Chapter 37 First Day
I swallow, whilst my eyes appraise him.
He’s ridiculous .
Wearing a new suit in his trademark slate colour, tailored perfectly for his broad shoulders, enhancing the hard edges of his body as he fluidly moves into the room. His hair is brushed back in soft waves, the silver flash mixing with his dark strands as he runs a hand through it.
“No, why?” he asks, his calm, deep voice sinking into me. He barely casts a silver glance my way, registering me for scarcely a second, then he takes his regular seat at the top of the table.
Without a word.
A cold ache quells some of the heat previously coursing through me. Ezekial doesn’t look at me again, at all, continuing his conversation as though I’m not visible. His annoyance clear with each response.
When the ache continues to grow, I busy myself by tearing apart the uneaten pastry. My phone vibrates in my lap and I peer down at the new message.
“Zeek seen you yet?”
“Barely.”
I watch Ezekial from under my lashes, waiting for the phone in my lap to flash as I take another sip.
“You’re wasting my time,” Ezekial sighs, rubbing his thumb and forefinger together, making his silver rings clink.
My phone flashes.
“He’s a fucking liar.”
I frown down at my lap but when I look up again, silver eyes are locked on me. The intensity makes me wet my lips and urges me to do something, anything, to release the hold his gaze has on me .
“I’m ready to go when you are,” I say, with a small awkward smile. My eyes flicker from the deformed, half eaten pastry held between my fingers to him.
“I will, bye.” As Ezekial ends his call, and places the phone back into his pant pocket, his gaze never leaves mine. “You like those?” he asks, the slight tilt of his head the only indication to what he’s referencing. The pastry.
I simply nod and instantly wonder if that revealed too much.
When did I begin to answer their questions like this? When did the anger and aggravation these men created simply dissolve? Why was I being so… so… easy?
Alone in my room, I’m able to convince myself to be difficult, to hold onto that initial hatred and abhorrent feelings. To create barriers, be distant, stop myself from adding to the damage which was quickly becoming unmanageable.
But the moment I’m with them, with their powers caressing mine and my body urging me to move closer. My mind falters. The internal battle begins.
Even now, my skin tingles with the memory of how close Ezekial and I were last night. How this distance seemed too much, cold, painful.
“Are you feeling OK?” Ezekial’s concerned voice brings my gaze back to his.
“Yeah, yes. Sorry.” Another awkward smile as I place the pastry down, brush the crumbs from my skirt, slot the flashing phone into my bag, and stand. “I’m ready, if you are?”
I force my smile into something more but it only holds for a millisecond as Ezekial’s gaze rakes over my legs. My coils instantly form from the predatory aura permeating from him, soft and invisible as they slither over my skin.
His metallic sight glows behind silver framed glasses as they continue to scale me, pausing for a moment upon the edge of my skirt before continuing. My heart pounds under his perusal, I place a hand over my chest and feel the heavy thuds as I try to ease these physiological responses. His eyes flicker to that movement, watching the heavy rise of my chest, before, finally, meeting my gaze.
The tension is too much, my mind scrambles for thoughts, words, sentences, anything to break it .
“Is this, OK?” I ask, gesturing to myself in an even more awkward action than the stupid, little smile, not quite a curtsey but something like that.
When he continues to stare in silence, I wonder why I asked that, why did I need his confirmation? And if he said ‘no’?
Oh Goddess, if he said no… well, I think I would very much like to go to ‘the Pit’.
The silence stretches, I fidget on my feet, clasp my bag tighter to my side and then I wonder if maybe he had said something and I’d missed it, again . I feel my face redden at the thought, replaying the moment at the table when I was too busy ogling him to even hear it.
Which is when there’s a change in the air, its heavy warmth slipping into the atmosphere and swaying there. It was one that physically draped the walls within every level of the club, so ubiquitous, like oxygen, but often difficult to pinpoint or name.
With only two of us here, in this entire house, I almost shiver at the intensity of it.
“You’re beautiful.” And he means it.
A compliment I’d heard in various forms, from a variety of people, but never with the level of potency his words create.
Before I can verbally respond, he closes his eyes, rubs the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger, bumping his glasses, and whispers to himself words I can’t decipher. My body instinctively edges closer but when he abruptly stands, I flinch away.
He doesn’t see, his eyes remain closed until he’s fully stood. This time, when he looks at me, his gaze is unsteady, barely able to hold mine as he outstretches one arm and opens his hand towards me in a silent invitation.
“If you’re ready, we’ll go.”
Is he… nervous?
The thought of this powerful lord—a demon, a council member, a being of light and dark—being nervous for whatever reason makes a genuine smile break out across my face.
I take the few steps needed to close the distance, watching Ezekial busying himself with his phone, until I place my fingers into his large, warm hand.
Our powers instantly connect, swirling around each other before fading away and when his eyes finally meet mine, they meet without hesitation .
“Thank you,” I respond and his silver stare softens as it dances over my face. “Please, don’t tell Julien I said this, but he actually has really good taste.”
