AI debut

[safeashouses]

I was no stranger to waking up disoriented and in new and unusual places but this was a stretch even for me. I had grown used to the island, the ins and outs of it, and while it would never be ideal (I was missing some very important members of my family, after all) it was something that I could live with. If nothing else, I felt guilty that I had a place that was safe from Souls and any other external threats where I could live openly as a human and not have to worry about getting hijacked again.

I had a little hut with a garden that I shared with Wanderer and I spent...an inordinate amount of time with Nick and for the first time since the Souls first showed up on earth, I was happy, relaxed and free to do anything I wanted. So of course that all had to come crashing down on me, didn't it?

It started with disappearances. People were being snatched up left and right and I lived in constant fear that Wanderer or Nick was going to be next. I didn't know how to ensure that they would stay on the island with me because it seemed like the disappearances didn't care about families at all; a mother might disappear and leave her children behind, a father next. I didn't want that for my little family, small as it was, and I didn't know how to stop it.

So I fought. The only thing I have ever known how to do in my short life was fight and I took my aggression out on Nick's heavy bag more often than not. I didn't put a dent in it, thank god, but between the two of us it got plenty of work. I had just finished working it over something good and had headed up to the Compound for a shower when it happened. One second, I was pulling open the door and expecting the fresh, cold air of the air conditioning to hit my sweat-soaked face and the next I was faced with air conditioning...but not the right room.

Instead of the haphazard quality the Compound always had with so many people living there and using it at any one time, this was a cool, quiet hotel lobby. There was a clerk at the desk and a few people milling around and I panicked, remembering the night I had originally been caught by the Souls when I was trying to hide my brother. Was I back home? Were these people or had they already been caught? I ducked around a corner into a hallway and backed up, running straight into a laundry bin full of dirty towels. Great. Even better was the fact that I had been spotted and I instantly cast my eyes down, hoping they hadn't noticed I was missing the tell-tale ring around them.

Maybe I could just hide under the towels until everyone left.

Comments

[malachai]

Nick answered her grin with one of his own. "And I don't mind saying that I like that you do very much, cher. If it helps, he's more than a little worried about what I'd do to him if he so much as bruises her." He shrugged. "And I can read his mind, so he won't be able to hide anything from me."

[safeashouses]

"That's a creepy trick." I waited a beat and then asked something that I thought I might end up regretting.

"You aren't reading my mind, are you? You know I hate that stuff."

[malachai]

"Nope, I can tell just by looking that you're pissed," Nick grinned, then took her hand and squeezed it. "I don't peek into people's heads on a whim, Mel, no matter how much I might want to. The demon doesn't see a problem with it, but I'm still the man my mother raised, and she'd slap the back of my head if I tried it."

[safeashouses]

"Well, thank God for your mother," I said, sighing in relief. Nothing freaked me out more than knowing someone else could see my thoughts and feel my feelings. I wanted that part of me sacred and closed off from everyone else.

[malachai]

"The only time I'd ever violate that is if you were in danger and I had to find you," Nick told her, his face solemn as his promise.

[safeashouses]

"I can allow that," I conceded. "But any other poking around and I'm going to have to kick your ass. Or anyone else's ass. I am not a fan of having my brain examined."

[malachai]

"What if I've missed you kicking my ass? Or if said ass is in dire need of a swift kicking?" Nick teased back, a lopsided smirk on his face.

[safeashouses]

"I'll kick your ass every day of the week," I threatened. It wasn't much of a threat. While I was decently athletic for a human and had a hell of a temper Nick was a bona fide demon who was in possession of his full range of powers. I couldn't stand up to that if I wanted to.

[malachai]

He couldn't help it. He cupped her face in his hands and leaned forward to kiss her. "I'd never be happier to have my ass handed to me."

[safeashouses]

"We could go work on it now," I suggested gamely. "But I'm not really interested in putting my fists in your face just yet. I've got other ideas."

[malachai]

And his imagination ran just a little too wild at the ideas she might or might not have. "Let's go find your sister first," he said, knowing she wouldn't fully rest until she'd seen for herself that Wanderer was all right. "Then we can find a quiet spot to discuss these ideas of yours. In depth."