DAUGHTER OF DARKNESS

26

She waved at me as she headed home.

I stayed in the same spot, a little lost. I had been feeling so many emotions I wasn’t used to, it was scary.

“Hey.”

Lost in thought, I hadn’t noticed someone had snuck up to me.

I turned and found Devon standing a few feet from me.

I swallowed hard as warmth spread through my cheeks. Despite my attempts to not stare at him, I couldn’t help it. The man was drenched in sweat. Black strands fell over his eyes, and his white shirt clung to his shoulder, chest, and stomach. Holy s**t, with all those muscles, he probably spent the entire day at the gym.

A sweat drop rolled down his cheek, past his jaw, down his neck, and I found myself wanting to lick—

I blinked, snapping out of it. “Hi.” I fixed my gaze on his eyes. There were only his rich, deep dark eyes. “Out for a run?”

He nodded. “Yes.”

I stared at him again. “So …”

“Right.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Hm, I … I have something for you.”

Devon

Her bright blue eyes rounded and her pink lips made a little O. A breeze blew, brushing her long brown hair back. I wanted to reach out and run my hands through it.

I shook my head. What the f**k was I thinking?

She smoothed the surprised expression from her face. “Something for me?”

“Yeah.” Why did I feel so anxious about this? “It’s in my house. Do you want to come with me and get it?”

A small knot appeared between her brows. Once more the urge to reach out and touch her, this time to smooth the knot out, hit me.

“S-sure,” she said.

I stepped to the side, allowing her to fall into step with me. Side by side, we walked up the driveway to my house. In those few seconds, the silence wasn’t awkward. It was exactly the opposite, but I couldn’t help wanting to talk to her.

I glanced at her, trying to find something to talk about. The small bag in her hand caught my attention. “Were you out shopping?”

She lifted the bag a few inches, then dropped it again. “Yeah. I found my favorite perfume in a small drugstore in town.”

“I’m assuming that’s good?”

“Yeah, it is. It’s hard to find.”

“You’re making me curious.” Which was surprising to me. Normally, I couldn’t care less about those sort of things.

Her lips tugged up. “It’s nothing special.” She fished the perfume out of the box. “See, nothing special about it.” A small rectangular glass vial and bright, red-purple liquid inside. The brand name was some farm, but the drawing on the side was well done.

“Cherry?” A cherry tree, flower, and fruit illustrated the bottle.

She nodded. “I’m addicted to it.”

I frowned, curious to smell the perfume now.

What a f*****g ridiculous thought.

Shaking my head, I went up the porch steps. I entered my password on the lock and twisted the knob. “It’s right in here.” I reached over to the side table in the foyer and grabbed it. I extended it to Kenna.

She stared at the book in my hand, her eyes wide. “How? … Why?”

“I was at the library the other day. I saw this book and remembered the one you burned the other day.”

She lifted her eyes to mine. Her stare, so surprised and unguarded and intense, took my breath away. Did she know how pretty she was? How beautiful?

The lights on the porch twinkled once. Twice. Three times.

“What the hell?” I stepped inside my house and flicked the switch. The lights were off. How could they be flickering?

Kenna grabbed the book from me, her hands briefly grazing mine.

An image filled my mind.

A young woman with long, blond hair wearing a worn beige dress, seated on a wooden bench, holding a piece of paper in her hands. She smiled at the kids in front of her.

My chest tightened as she lifted her chin. Finally, I would see her face clearly.

The image faded before I could get a good look at her.

In front of me, Kenna hugged the book. “That’s thoughtful of you.” She cleared her throat. “I-I should go now.”

Shaken by what just happened—was it the fourth time I touched Kenna and a random image appeared in my mind?—I swallowed hard and took a step back. “Yeah, yeah, of course.”

She gestured to the book. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Kenna held my gaze for a moment longer, then turned her back to me and dashed to her house. I stared after her, entranced by her and the stupid knowledge that she was wreaking havoc inside my chest. And what was with these f*****g images? Once more, I wondered if they were memories of the time I had lost, but what did Kenna have to do with them? That was three hundred years ago.

I closed the front door and went to my kitchen, where I grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and gulped it down. Running was supposed to not only maintain my human body, but clear my mind, to burn my energy so I could relax.

Yet, here I was, the thoughts in my mind reeling and turning too fast for me to try and make sense of any of it.

I opened the backdoor, leaned on the doorjamb, and inhaled the rich spring scent.

Cherry.

I stared at the cherry tree and its branches, angling over my backyard. The air was heavy with cherries.

A groan ripped through my throat.

God damn it. It seemed that the more time Kenna spent here, the more she filled my thoughts.

Trying to regain my focus and forget her for at least one second, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Surrounded by the scent of cherry, I meditated for a moment, searching for my center. I was a f*****g warrior of light and I would push this girl from my mind one way or another.

My senses rushed outward.

And bumped into darkness.

I stared at the horizon, where the darkness was hiding, just out of town.

This wasn’t good.

Tonight, I was going hunting.