Awakening Kiss (Watcher's Kiss Book 4) (4 page)

“Suit yourself.” He stretched one leg out on the grass. “You can hang out here all night, then start walking in the morning.”

“I’ll find a guard station or a building. There must be one around here. Somewhere.”

“You could. But did you know this place is over fifteen hundred acres?”

She swallowed.

“You’ll be walking for a long time.”

Her eyes watered. He could see her resolve faltering and, hell, he didn’t want to see her cry. The niggling knowledge crept back to his mind, that she really had no idea what was going on. A predatory demon wouldn’t be scared of being in a wooded area on Earth, especially one with no bears or wolves.

She folded her arms. “That was an asshole thing to say. And why did you follow me here? You never answered my question.”

“Enza,” he began. “I need you to listen very closely.”

“Okay.” Wariness laced her tone.

“There are creatures in our world, in our city, who aren’t human.” He left it at that, let it sink in.

“What?”
Big brown eyes widened, then narrowed as a myriad of emotion flickered across their depths. Surprise, disbelief, fear. “I-I don’t understand.”

“The things in that alley weren’t human. They opened the portal and watched you run into it.
That’s
why I grabbed you. Best case scenario, they’ve already forgotten you. Worst case? You just landed on their radar.”

C
HAPTER
4

O
H GOD.
O
H NO.
What the hell was he talking about?

Shit, shit, shit.

“What?” Enza whispered. “How…on their radar?” She scooted back on the grass, even though Rhys hadn’t moved. He scared the crap out of her. She didn’t know if he was on drugs or delusional. Maybe he had escaped from a mental health hospital. But what were her options? His stoic demeanor raised a hundred red flags. He spoke slowly, choosing his words carefully. No ranting, no overly excited gleam in his eye. That meant either he fully believed in fairy tales, or he needed medication. “What does that mean?”

“I don’t know how much attention they paid to you. But they planned to come here. Not sure why, but they intended to use that thing for themselves. Then you came along.”

“What were they?” She remembered him maybe saying elves—
elves
? Like, the kind who help at Christmas? —but if she was going to be on someone’s radar, she needed to know who.

“The ones that opened the portal were elves. Specifically, dark elves.”

“There’s different kinds?” Enza asked, despite thinking she better not, that she really didn’t want to know how far his ideas went.

“Yes. Those are the meaner ones.” His deep voice was utterly serious.

“Um, okay.”
Just play along.
“Elves. So, what else? Vampires? Werewolves?”

He nodded. “Yes. And others.”

She studied him. Even sitting down, he looked dangerous. She doubted he worked in an office. He was built like one of those Las Vegas fighters. Or maybe a hit man. “But you knew what they were?”

“Yep.”

“Is that why you intervened?” Why would he intentionally tangle with…elves?

High above, an owl hooted as Rhys sat motionless. She thought maybe he wasn’t going to answer. Then he let out a breath and nodded. “Yeah. My buddy and I-we keep an eye out for that shit.”

“Like on TV?” She scrunched her nose. “The
X-Files
and other shows with all kinds of mythical creatures?”

“No.” He shook his head. “Not really. That’s TV magic for ya.” He rubbed the back of his neck and, even in the dark, she caught the uncomfortable frown on his lips.

“How did you learn? Are you in a special secret branch of the military? Or CIA?” Questions bubbled forth as curiousity started a slow take-down of her fear. If he were crazy, he would probably enjoy talking about himself. Narcissists and delusional, paranoid people loved to have a captive audience.

“It’s a long story. Too long to get into now. Brenin should be here soon.”

She opened her mouth to argue, but he silenced her with a piercing look.

“The important thing is that you’re safe. I get that tonight was scary or freaky or whatever. Going into a portal for the first time can be terrifying.”

She grimaced. “That’s an understatement.”

“So, all things considered, you did fine. No injuries from the alley or the landing here. We’ll get you home and…” He tilted his head like he had more to say. Lots more. “And be careful at night. You don’t know what’s out there.”

“Got it.” She tugged at a blade of grass and studied him. He wasn’t acting like he planned to harm her. God knew he could have already. With his physique and close-cropped hair, he was good-looking in a military sort of way. Maybe he
was
in the armed forces. His attitude radiated protection—different from how he was at first, when he’d been almost accusatory. It wasn’t a stretch to believe he led the kind of lifestyle that required him to beat the crap out of people.

