Endless

Chapter 20

Emily

I felt Devon rubbing my back which slowly woke me up. I waited to open my eyes, enjoying the moment. But when he kissed my nose I couldn't help my lips turning into a smile.

"Good morning sunshine." He whispered, his breath tickling my cheek.

"Morning." I mumbled and slowly opened my eyes. "What time is it?"

"Almost nine, time to get up, there's something I want to do today." I raised an eyebrow at him.

"And what would that be?" I asked a little more awake now.

"Well, you might not like it." Devon started to sit up and I did the same, even more curious now.

"Alright, explain please."

"I want you to meet someone, her name is Katie annnnd she's a dove." I raised my eyebrows again. Devon had mentioned once before about doves. Humans who willingly give their blood to vampires. I also knew the humans that lived on the fourth floor were all red doves. Besides that, I didn't know much about them.

"So you want me to meet a human? Are you sure?" I said, I somewhat liked the idea but I was worried. I wanted to be able to be around humans so I could see my family again.

"I'll be there, I just want you two to sit in the same room at first, talk a little." Devon grabbed my hand and gave it a squeeze. "Nothing will happen, and if you aren't comfortable, we'll leave and try again another time." He gave me a small smile. I pondered for a second, but already knew my answer.

"Okay, I'll try. I know I need to do this." I returned his smile, trying to feel confident in myself.

"We don't have to do it tonight though, if you want to wait I'm fine with that." I shook my head.

"No, I'm fine with tonight." I leaned over and gave him a peck on the lips.

"Alright, I'll go talk to her now." He smiled and stood, I did my best to hide my nerves and be confident, but deep down, I was terrified.

                     **********

I only waited for about thirty minutes before Devon came back. While he was gone I had changed into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

"Are you ready?" He said coming over to me. I stood and shrugged my shoulders.

"I think so." I said with little confidence.

"Hey, it's going to be okay, I'll be right next to you, and if you want to leave at any point, we will." Devon smiled softly at me. "I know you can do this though, I'm not worried in the slightest."

I smiled back, his words making me feel a little better.

"Okay, let's go." He grabbed my hand and we headed out the door. We only went a little ways down the hall towards the elevator. The first two rooms of the fifth floor were conference rooms, while the other four were large bedrooms like the one Devon and I had been staying in.

We stopped at the door on the right side. Devon grabbed my other hand and kissed my forehead.

"You got this Em." He whispered, I nodded, swallowing the lump in my throat. I took a deep breath while Devon opened the door.

I took a step in, the room was simple. A painting on one side of the room with dark white walls. A brown conference table surrounded by chairs, and at the other side of the room sat a woman. She had short brown hair that kind of reminded me of Emma. She looked young, maybe mid twenties. Her smile was sweet, she looked really friendly and her dark blue eyes showed only kindness.

I took another step, this time taking another breath, I hadn't even realized I had been holding it. I caught her scent immediately, it was like freshly picked apples in the early fall and a hint of cinnamon.

I felt a small, almost unnoticeable dryness in my throat. I swallowed hard and took another breath, trying to get use to her warm scent.

Honestly, I was surprised at how easy it was to get use to it. After a few deep breaths I felt confident enough to speak.

"Hi, I'm Emily." I said, taking a few more steps into the room until I was at the chairs sitting on the opposite side of her.

"Hi, I'm Katie, it's nice to meet you." Katie said, her smile growing larger.

I returned the smile and sat down, I heard Devon shut the door and sit down next to me.

I took another deep breath, not only was Katie's scent engulfing the air around me, but now so was Devon's. However, I felt okay, I could feel the hunger deep down within me, but it didn't take control, I was the one in control.

"Are you okay love?" Devon whispered beside me. I nodded slowly, taking another deep breath.

"Soooo Katie, tell me about yourself." I said, Katie pondered for a second before speaking.

"Well, I'm twenty five, I like the outdoors and cats, ummm I'm really into art, painting and drawing." She chuckled, resting her elbows on the table. "I don't know, I'm not very interesting, what about you?"

"Oh uh well, I'm nineteen, I like reading and I like the outdoors too, but only when it's nice out, and I'm pretty big into biology, so I  guess I'm a bit of a nerd." We both laughed, I even heard Devon let out chuckle.

"Where were you born?" Katie asked, I noticed she had relaxed a bit, she seemed comfortable taking to me.

"I was born and raised outside of Bowling Green Ohio."

"Oh hey that's kinda close to here, In fact I was just in town a couple weeks ago. I was born in Columbus actually, but I moved around a lot as a kid." I nodded, wondering if I should ask why but the look on her face made it seem like that was something personal.

I took a breath, Katie's scent was starting to get a bit overwhelming, and her heartbeat was starting to ring in my ears.

I guess Devon noticed this too, because he grabbed my hand and  stood up.

"Alright well, that's enough for today, thank you Katie for doing this." Katie looked confused for a moment but ultimately nodded.

"Yeah of course." She looked directly at me and smiled. "I hope we can hang out sometime, it was nice to meet you."

"It was nice to meet you too Katie, I hope I'll see you again here soon." I swallowed hard and forced a smile while standing.

We walked out of the room and down the hall towards our own room. When we stepped inside, Devon wrapped his arms around me.

"You did so good Em, I'm so proud of you." He kissed the top of my head and held me tight.

I smiled wrapping my arms around his waist. Feeling better than I had in awhile.