I woke to a light knock on my bedroom door. It was too soft to be Liam's and I didn't recognize the scent of whomever stood on the other side.
It had to be Azrael's girl. I rolled my eyes at the thought of dealing with her on any level. I could always pretend to be asleep. She wouldn't know the difference.
She knocked again, slightly louder this time. Zeus grunted at the interruption of our nap. He stretched out next to me and absently licked my hand.
"What," I called.
The door opened and she poked her head inside. I had no idea what her name was. I had no intention of finding out either. I didn't care.
"Anna?" She questioned.
"What do you want?"
"I just wanted to talk. I owe you an explanation."
"What you owe me is some solitude. I don't want to talk to you. I don't care what you have to say."
She tucked her straight black hair behind her ear and fidgeted with the ends.
"I didn't know about you at first," she tried.
I rolled my eyes and slipped out of bed.
"I don't care."
"I think you do though," she said softly. "It wasn't right and as soon as I found out I told him to break things off with you."
I nodded slowly. "Like I said, I don't care. He's your problem now."
She frowned at my words. "He's not a problem. He's a gift, Anna."
I let out a laugh at her ridiculous statement. "Yeah, okay. This is what he does. Azrael is very convincing. I'll give him that."
She shook her head. "You're wrong. He regrets what he did to you."
"So? He still did it. He did the same thing to another servant here. You're just another tally mark for him. A way to pass eternity and when he finds something fresh and new he'll do the same to you."
"Are you still in love with him?"
"Absolutely not. I have someone that genuinely cares about me and respects me. Azrael didn't do either of those things for me."
As I said it, I realized that was exactly what I had with Liam. He valued me on a level that Azrael never touched. What I had with Liam was genuine.
"Are you sure you're not in love with him?"
"Would it matter if I was?"
She shrugged her shoulders and continued to play with the ends of her hair. "I don't know. Probably not."
"Then why ask the question?"
"I need to know if you're going to try to get him back."
I shook my head. "Been there done that. I want nothing to do with Azrael now or ever. Don't say I didn't warn you though."
"I wish you could understand what we have, Anna. I don't think you would be this bitter if you understood."
It took everything in me not to lash out at her. She was either conniving or completely oblivious and I couldn't decide which was the lesser of two evils.
"I'm not bitter. I don't care that he is messing around with you. He could have sex with half the planet and I wouldn't care. If you want to be with him then do it. Don't worry about what I'm doing."
"I just- I don't want this to be a competition."
I was nearly offended that she thought she was competition for me on any level. "Trust me. It's not."
She nodded absently. "I really am sorry things turned out this way."
"Okay," I responded. I just wanted her to leave. I had nothing to say to her. The only thing we had in common was sleeping with the same angel. Other than that, I didn't care to know her on any level.
"My name's Melissa, by the way."
I stared at her with as much disinterest as I could possibly muster. I wanted her to get the picture. I was done being nice to everyone and trying to see the good in everyone. It didn't get me anywhere. All it got me was heartache and a price on my head.
She waited another moment before turning and leaving the room. I knew I made her uncomfortable and I hoped that meant she just stayed away from me. I had a feeling she wasn't going to let it go so easily though. She struck me as the persistent type.
I waited until I heard her footsteps fade down the hall before I left in search of Liam. As much as I wanted to be alone, I wanted to be around him more.
I found him slowly pacing outside on the phone. He looked deep in conversation and I wasn't sure it was wise to disturb him. I knew Liam was always busy. He was king. He had a lot on his plate, but I was curious as to what he was talking about. I wanted to listen in, but I knew that would have ended in a fight with him. He wasn't the type to take kindly to intrusions.
He pulled the phone away from his ear for a moment and motioned me to join him outside. Sometimes I hated how observant he was. There was no sneaking away even if I wanted to.
I headed out the French doors and closed them behind me. It was warm out which was odd. It made me miss home though.
I crossed my arms as I watched Liam finish his conversation and slip his phone in his pocket.
"What was that about?" I asked.
