Page 12 of Beneath the Watching

The click-clack of footsteps followed me, and I wheeled on her. “What?” I bit out, my patience and self-control running too thin. I could’ve taken her. I could’ve dragged her willingly into one of the many empty rooms or brought her upstairs, or even brought her home where she still wouldn’t have been safe.

There was too much going on, too much to figure out, and Kiara’s untimely exit made it undeniably clear now was not a good time.

For whatever reason, I didn’t want to hurt her or disrupt her. It was out of character for me to have such tender or unselfish feelings. Bringing her into my life would almost certainly see her own cut short no matter the amount of fleeting satisfaction having her by my side would lend. It was inexplicable that I should be so caught up in one single, solitary woman and I wracked my brain trying to figure out why.

Perhaps because I’d never met a woman so calm and unaffected before, someone content to exist without the emotional maelstrom that plagued so many of her species. Calm, cool, and collected perfectly described the adorable woman who’d almost stumbled at my abrupt stop. There were others like her out there I was certain, but none wereher.

I loved how she took enjoyment from watching what went on around her, seeming to weigh and measure and watch. She likely had a wealth of information tucked into her brilliant mind, piled underneath her satiny hair. She was smart, smarter than anyone seemed to give her credit for, and I was positive people regularly underestimated her. I knew the strange statements she occasionally uttered were an attempt to keep people away but for some reason, they just made me want to get closer.

Mabel shouldn’t have noticed me the way she had; she shouldn’t have been so attuned to me or my kind. She should’ve been terrified as soon as she saw we were different, but she wasn’t.

Her hands were now flattened against my chest, the heat of her palms seeping through my layers of clothing to send my heartbeat into thundering palpitations. I’d never wanted anything as badly as I did at this very moment.

I’d noticed Julian’s burgeoning interest in her although she hadn’t, and only a precise and strategic plan for her security would be acceptable. I didn’t have that yet.

Julian rarely took notice in the affairs of man and that he’d done so with Mabel was disturbing. It was unknown to me why he’d chosen her, but I knew it couldn’t be good. I didn’t want to alert him to my suspicions, if they were true. Any move I made could give away my position on the matter and spur him to action.

The one place Julian couldn’t get to her, the Fourth Realm, was too risky due to Kiara’s antics. The last thing I needed was her securing Ramone’s attention. I seriously doubted he’d let her live and I wasn’t going to take that chance by bringing her home with me.

“I...,” she muttered, “Never mind.” Her eyes cast down and she stared at my shoes while her touch slipped away. She turned on her heel to leave.

My arm darted out, wrapping around her front so my palm lay flat below her breasts, halting her escape. This was the first time I’d ever held her this close, felt her warm flesh pressed intimately against my own. My obsession with the woman deepened instantly and it pained me to think what that meant for her.

Glancing up, she stared in fascination and leaned against my shoulder. It felt as if she were cataloguing me, committing every part of me to her memory. She made no further move to get away, our gazes fixated on the other.

This was where she’d always belonged.

Bending my neck, I savored her scent without sipping on her before I reached over and touched the onyx statue of a griffin and pet its head. The neck of the winged lion moved a fraction of an inch, and her gaze dropped to the four-foot-tall decorative piece. As I rubbed my palm down its neck, its eyes blinked at her.

She inhaled, a short gasp leaving her throat while she eyed the sculpture. I pulled my hand away and vanished, taking my exit before she had the chance to witness me leave. She’d likely noticed the waver in the air, the flickering of the space I’d taken up a half second before. I didn’t know; I’d gone home.

After fastening my clerical collar around my neck, I examined myself in the mirror. Not a hair was out of place, my skin smooth and unblemished, the stark picture of righteousness and perfection.

I grabbed the thick Bible from my desk and pulled the tug-cord on the brass desk lamp before I stepped away. My sermon notes were neatly tucked under the front cover of the book and my pen clipped to the edge of the sheath. I’d missed deliveringthe last service because I was busy attending an eventful oceanside ball and it felt good to be back where I belonged. I had the honor of leading citizens to righteousness in both the north and south kingdoms, though it was Lucian who’d originally employed me.

“Will you be a part of today’s congregation?” I asked Benjamin. He was seated on a small sofa, reading a magazine called the National Enquirer while Jack stood sentry outside the door.

Benjamin huffed. “No, of course not.” He hadn’t bothered to meet my gaze.

I bent down, pressing the golden crucifix on the necklace I’d wrapped around my wrist to his forehead. “Bless him Father, for he knows not what he has done.”

The man squirmed as I laughed. “You’re a sick fuck,” he muttered. “Asshole.”

A thrill ran through me as I nursed the small rush of adrenaline coursing through my veins. The power I wielded over many of the citizens in the Fourth Realm was a privilege I didn’t take lightly, despite the private jokes. Giving the people something greater than themselves to believe in bestowed them with a sense of purpose, and it kept them in line.

It was far too easy to instill fear over something one could not see, taste, or touch, with threats of punishment or a painful demise to inspire compliance. It kept the humans in line with little effort. Control in any form I could harness provided me with a sense of security.

“I’ll forgive you your sins when you bring me dinner,” I told him, opening the door and walking out. I nodded at Jack and strode down the hall. It was too late for Benjamin’s redemption, his family having been demons for generations, but it didn’t stop me from antagonizing him.

Truth be told, I rarely ate and didn’t expect him to bring me a meal. I mainly subsisted on the energy in the atmosphere. Many of my kind indulged regularly, dragging unwitting humans away and devouring their souls. I didn’t want to be bothered to go to all the trouble that entailed, although I fully understood the allure.

No one and nothing would control me beyond myself. It would be much too easy to get lost in a haze of hunger and lust if I’d indulged more often than I already did.

Benjamin and Jack, my personal guards, were lesser demons and indulged in live souls even less than I, not having much use for it while being able to extract the substances needed from the air the way humans did oxygen.

There was also the matter of lesser demons not needing the same amounts of energy from the atmosphere as my peers—which had its pros and cons. The cons being, they couldn’t make much use of any magic they obtained and the pros being they’d be fine no matter what disturbance altered the supply.

We enjoyed so-called normal food frequently as well but preferred the untainted fruit and meats of the Fourth Realm. Sustenance in the Third was nowhere near the quality available here, having been altered and modified with chemicals and filler to the point it was nearly unrecognizable as food.

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