8. Infuriating idiot

“Lilith,” Damen scratched the back of his head, “meet Katya. She is a warrior.”

“And, Damen’s ex girlfriend,” Katya added with a grin, as if it was no big deal.

“Ex,” I emphasized, “interesting. Katya, do you know who I am?”

Damen was about to open his mouth but, I stopped him with a sharp look.

“You smell like a human,” Katya scrunched up her nose, “and, why do I smell Damen all over human scent?”

“That’s because, he was all over me,” I offered with a tight smile.

Katya’s eyes flashed with an undecipherable look, and she stepped away from Damen, looking at him with a betrayed expression on her face.

Damen sighed, running a hand through his hair, “Katya, Lilith is my-”

“Your mate?” Katya finished for him, without even flinching.

Damen’s eyes widened, “how do you-”

“That’s the only explanation for you to be hanging out with a human,” Katya replied, “I understand, Damen. You don’t have to give me any sort of explanation. I will see you tomorrow at the training grounds.”

Katya gave me one last blank look, before leaving.

“Lilith, don’t mind Katya-” Damen started but, I stopped him by raising a hand.

“I won’t.”

“Would you let me finish my senten-”

“No,” I cut him off, “I don’t want to talk about her.”

He raised an eyebrow, “Are you sure? You are not concerned about the whole ex thing?”

“I am more concerned about the fact that a girl actually dated you,” I made a face, measuring him for head to toe, for added effect.

He narrowed his eyes, “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Do you really want me to spell it out for you?” I teased, “You know you are not the dating type, right? No one in their right mind would actually date you.”

“Take that back,” he said in a low voice, taking an intimidating step towards me.

Ha! As if I would!

“No,” I stuck out my tongue at him.

His hand extended forward to grab me, and I let out a squeal running in the direction of the porch. He started taking slow deliberate steps towards me, and my heart started racing. I glanced around anxiously to seek and escape route but, all I could see were miles and miles of forest stretching on the sides and the back of the house. And, well, I obviously couldn’t take the front route, where Damen was walking towards me with a smirk on his face.

Ugh! This infuriating idiot!

“There’s nowhere you can run to, Lilith,” Damen said in a playful, low voice. My heartbeat skyrocketed.

How did we go from Katya to this, again?

I turned back around to come face to face with the front door. Pushing my luck, I twisted the doorknob, which to my utter shock turned. I let out a surprised squeal and pushed the door open, dashing inside the house.

I was momentarily blinded; because the house was plunged into complete darkness save from the light that was coming from the porch. But, man, I had no intention of risking it, so, I quickly started tapping the wall, hoping my hands would come across the light switches.

Now, I knew for a fact that if Damen wanted to get me, he would have long ago. I was pretty sure he was enjoying seeing me getting worked up over nothing. I huffed in annoyance, though, to be honest, my heart had yet not calmed down.

I heard footsteps shuffling in behind me, and my breath hitched in my throat, when I felt a warm body right behind mine. Why was I getting affected like this? Damn it!

I felt Damen’s breath fanning the side of my face, and a second later, tingles were shooting up my arms, when he took my hand in his, and directed my fingers towards the light switch.

The lights came on and for a second, I forgot about where I was. After blinking twice, I regained my senses, and quickly turned around to face Damen. He was standing just inches away from me, and his expression was unreadable. The only thing I could decipher were his eyes that were blazing with an intensity that reminded me of a stormy sea on a midnight. The kind of storm you would want to swallow you whole, no matter how destructive it was.

My trance was broken when he dropped my arm, and retracted a step. I was lost once again. What had just happened?

“I wanted to say thank you,” he said quietly, not meeting my eyes.

“Huh? For what?” I asked in confusion.

“For…not making a fuss about Katya and being understanding,” he looked up, giving me a slight smile.

I sighed, “Why would I make a fuss? She is your ex, which means there’s nothing between the two of you now. I don’t care about who you dated in the past. The present in all that matters.”

“My present and future consists only of one girl,” he said seriously, “so, you don’t have to worry about anything.”

I waved a hand, “Yeah, yeah, I know. As much as I hate this mate thing, I know that you all take it very seriously. That’s the only good thing in this, if you ask me. No insecurities about your boyfriend cheating on you.”

Damen’s face instantly brightened and his lips twitched, “So, you are saying I am your boyfriend?”

Heat crept up to my face instantly, “What? I never said that! Stop twisting my words, you- you infuriating idiot!”

“Tsk, tsk, Lilith, you shouldn’t be calling your boyfriend such bad names,” he said, his eyes glinting playfully.

“You are not my boyfriend! Get away!” I yelled at his face, trying to control my burning face, and moved past him, shoving his shoulder for a good measure.

***

I was lounging on the living room couch, after Damen had given me the tour of the whole house. Actually, it was more like, Damen was dragging me along the whole house, while I just nodded lazily at everything he pointed to. I couldn’t help it, I was so tired. Damen’s eyes softened when he saw me yawning and he asked me to get some rest while he went somewhere to take care of some important business.

Now, I am a paranoid person. Like a really paranoid one. I couldn’t fall asleep in a house where I was all alone. Not to mention it was completely new place- scratch that, a completely new realm, for me. So, I decided to spend time watching TV, while waiting for Damen. He had promised to return in an hour or so.

I was in the middle of a very important scene, one where the girl was about to do a stupid thing and let the monster inside her house, when the doorbell suddenly went off and I jumped in fright. It took me a moment to compose myself. Damn, I loved horror movies, but, sometimes they could be scary.

I peeped through the peephole to see who it was. When Trent’s face came into my view, I relaxed and opened the door.

Trent bowed his head, causing me to roll my eyes.

“Please, you don’t need those formalities with me,” I shook my head, “makes me feel really weird.”

Trent gave me a grin, “You are such a chill person. Are all humans like that?”

I ushered him to come in and shrugged, “I guess, most of them,”

“Um, I am here to convey an important message from Lord Markos,” Trent said hesitantly.

I frowned, “who is that?”

“Prince Damen’s father,” Trent winced, “the present ruler of the night court.”

“Ew, did you just call Damen a prince?” I made a face, “ugh, this is so weird. Anyway, what is the message from Damen’s father? And, why is he not here himself?”

“Uh, he is the ruler, he isn’t supposed to come himself for such trivial messages,” Trent said in a matter of fact way, “anyway, he wants you to be prepared for tomorrow’s training. You have one week to prepare before the first match.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” I raised a hand, “hold up. Training? Match? One week?”

Trent nodded, “Damen didn’t tell you? The only way that a human is ever accepted in the supernatural realm is by proving their worth and strength. And, even though, you are a special case, no exceptions can be made. You will have a week to prepare and train yourself before you will be subjected to a series of tests, which you have to pass.”

“And, what happens if I don’t pass?” I asked, still trying to digest all that information.

Trent swallowed, “It’s either you pass or lose your life trying.”