It's been about a week since I vented to Alastor that night at his place. We've gotten to know each other more the last few months since we met, but mostly from my side. I still don't know much about him personally. Today on this late Monday afternoon, Alastor and I are supervising the acoustic setup throughout the concert hall and around the stage.

"Perfect! That's great!" I direct the staff who are setting up the acoustics.

That's the last of the setup.

"Alright, everyone!" I announce. "Thank you once again for your work! This portion is finished."

The group of men gather their things and prepare to take off. I'm getting my things together at a table when one of the men approaches me.

"Hey, Princess Elena," he smiles.

"Hello," I turn to him with a smile.

"I'm Trevor," he shakes my hand. "It's a pleasure to finally meet the beautiful princess of Hell."

"That's so nice of you," I shyly reply.

"Say, would you care to have a drink with me after this?"

"Hm?" I'm surprised at his request.

Meanwhile, Alastor has been eavesdropping nearby and approaches us.

"Would you care to come have a drink with me?" He asks again.

"Oh, um…" I'm a bit dumbfounded.

Behind him, I can see Alastor's red and black shadow with his glowing red eyes, glaring at the man with an evil smile.

"Actually, I have a commitment," I divert the conversation after seeing Alastor. "I'm sorry."

"No worries," Trevor shyly smiles. "It was worth a try."

"Get some rest."

"Thanks, I will," he gives me one last smile.

Trevor and the rest of the men leave the venue.

"Were you going to scare him?" I laugh.

"He was going to intervene on our business time," Alastor shrugs with a smile. "Can't have that, now can we?"

"Business time. Right," I roll my eyes at him.

I continue to sort through the papers on a table. Alastor stands nearby, thinking of bringing up Vox. He stands in silence as he thinks about how to do so.

"Tell me, Elena…" Alastor begins as he holds some papers up. "Are you familiar with a fellow named Vox?"

My eyes dart up in thought.

"What about him?" I keep reading through the papers.

"It's come to my attention that you ran into him on New Year's night."

"Oh yeah. I did."

"Are you two...well acquainted?"

"I guess you can say that."

"Well...to what degree?" Alastor sees I'm not giving him detailed answers.

"We just know each other."

"He says you're good friends."

"Pft! I don't know about that."

"Is that true?"

"We're friends," I turn to Alastor after firmly setting a paper down. "That's all there is to it. Now that you mention it, you and him are pretty good friends. Is that right?"

"He and I are well acquainted…"

"Then he can tell you more about it. Make sure he doesn't figure out that you and I are business partners. That night at the cocktail party, he was trying to figure out if I was the mystery business woman you're working with. I'd be careful if I were you."

Alastor thinks for a moment and recalls Vox's questioning the night he met with him. He agrees that he has to be careful with Vox.

"I don't know what you have planned," I settle the papers on the table. "But I'm going home to nap."

"So soon?" Alastor is surprised.

"I've been doing a lot of work with my dad on top of all this," I yawn. "I'm going to nap."

"Sounds fair."

"I'll see ya. Get some rest," I make my way out of the venue.

Alastor stares after me for a moment. He's relieved to know that I don't have any involvement with Vox other than being friends.

'Vox better just be friends with her…' Alastor thinks to himself. 'For his sake.'

Buzz buzz. Buzz buzz.

The vibration of my phone wakes me up. I'm laying on my side on my bed, completely drained, groaning a bit.

"That Angel really is a persistent fellow," I hear Alastor say as he holds my phone. "I'm sure he'll go straight to voicemail."

Alastor stands next to my bed, placing my phone on the nightstand.

"Why you're here, I'm not even gonna ask…" I groan and just turn my head away from him.

"I came to check on you," he replies. "You didn't answer Angel's phone calls. You seem a bit under the weather. I need to make sure my business partner is doing well to continue business!"

"I'm fine. Now go away…" My face is buried into my pillow.

Alastor leans over me and feels the side of my head with his hand.

"You're awfully warm," he says. "Even through my gloves."

"I'm fine…" I deny. "Just need a nap…"

"It's 11:07 in the evening. The last time I saw you today was at noon. You've had more than a nap."

"Just eight more hours…"

"That's it. You've overworked yourself."

Alastor thinks for a moment as I keep my body glued to my bed.

"You're taking a break," he says.

"I'll be good...to go...tomorrow…" I try to toughen out.

"No, you will not. You will stay home until you recover."

"Noooo…" I weakly say into my pillow.

"Get some rest," Alastor prepares to leave. "I'll see you when you're ready."

He turns to me but sees I'm already knocked out. He takes this moment to glance around my room. A collage of photos on a board on the wall catches his attention. He scans the collage, seeing a variety of photos of me growing up. His eyes land on one where I'm a toddler, crying and looking nervous. Alastor looks closely at the photo and sees white angel wings protruding from my back. He's fascinated at the sight and turns to me on the bed for a moment.

'I didn't realize you have wings…' Alastor thinks to himself as he glances at my back. 'They must be from Lucifer.'

Alastor sees he's stayed long enough having checked on me now. He heads for the balcony and carefully opens one glass door. Before heading out, he takes one more glance at me.

'Indeed you have angelic blood in you,' he thinks to himself.

He turns and closes the glass door after him.

Alastor makes his way over to the fireplace after arriving back at his estate with a glass of whiskey in his hand. The fire flickers, filling up the silence in the living area. Alastor sips from his whiskey as he's in thought.

'I hope she'll be alright…' he thinks to himself. 'She's been overworking herself with our venue and the business dealings with her father.'

Alastor realizes his thinking and shakes his head.

"What am I thinking?" He says aloud. "Since when the hell do I care about her well-being? I'm supposed to be putting on a facade until this whole business launches."

He takes a sip from his whiskey.

"I'm only using her for her family name and status," he continues. "It's more than enough to have a successful launch of the venue. Once it's up and running, I'll cut her off from the business and reap all the benefits myself."

He gazes down for a moment in silence.

"But is that how I truly feel?" He asks.

He recalls images of my genuine smile and laugh. Our time dancing and playing instruments together play in his head. He can't help but crack a loving smile.

"It seems she's having an affect on me…" he says. "But even so...she wouldn't bother with me. My reputation unfortunately precedes me in this circumstance…"

He drinks from his whiskey.

"Even so, if she were to find out who I truly am…" he continues. "The kind of person I was during my human life...who knows if she'd still see me the same way."

He glances up at the animal skulls that are mounted above the fireplace.