The Heart of a Warrior

Chapter 4

Callan

            We got as settled in as we could, having managed to forget our bags in the SUV. Ava leans casually on the cream-colored chaise lounge with a pale pink throw blanket tossed over her legs reading a book. Josh spotted a PS4 gaming console and is contentedly blowing up buildings in some war game that was already in the slot.

            I wander to the large bay window facing the back yard. She has a large pasture, fenced in, but I can’t see any animals presently. Running my hands through my disheveled hair I let out a long breath. We need to be checking out the activity around here not waiting for a damn car to be fixed.

            Loud barking pulls my attention from my thoughts to a large black and brown dog that goes hurtling through the grass. I have always been fond of animals. They usually make for better company than people. I stand watching the animal run and play for a few minutes before the back-porch door clangs shut.

            My eyes run the length of the woman once again. She changed, instead of her professional wear she now sports a black t shirt, black leggings that hug her curves in all the right places, and burgundy boots that come to the top of her calf. My eyes follow her as she walks confidently toward the barn and pulls the door open.

            She is out of my sight for a few minutes and I don’t like it. Just as I am beginning to get my mind out of the gutter, turning away, I catch a very large black figure dart in my peripheral. Snapping my head back toward the backyard, I see her again. She is stunning. The fading sunlight gleams on her red hair, making it shine as it billows out behind her.

            She is sitting atop a large stallion; it is a magnificent beast and the two gallop at an alarmingly fast pace. Balling my fists in fear that she is going to fall off the animal, I stand transfixed watching the two work as one. She is an excellent rider. Better than some I have seen who have been riding for many, many years.

            Her and the horse run in circles for several minutes before she swings her leg off him and drops to the ground. He nudges his face with hers and she runs her fingers up his snout.

            “She sure is a pretty one, isn’t she? And that ass.” He whistles and my jaw clenches.

I was so engrossed with watching the woman that I didn’t notice when Josh had stopped playing his video game and come to stand behind me.

            “If you say so.” Walking over to the couch and plopping down not so fluidly into the overstuffed cushions.

            “You’ve been staring at her for twenty minutes; I think you’d say so too.” He chuckles.

            “I was watching the horse.”

            “Yeah, ok man, sure you were.” He can’t hide the amusement in his voice.  And Ava lets out a little snicker from behind her book. “But if you’re not going to make a move, I just might.”

            I can feel the growl trying to break free from my throat. I haven’t been with a woman in a very long time. I’ve never been interested in anything serious with anyone I have met in my long life, but whenever I do end up getting physically involved, it turns into a mission for them to show me that they are the one for me. So, I have refrained from any kind of relationship, physical or otherwise.

            It’s nothing more than physical attraction and it will pass. Come Monday I will likely never see the woman again. Not to mention I have more pressing things to deal with, like the six-missing people within a fifteen mile radius of this place. The news says it could be linked to human trafficking or a serial abductor, they weren’t far from the truth.

            All the signs pointed to demons. The victims going missing without any scrap of evidence that they were there to begin with, a couple missing from their homes, but all the doors still locked from the inside and no broken windows. Demons liked to traffic humans in the underground.

            Humans were weak and though they may put up quite a fight, they didn’t stand a chance against demon strength or powers. And they very rarely attempt to escape because they fear what would happen if they were caught. Most of the time, the people taken are never seen again. I let myself get lost in my thoughts as I begin dozing off.