His small smile is deadly this close. I remind my lungs to do their thing and continue breathing.
“You have no idea,” he murmurs in response, humour tinting the words as his fingers clasp mine more tightly.
It seemed I was becoming accustomed to flitting as the room quickly morphs in size, shape and colour without even a breeze.
There was more light in this slightly circular room, and a large, dark oak desk dominated the space. Multiple towering bookcases filled the walls, all stuffed with leather bound books, some books formed makeshift towers upon the floor, others were scattered on a smaller table beside a huge leather sofa.
Beneath my feet was a hard, marble floor, one which I instantly recognised. Twisted and engrained with reflective colours: golds, blacks and greys all entwined together inside white.
When I look up again and turn, I realise why the room was lighter. The curve of this wall was entirely glass, revealing a panoramic view of the district in all its sunrise glory.
The tall mountains which encased this city seemed to shimmer under the sun like the flowers were crystals. The map Ezekial showed me last night was nothing in comparison to the small snapshot here, or even the view I’d had after entering. And this was still only part of it, a tiny snippet of this enormous city. I catch the edges of water framing the scene, it just falls out of view and I wonder how far it stretches.
“Can I call dibs on this room?” I quietly ask, still in awe of the view and unwilling to break the calm it had created.
The soft rumble of his laugh from behind fractures the calm. “Unfortunately, it’s already taken but maybe the owner will share.”
When I turn to face Ezekial, and see him propped against the once domineering desk, his long legs crossed at the ankles, one hand in his pant pocket and the other holding his phone which he studies tentatively, I realise the room clearly did belong to someone.
“This is your office?” I’m asking all sorts of brilliant and obvious questions today, so much so that I wince at the pain of my stupidity. “Of course, it’s your office,” I mumble, ignoring the way his smile seemed to widen for a moment, yet his eyes continue to explore whatever is on that irritating screen.
But it allows me to study his face again, the way the soft light of the screen emphasises the metallic glow of his gaze, the way his tongue grazes the edges of his teeth when he’s concentrating…
“Jasmine?” Those silver eyes are staring at me now, waiting, a mixture of concern and humour flickering in the air as I realise I’d just been caught staring at him.
For how long?
Before I can conjure some excuse about how the lamp behind his head was very similar to one I’d had, he moves towards me.
“Hmm?” is my wonderful reply. One which makes his eyes glimmer and that smile to become a smirk.
“I was apologising, for this.” He raises the phone in his hand to my eyeline and, thankfully, he continues to explain, “I normally have much better manners but with one council member down, I’m picking up the slack.”
“That doesn’t seem fair?” I query, watching his phone flash consecutively three times.
“It comes with the territory and it’s mainly updates, things I don’t really need to check,” he elaborates, just as his gaze hovers over the screen again.
“If it was really important, wouldn’t they call you?”
He half laughs, half sighs. “That’s exactly what they’d do but, clearly, I have a problem.”
“You like to be in control,” I conclude as his eyes flicker back to me. The greys of his irises darken and my skin feels the ghost of a breeze. “I get it.” I shrug. “We had these earpieces at the club, it meant we could talk to each other all night. It was great communication wise, kept us all safe and instantly updated, but I had a bad habit of asking for a rundown of each floor… frequently.”
His ashy brows arch, a smile playing with his lips. “The earpieces sound like a good idea…”
“That’s not what I was—” I narrow my gaze at him. “Anyway, what I’m trying to say is, I was so busy worrying about everyone else, thinking that I had to have my eyes everywhere, that I lost sight of my own priorities. Choose your own priority and focus on that before others. ”
“Are you giving me managerial advice?” The way his eyes gleam and mouth playfully smirks make his teasing clear, but it also makes my skin tingle and power flicker.
“I’m just saying maybe you should focus upon one thing at a time.” I shrug lightly, watching as his smirk widens as he taps on his screen a few more times before slipping it into his pocket again.
“You have my undivided attention, priority one.” He smirks, his eyes glowing, and when my skin flushes from the sudden crackle rushing over me, I honestly consider throwing myself out of the window.
“I didn’t mean it like that,” I quietly mutter.
He laughs and the soft, deep rumble calls me back to him. When he has my attention again, he begins to speak and I tell myself I will reframe from losing my ability to hear.
“There’s a few things we need to discuss before we take a little tour.” He studies me cautiously, I nod. “Firstly, this room is the only place in the entire building where people can flit in and out, think of it as a secret entrance/exit, and only the people who I give clearance can use it.”
“And I’m guessing that’s four certain people, including yourself?”
His lips lift slightly. “Now five, but otherwise, you’re correct.”
I nod again, instantly wondering what spell he’d used to put that protocol in place and if now was the correct time to ask him for when 'The Inferno' was rebuilt.
“It isn’t a spell,” he clarifies. I pause and tighten the mental wall I thought I’d put in place this morning whilst he continues speaking. “My power is threaded throughout this entire building. I can flit anywhere within these walls however even I can only leave from this room or the main entrance. That’s the only way to keep this a secure second exit. There’s never been a high-level security threat here but if something did happen, I’d know instantly.
