The Chronicles of Koa: Netherworld

Chapter Two

The tiny waitress took his order. She made eyes at him as if Koa wasn't sitting right there. Koa shook her head. Good thing Halston wasn't her boyfriend or husband; she might have felt inclined toward jealousy. She put her elbows onto the table and drank from her small café au lait.

Koa rolled her eyes as Halston spoke in French. He told the waitress how she looked like Audrey Tatou in Amelie and the girl practically swooned. He ordered and the waitress stood there, as if waiting for him to continue. Halston smiled at her and she blushed a deep rose color.

Koa almost wished she could show her fangs to the waitress and wipe that smile off her cute little face, but she resisted. She would be good today. Leave it to Koa to contemplate outing the entire vampire race to the poor, blissfully ignorant humans.

The waitress sauntered off with a beaming smile. Halston turned his attention back to Koa. She wondered if he knew that he'd just made that woman's day.

"Why, sir," Koa said as she mocked a British accent. She put the back of her hand across her forehead and pretended to be one of the girls from her favorite Jane Austen movies. She batted her eyelashes. "Aren't you just the most charming, handsome gentleman I've ever laid eyes on? I could just hand you my sweet innocence right here on this table." She burst out laughing and Halston made a face. It was an odd smirk that showed he didn't really think she was that funny.

"Don't try a British accent... ever again, Koa." He shook his head as he chuckled to himself. "You can be so strange sometimes."

Koa shrugged. "So what? I thought you liked that about me." She smiled and leaned in, a twinkle in her eye. She loved to flirt with him above all things.

He simply stared at her for a moment. His smile faded when he looked deep into her eyes. "You look tired," he said with a curious frown.

Koa sat back in her seat. Leave it to Halston to figure something was wrong within the first five minutes of arriving. She was surprised he didn't notice sooner.

Too busy flirting with doe-eyed waitresses, she thought, taking a sip from her coffee cup.

His gaze roamed over the surroundings, checking for anything out of the ordinary. It was ironic since the two of them were the only things out of the ordinary in that place. Still, it was Halston's habit, and Koa had learned to do the same. He was a great teacher.

Koa looked up with an unamused look on her face. "Thanks," she said sarcastically. "That's exactly what I needed to hear this early in the morning. You look as if you just fell from Mount Olympus. Congratulations for making me feel like a spotted monkey."

Halston sighed. His face turned serious. This was the face of her boss. He was no longer playful. "Out with it. What happened?"

She carefully sat her cup down before her and leaned in. "Syths. Two of them. Ugly bastards, bathed in the stench of burnt coal." She grimaced at the memory. "I'd say they'd only been in our world a few hours."

Halston's eyes widened. "What?" he whispered.

Koa nodded. "They attacked me, Halston. In my house." She tried to contain her anger. She was still a bit shaken up by the whole ordeal the night before. She was lucky to have Raven. Without her Lyrinian sword, she didn't know how she could have survived.

He kept his voice steady but there was an intense look in his eyes that Koa couldn't deny.

"Are you sure?"

Koa tilted her head, giving him a blank look. "Want to go check the graves I dug for them? You know, just to be sure?"

Halston let out a long breath.