "She fought all of them on her own," he hesitated, "and she defeated them."

My gaze went to the cabin. Interesting. Very interesting. A human could never, under any circumstance, defeat a group of immortals in a hand-to-hand fight, no matter how young and inexperienced they were. Immortals were simply built differently. Our bodies, our reflexes, our senses, it made us superior to humans when it came to combat.

"Yet she's still here."

He cleared his throat. "She surrendered," he said.

"Surrendered?"

"Yes." He shifted on his feet. "Because she was trying not to kill any of them."

I laughed. Oh. That was just rich. The senior soldier gaped at me. He collected himself and stood straighter.

Ah, Elle, Elle, Elle. What a wonderful little mystery.

"Make sure she doesn't make another attempt," I told him before going to my house. I had to clean up and be presentable for the lady.

After my shower, I received Charles' phone call. The demon had escaped their grasp, but they had managed to save the human female.

This case was growing tiresome. The Order clearly was not equipped to deal with a demon of such caliber, and the numbers of lesser demons I'd seen today were nothing normal. I would have to take over.

But first...

I made my way to the cabin next door. I walked past the junior soldiers, opened the front door, and stopped.

They were playing Monopoly.

The young immortals jumped to their feet. Elle Sanders, still seated on the floor, leaned sideways to look at me. A bandage covered her cheek. She took a lollipop out of her mouth and pointed it at me. "Hey, if you're not joining the game, get out of here. You're ruining it."

She had beat these immortals according to the senior soldier. I would've expected there to be animosity between them. Yet here they were, playing monopoly.

I shook my head. "What are you doing?" I asked one of the junior soldiers. A young shapeshifter. Corbin, if I remembered correctly.

Panic filled his eyes. Elle shot to her feet and answered instead of him. "We're playing monopoly in case you can't see."

That mouth... I walked inside. "Everyone out. Elle, stay."

As the others filed out of the house, Elle rolled her eyes and mumbled. "Woof."

I closed the door and pointed to the couch. We needed to have a discussion. "Sit."

She planted her feet, stuck the lollipop in her mouth and crossed her arms. "What's next? Roll over?"

What in the world was she on about? "What?"

"Nothing."

She didn't move. I sighed and sat down on the couch. She stayed scrupulously out of my way and leaned against the fireplace. The bandage on her cheek caught my eyes again.

"What do you want with me?" she asked, the lollipop moving with her lips. I wondered what the lollipop tasted like.

"How did you hurt your cheek?"

Her chest expanded with a deep breath. She closed her eyes for a moment. "I cut myself," she said, annoyed for whatever reason.

"Hmm. Tried to get away, didn't you?"

"So am I a prisoner here? Why?"

I smiled. A prisoner. That wasn't exactly the term I would go for. Although it was perhaps more accurate. She was extremely averse to staying in my vicinity, and the reason was quite clear. "Relax. I haven't discovered your secret yet, if that's why you're worried."

She glared. "Why can't I leave?"

"You're now a target of the demon. Until we catch him, you'll stay here."

She straightened. "You can't make me stay here."

She kept saying I couldn't do things. It was a ridiculous notion, really. "Of course I can."

"I have a case to work on," she said. "And I can't do that locked up."

"No one said anything about being locked up. And there has been a new development concerning the case."

"What new development?" She squinted those clear, clear eyes. They were truly magnificent. Anyone mistaking her for a human was a fool.

"The demon you captured has been kind enough to share some crucial information," I said, remembering my lovely time with the demon. It was quite therapeutic. "Thanks to which they managed to rescue the last victim."

Her eyes widened. She took a step forward and took the lollipop out of her mouth. It was quite distracting. "What?! How?! Wait, you moved in without me! How could you? I'm part of the case, too."

"And this is why I left you under watch. You've only been on the case for a few days."

"It doesn't matter, I still-"

"They needed to move in silently and efficiently. It was a team effort," I said. "You're very well trained, but as a lone fighter. Not for missions like these. You'll only get in the way."

She pursed her lips. She knew I was right. Elle fought as a soldier would fight in a battle. Surrounded by enemies, fighting for her life. She did not have training in organized missions and team operations.

"You didn't go?" She asked.

I raised my eyebrows. Why would I when I had an entire army to deal with such matters? She looked like she wanted to roll her eyes, for whatever reason.

"What about Irene?" she asked.

"She came along with the team working on the case."

"The victim?"

"Barely alive, but she'll make it. At least physically."

Her frown was less angry and more sad. I was growing better at reading the nuances of her expressions. Not that it was difficult. Her face was an open book. A delightful open book.

"The demon?"

"He escaped," I said, irritated that the bastard was simply walking around in my territory as if it was his own domain, "teleported out."

"Why didn't he take the victim with him?"

"Too much energy is needed. He already exhausted a lot of magic in channeling his energy so that mid tier demon could kidnap you. He only had enough to teleport himself out of there."

Elle rubbed her forehead, looking at the ground. I didn't appreciate her dropping her eyes. My magic stirred, irked at the loss.

And that bandage...

"How did you cut yourself?"

She looked up, and my magic settled. "I was careless while fighting the kids you left behind to babysit me."

"In other words, you were trying not to end anyone's life."

I'd seen the way she fought. I'd known she was a great fighter. But holding her own against several trained immortals, who were bigger and stronger than she was, made it clear she'd had no ordinary training.

She just kept getting interesting. Whoever taught her, must be a talented fighter and teacher, and they must've had her since a very young age.

Putting my unusual interest in her aside, letting her go without taking full advantage of her skill set would be such a waste. Not that I was letting her go anywhere anytime soon.

"I'll make you an offer," I said. Her expression immediately turned wary. Smart woman. "You'll be bored staying here until we catch the killer. I want you to train some people."

Her reply was prompt. "No."

Her current bank balance held a laughable amount. Money should be a good incentive. "You'll be generously compensated."

"No."

Stubborn. Very well, then. Let's get the big guns out. "And given access to anything related to Martin Malone."

She froze. Oh, yes. That certainly had her attention.

"I already have a deal with the director," she said. "We signed a contract."

I smiled. A contract was a simple piece of paper. How could it possibly stop me from getting what I wanted?

She glared again. "He gave me his word."

Huh. Would a human know the importance of one's word in the immortal world. Most likely not.

But she was right. I would not keep George from fulfilling his word. Ah, what a bother. I sighed. "Very well. Why are you against teaching them? They seemed very taken with you."

"I'm not against it, I'm just not qualified. They'll be wasting time with me when they could be learning from someone better. I'm sure you have a lot of old, well trained people around."

That wasn't false humility. She looked like she believed those words. She truly had no idea how talented a fighter she was, even for immortals.

Elle Sanders. She might think she would stay here until the case was over, and I would let her believe that for the moment.

But she wasn't getting out of my sight anytime soon, wether we find the demon killer or not. I was tempted to tell her just to see her reaction. But she might seriously attempt to leave, and that would ruin things.

For now, let her believe she was staying here because of the killer. I stood up and walked to the door. "Alright, then. Let's go."

"Where to?" She asked.

"Where you'll be staying for the foreseeable future."

--- ---- ---

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