• Chapther Six-Realizations

    "Esa, wake up. Someone's at the door," Mana hissed in my ear. My eyes darted open at the sound of a knock. I rolled out of bed, still in my club-clothes, and tip-toed to the door. Carefully peering through the hole in the door, I sighed and opened the door.
    "Didn't take you long to find us. How's Samantha these days?" James, my cousin's husband and King of half the magical world, walked in, closing the door behind him and plopping down in the only chair in the room.
    "She's fine. She sent me to make sure you two got away from the hunters alright." I sat on the bed and glared at him.
    "Yes, we did, no thanks to anyone from your side. Come on James, how hard is it for your guards to catch a few hunters?"
    "You know the laws as well as the rest of us. We can't intervene until someone comes to harm." I deepened the glare.
    "That's bullshit and you know it! You're King of half the magical world!"
    "The half that has no jurisdiction over demons; thanks so much for reminding me." His tone was faintly sarcastic, but I could tell it was pissing him off, so I eased up a bit.
    "Ok, I get it; you're doing everything you can. Thanks for what you've done, taking care of Mana and me all this time."
    "Sure, sure, no problem. We're family and all that jazz." He was silent for a moment, then dug into his coat pocket and pulled out a piece of parchment. "By the way, I ran into your dead husband in New York. He asked me to give you this when I found you. He's busy leading the others on a wild goose chase in Ireland." He handed me the parchment, which I took with shaking hands; planning on reading it later. James shrugged and sat back in his chair, stretching his arms over his head.
    "You don't seem too surprised about Lasarn. Care to share?" He shook his head, making me sigh.
    "Well, it wasn't hard to get you an apartment here in Atlanta, but hold off on moving for a few days. Laying low won't kill you."
    "Actually, I was thinking of going to California for a little while. Haven't been to a beach in years." Again, James shook his head.
    "Esa, I already have everything set up here. Do you really want me to have to do that all over again?" I sighed.
    "Fine. We'll stay here."
    "I'm sorry Esa, but this is the best we can do right now."
    "I know, thanks J." James stood up, left a piece of paper and a set of keys on the table, gave Mana and I a grim smile, and left. Mana, who had stood on the other side of the room the whole time, sat crossed legged next to me with her hands in her lap.
    "So it's back to laying low for a while, huh?" she sighed. I nodded, cracking my knuckles before standing up and digging through my duffel bag for some cash.
    "I'm going to see if we can get the room for a few more days. Don't go anywhere." Mana nodded, her mouth a gim line, and I left the room.

    The muggy air hit me like a brick wall as soon as I left the room, and my skin was clammy by the time I made it to the office. The manager was a short, fat, balding man with a horrible combover and such a thick southern accent that it was difficult to understand his perverted remarks; if you were human that is.
    I was still wearing the leather miniskirt and halter that I'd worn to the club in New York, along with fishnets and thigh-high black boots. His eyes lit up when he saw all 5-foot-9-inches of me walk into his office and his hand instictively checked his hair, grinning when I slapped the money on the counter. I rejected the urge to sink my pointed nails into his flesh when he quickly placed his hand over mine to take the money, caressing my wrist with his fingers for the shortest second before counting the money.
    "You know, this is highly uncalled for...should you want to have a little fun?" he asked, looking me up and down a few times before licking his lips. "Your friend could join us if she wanted." I ground my teeth against the string of demonic chanting that rose in my throat, and instead pulled a dagger from my boot, jamming it into the counter a hair's-width from his fingers. He swallowed hard, shaking while his abnormally tanned face went pale. I leaned closer to him, my hand still on he hilt of the half-embedded blade.
    "I prefer to pay in cash if you don't mind." His eyes looked like they were going to roll into his skull as I easily pulled the dagger from the counter and gently tucked it into my boot. "Have a good day sir."