Breathe, one, two, three.

Flurries of dizziness washed through Eva. Steadying herself, she let her eyes adapt to the softly lit room. It was clear from the large bed before her he had teleported them to a bedroom. She gulped, pulling her hand from his.

Azrael surveyed her anxiety, amused. He too experienced an unease, but his did not stem from teleporting or being in a bedroom alone, with Eva. "This is where you will sleep Angel." He pointed towards the bed.

"And where do you sleep?" Eva shifted her hands, letting them rest on her hips, curling her fingers.

He bit back a smirk. "Don't worry your little head Angel. But!" He lifted his finger to emphasise his point. "I warn you not to venture from this room until morning. Do I make myself clear Angel?"

Eva pursed her lips, why wouldn't she be allowed to roam freely? Well perhaps the Lupine, for one. She grudgingly nodded her head in agreement.

"Good, I will take my leave, sleep well Angel." He started towards the door.

"Ouch!"

He turned to see her hopping towards the bed. "What afflicts you?" he asked, walking towards her.

Eva sat on the soft mattress, lifting her foot to balance on her opposite knee. "Something is stuck... in my foot." The soft lighting hardly gave way for a clear examination of pain's location. Pressing her finger where the blood flowed, she winced.

"Let me see." He knelt in front of her, and without waiting lifted her foot gently, pulling it towards him.

Eva didn't move, surprised by his kind touch.

He ran his hand over the small puncture; to find the protruding object. Pressing slightly, he detached a small shard of glass. "There, I have removed it." He bent down and ran his tongue across the small wound.

Eva didn't witness his healing ability, just shocked that he had been so tender with her. "Thank you."

Azrael placed her foot down, he didn't glance up, the unease he felt earlier intensified as her blood set alight each nerve on his tongue. It fizzled, sparking, releasing a taste that made his hairs stand on end. Hastily he stood and made his retreat. "Good night Evangeline."

"Oh, okay." He had never called her by her name, but she liked the sound of it from him. Really, he only said my name.

As he closed the door, Eva lifted her foot, running her finger over where the pain had been. "Strange." Putting it down, she didn't give it another thought as she peered around the room. Her eyes lit up as she saw the outline of a suitcase placed in front of a huge wardrobe. "Yes!" she quickly hurried over, kneeling in front of it and unzipping, shuffling backward slightly.

Pulling out clothes, shoes and then to her surprise she came across a mobile phone, it wasn't hers – she didn't own one. She saw the note next to it with instructions on how to use it. Following the list of commands, it wasn't long before she opened up the messages.

Kara had sent the first message. She would figure out how to reply in the morning. One other message seized her attention.

'Meet me at the wall, near the old hanging tree at midnight. I will wait.' 😘

It was from Christian. Her stomach clenched. His warning passed through her thoughts. Would he know...?

She looked at the digital display on the phone. Nearly midnight – it needed a decision.

Pushing herself up from the floor, her mind made up. Quickly, grabbing jeans, t-shirt and sneakers. She unzipped her dress, dragging it out down, kicking it to the corner of the room and re-dressed. Delighting in the familiar sense of comfort from her regular clothes.

Shunting the phone into her back pocket she slipped on her sneakers and headed to the door. Opening it carefully, she peeped her head out, looking left then right down the darkened corridors. She counted four other doors, and all seemed quiet.

Perfect.

She breathed a sigh of relief - but it wasn't her intent to exit the normal way.

Closing it quietly, she knew the house to be covered in Ivy. Heading towards the window, she opened it and poked out her head. Looking down, the height didn't faze her. Tugging at the ivy, she tested its strength, hoping it would hold her weight. Sure it would, she climbed out, sitting on the window ledge before grasping a firm hold of the Ivy's roots. She twisted her body to the side and grabbed another fist full of the ivy roots. Taking one last deep breath she let her full weight hang. Counting to three, she began her descent down.

Her heart in her mouth and her hands almost shaking she reached the bottom. Looking around she rubbed her hands on the back of her jeans before glancing up, hoping it would be easy to climb back up. How would she explain being outside if she were caught?

Ignoring her own concerns, she turned peering into the distance. The moon was full, its brightness cast her a long shadow. She took one last glance back towards the house, before she turned in the boundary's wall direction. Sensing the lateness, she ran like her life depended on it. It would turn midnight in only minutes.

The cool night air forced the hairs on her arms to stiffen but did little to dampen her excitement. She slowed as she approached the tree. Coming to an abrupt stop, she peered around, hesitantly she called out his name. "Christian?"

