Chapter 1

She was seated on a window ledge, her legs crossed, most of her slender figure shadowed by the moonlight. Only a part of her face was visible, the moonlight spilling over her pale skin as she simply sat, waiting. Her presence was completely concealed, and so nobody knew she was there.

She began to hear commotion, coming from downstairs. She smiled. She'd expected this, and they were right on time, right on schedule. She sniffed the air, her eyes narrowing when she recognized the unmistakable scent of a Grim Reaper. She wasn't surprised at all, but even so, the presence of a shinigami raised a couple of questions in her mind.

She watched the little puppet man scurry by to safety, her dark red eyes following his every move. When he disappeared from sight, she returned her attention to the newcomers.

She'd done her homework, of course. None of them were unfamiliar to her.

Ciel Phantomhive, the earl with the Faustian contract, was the first one to emerge from the shadows. He was panting heavily, as though he'd just run up ten flights of stairs; which, she realized, he probably had. He straightened up, and his single visible eye narrowed as he saw the sight in front of him.

"More dolls?" Phantomhive hissed in anger as he saw the mindless dolls approaching him. "Grell, where are you?"

She cocked her head to one side; his demon was nowhere near him. Grell, she decided, was probably the reaper she'd sensed earlier. Phantomhive was backing up, but there was nowhere to go; he was nothing without the demon at his side.

Well, she thought, it's now or never. Your grand entrance is here.

"Build them up with iron and steel, iron and steel, iron and steel. Build them up with iron and steel, my fair lady."

She hummed along to the tune as she silently dropped from her window perch. Phantomhive hadn't yet noticed her, as he was busy trying to find a way out alive. She took another whiff of the air, and knew that his demon was rapidly approaching.

Time to work.

Before he could blink, she had dispatched half of the dolls' heads, leaving them limp on the ground, their strings severed. His blue eye went wide, and the rest of the dolls fell, a great crash echoing throughout the room.

"Who are you?"

"Indeed. I was about to rush to my master's aid, but it seems that my haste was not needed." A black-clad figure leapt down from the window where she'd been sitting merely seconds before, landing just slightly behind Phantomhive. "A female demon. I don't believe I've ever met you before."

She stayed silent; she knew very well who he was, but had never come into contact with him before. It was strange, actually, because they were both quite old, even among demons, and were near the top of the ranks. But no, they had never met.

"Answer me," Phantomhive demanded. He was clearly more confident and controlling when he had power on his side; if she'd saved him before his demon had come, he would have been cowering in fear.

She cracked a small smile. "I don't believe that's the correct way to treat someone who has just saved your life, now is it?" Before he could answer, she continued, "But I will look past that for today, so that you may continue on your quest. Your fiancée is waiting, Earl Phantomhive."

She gave him a low, sweeping bow, her hand on her chest, before straightening up and gesturing to the door behind her.

"Lady Elizabeth awaits."

If anything, she had made them more suspicious; however, the demon, whom had been named "Sebastian"by Phantomhive, put a gloved hand on the boy's shoulder. After a moment of decision, Phantomhive strode forward, walking past her without sparing her a second glance, and disappeared through the wooden door. The demon, on his heels, did send her a small look of warning, which she accepted. She had, after all, surprised them.

After a moment, she followed them, climbing another set of stairs effortlessly before entering the top floor to find Phantomhive dodging murderous blows from a blonde girl with an axe. She lifted one eyebrow; the girl was clearly acting against her will, screaming in protest as she swung at her fiancé, over and over again.

She looked up and spotted the nearly-invisible puppet strings strewn through the air. A small smirk rested on her lips. Very nice, she thought. Very well done.

But she leapt upwards, in that moment attracting the other demon's attention, and in one swift movement, she had wrenched the axe from the girl's hands with overwhelming power and hurled it up at the top of the room, where the strings were closely concentrated. The metal blade managed to cut through all the strings at once, and the blonde fell to the ground, going limp. Phantomhive rushed forward to attend to her.

Sebastian had already taken the chance and knocked the little puppet man to the ground. Upon realizing that he was merely a puppet as well, he returned to his master's side, peering down at the blonde.

