Page 18 of Torn Between Two Worlds

“Anyone ever told you that you're adorable when you're pissed off?”

She huffed and tossed the sandwich down, which only made him laugh more as he finished off his beer and popped open another.

“You do know that you're not making the best first impression right?”

She raised a brow at him and tugged at her dress, re-situating, so she probably didn't wrinkle and tear that damned fabric that wrapped around her so well.

He grinned and picked up the sandwich she’d tossed and took some. “True and I apologize. I am who I am. Ask away, sweetheart.”

That seemed to appease her because she playfully snatched the sandwich back from him and quickly finished it.

“These are delicious by the way. Okay to start. You already know I don't want you here. I'm sorry for that. I really am. It's not your fault that Alcott and I were a team. You weren't even created into existence then, based on the publication date in your book.”

He growled, and his lips pulled back to reveal the fangs.Damn her for that. Damn her for pointing out I am nothing.“I don't feel like nothing, Ciara Miller. I may not be your traditional definition of a grown up, but I have all the memories and experiences of someone many thousands of years old, and if we are going to get anywhere, you're going to need to respect that.” He softened his tone once his point was made, and did his best to uncurl his lip and retract his fangs, “Just as I have to accept that you do not want me here. Deal?”

Eons seemed to pass as she ate some of the fucking potato salad, eyes averted the whole time. She was going to be the death of him. He was going to go bat shit crazy trying to deal with her, go rush off and do something stupid that killed him.

“Well?” He was going to need to be blunt at some point, tell her the whole truth if he expected any fucking cooperation, and he knew it. Knew it and was terrified of it.

She knew she needed to answer him. It wasn't that she was ignoring him. He'd made her feel awful. All that time, all she had thought about was Alcott. Or, at least she thought it was all she'd been thinking about. How all the fun times they had planned were gone. If she'd been honest, she'd only been forcing herself to, so as not to focus on the strange date that was about to begin. She needed to grow up and accept that, for whatever the reason, Stryder was there. Not to mention, she needed to stop feeling the all-consuming need to climb into his lap, wrap her arms around his neck and slide her tongue along his lips, seeking and demanding entry.

Images conjured in her head, and she shook it forcibly to clear them. When she finally looked up, he was staring holes into her, and she swallowed. “I am sorry, Stryder. I've been very rude and callous. I don't want you here, but youare here, and rather than fighting with you until the next Guardian appears or I turn twenty-seven, we'd better call a truce.” She held her hand out for him to shake. When his large hand slipped into hers, she gasped at his touch and the sensations that swept through her. She wondered if her cheeks flushed with her embarrassment. If they did, he gave no indication he saw her.

“Sounds good, sweetheart. Now back to the point of all this. You need to trust me, hell you need to like me. So, question me.”

There was so much she needed to know if she was to trust him. So many questions and she didn't want to offend him in any way. She hated to admit it, but she cared about him. He'd already saved her once and was preparing to do it many other times when she drew out the evil from the books.

“Start with the beginning. I want to know it all. All of it. And I'll just sit back and continue to eat this fabulous picnic lunch.” Flashing a smile at him, she grabbed another sandwich from the basket. The smirk on his face didn't falter as he ran a hand through his hair, and she pictured doing it to him herself.

“The beginning was an awfully long time ago. Especially since most is in that book...” When she didn't interject, he kept going. “We were created as backups. Insurance plans if you will. Destined to take the place of the Horseman after the Apocalypse.”

She didn't mean to interrupt, and planned to let him talk and then ask questions, but it slipped out before she could stop herself. “Just why is that? What's supposed to happen to them once it starts? Your brother's book doesn't say, just that when it does, you guys take to the front lines.”

His eyes narrowed into slits, and she silently prayed she hadn't pissed him off.

“They just vanish. Poof. Gone. Their job is to start it. To set it in motion and allow hell to literally break out on Earth. Don't ask me why they poof. I don't know. Lucifer isn't exactly a chatter about certain things. Fuck, about anything. We're the insurance policy. Once shit hits the fan, we're the gifted demons who are supposed to be able to ensure Lucifer's win over the heavens and domination over Earth. So the deal is, he had them sleep with specific archangels and then they were, for lack of a better term, our fathers. They raised us, trained us to follow in their footsteps, and of course, we gained their…um…their talents due to DNA. After that, he plopped them into stasis to protect them. Lock and key so no one can kill them off and stop the war. For instance, the Initiative members. Who, might I add, have no intention of stopping the war, the way they tell everyone.”

He stopped to take a swig, and she realized she was leaning closer to him. It was like reading a novel, learning all of its secrets.

“Nope. They want to capture, study and emulate demons. Train them to work for them, so if the war happens, they have their own little hoard. The fuckers. They're no more pure than the demons they hunt. Not that the angels can see that shit. We only know because of the few demons that have escaped them and made it back to hell.”

The revelation startled her. They had been portrayed as so noble. She frowned a little, wondering if he had just ruined some cataclysmic secret in one of the books for her. Childish as it seemed, she had to keep reading them—it was her nature to finish anything she started. Having a living incarnation in her life wouldn't stop her from wanting that firsthand feeling that came from reading.

“Judging by that look, I just blew the spoiler of the century. Oh well, you'll live. Ready for another spoiler? We're not going to be doing it.”

She almost spit her sip of water at him. “Excuse me?”

“We aren't going to help them. We had a big talk a few thousand years ago. Humans aren't all bad. We've had sex partners, businesses partners and even drinking buddies from time to time that were human. We see no reason to eradicate or control you. We can control every other demon really, why bother? Plus, we're not too thrilled about being pawns and all.”

She could only imagine what her face looked like. A gaping open mouth and bug eyes, she'd bet. He was so different. She'd known there was a twist like that, but she assumed it came from falling in love. Otherwise, they couldn't really be romantic heroes. But that it had been the plan all along? She felt a sense of awe she didn't know how to explain.

“That is one big spoiler, Stryder. I don't know what to say. I misjudged you. Or I think I did. It's hard to say so early on. But maybe you aren't the egotistical jerk I pegged you for in the book.”

He grinned so wide, she was confused. She'd insulted him, and he just smiled.

“Sweetheart, I'm every bit that. But you still picked me.”

Smugness oozed off of him as he grabbed his third sandwich and laughter erupted from her. She couldn't help it. Shehadpicked him, despite her low opinion of him, there she was having an absolutely pleasant afternoon with him and constantly having to remind herself there was no room for repeats. She loved and missed Alcott. Her behavior was just her heart’s stupid cry for help and the result of her struggle to admit she did need a Guardian after all.

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