Eva

  Soon after she’d finished with her lunch, Eva found Monroe had left the shop and she liked just how normal everything seemed without her bodyguards.

  Her parents had sent Lowell on a Keeper errand, leaving her with Simon upfront.

  She'd questioned if they were going to explain any more of The Society's history or if they were going to keep her in the dark, and after looking to each other for confirmation, her parents promised to explain everything later that night.

  Only when the shop closed, and she eagerly looked to them for the answers they'd promised, they claimed it had been a long day and for her to get some rest.

  Was she tired? Yes. But only from being anxious about another Simon blow-up and what else her parents were going to tell her. Now she was pissed because they'd lied to her. Again.

  She'd almost snapped at her parents but bit her tongue. Her anger simmered, tempered by the prospect of seeing Dante soon. Maybe he could fill in the gaps in her knowledge.

  Like what else was in the Nether? What was her role in all this? Was she just a pawn or host for the crystal? If the Primordial’s had created the planet, was there life on other planets? She'd always been fascinated with the complexity of that idea.

  Hopefully, Dante wasn't still upset with her from earlier, and he’d be kind enough to soothe her curiosity.

  As she said her goodbyes, her parents hesitated.

  “Simon will take you home,” her mother said firmly. “It’s for your own good.”

  Eva glanced at her brother, who jingled his keys in response. Knowing better than to argue, she followed him to his car and let him escort her home.

  When they reached the building, it didn’t surprise her when he followed her upstairs to her apartment.

  On the not-so-silent drive, he'd been blasting the radio, worsening her headache; she realized he was probably also going to spend the night. Though that would put a pin in her idea of grilling Dante, she wouldn’t protest. It reminded her of easier times, nights of blanket forts, dares, and scary stories.

  Thinking back on it all seemed so surreal now. The stories her brothers once used to scare her were probably true, she was just too stupid to realize.

  She walked into the living room, with him on her heels. When she turned on the light, her brother pulled a gun from his pants and aimed it at Dante, who was lounging on her couch.

  Eva had gotten used to seeing him, so it didn’t shock her to find him sitting so relaxed on the furniture. However, it did shock her that her brother had pulled a gun out of nowhere and was now pointing it directly at the back of Dante’s head.

  “What did I tell you about open windows?” Dante sighed, standing. Though his tone had been amused, when he saw her brother, it darkened with a warning. “And if you don’t tell your brother to get that gun out of my face, I will break his already fractured wrist.”

  She took hold of Simon’s arms to lower his weapon. After a moment of hesitation, he complied, placing it behind his back.

  “What are doing here?” Simon scrunched his face with disgust. “Didn’t you hear? We got someone else to watch over the pendant?”

  “Actually, your folks did call me to report that my services would still be needed. As a ‘just in case’ precaution.” He waved his hand towards Eva. “With last night’s attack, they believe the more people guarding your , the better.”

  “How do we know it wasn’t working for you?” Simon accused. “That the hellhound wasn’t under your command?”

  “Because it scratched him.” She spoke up, hating that no one believed in Dante. “Why would something following his orders attack him?”

  “Don’t know.” Her brother spat. “Demons can be real simple sometimes.”

  She knew that was an insult directed towards Dante’s kind, and before he could reply, she began walking back to the front door with a roll of her eyes.

  “Where are you going?” her brother interrogated, trying to follow her out.

  She put up a hand to stop him. “You two can stay here and duel it out but I’m going to go check my mailbox.”

  She hadn’t checked it for the past two or three days and figured it had to be getting full.

  They didn’t follow her out, but as she boarded the elevator, Dante stopped the doors from closing and entered the small space with her.

  The ride was silent and uncomfortable. She felt like he wanted to say something, but didn't. And she wanted to apologize for her idiocy earlier but didn't. They reached the first floor within seconds, and she went to the mailboxes located in the front of the building past the lobby.

  Just as she suspected, the box was full of junk mail but the four envelopes didn’t belong to her. They belonged to Dontrell in the apartment two doors down from hers.

