"Rise and shine sweetheart," a falsely sweet voice called, dragging me out of dreamworld. We had pulled up to a nicer looking motel and Kayne looked at me amused. Considering he found everything amusing in some twisted way you should just assume he always looks that way.

"I'm not forgiving you for that," I informed him. Not that I hadn't appreciated the sleep. But one fast way to piss me off was to not let me make my own decisions. If I want to be stubborn and deny myself much needed rest then he better damn let me. He rolled his eyes.

"Come on."

I hauled myself out of the car reluctantly, nearly tripping over the edge of the car. Despite having slept about 2 hours, judging by my watch, I still felt exhausted. Kayne went on ahead inside so I grabbed my bags and followed him in. When I walked in he was already obviously flirting with the woman at the counter and I couldn't completely smother the pang of jealousy in my chest. I don't care. He's irritating, stubborn, cocky, hot…

The woman giggled sickeningly and fixed her shirt so that it revealed more, not that it did much to cover her anyway. She flipped her her over her shoulder and batted her eyelashes. And as for the amount of makeup she had on...well it looked like she had gotten gangbanged by a bunch of crayons.

She handed him a key with another giggle and he flashed that smile at her before walking in the direction of the room. Though as I followed him I think I heard a disgusted snort escape his mouth. The lady glared death at me as I walked by and I glared right back. Sorry honey, I'm not even with him and I doubt he wants a blonde bimbo like you. I tiredly dragged my feet into the room, which had two beds and a small bathroom. Kayne was lounging lazily on the bed by the window and I sat down on the other. Alright, time for some answers.

"Ok Kayne, start talking," I ordered. He raised an eyebrow, obviously waiting for me to ask something more specific. I sighed. I tended to do that a lot around him. "Fine, let's start with why the hell all these demons have decided to start attacking me now. I mean obviously I've been a witch my whole life." Kayne shrugged.

"Sorry but I honestly have no clue about that one. I'm not a witch. I can only guess that something triggered your powers and then all of the demons in Chicago could sense it. Generally witches come of magical age around thirteen. Your abilities just showed later. The problem is that while young witches are taught to shield themselves as soon as their powers manifest you had no clue about your heritage."

"Well then explain where exactly we're going," I tried. If I'm being kidnapped I at least deserve to know where I'm being taken. Kayne leaned back onto his pillow with a luxurious stretch. His movements were always graceful but at the same time had a careless quality to them. He reminded me of a cat sometimes in the way he moved and acted. Despite his lazy demeanor though, I had no doubt that he was all lean muscle underneath his black shirt. Bad thoughts, bad thoughts. Go away. Anyone that crushed on him would have to disembowel themselves with a bamboo letter opener.

"Vampires like me can use the shadows to move around. You can get places faster and even phase between dimensions if you're powerful enough. But since you're not a vampire we can't get to the witches that way. There are also a kind of common grounds for supernaturals in certain places where portals open to our dimension but there aren't many in America. So our only option is to go to a friend of mine, a witch, so he can open up a portal for us to get through," he explained.

"You have friends?" I asked spitefully and snickered. Kayne looked annoyed now. Oops my bad I thought, laughing. Anyway that was a lot of information to take in. "So what exactly is this dimension for supernaturals?" I asked.

"There are three dimensions. The one for humans, the one for all kinds of supernaturals, which is split by the major races, and the dimension for demons. We try to keep them there but a lot slip through into the human dimension." Interesting. Let's stay away from the third dimension then.

"What kinds of supernaturals are there?" I wondered. I knew of Vampires, witches and demons but what else was out there that I didn't know about? He crossed his legs in front of him.

"All kinds. There are vampires, witches werewolves, demons, Fae, Succubus, Shapeshifters, Banshees, Ghouls, wendigo, kelpies, Goblins, striga-" I cut him off.

"Ok, ok I get it! There are a lot of mean nasty things that go bump in the night," I exclaimed exasperated. I didn't ask for the whole damn dictionary. Kayne grinned.

"The supernatural dimension is ruled by the vampires, witches, shapeshifters, fae and werewolves. All the other species are minor players and pretty rare."