Silence.

Where the hell is he?

She reached around to her back pocket, perhaps she could figure out a way to send a message or call him – couldn't be that hard, surely?

A sudden intake of breath, she stumbled backwards as Christian landed in front of her from the branches above her.

Eva dropped the phone.

"Hey princess." His smile slightly crooked in the darkness.

Eva huffed bending down to retrieve it. "Are you trying to frighten me?" In the moonlight the lines on his face were fine and sharp, his amber eyes bright.

Christian shrugged. "Try not to break that." He pointed at the mobile phone in her hand. "It cost me a small fortune, although I got a discount when I promised me and Seb would take the sales-assistant out for a drink and..." He stopped, a smirk lifting his top lip.

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Eva's eyes widened; a weird sensation chomped at her insides. Am I jealous?

But technically they weren't girlfriend/boyfriend and if she was being honest, she had been experiencing some strange stirrings when she thought about Azrael. She held his gaze too long as a look of exaggerated smugness danced in his eyes. It was best to ignore his remark.

Christian took a step forward. "How's it going in the demon's house?" He flicked his head in the house's direction.

"He's being nice to me, so I guess I can't complain. In fact, we just got back from having dinner."

He took another step forward; his heat steamrolled over her as he bent down, his nose running up the side of her neck. "Not so nice that you don't want to come back home, to me princess?"

"Hmm, well if you're busy out with random shop assistants, then I just might take him up on his offer."

He pulled away sharply. "What offer?"

Eva bit back her laugh, his eyes narrowed, darkening. She hoped he enjoyed the taste of his own medicine. "Oh, nothing really. Just says it's fine, should I wish to parade around in my underwear, or any clothing at all... freeing, don't you think?"

"What the fuck!" said Christian.

Eva burst out laughing "Not fun is it Christian - being teased?"

His anger swelled. "I'm telling you now. He had better not try and touch you, or fucking go near you, I will rip his fucking heart out."

He paced. "Nobody gets to touch you, only me."

"Excuse me, I- "

He cut her off. "Yeah princess, you heard right."

Eva walked in front of him as he was about to pace past her for the third time. She poked him in the chest, hard. "Listen here, mister! Nobody and that also includes you." She poked him again. "Tells me - who may touch me. It's bad enough that in a few months's time I may lose my freedom." She blew out a puff of air, before continuing. "Now what did you want? I'm not supposed to be outside, house rules!"

Her outburst didn't surprise Christian, he thought her even more breathtaking when angry. "Fuck me, you're hot when you're angry princess."

Eva's mouth popped open.

He grabbed her and pulled her towards him, crashing his lips to hers. Eva stiffened, resisting for a moment before letting her hands slide up his arms, across his shoulders and up around his neck, twisting her fingers in the ends of his hair. All coherent thought gone.

An interruption came in the form of multiple muffled voices.

"Well looksee what we have here lads."

Eva and Christian sprang apart like repelling magnets. Each dropped their hands to their sides. Christian stepped forward placing himself in front of Eva, keeping his stance wide.

Eva peered around him to see three men. The first, whose face was long, thin with a messy flop of dark hair covering one eye, had a gold coin running back and too through his fingers. He stood tall; his lanky legs swamped in dirty jeans.

The second was a young man with fairish hair and a wide square-jawed face, his face showed no signs of harshness like the other two. And the third was small, stout with hardly any hair, but a faint humourless smile spread across his face. There were strangers to her, never having seen them before tonight.

She was however sure they were demons as even with the light of moon for illumination, each had a tinge of red to their darkened eyes.

"Who the fuck are you, and what do you want? – Apart from perving on me and my girlfriend here," snarled Christian.

Eva's stomach jiggled, 'girlfriend' she had a boyfriend... a real-life boyfriend? She rolled her eyes at herself. This was clearly not the time to be thinking such thoughts.

The lanky man grimaced at Christian. "Well, looks like we have a tough one here lads, will be fun seeing his insides on his outsides."

Those words sent a rush of terror through Eva. Deep inside it drew her nerves as tight as strings on a violin. Inhaling deeply, she decided she must stand tall, let them see they didn't intimidate her. Stepping to one side she stepped forward to stand alongside Christian.

Christian's arm extended outwards stopping her. He looked down as he sucked in a deep frustrated sigh. "Run!" he whispered, his eyes wide, almost pleading.

"No, I will not," she replied, loud enough to be heard.

Christian's mouth dropped open, his hands clenched into fists. He turned his head; a cocky grin lifted his top lip. "Well ass-wipe, you can try, but I think it will be your throat I'm ripping out."