  She went to the front desk with Dante on her heels.

  “Norman, do you know if Dontrell is in yet?” she asked the building manager.

  He shook his head, with a smile that hardly faltered. “Just missed him. Saw him heading to the laundry room though.”

  She thanked him politely and began walking towards the back of the building.

  As they entered the laundry room, Eva's demeanor shifted seamlessly from irritated to friendly. She flashed a warm smile at her neighbor, who returned it until his gaze drifted to Dante's imposing figure. For a moment, confusion clouded his face before he refocused on Eva.

  "Hey, it's been a minute," he said, abandoning his laundry to chat. "How've you been?"

  Eva's response was smooth. "Been okay. How about you?" She was fishing for information about the break-in, but her neighbor's response was casual.

  "To be honest, I've been better. This cold is kicking my butt, and the break-in trashed my apartment. Heard it happened to a few others too."

  Eva's nod was sympathetic. "Yeah, mine was one of them.”

  “Oh, God, that's crazy.” His eyes widened while he looked her over with concern. “You’re okay, right? I’ve been busy with personal stuff. I didn’t even think–”

  “No, no. I’m fine.” She waved towards herself. “Nothing was stolen.”

  “Yeah, same here. Weird.” He nodded and exchanged a glance with Dante, who'd let out an annoyed sigh, before continuing his conversation with Eva. “Oh, I’ve got some of your mail in my car. I’ve been meaning to get it to you.”

  “Thanks,” she said, handing him his mail. “I got some of yours by mistake, too. They keep doing that.”

  He shrugged, giving her a sly smile. “Lowkey, that never used to happen before you showed up.”

  She mumbled a remorseful apology and he laughed it off.

  “Not a problem, let me finish this and–”

  “We’re in a rush,” Dante commented flatly, scanning the laundry still in her neighbor's basket.

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  She elbowed Dante in the stomach and gave a weak smile towards Dontrell.

  “Okay… well, if you’ll watch these, I'll–”

  “Oh, yeah, sure.” Eva nodded quickly. “Dante’ll watch these and I’ll come with you. I want to ask you more about the break-in anyway.”

  Dante began to protest as she took the man’s laundry basket and placed it in his hands while talking over him. She began escorting her friend, her first friend in years, out of the room without a glance back.

  “Your boyfriend is kind of, um, well…” When Dontrell failed to find the correct word, Eva supplied a few.

  “Tense? Serious?” She nodded before realizing what he'd called Dante. “And he's not my boyfriend.”

  He chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck again, shifting his brown locs. “Yeah? Okay, but seriously, I haven’t seen you in a couple days, everything good? You cool?”

  “I mean, ye–yeah, it’s been – yeah, I’m straight.” She tried to hide her lie with a smile, but her stammer caused him to arch a bushy brow. She tried again but with more confidence in her lie. “Yes, I’m fine. Just some, um, family issues.”

  “I bet this break-in isn’t helping either.” He opened the door for her and she noticed the interest in his brown eyes as she walked through. She knew her dress was the cause, that or the fishnets and heels.

  The last few times he'd seen her she'd either been sweaty from moving or dressed down in comfortable clothes that her mother would describe as tomboyish.

  She remembered the night he'd found her in the hidden garden at the back of the building. She'd been tired from lugging the kitchen table she'd found someone selling online and was enjoying her book when she'd fallen asleep in one of the egg chairs. Just as he'd been nice enough to help her move some of her stuff on the day she'd arrived, he'd been nice enough to wake her before it got too late. He'd offered to walk her back up to her place.

  She'd noticed the interest in his eyes that night as well, even when she was in baggy sweats. It was sweet, she'd never really caught the attention of anyone before, and she'd enjoyed it. He was handsome enough, the same height, which she liked. Not that there was anything wrong with short kings, she just preferred not to look down when talking to people; it hurt her neck.

