I groaned at the smell of fresh coffee. It was nice, but also meant it was time to get up and I wasn’t interested in that. I hugged the pillow and realized this wasn’t my pillow and last night wasn’t a dream.
My eyes shot open and I slowly sat up in bed. That same room with the dark blankets and purple sheets was all I saw. There was a nice hot cup of coffee sitting on the nightstand beside the bed, but I was in the room alone. At least I hoped I was alone anyway. It was hard to tell when the guy was a literal shadow.
I took a drink of the coffee figuring he wouldn’t get the exact proportion of creamer to coffee I liked but to my surprise, the warm liquid was exactly what I liked. Maybe even a little better. Well, he got one thing right.
“Are you skulking around in here or are you truly gone?” I said without thinking and took another sip of the dreamy liquid. God, it was fucking good.
“I’m here if you want me to be,” a voice answered and I sighed.
“Please. I have questions,” I said, setting the coffee down and waiting for him to materialize. It didn’t take long before his tall dark form was looming over me on the bed. His frame a little closer to me than I expected.
I bit my lip and watched him. He was a rather good looking specimen of a man. All the way from his hard jawline to his muscled chest. I wondered if this was a form he chose or if this was him.
“You said you took me to keep me safe, right?” I said, still watching him as he cocked his head in thought.
“Yes,” he answered.
“Why not just watch out for me in the real world and let me live my life?” I asked. Might as well get to the point. He already said he’d saved me several times before. What changed?
“Because it’s too hard to watch you constently and find the Vampires that want to kill you,” he said as though it was the most logical thought in the world and I was slow for not thinking of it.
“Where am I?” I asked finally.
He crossed his arms. “I told you, in another realm.”
“And that’s…” I raised my eyebrows.
He sighed. “The shadow world. It’s a place between worlds.”
“Worlds?” I hesitated. “There’s more than one?”
“Naturally.” His eyebrows bunched together. “Don’t they teach you anything?”
“Not about that,” I answered truthfully.
“I thought Witches learned about their abilities and what they can do when they come into their powers.” He watched me as he spoke and I felt like a huge spotlight was shining on how stupid I was with my powers. Truthfully, it wasn’t my fault. My mother wasn’t involved with a Coven and we paid for that.
“My mother wanted us to learn the regular stuff. Human stuff.” I forced a smile, but I sometimes wished I’d learned about my powers and met others like me earlier. I mean up until I was like sixteen, we didn’t know I had any powers. I just thought I was a dud.
“Human stuff,” he repeated. He leaned over me and I swallowed hard. His eyes roamed down my sheet covered body slowly, like he was taking in what I said and making his own interpretation of the words. “Humans are interesting creatures. I suppose you’re more human than I am.”
“Uh, considering you’re literally shadows, I’m gonna say yeah,” I said with a slight smirk.
He finally met my gaze and he smiled but it wasn’t just a regular smile. Nope, that had some wicked thoughts behind it and a part of me was excited at the thought. I pushed it away and pulled the sheet up over my chest. I was still wearing my pajamas from last night, but under those swirling eyes, I felt completely exposed.
“Am I just going to be stuck here forever?” I finally said and he considered my words. “Like a prisoner.”
“Do you want to be a prisoner, princess?” He leaned in a little closer, his knee on the edge of the bed.
What was he talking about? Of course I didn’t want to be a prisoner, right?
I cleared my throat and he chuckled slightly.
“No, you’re not a prisoner,” he said stepping back. “But you also can’t leave.”
“That’s the definition of prisoner,” I said.
“Not forever. We’re looking for the Vampires now. It won’t be long.”
“And then what?”
He shrugged. “You can live your life.” The way his eyes flicked away told me there was more to it, but I didn’t push.
“So, just a few days.” I nodded as I spoke. “I need a few things. Clothes and my phone.”
“You can’t wear your clothes from your wold here and your phone won’t work,” he said, stepping back and leaning on the wall.
“I can’t live without my phone,” I felt a little bit of panic inside me. My phone was my life. All my social media and my friends and my mom. My mom. She was probably worried sick about me. “I need to call my mom. She doesn’t know what happened.”
“She does,” he answered.
I stared at him for a moment taking in what he just said. “How would she know?”
“It’s complicated.”
“Uncomplicate it,” I snapped.
“You need to change. The others are going to want to meet you.” He completly ignored me. “There’s clothes in the drawer and a bathroom to the left of it.” I turned towards the door and I threw the sheet off me.
“No, you can’t just leave and not answer me,” I almost yelled.
“I can do whatever I want, princess.”
“Stop calling me that,” I snapped.
“I’ll be back in an hour to get you.” He vanished through the wall as he finished his sentence.
Why are all men infuriating.
Even the ones that aren’t human.