"Borris again. He's really pushing us to move on the council."
"Why is he so interested? Doesn't it seem weird?"
"It does, but everything seems weird right now."
I shook my head. "I don't know who to trust."
"No one. It's just me and you, Anna."
I shrugged. "Doesn't sound awful."
He let out a laugh. "Thanks. There is a council meeting scheduled in an hour. I say we crash it."
"You think so?"
"Better if we go in prepared and catch them off guard than the other way around."
I sighed. "Yeah, I guess."
"Melissa talked to you?" He asked.
I scoffed and rolled my eyes. "Yeah. Ridiculous."
"She seems nice enough."
"Whose side are you on?"
"I'm always going to be on your side, Anna."
"Better be," I muttered.
He slid his hands over my hips and leaned down kiss me. It was still so strange to me to be open with Liam. I was so used to hiding everything that I wasn't accustomed to such public displays. Still, I enjoyed it. God, we had only been together once and I craved him every time he touched me. His hold over my body was unreal and he knew it.
"You shouldn't think those things," he mumbled against my lips.
I couldn't stop the smirk from spreading. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer.
"What if I want you to start thinking those things?"
"You're always on my mind, Anna. Everything you do makes me want you even more."
"You should act on it then."
"Trust me. After this mess is handled, I plan on it."
He pressed his lips to mine again, but a high pitched screech startled us both out of our cloud. Liam instantly grabbed my wrist and shoved me behind him while he looked for the threat. I had no idea where it came from or what produced it. I scanned the gardens, but nothing seemed out of place. Nothing charged at us, nothing changed.
"Come on," Liam said quietly.
He kept his grip on me as we walked to the castle doors and carefully entered. The strong smell of blood wafted from the closed kitchen doors. It wasn't vampire though. It was human. I groaned internally. If Melissa was dead, Azrael was going to throw a fit. I prayed for the sake of my mental state that she wasn't dead.
Liam led the way into the kitchen. He pushed the door open to reveal something out of a horror movie. Blood plopped from the ceiling and pooled on the marble floor. The walls and every countertop were covered in thick streaks of red. I had never seen so much blood before. There was no way it all came from one person.
"What the hell is going on," I muttered.
Liam left my side to go into the walk in fridge. He pulled the door open and thousands of empty blood bags spilled out.
"Someone destroyed the entire reserve," he ground out.
"Why would they do that?"
"Because they're planning on trapping us here. We need to leave now."
"What about everyone else?"
"They'll evacuate. You grab Melissa and Zeus. Meet me in front."
"But who the hell did this? Aren't they still here?"
"Anna, you'll be fine. If anything, they'll go after me first."
That was my point. I knew the mark would protect me, but he didn't have anything protecting him.
"Just, for once, please do what I'm telling you to do."
He placed a quick kiss on my temple and jetted out of the kitchen. I tried to sniff out Melissa, but with the strong scent of human blood surrounding me, it was nearly impossible.
I stepped out of the kitchen and tried to listen for her. Soft cries came from the direction of Liam's office. That had to be her. She must have been the one to stumble upon the kitchen scene.
Or she was the one that did it.
I paused for a moment. Could she have been the one to do it? She had no reason to though. She just met us. Azrael didn't like me, but he wouldn't have placed someone in the castle to add to my problems.
I headed down the hall and pushed open the thick gold door. I saw her huddled figure under Liam's desk. Clearly she wasn't the criminal mastermind. She couldn't even hide herself properly.
"Melissa, we have to go. Come on."
She froze for a moment. Her head poked from under his desk to see me. Black streaks of mascara ran down her face as she stared at me wide eyed.
"Anna?"
"Come on," I urged.
"Hello, Anna."
I cringed at the familiar voice that came from behind me. Fear and panic rushed through my body because I knew damn well there was nothing I could do to protect myself. I slowly turned to face what I was sure to be my untimely death. I never wanted to die even if I didn't necessarily fear it. I knew I hadn't been the best follower in the past few months, but I prayed I was still on good terms with God. Death was inevitable even if I was immortal.