  It appeared he hadn't shaved since the last time she'd seen him, and his goatee was coiling a bit. His bronzy skin was a deep shade of dark brown, just like his eyes, and every time she saw him, he smelt like cocoa or shea butter.

  Eva nodded in response, even though it had been more of a statement and not a question. They’d finally reached the parking garage, and she hesitated before entering the dimly lit space. Since she didn’t have a car she'd only ever come down to get mail with Dontrell or help Mrs. Wells with her groceries. She’d never noticed how strange the staggered lighting was; how it cascaded an eerie warm orange glow over everything.

  Realizing she’d stopped in the doorway, Dontrell turned to assess her. “You cool?”

  “No, yeah.” She shook off her fear, knowing Dante had probably swept the area before she and her brother even arrived, and followed Dontrell to his tiny car across the lot.

  He always parked in the same spot near the handicap and it was strange not seeing Mrs. Wells' car sitting right next to it at this time of night.

  “Seems unreal doesn’t it,” he commented as if he could read her thoughts. “I just can’t believe she’s gone. You know she'd make me lasagna like once a month?”

  She nodded meekly while he struggled to pop his trunk.

  “Hey, I was thinking.” He'd finally gotten in and bent inside to find what he needed. “Now that you're settled in, and with the stress from the break in” – he fumbled around with both the junk and his words – “if you'd want to have a smoke sesh? Maybe, sometime?”

  While she would have enjoyed that since she was nearly out of weed, she knew that wasn't a possibility at the moment. She'd nearly declined but when he resurfaced with junk mail in his grasp, he gave a loud gasp with a swear.

  She also jumped at Dante's sudden appearance but gave a scowl when he tossed Dontrell’s laundry basket into the trunk. He then slammed the lid down so roughly that Eva was surprised the windows of the car didn’t shatter.

  “Jesus, where did you come from?” Dontrell’s voice sopranoed with the question and he grunted to deepen it.

  “Let's go.” Dante only gave his attention to Eva. “Your brother isn’t going to wait all night.”

  She narrowed her eyes at him but complied, to Dontrell’s surprise. His thick brows furrowed and Eva tried to soothe his confusion.

  “One of the family problems I mentioned.” She thrust her thumb Dante’s way only to have his hand wrap around her forearm roughly and pull her into his body. She gasped at her body colliding into his, and there was a protest on her lips, but he was yanking them down towards the ground in the same motion.

  She landed hard on her back, though his hand was there behind her head to prevent her skull from impacting with his swift movements.

  A loud cracking thud reverberated behind them and she turned her head to see the metal pole of a yield sign sticking from deep within the wall. He'd moved her out of the way before it could impale her.

  Dontrell screamed a profanity while also ducking for cover, but all Eva could see was Dante smirking down at her. When he'd pulled her down behind the car, he'd used his body to shield hers and she strangely enjoyed the way his body fit into hers when he'd brushed against her.

  When he knew she wasn’t harmed, he stood to assess the threat.

  Eva flinched at a loud popping noise coming from the other side of the garage. She looked up at Dante and, seeing it wasn’t from any of his weapons, she peered under the car. With every loud pop, a twilight engulfed the cars down the long corridor.

  “Stay down,” Dante ordered once the darkness met them.

  Dontrell and Eva yelped as the light above them shattered and an inhuman shriek sounded some feet away from them.

  They were engulfed in an eerie twilight from the remaining lights and Eva saw the glimmer of Dante’s raised guns just before he fired at whatever caused the scream.

  Her hands flew to her ears again at the much louder pops, like strategic fireworks. Whatever he shot at wailed in pain once hit, and she peered under the car to see it hit the ground.

  Its large body was like a dark, misty cloud, but its arms were decrepit, like dead black limbs from a dying tree. Its long branch-like fingers scraped at the ground as it collected itself and turned back to Dante, its glowing green orbs for eyes narrowing at the threat.

  Its eyes were set in a smooth ghostly skull that was visible beneath swirling, ashen, misty tendrils of hair, and its face seemed to be frozen in silent scream with a mouth so hauntingly large and black she could barely see the row of sharp teeth within it.

