Death's Shattered Crown

Chapter 3

How I imagine Samael ^

Rose found herself considering his question. Did she want to know who he was? Normally, she stayed out of things that didn't directly involve her. Especially when those things were dangerous and scared her half to death. But this did affect her, didn't it? He saved her life. Besides, she was thinking silly thoughts. No person could be as dangerous as she'd momentarily imagined he was, she was just being silly.

"Yes, I do want to know."

His smirk faltered slightly before he shrugged. "I told you my name is Samael. I have been investigating a string of unusual deaths, and it happened to lead me to you. That man who attacked you was a subject I was watching due to unusual behavior. It seems he was targeting you, though I don't know why."

"You were investigating? Does that mean you're a cop? You don't look like a cop."

Samael's lips twitched slightly, and Rose had a nagging suspicion he was laughing at her. "You're right. I'm not a police officer. I'm a private investigator."

"Okay, I guess that makes sense," Rose paused, thinking about what he told her about the investigation, "Wait, you said the man was targeting me? Why, if not just for money?"

"That's what I'm trying to find out. I have a reasonable suspicion that he was tied to this situation, so I need to know exactly what happened before I got there. He might have said or done something to confirm my thoughts."

He stepped back from Rose a bit, allowing her to walk into her room more fully, and gestured for her to sit on her bed. She moved as he indicated without much thought and sunk into her soft mattress. Her thoughts were a bit jumbled about the order of events because it had happened so fast. She opened her mouth, about to tell him as much as she could remember, when her door opened.

"Rose, I'm sorry—" Jessie called, stopping when she saw the tall, handsome man in her room.

"Oh, Jessie...this is an investigator. He came by to ask me about the murder since it happened when I was passing by the area." Rose jumped in, anxious. Jessie was bound to make a weird assumption, as she always did.

"Hi. My name is Samael Miller. You must be Jessie, right? Rose mentioned you."

To Rose's utter disbelief, he smiled. He hadn't smiled at her once, but Jessie walks in and he's got a full mouth smile? Even if that wasn't odd enough, his smile knocked the wind out of her. It brightened his face and turned him into a different person. Without a smile, his face was beautiful like freshly fallen snow. But the grin on his face was like sun shining on that snow. It magnified the light and blinded anyone who was watching too intently.

His handsome face and gorgeous smile obviously affected Jessie too. There was a red tint on her cheeks now that wasn't there a moment ago, and her returning smile was just a bit too welcoming for a stranger. Rose shifted uncomfortably on her bed, and Jessie finally broke free of the spell and looked at her with wide-eyed interest.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know Rose had anyone in here. It's nice to meet you, Mr. Miller. I hope you weren't expecting too much from Rose, since she didn't see anything."

Samael smiled again, blinding the room, and shook his head. "Not at all. I've been following up on leads all night and Rose here was the last of them," He turned to her, and his gaze turned colder, "Well, I'd better get going. I have to find a place to stay for a few days since I'm new to the city."

He turned to walk out of her bedroom and Jessie shot Rose a desperate look. Immediately, Rose knew what that meant. She shook her head vehemently, but Jessie rolled her eyes and turned away.