If you need me and you can’t reach me here.” He points to the phone in his pocket. “Or here.” He points to the office floor. “Or here.” He finally points to his head. “I’ll be alerted in another way.”
My mouth parts slightly but I shut it quickly, hoping he didn’t realise my briefly awestruck state, but the glint in his gaze says otherwise. How exactly someone threads their power into an entire building is beyond me, but I’m desperate to know how .
“I know now isn’t the time,” I say swiftly. “But I’d love to discuss security tactics with you at a later date, before I return home, if possible.” His gaze darkens when I finish speaking, my chest tightens and I worry I’ve made him angry with my words.
I can’t feel any anger emitting from him but my empathic skills have been a little haywire lately. I swallow before lowering my voice. “Unless this is like a ‘top secret’, ‘council only’, ‘if I tell anyone anything you’ll kill me’ type thing. Then of course, my lips are sealed.” And yes, I do the action. I also did the air quotes over the phrases.
Thankfully, his darkened gaze lightens and he laughs once more. How many times has this man laughed at me since this morning? I try to laugh too but it’s a nervous ‘am I meant to be laughing too’ type.
“Those are some of the things I tell most people on their first day, normally to scare them at the prospect of me being everywhere and anywhere, omnipotent and all that— keeps people in check,” he explains, the smile never leaving his lips.
“Ah, the control thing, I see,” I add with another nod, watching as he pulls in his smiling bottom lip and shakes his head at me. I become way to engrossed by that action and nearly flinch when he speaks again.
“Secondly,” he continues and I decide I will definitely remain quiet this time. “When people ask where you’re from, why you’re here, where you’re staying, which they will, you’re going to lie.”
I slowly nod, waiting for him to expand.
“You can say you’re from the Entertainment District but do not say the club. Pick another club, a bar, something you’ll remember. For your reason? Tell them you wanted a career change, you always wanted to visit this district, you have friends here, something vague but believable. Lunar Luxury Resort , that’s where you’re staying, say it was only temporary but due to the ‘Lockdown’ the owner has allowed guests to stay for a reduced fee. If you’re struggling to… yes?”
At some point, I slowly began to raise my hand. I watched his silver gaze track the movement, his voice mimicking the slow speech of the action until I’d finally stopped. He’s fighting off a smile as he waits for me to speak.
“So, you want me to pretend I don’t know you, any of you? Sai, Julien… Kane?” I ask and he nods once. “OK, fine. The others I get, they won’t be here, but won’t people find it a little bit odd if I’m leaving your office every morning—”
“And coming here at the end of every day. ”
“Right… that’s going to look a tad strange, don’t you think?” I watch him weigh my words, his eyes narrow slightly before he moves just a tad closer.
“Why would that be strange? You’re my employee and as your employer, surely, I’ll want to know how you’re doing?” There’s a softness to his words, a lightness close to teasing.
“Every single day? Morning and night?” My hands touch the glass wall behind me and I try to remember when I’d moved backwards as Ezekial now towers before me. Unlike Julien, my neck doesn’t physically ache when I try to keep his gaze but it’s still uncomfortable and makes me feel small.
“I like control remember,” he murmurs and his gaze flashes into a storm, one that makes my coils spasm in delight and my spine tingle in anticipation.
He places a hand on the glass beside my face, lowering his head, and I swallow, his eyes drop to the action, slowly tracing back up to my mouth before meeting my sight again.
“If you’re struggling to answer anyone’s questions just remember these two things: avoid and distract. I already know you’re an expert in those.”
I’m not sure whether to be offended or complimented by his words as his slate eyes settle with mine but when his gaze drops to my mouth again, my power unwinding to meet with his, I have to push back into the glass to ensure I don’t try to close the distance.
“Thirdly, I would love to discuss our security protocols with you. In depth. Extensively. Thoroughly.” Somehow his deep voice, mixed with his precise accent, makes the words sound utterly sinful.
They become completely detached from their context and my power stirs wildly just beneath my skin, wisps floating between us, my own gaze darkening.
“Just give me a date and I’ll ensure that’s my only priority.”
His power skims over me, brushing my skin in a tantalising wave which almost has me sighing. I try to fixate on his words, words which should be completely mundane and dull but somehow have made my power flare with need.
When I’m about to propose a ‘date’, thinking this very second would work very well for me, his vibrating pocket makes both our gazes falter.
He closes his eyes. I blink several times until the room is no longer shrouded in a shadowy state. Ezekial exhales through his nose, slips one hand into his pocket and turns away.
What was that ?
I take a few deep breaths of my own, rubbing my throat which suddenly feels tight and dry. I watch Ezekial’s broad, muscular back as he murmurs something into his phone, something about seeing someone shortly. Why that makes my power bristle I have no idea.
Quicker than it began, his conversation is over and his mercury eyes are warm once again as he walks towards me. He smiles softly as he indicates towards his office door.
“Ready for a tour?”