"So is there any truth behind the vampire myths?" I asked. "Like let's see...obviously sunlight didn't affect you."

"We're naturally nocturnal so it's just slightly irritating. We've had to adapt to human schedule. But we only need a few hours of sleep so it's not so bad. And before you ask I sleep in a bed thank you. I don't turn into a bat, crosses and holy water don't affect me, and I can roll in garlic as long as I don't mind losing friends. By the way if you ask me if I sparkle I'll kill you on the spot," he informed me. I bit my lip. Damn it. I had been looking forward to the reaction I would have gotten if I had mentioned Twilight. Because I wasn't a crazed fangirl, I was not disappointed that Twilight had it all wrong. Iz had tried to get me to read them and I had ended up cracking up and rolling around in my bed.

But sparkling aside, there goes half of my vampire knowledge out the window. I'd already established that he drank blood the hard way so I wasn't about to ask him that. "What about wooden stakes? Or a well placed pencil?" Kayne laughed.

"Thinking of getting rid of me so soon?" he asked with that blinding smile. Obviously avoiding the question. I'd take that as a yes then.

"So what can you do?" I asked.

"I explained phasing. Basically we're stronger and faster than most of the other races. We've got better senses than humans. We're telepathic so we can get into peoples heads. Plant suggestions, influence them, and…" he stopped to smile wickedly. "Read their minds." Oh God. Had he heard everything I'd been thinking during every conversation we'd had? I took his answering grin as a yes. I flushed, which made him grin even harder. I think I might die of mortification before we actually get to his friends house.

"I told you not to do that. It's not wise to tempt a hungry vampire." Now I lay down and turned my head into the pillow and screamed in frustration. Why was he so damn annoying? Uneasily I decided that if Kayne admitted to being hungry then I shouldn't provoke him.

I swung off the bed and went to the bathroom to get ready for the night. When I came out Kayne was still elegantly draped across the bed with his eyes closed. He looked…peaceful…when he did that. There wasn't a trace of the arrogance I had gotten used to. I smiled looking at him. "I know I'm gorgeous but it's rude to stare," he reprimanded without opening his eyes. Peaceful moment shattered, I threw a pillow at him. As he exclaimed 'Hey!' indignantly I hopped in bed and closed my eyes.

Some time later I woke in the middle of the night. There was a flash of panic as I looked over to see that Kayne was missing. The door to our room was open a crack so I walked over and quietly pushed it open. I wish I hadn't. I mean he had to eat sometime.

Kayne was with the woman from before and it almost looked like they were making out. But even from here I could tell that he had his mouth at her throat. He was holding on to her but it looked less like a lover's embrace and more like a snake with a mouse in its coils. The woman had her eyes closed and although she seemed dazed it wasn't anything like the ecstasy I had felt when he had drank from me.

Kayne lifted his head and licked his lips. He released the woman with an indifferent look. When he spoke it seemed to be layered with power. The voice commanded attention and she was gazing into his eyes. "You don't remember anything of course. I was never here and this didn't happen," he drawled, sounding bored.

Quickly I backed up into the room and hopped back in bed. I closed my eyes trying to rid the image of him drinking blood. I mean it was a different thing to know it and see it. When he had attacked me I hadn't really had a good view of what he was doing.

I barely noticed when he came back in. His footsteps were cat-quiet and he moved with an effortless grace. Abruptly I closed my eyes before he could notice and made my mind blank. Within moments I was asleep again.

The next morning although Kayne didn't bring it up I think he knew I was watching him last night. Since he didn't mention it I sure wouldn't. The only signs were the glances he shot me when he thought I wasn't looking and how tense he was. A coiled spring ready to shoot apart. On our way out of the motel the woman at the desk gave him a big smile. He merely nodded in acknowledgment and walked out the door. She was nothing better than a meal to him. I wondered what he actually thought of me…I hoped I was at least a little better than an entrée.

I announced that I was starving so we stopped at a little breakfast place in the next town. I ordered a Belgium waffle with the works. Whipped cream, strawberries, blueberries and of course syrup. You can't have a waffle without syrup. According to Izzy agave nectar was better and healthier but I didn't agree. I wasn't putting cactus on my waffles.