Their scowls showed they cared little for what Christian had said, but their postures spoke a different tale.

Christian shifted in an instant, his clothing shredded, dropping beneath him. He released a howl before stepping in front of Eva. His coat glowed under the light of the moon, lifting in the breeze. From his throat came a combined low growl that sounded like the roiling crash of a waterfall.

He lifted a heavy paw, padding it down on the ground scraping the dirt between his claws.

Eva looked up towards the men – they looked a little stunned but held their ground.

"Well what do we have here lads? Some strange shit 'apping, and this one got nuts in it." All three laughed, the sound carried on the breeze.

"I will enjoy killing this one," said the smaller of the three as he licked his lips.

"Remember, the girl lives," said the tall lanky one. He threw the gold coin up in the air, catching it with his left hand before slamming it down on the back of his right hand. "Head or tails lads?"

"I want the girl," said the one with the fairish hair as he puckered his lips making a kissing sound towards Eva. He reached around to his back pocket to pull an eight-inch blade, glinting the moonlight.

"You get the girl then," leave the dog to us.

Christian gave a panting dog like chuckle as he moved forward, stalking them.

All Eva's training rushed through her head like a freight train. She knew confidence was key but not too confident - that made you sloppy. Surprise was her best defence. They thought her weak, pathetic. She would show them. First, divide and conquer.

She ran.

"Shit, get her," one man hissed.

The fair hair man chased after Eva, whilst Christian went for the throat of the tall lanky one.

Eva sensed him on her tail. She purposely slowed. Even from behind the stench from his stale body odour wafted through her nose, it was sticky, sickly sweet. Her stomach rolled.

He reached out to grab her shoulder. She increased her pace just enough to create a distance before she swiftly turned.

The fair-haired man eyes flashed wide, surprised that she had turned to face him.

Eva sprang forward, leaping in the air, swinging her foot forward. She was pleased at her speed, knocking the dagger from his hand.

Her feet now firmly planted on the ground she watched. A cry escaped his mouth as he came at her, and Eva drove her knee into his stomach.

The man staggered back. But she advanced, jumped again, bringing her elbow up, she slammed it into the side of his head. Landing and bending her knees slightly she dodged his flailing arm as she reached for his other arm and spun him around, jerking him hard. Using her right leg bringing it around, she kicked to dislodged his knees, unbalancing him, he fell to the floor with a sickening crack as he groaned in pain.

Eva sucked in a breath, holding back a grin. She would rejoice later.

The man cursed, his eyes fell upon his dagger that lay close by on the ground, its blade reflecting the moonlight. "You'll pay for that you fuckin' bitch," he said.

"Not by your hand," she replied. Sensing he was about to reach for his dagger. Lunging forward, she tried to kick it away before he reached it, but was too slow as he grabbed her ankle, yanking it up, lifting her off both feet. She too now crashed to the floor, her backside absorbing the impact of the hard ground beneath her.

"Not so fast now, are we?" he gloated.

Eva could see his yellowish teeth as he grinned. She pushed back scrambling on her hands and pushing her feet into the dirt.

The man was already on his feet. Dagger waving in her direction. "Perhaps I'm not allowed to kill you girl, but I can mess up that pretty face of yours."

Think Eva!

The man advanced towards her.

She blinked, unsure with her element of surprise gone. Just her strength alone would be no match for him. She would take that chance. Just about to kick out at him. He moved sideward, or to be exact - he was yanked sideward under duress.

Eva's mouth dropped open. She watched not able to blink, listening to the screams of the man as he was being torn apart. Bile rose up her throat as his ears piercing screams were abruptly silenced to be replaced by a gurgling noise escaping his throat.

The ripping of his flesh and the snarls of the beast were far from quiet as it ripped him limb from limb. The blood glinted red under the moon, oozing outwards seeping into the surrounding dirt. She scrambled further back not wanting it to touch her.

She recognised the scales, grey, shimmering to silver now and then darkening. It was Zuul. He turned to her, the devil in his red eyes as he spat out a severed arm from his teeth, now blood red with fleshy tendrils hanging from his fangs.

She needed to look anywhere apart from the dismembered man and his body parts lay upon the ground. Move! She pushed herself up and looked to where she had last seen Christian. Her heart crashed to the floor, shattering. He was lying on the ground, lifeless. "Christian," she screamed, not hesitating as she ran towards him and the three men she saw.

Three, that's not right? She recognised the familiar outline of the third. Shit!