The girl was in his shower. Kaeron was sitting on his red leather couch in the living room, frowning down at his cellphone. A news program played loud as hell through the surround sound speakers, as he read the message from his mother for the 6th time.
"I know it's been a long time.. oh, Lex was the one who gave me your new contact info.. can we talk please? I've got a place now.. in Dekidos, on Sethon Street.. A green house.. I'm sure you'll be able to find it.. I'm clean now Pea."
He threw the phone across the room, tossing his head back, and rubbed the sides of it. He would have to talk to Lex about giving that woman his number... again. Closing his eyes tight, he fought the growing headache that threatened to become a migraine. He needed a cigarette or another fight; those wolves were not enough by a long shot, especially after two of them did the smart thing (but admittedly the boring thing), and ran away after he had turned their friend into barbecue.
He had wanted to question the girl right there and then, but she was vomiting, and shaking from the rain. A human girl! She couldn't be any older than 17. Why would someone like Talion Atriuem, be interested in her? 35 million was no small deal; Kaeron's kill tonight would only make him a measly 35k; of course, Kaeron took any job he could, if it meant he got to fight, but even the more expensive jobs he had taken, hardly ever cleared 4 million, and those involved killing low A tier demons, some of those demons had even scarred him.
So to place a bounty of 35 million on a human girl.. something was going on.
The sound of the bathroom door opening brought his attention to the present. The girl.. Lillian.. or Alyssa.. Or Jamie, whatever. She stood in the doorway, a towel wrapped around her long, auburn brown hair, wearing some of his sisters clothes. She was no longer shaking nor vomiting, but her moss green eyes studied him as if she weren't sure if she should be afraid or not.
Good.
He cleared his throat, the action making her tense slightly.
"Calm down girl," he said, letting her hear just how annoyed he was, as he turned down whatever news program was on, "as long as you.."
"My name is Lillian." She rasped.
He gave her a look that had grown men three times her size shriveling into a ball, but to her credit, she didn't immediately look away.
She did eventually, however (smart girl), he continued, "As long as you answer my questions honestly, everything will be ok and you'll be allowed to leave in one piece."
Her throat bobbed at the threat, and her hands went around her slim waist as if hugging herself. Her response was an almost inaudible, "Okay."
"Good, first question, are you hungry? I've got some leftover pizza in the kitchen."
She looked at him again, brow raised.
He shrugged. "You look as if you haven't eaten in days, seriously, when was your last meal?"
She stared at him as if she were considering not answering but sighed, "I don't know, I snacked on a piece of bread a few days ago I think."
He stood and pointed to the couch. "Sit."
Her eyes flared with defiance, but he gave her a look that gave no room for argument.
She huffed a breath, stalked over to the couch, and plopped down onto it.
He smiled a devil's smile at her and purred. "Was that so hard?"
She stuck her tongue out at him.
In response, he turned away and headed into the kitchen.
The box of pizza sat on the kitchen island where he had left it the night before. He strode over and opened it. Nothing. Lex must've come home at some point and ate the rest.
He spoke loud enough that the girl would be able to hear him from where he was, throwing away the pizza box. "No pizza but I'll fix something up for us."
She snorted. "So you're good with weapons and also a killer in the kitchen."
He ignored the statement and rifled through the pathetic contents of his refrigerator.
Half a pack of cheese, a pickle, three eggs, and a mostly empty bottle of mayonnaise.
He closed the fridge and rummaged around the kitchen for anything that any of those would compliment, and right before he was about to give up and just make her a cheese sandwich with a side of pickle, he found a half pack of Mac and cheese with most of the cheese packet unused.
"The fuck is my phone?" He grumbled to himself, one hand fumbling for a pot, the other feeling around for his phone. He'd text Lex to pick up some groceries on her way home tomorrow.
He pushed down the thoughts trying to gnaw at him. Lex was the smart one; she wouldn't be dumb enough to roam the streets at this time of night.
No, he trusted her not to do something so stupid, but her best friend Elizabeth, was a wild, impulsive, gutter girl who, for some reason, Lex liked to hang out with.
Him and his sister had moved here two years ago after some shit went down between Kaeron and a lowlife crime lord. The piece of shit had called his sister "a hot piece of ass" and in return, Kaeron broke the shit heads nose and killed both of his guards. Needless to say, the bastard overreacted, placing a bounty of 5 million on him; honestly, if he wasn't his sisters keeper, he wouldn't have cared; he would've actually enjoyed killing anybody dumb enough to try claiming his head, but he couldn't risk her being dragged in the middle of his problems, so they moved, and about a year ago, Lex and Elizabeth met and quickly became inseparable. To his utter disappointment.
******
Lillian sat on the man's couch, fidgeting with her hair. He had yet to introduce himself but she had a sneaking suspicion of who he was.
"She's our prey Fire breather, so get lost." The wolf had said.