Or out of elves and vampires?

The things he said sounded outlandish. But if she were honest, she’d always held a secret curiousity about that stuff. Not to the point of fully believing it was real, but enough to entertain the thought that maybe, just maybe, there was a valid reason behind myths and the things science couldn’t explain.

She rubbed her temple. Shit, maybe this was all a dream and she’d wake up in her own bed, in her tiny apartment, with Meena calling her early in the morning to tell her the chocolate croissants were kick-ass. A girl could hope. Though she’d lost her phone. Maybe that was a dream too.

The roar of an engine cut into the calm air. Headlights pierced the night like lasers, illuminating the path for a huge black SUV. It pulled up on an access road and stopped close to where they sat.

“That’s our ride.” Rhys stood and offered her a hand up.

She eyed it, but took it. His hand was surprisingly smooth and warm. Standing next to him, she realized just how tall he was, towering over her height of five foot five.

“You okay?” he asked, genuine concern in his voice.

No.
She nodded and released his hand, feeling silly. She was definitely not okay. But she didn’t want to talk about it.

The driver’s door opened and Enza’s jaw dropped. She knew she was staring but couldn’t look away from the man who emerged, looking like a carbon copy of a Hollywood actor who’d recently portrayed Thor and graced gossip magazine covers. She fought to close her mouth. “You…you’re friends with…”

“This is Brenin,” Rhys said. “Sometimes he gets mistaken for some other dude, but we ignore that shit.”

“Hi,” Brenin said. Just as tall as Rhys, his long blond hair skimmed bulging biceps and his eyes twinkled in the light from the headlights.

“Hi. I’m Enza,” she said, trying not to sound breathless and wondering if all his friends were this big.

“Arboretum, huh?” Brenin bounced an amused glance to the tree tops. “Ready to go back home?”

“Yes. Are you sure it’s not out of the way?” She moved around the front of the car toward the passenger door. Even though she said earlier that she wouldn’t get in the car with two strange men, she would take her chances. Rhys was right, this place was huge, and she had no idea how to get out of it. She didn’t want to be here alone all night.

And something about Rhys put her at ease. She couldn’t explain it. She opened the door and stepped onto the running board, grateful some engineer had thought to include them on those big vehicles.

Rhys slid into the driver’s seat. “Not out of the way at all. We live downtown.”

“You guys live together?” she asked, unable to resist touching the buttery black leather of her seat. The dashboard lit up with all kinds of buttons and displays. Onboard navigation glowed softly, and the screen for the sound system looked like a sleek tablet.

“Yeah. I’m the best roommate.” Brenin snickered.

Rhys shot a glare to the rearview.

“Where?” Enza asked.

“East Elm. Between State and Lake Shore.” Rhys steered them onto a main road and headed toward the expressway.

“Oh.” Enza couldn’t keep the surprise out of that tiny syllable. Rhys lived in the Gold Coast neighborhood, where some of Chicago’s most expensive homes stood proudly on super clean streets. Hunting supernatural bad guys must pay very, very well. That would explain the fancy car. “You’re right. That’s not out of the way.”

They took the on-ramp and were soon driving east to the city. In the back seat, Brenin cracked his neck. Enza turned to him, remembering that if she and Rhys had left the alley, he’d been alone with the guys he was fighting. “We went into that um, portal… Did you get hurt back there?” she asked.

He winked. “Never better.”

She nodded, not wanting to know what happened to the other guys. Elves. Did Brenin zap them somewhere, or… What did they do with elves they beat up?
No.
She squeezed her eyes shut. Not going there.

Enza snuck a peek at Rhys. He looked so normal. Why did it feel like her world had turned upside down?

He shot her a glance—a smile and a question mixed in one disarmingly attractive stare. Oh boy. This night was getting to her head. She needed to say something to fill the quiet. “So, what do you do? Besides, um…” She moved her hand in a circle in the air, unsure what to call keeping an eye on evil non-human things. “This?”

“Computer coding.” He shifted lanes to the far left.

“Oh, wow,” she said. “That’s cool. Technology hates me.”

