him on and realized that he wasn’t telling her the answer.
He was showing her.
One look into his eyes and she understood. Her stomach plummeted as she saw his eyes grow black, the dark color shaded everything, including the white parts. The air left her as she asked, though she already knew the answer.
“What are you?” He hesitated for a second, his head moved as if he were looking at the ground and then back up at her. The severe look on his face never betrayed his thoughts.
“Demon.”
It was a mere whisper, but in the silence of her expectation that one word held as much sound as a scream would have, and that was what she wanted to do, scream and run. But, she just stood there, rooted to the spot, unable to move as the being in front regarded her with caution.
Apart from the eyes, everything else about him seemed unchanged. He appeared to be the same Damien that had spent those easy evenings keeping her company and reading to her. Bewilderment ruled her brain.
“Kennedy?” The word interrupted her inner battle. His voice was laced with longing for understanding. All the hairs on her body stood on end. Try as she might, and against her better judgment, Kennedy couldn't bring herself to feel afraid.
All she felt was a small amount of betrayal at him having lied to her and the strong urge to wrap her arms around him and have him hold her back. That last thought terrified her more than she let on.
“What, Damien, if that’s even your real name?” She was instantly regretful of her cutting tone as she saw the hurt expression that flashed briefly across his face before it was quickly replaced by the stoic mask once more.
“I know it is a lot to ask for. But, Kennedy, do not be afraid of me.” What did he expect from her? The guy just told her that he was a demon and then asked her not to be scared. Did demons reason differently than humans?
Or maybe it was she who reasoned differently, because knowing that she should be fearful of his proximity she still wanted him near her.
“To be honest, I’m not. But, do I need to be? Scared of you, I mean.” She realized that she truly wasn’t. She was more afraid of her feelings for him than anything else at that moment.
“No. You need not be frightened of me.” He said this with such conviction that she felt somewhat assured.
“Am I the only one that can say that?” The way that he had emphasized on the words, you and me, made her wary.
He placed both of his hands inside his pockets while he shifted his weight from one foot to the other once, his full lips set in a tight line.
“I am a demon, but a part of me is human. My kind are often called, Nephilim.” She could tell that it was a difficult subject for him. “It is complicated.”
“What does that mean?” She couldn’t let it go so lightly.
“Do not ask me any more about it. I do not want to damage you anymore than I already have.”
“Damage me?” She echoed, it stung. He had done nothing wrong to her during these past few weeks. Why would he say something like that?
“I would give anything to spare you the pain that is soon to come. But, I need you to understand that if I leave now, another would take my place and I fear that they would not be as partial to your feelings as I am.” His words confused her. The knot in her stomach grew tighter with each passing second.
“Wh – her throat closed around the word that she was trying to form and she was furious at herself for allowing the slip. She swallowed hard and tried again – why are you here then?” What would another have to take his place for?
He shut his eyes tightly for a moment and opened them again. Sighing, he walked to the window. He stared in silence out into the darkness for so long that she thought that her question would be left unanswered, then he spoke with his back facing her.
“You need to be aware that I was sent here on an assignment. One I undertook before I knew you. But, then – he paused and changed his stance, she could now see the painfully perfect profile of his face – then, I met you and everything changed. The way you accepted me, the way that I could talk or not talk to you so easily, all the time that we have spent together has altered my view of things. You are unlike any human girl that I have ever encountered.”
The word evil popped into each one of her thoughts like a warning, but her stupid heart believed him instantly and against all logical reasoning. Her poor brain didn't stand a snowball's chance. She wanted to speak up, but nothing coherent came to mind and he continued.
“I now find myself at a crossroads – he smiled at the phrase as if it had a special meaning to him, but the significance of it escaped her – and I am afraid that I am unable to decide on which path to take. Either way, I am condemned.” She tried to grasp the hidden meaning behind his words, the things that he left unsaid for her sake.
“What are you here for?” Kennedy’s brain was still stuck processing the concept of demon, but her curiosity wanted to be satiated. She expected yet another evasive from his part when a dark expression took over his handsome features.
He turned to face her completely and opened his mouth to speak. She braced herself for the answer that, judging from his frown, she would most definitely not like.
“Your father.” Her knees faltered. It felt as if a large weight had been placed on her shoulders.
A thousand frenzied thoughts ran through her head. Kennedy was truly afraid then. Terrified – not for herself – but for Steven. What had he done to have a demon sent after him?
“No – what – why?” She tried to convey her shock and fear at the same time and what came out was a jumbled mess that made him take a step forward, his hand outstretched towards her.
She instinctively took an answering step backwards, instantly regretting it as he froze. He appeared to have been taken aback for a moment, but then nodded and retook the position that he had been in before he moved. He stood about six feet from her with his hands in his pockets again.
“Kennedy, your father’s research has earned him a death warrant – he raised a hand to silence her and continued at her panicked look – I will not harm him, I give you my word.”
“But others will, others of your kind, is that what you’re saying?” Her chest ached and her eyes burned.
“It is a definite possibility. I was sent here to gather information and report my findings, if his research were inoffensive, he would be allowed to keep his life.”
“Then don’t say anything!” She begged him and was dismayed at how pathetic her plea had sounded.
“I was not planning to, but your father has been helping out a notorious hunter and word has already reached them.”
“A hunter?” The vivid image of a stern man holding a shotgun with a pointer dog by his side invaded her mind. She shrugged it off, amazed at her overactive imagination.
“A demon hunter.” Oh, right. Now he was surely going to start spewing out some Scruffy the Vampire Slayer nonsense. “Your father is one too.”
Right. Why not?
“Let's pretend for a second that I believe that and let me ask, is that why that man was here?” She tried to understand. Kennedy wasn’t panicking anymore. Her father’s ramblings about the paranormal and mysterious injuries were starting to make sense.
The strange numbness had settled inside her again. She figured that it was her body’s way of dealing with pain, it directly shut it out.
“Yes.” He said.
“What’s going to happen now?” She honestly couldn't see any way that the situation could be resolved without them being exposed to real danger.
“I do not know, but you cannot stay here any longer. Could you stay a friend’s house until I figure this out?” She looked at him, her eyes let him know what she was thinking. How would staying at somebody else’s house help when demons were after them?
“What about my mom, Damien? I can’t just leave her here.” It occurred to her, that perhaps this was what Teresa had known and wouldn't tell her about. Somehow, she wa
sn't very mad. She just wanted her parents to be safe and out of harm’s way.
“Then you both must go. Ask her for a vacation, lie if necessary. Go where no one knows you and tell no one about it.” Unbelievable. Was he for real? It showed how little he knew about her mother, to think that she would agree to something like that in their current financial status.
“But they will find us.” She was going to tell him about her mother’s stubbornness, but decided to state the obvious instead.
“It will be temporary, until I figure out what to do about it. Perhaps I can convince them to leave you be if I can make them think that your mother and you had no knowledge of the situation.” He made it sound so rational that she almost believed that he could do what he said.
But, what about her father? He hadn't been mentioned in that little arrangement.
“Damien if we just pick up and leave all of a sudden, we’d be proving for a fact that we do know. Maybe if we stayed and ride it out?” He considered her words for a minute.
“Yes, all things considered, that would be a better option. Kennedy, do you think that there is a possibility, even in the slightest, that your father may return?” She was alarmed. No matter how much she wanted to trust Damien, that question made her suspicious of his true intentions. He seemed to have read her mind.
“I have already given you my word that I will not harm him, but I need to know, for your sake.” Kennedy regarded him and even though she knew that it may be a terrible