Dragon shifters were rare, but they did exist, and thanks to their limited numbers, a bounty hunter like Kaeron Deitas, was talked about a lot, even amongst slaves and servants, and Sebastian had mentioned the shifter a few times during her daily baths.
"Run Lillian, run somewhere he will never find you, run until you can't run anymore. Don't tell me where you're going, don't tell anybody. I will come find you when I can."
The words echoed through her hollow body, all the adrenaline from the chase had drained from her, and she was now only conscious from the uncertainty rather she were safe or not.
Why was he helping her? Was he helping her? Did he kill the wolves just to turn her in himself?
A powerful, jaw cracking yawn ripped from out her, causing her eyes to water. She swiped at them, but another yawn followed quickly after, bringing more tears.
"You were going to fight." The man said right beside her.
She nearly jumped out her skin as she whipped around to face him. He was watching her every move, and if she weren't already trying to push her heart back down from out her throat, she'd most likely have felt the chill that worked its way up her spine.
"Are You INSANE!" She shouted, emphasizing every word.
He held up the bowl of steaming Mac and Cheese and repeated, as if he hadn't almost given her a heart attack. "You were going to fight, weren't you?"
She eyed the bowl like a feral beast but asked. "What?"
He sighed loudly and grabbed her hand. She tried to pull away, but he held firm and dropped the bowl into it.
"This would be much easier if you'd just trust me already." He said letting go of her. "Eat, maybe a full stomach will make you a little more agreeable."
She decided against giving a retort and sniffed the bowl, sniffing for any signs of it being tampered with. It smelled like black pepper, cheese, and deliciousness.
Her mouth watered.
She picked up the spoon and took a bite.. than two, and soon she was an unstoppable force, devouring it all, and had to force herself to not lick the bowl when she finished. She picked her head up and looked at the man. He was grinning like he had caught her doing something wrong.
"Better?" He asked.
She scowled at him.
He loosed an annoyed breath. "My name is Kaeron Deitas, but you will call me sir, got that."
And just like that.. she loathed him.
"Yes sir, I do understand sir." She mocked.
He clicked his tongue in annoyance, "You were going to fight the wolves, weren't you?"
She decided to feign ignorance just to piss him off. "What are you talking about?"
He hissed, his composer now gone. "You will answer me truthfully, or I won't continue being so nice."
She honestly considered toying with him some more but decided against calling his bluff.
"Yes I was going to fight back." She added with more emphasis than needed. "Sir."
He seemed to think on the answer and asked. "Why does Talion Atriuem want you?"
Straight to the point. She supposed she should have expected as much. "Aren't you supposed to take a girl out to a fancy restaurant before she gives you the goods?" She smiled, blinking her eyes sweetly.
He gritted his teeth so hard that the sound echoed through the room.
She flinched. "Okay, okay." She hesitated, "He wants to lock me away and breed me like some damn horse."
"Why you?" He asked, reclaiming some composer.
She steadied her breathing, a good lie contained parts of the truth. "I don't know, it has something to do with my mom and dad, I was taken away from my homeland when I was very young, so I couldn't tell you anything about them, and I told him that but he's still insistent on making me his baby machine."
She met his gaze, he wasn't convinced, but she didn't dare say anything. She had learned a great deal, dealing with Talion. She'd let him speak first and go from there.
"That's such a vague story, almost as if you're lying, but you wouldn't do something so stupid to the person who's helping you, right."
"Right, urm, sir."
He sighed, "We're going to talk more about this in the morning; my sister won't be home tonight; you can sleep in her bedroom." He said, turning and heading for the stairs, clearly expecting her to follow.
She stood and ran after him. He was so much taller than she was, so much so that it made her feel as if he could squash her like a bug at any time.
They walked down a hallway passing two opened doors. One room had a bunch of workout equipment, and the other held a decently sized library. He stopped in front of the third door, this one closed.
"This is the second floor bathroom." He said blandly, opening the door to show her.
She nodded her acknowledgment, and they continued down the hall. They walked passed another two closed doors, and then they stopped at the only other open door in the hall.
"This is where you'll be sleeping tonight." He said, flicking on the lights inside.
She examined the room. There were a few clothes tossed on the bed, and the walk-in closet was open. Lillian had to admit, his sister had nice taste in clothes. Now that Lillian thought about it, the clothes she was wearing must belong to this sister of his.
He walked inside, and she followed after, getting a better view of the room.
Her breath caught in her throat as she got a look at the walls. They were a baby blue, but they were hand painted over with a bunch of symbols that told a story, a dark story she thought, but it was gorgeous, and impressive, if his sister had done this herself, she was beyond talented.
"Did your sister paint these?" She asked, taking it all in.
He was exiting the room. "Don't go snooping, and don't stay up too late... Oh, and if you try to run, I'll break both of your legs."
She swallowed hard at the threat.
He left without another word, shutting the door behind him, leaving her with her thoughts.
Great, just Great! She had escaped one captor, just to fall into the hands of another.