Rhys cracked a wide grin. “Ones and zeroes can’t hate anyone. They can’t feel emotion. That’s a fact.”

“Yeah, well several facts came into question tonight,” she muttered.

“Hey.” He took one hand off the wheel and she swore he was about to rest it on her leg. But he stopped, letting it hover for half a second before setting it on the center console. “Sorry. You know, it’s really just another language.”

“Pfft. One I’ll never speak.” She gazed at the mix of trees and squat office buildings flying by the window. “Everything electronic breaks around me. Apps glitch. My browsers quit, and my files don’t want to save. That’s why I went to culinary school.”

“Ah. Makes sense.”

“What makes sense?” She frowned.

“You kinda smell like a bakery.”

She gave a half laugh. “Oh. I work in one. Actually a bakery and a coffee shop. I make the pastries, so I’m mostly in the back. I can brew basic drinks, but you’re in trouble if you ask me for a non-fat hazelnut macchiato with three pumps caramel and a drizzle of chocolate sauce, upside down with extra whip.”

Rhys laughed. “That sounds like a grocery list, not a drink. People order that?”

“Yep.” She shifted her shoulders against the seat, finally relaxing a little. “You’d be surprised at the requests we get.”

“Won’t catch me ordering that. My coffee has to be black, strong, nothing in it except caffeine.”

“Now that, I can do.”

“Yeah?” His voice was surprisingly flirtatious.

“Um.” Oops. She hadn’t meant to flirt. She was just making conversation…right? Wait, maybe this was all in her head. Crap! “I mean, that’s the kind of thing even I could brew, for a customer. Who came into the shop. If I was filling in…up front…”

God, she sounded like an idiot. She swallowed and stared at the white lane dividers flashing by.

“What’s your place called? You never said the name.”

“Java Genie, on Clark Street.”

The highway angled, and the glittering, majestic city skyline came into view. The John Hancock building and the Willis Tower framed the scene, windows lit up in an impressive display, so bright they out-shone the stars.
Home.

Enza had always lived in Chicago with her mom, Concetta, moving out of their house in the Little Italy neighborhood a few years ago. Her mom had wanted her to stay, but Enza needed some space and a break from the attempts at match-making with “good Italian boys.” She loved her mother dearly, but the dates never amounted to much and she hadn’t had a serious relationship in years.

She knew her mom didn’t want her to be alone, the way
she
had been, raising Enza. Her dad had never been in their lives.

“Wicker Park?” Rhys’s deep baritone cut into her thoughts.

“Yeah. Take the next exit.” She eyed the fancy interior of the big car and idly wondered what Rhys would think of her street. It was pretty far from the Gold Coast, literally and visually. Not the nicest street, but not the worst either. The whole neighborhood was slowly growing economically, which made it affordable for her. “Have you lived here long?”

“Couple years.” He rolled his shoulders.

“I’m guessing you guys are pretty familiar with the neighborhoods?” She half-turned to the back, where Brenin sat absorbed in his phone. Colors from the screen flashed in the dark interior.

He looked up from the screen, eyes glittering. “We know it well.”

The car idled with a low rumble at the exit’s stoplight. Rhys ran a hand over his hair. “It’s good to know where you should and shouldn’t go.”

Questions about what he did bounced around in her head. But just as she was insanely curious, her brain was nearing overload. Tonight had been overwhelming and all she wanted was her bed. Quiet, cozy, and familiar. She just wanted to pull the covers over her head and be glad she was alive.

In a few minutes they reached Wicker Park, and she directed him to her apartment. To her surprise, Rhys got out and met her on the sidewalk. “It’s late. Do you have to work tomorrow?”

“No, thank god.” She fidgeted, shoving her hands into her pockets. “Looks like I’ll be at the phone store, replacing my phone.”

He grimaced. “That sucks.” He eyed her building. “Tell me you’re not on the first floor.”

“No, third.”

“Good. That’s safer.”

“I have three locks. And the door has a code.”

He scowled. “I know tonight was crazy. I want you to be careful where you go, especially at night. No more alleys.”

“Okay.” She appreciated his concern, delivered with sincerity. In the light of the streetlamp, she could see the strong line of his jaw, and full lower lip. Technically, she could say goodbye and be done with him. She had no reason to see him again.