  When his second round of bullets hit, it shrieked again, this time vibrating Eva’s eardrums so violently she thought they’d burst. She clutched her ears tightly but kept her eyes peeled for Dante’s swift movements.

  He'd left them to advance on the creature. She could just barely make out his silhouette tousling with it. Its sharp claws scratched at the concrete as it fought him, and if it was winning, Eva couldn’t tell with Dante’s amused laughter sounding off between its shrieks.

  When something clutched her arm, she screeched but it was just Dontrell screaming into her face to follow him. She stopped her reactive struggle, but when he tugged on her arm, she pulled away again.

  “We gotta go!” he whispered fiercely, again pulling her. She almost did as he wanted but trusted Dante far more at the moment.

  Dante had said to stay down, and though she wanted to get Dontrell to safety, she knew in this darkness they were better where they were.

  He tugged at her arm again, but when the car they were hiding behind thudded, and one of the creature's claws sounded as if it was scraping the metal, she felt him push past her.

  She tried to grab his pants leg to keep him down, but he shook her loose to sprint for the way they’d come.

  The car behind her shook again, but this time Dante let out a pained grunt as the creature tackled him and the car; glass shattered in her hair. In the distance Eva could see Dante’s long sword shimmering on the ground, making him weaponless. She felt it move slowly on the car, and though she could barely see four feet in front of her face, she knew it was going in for the kill.

  The creature screeched its painful scream once more causing Eva to yelp as she made a run for Dante’s weapon. When it noticed her movement, it left Dante and came for her, claws scraping the ground behind her.

  She reached the sword first, but it must have weighed a damn ton. She struggled to lift the massive weapon and turned just as the creature reached her. Its long silver hair-like strands writhing like living vines, eyes glowing eerie green, and mouth a sharp-toothed black void.

  With long decrepit fingers, it reached for Eva's face. Before its sharp black nails could touch her, it screamed into her face, foul breath making her light-headed; she tripped over the sword behind her.

  The creature hovered over her, long clawed fingers reaching for her face again, but for some reason, she wasn’t afraid. She’d never thought much of how she’d die but she never thought it’d be mauled to death by a banshee.

  “Vomit breath!” Dante shouted standing on top of Dontrell’s nearly crushed car. The creature turned its attention back to him and Dante chuckled, spitting blood from his mouth. “Did I say we were finished?”

  He leaped for the creature and the thing did the same, only Dante landed behind it, scooping his fallen gun off the ground. As it loomed over him, he fired multiple rounds into its chest and throat.

  It fell back against the car, clawing at the green brightness coming from its chest and gasping for air just before it went limp. Dante loomed over the body and emptied the rest of the clip into its chest, for good measure.

  Dante was there immediately to steady her when she stood and wobbled, one hand to her waist and the other on the same bicep he'd clutched earlier at the bar. This time, though, his hold wasn't nearly as firm.

  “What did I tell you about staying down?” He scolded, but she could faintly sense a smile in his tone just above the ringing in her ears.

  “Could have saved your life,” she mumbled, rubbing her ringing eardrum roughly with her free hand. She moved her mouth to distort the new muteness in her left ear.

  “No,” he now snapped, icy eyes radiating as he gripped her chin roughly to look up at him. “No, you almost got yourself killed. No heroics. Your parents aren’t paying me to bring them back a dead body.”

  “Hmm.” She chuckled, a little high off adrenaline. She was also still a bit dizzy, but she couldn't tell if it was from the creature or the electricity she felt with his hands still on her. “Almost sounds as if you care. How human of you.”

  Dante's expression flickered, his eyes narrowing slightly as if she'd struck a nerve. For a moment, his gaze seemed to bore into hers, his jaw clenched in a way that made the muscles in his face stand out. Then, he opened his mouth, but didn't speak. Finally, he huffed, releasing her face and taking a step away from her. “C'mon let’s go before it reswans.”

  “Before it fucking what?!” she asked incredulously.