She kept her distance from them, simply observing from one corner. She watched Phantomhive as he held the girl in his arms, and from far away, they looked just like a couple. She watched as, very slowly, the color returned to the girl's face, and she was the only one to detect the relaxation of his forehead.

She nearly forgot that she was more or less a stranger, and probably a threat. She remembered it when the three turned on her.

"Oh, that's right," she said, biting back a chuckle at the serious looks being directed at her. "I forgot to introduce myself, didn't I?"

The demon raised an eyebrow.

"Most people know me as Lilith of the Night," she said, before realizing that the blonde had been left out of the loop when it came to supernaturals. Well then, she thought, I'd better keep this simple. "I've come to offer you my services, Phantomhive."

"That's Earl Phantomhive to you."

"Very well, Phantomhive. Lady Elizabeth, perhaps you should take a little… nap. Just while we clean up things here."

"Don't you touch her," Phantomhive hissed. "Sebastian!"

The male demon was standing between her and the two humans in an instant, ready to go. She just raised an eyebrow, a slight breeze ruffling her ebony hair and causing her simple skirts to swirl. "No need to fear," she said, and watched as the girl's head drooped, her eyes drifting shut. She went limp in Phantomhive's arms, causing an uproar from the two men.

"What did you do?" Phantomhive demanded. He looked ready to kill. Lily wondered if she should've taken a gentler approach to this, rather than emerging out of the shadows like a demon – oh, wait, she was a demon. Nothing could be done, then.

"Just a nice sleep," she said. "We women need our beauty sleep, after all. You don't need to look so frightened, sweetheart; she's dreaming about very nice things right now. I assure you that ninety-five percent of them include you and her."

His eyebrow twitched. She held back a smirk. "Fine, then. Continue."

"With what?"

"Who you are, and why you are here. You are a demon, are you not? Why are you here, if I already have a demon at my side?"

"Because, sweetheart, the world doesn't always go 'round like you want it to. I guess you could say that I'm… insurance." Her eyes gleamed in the dark, flashing a bright red for a split second. Sebastian did not miss it.

"Stop calling me 'sweetheart'," Phantomhive ground out. "What are you going to do now?"

"I'm going to become a maid at your manor and help little Sebby here kill all the big bad monsters while you sleep – " She paused, before adding with a smirk, " – sweetheart."

Sebastian looked rather annoyed as well, clearly not taking well to the pet name. But she only flashed him a smile before returning her attention to Phantomhive, who looked as though he was stuck between yes and no.

Of course, she hadn't just spilled all her secrets out, but she was pretty sure that it was enough to convince him to let her stay. Whether he did or not would be beside the point, anyway; she would simply find another way into their lives. And he knew it.

"Fine," he finally uttered, standing up. "Sebastian, take Lizzy and get the carriage. I'm not walking all the way back."

Sebastian bowed quickly. "Yes, my Lord." He picked up the blonde and leapt out the window, running at a speed invisible to the human eye. Lily, of course, watched him as he returned to the town square and retrieved the carriage.

She glanced at Phantomhive, who was clearly uncomfortable but was trying his best not to show it. Such a kid, she thought. He was such a little kid, trying to be big; but that sort of façade wouldn't work on her.

"My name's Lily."

His attention snapped to her. "What?"

"My name's Lily," she repeated. If she was ever going to lower his walls, then she would have to do it first. If she wanted to help, then she had to show herself to him before she could. "The whole 'Lilith of the Night' thing is so overused that I want to puke. So I go around, and my name's Lily."

"It suits you," he said slowly, clearly not used to saying anything remotely nice to anybody, especially not a stranger. But, she reasoned, he was probably a little delusional anyway, having just barely rescued his fiancée from a certain death.

Sebastian was back, pulling up to the tower as she watched. In one movement, she sprinted across the room, snatching Phantomhive up as she went, and ignored his cry of surprise as she leapt out the window.

She landed right beside the carriage, her lavender dress swirling around her, and gently set the boy on the ground. He stumbled backwards, only to be caught by Sebastian. Once he had regained his composure, he sent her a heated glare.

She just smiled. "I guess I'm working for you, then," she said, swinging open the door of the carriage. "Treat me well, sweetheart."