I was surprised when Kayne ordered French toast and orange juice. He looked at me. "What? Just because I don't have to eat doesn't mean I can't." He had a point I supposed.

After breakfast we were back on the road. "How much longer to your friends house?" I asked impatiently. I felt like I was going to crawl out of my skin.

"Only a few hours," Kayne replied with a straight face, the corner of his mouth threatening to twitch into a smile. I hit my head against the back of the seat with a muffled thump. I was going to die.

Finally after what seemed like an eternity we pulled up at a house right outside a small town called Akron. The sun had just sunk below the horizon, turning the sky a dull gray. The building was up on a hill overlooking the town. We both hopped out and walked up to the door. Kayne rang the bell and footsteps headed towards us. Here we go...

A friendly, ordinary looking guy opened the door. I'm not actually quite sure what I expected. Some hunched over hermit mumbling voodoo? An absentminded old wizard holding a staff like Gandalf? Some other movie cliche? However this guy was completely normal looking, with mouse brown hair and dark green eyes. He was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, looking a bit disheveled as if he had just woken up from a nap, and wearing a grin. It widened when he spotted Kayne.

"Kayne! How long's it been?" he asked with catching enthusiasm.

Kayne looked thoughtful for a moment. "I think it was 1863...in Italy..." he mused.

My eyes nearly popped out of my skull. I understood that they were immortal but when you said something like that...

The new guy shook his head. "Well I'm glad to see you again." His eyes drifted over to me and he cast a suspicious glance at Kayne.

"Who's this?" The way he was looking at Kayne it was obvious he knew how he was with women. Kayne rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"Why do you always assume I'm doing something wrong? You really have no faith in me... Tori here has half the demons in the known worlds after her," he explained. The guy's eyes widened slightly.

"I'm Martin," he told me and held out his hand. I grasped it and he shook mine warmly.

"Tori," I offered uncertainly. Martin gestured inside.

"Well come on in then! I think you have quite a story to tell me."

He turned around and walked back through the door way. I followed him through and he turned a left into a cluttered living room. It was comprised of Dark, hardwood floors, two brown leather armchairs and an equally comfortable looking couch that all faced a stone fireplace. The thing that really caught you though, was the fact that the room obviously doubled as a library. Every square centimeter of wall space was taken up by bookshelves overflowing with their contents. A few novels lay scattered across a small table, surrounding a white lampshade. Definitely an avid bibliophile. Martin walked over to the lamp and pulled on the cord to illuminate the room with a dim glow.

"I'm sorry about the mess," he apologized. "I don't get that many visitors," he admitted. When he gestured to one of the chairs I sat down hesitantly. The leather cushion was just as comfortable as it looked, a welcome relief after the long car trip. Kayne strolled over to sink into the other one while Martin sat down in the couch and fixed his steady gaze on me.

With a deep breath to prepare myself I began to revisit the last few days. I had to pause a few times to gather myself and my voice cracked when I talked about leaving everything behind but I swallowed past the lump in my throat and managed to get through the tale. When I was finished Martin sat with his elbows propped on his knees and his head resting on his laced together fingers.

"Hmmm. Well your last couple of days have been interesting to say the least," he said matter-of-fact, but not entirely unsympathetic. I got the feeling that he dealt with facts more than people. He glanced over to where Kayne had been sitting but the vampire was nowhere to be seen. Martin shrugged and turned back to me.

"Well you should get a good night's sleep. We can get better acquainted tomorrow morning and then I'll open up a portal, " he promised. "There's a guest bedroom upstairs. Second door on the left. And don't you worry about any demons showing up. One of my specialties are wards and there's no way something is getting within ten miles of this town." Reassured I gave a small smile and a grateful thank you before heading upstairs and letting my exhaustion finally overwhelm me.

A/N: So a lot happened in this chapter.

You got a bit of a background to the story and there's more coming soon.

Anyhoo reviews give me the inspiration to write so why don't you click the little blue(or purple) button down there! :)