Chapter Four

Two weeks later

Adrianna woke at the first rays of sunlight and just as always, she woke disoriented. Every morning for the last two weeks, those first seconds after sleep, she forgot that she wasn't in her tiny apartment anymore.

Quite the opposite.

Rubbing her eyes, she sat up straight in the four-poster bed, unwrapping herself from the fluffy blankets she'd been tangled up in. As her feet hit the solid wooden floors, a little smile pulled at her lips. This room reminded her off her bedroom back in Italy, back in her home. It was big and light and still so charming and rustic. The only thing that kind of bothered her was that this was obviously a woman's room... So, whose room had this been before she'd come along?

It was a question she was aching to ask him, the only trouble was that he was never around to ask questions to. And never meant never. She hadn't seen him once in two weeks. Sometimes, at night, when she couldn't sleep, she would walk passed his bedroom and listen, but she was now convinced he wasn't even sleeping in the house. So, the only company she had were the guards who stood by every exit and obviously had been given orders not to talk to her, Mike-Lucian's driver who stopped by from time to time to pick up stuff for his boss-and Daniel, his butler. Yes, an actual butler...Who still had a butler?

Yawning, Adrianna headed for the ensuite bathroom that put her little bathroom to shame. She wasn't even sure this thing was a bathroom. To her, it looked more like a spa. It had a rain shower big enough for four, a clawfoot bathtub, giant one-way mirror windows, double sinks, beautiful black and gold mosaic tiles and even a fireplace. A fireplace! Who has a fireplace in their bathroom?

As always, she took her time in the shower, letting the hot water envelop her tired body. She still wasn't sleeping more than three hours every night. She tossed and turned for hours, restless for some reason. She figured it had to do with her suspension. She should be grateful her sergeant hadn't demanded her badge and had only suspended her for a few months. After all, it meant she could still pursue Rodchenko. She had to be more careful about it, but when she finally found the proverbial smoking gun, she would still technically be a detective and her bosses would back her up. The only problem was, so far, she hadn't been able to escape her golden cage long enough to actual go after Rodchenko. It had become obvious that Lucian's guards hadn't just been ordered to guard the house; they'd been ordered to guard her as well. She couldn't deny it made her feel safe. After all, whenever she did sleep, she dreamt of Frederik being shot; of being on the wrong side of a riffle. Not that she would ever admit to being afraid, off course. What good would it do to worry others? This was part of her job, part of her DNA even. Her entire family were warriors, people who threw themselves in the line of fire to protect others and they all got scared at times. They just chose not to let fear stop them. She'd be damned if she let it stop her.

"Good morning, Daniel," she chimed when she finally made it down the long, high-ceilinged corridor and the beautiful oak staircase. Her hair was still wet, but the man didn't mind her fresh-out-of-bed look. She was sure he wouldn't even bat an eye if she walked into his kitchen in her pajamas… but she'd still decided against it and had slipped on a pair of dark jeans and a blue blouse.

"Good morning, miss-" He smiled when she cocked an eyebrow and corrected himself. "-Adrianna."

She smiled too, sitting down on one of the stools that were placed around the large kitchen island.

"Do you ever sleep, Daniel?" she asked, noticing through the glass sliding doors that led to the yard, that the sky was still orange.

"I could ask you the same thing," he said, putting a cup of fresh ground coffee in front of her.

She took a sip of the black gold and let the caffeine work its magic. Luckily, her dormant vampire genes already had some effect on her as a human. They didn't only make her stronger, they also made it so she could function on less sleep than the average human could. Still, she was dying for a night when she went to bed, fell asleep and woke up at least eight hours later.

"What would you like for breakfast today?" he asked, running a hand through his dark hair. She could see some silver sparkling through the black, but it suited him. It gave him a sophisticated look.

"What did mister Nox have?"

She could see his hand still on the fridge for a moment before he said, "I don't know. He woke up before I did."

She sniffed, mumbling in her coffee, "You're a terrible liar, Daniel."

The man's brown eyes touched hers, riddled with guilt.

"Has he been home once since I showed up?" she sighed.

Daniel turned again, grabbing milk and eggs from the refrigerator. "Please, don't put me in this position, Adrianna."

"What position?"

When Daniel didn't answer, but instead started cracking eggs right in front of her, she repeated in a firm tone, "What position, Daniel?"

He sighed, grabbing a copper pan from the hooks that hung above the marble kitchen island. "Mister Nox gave us clear orders not to speak to you about him."

She could feel her blood pressure rise. "He did what?"

How arrogant could a man be? He just presumed she'd question his staff about him? As if she didn't have other things on her mind! And, yes, sure, technically, she was currently in the process of questioning Daniel about him, but still…the nerve!

"Okay, then let me rephrase," she said, trying not to sound too annoyed. "I can ask you questions about your work here, right?"

"I don't see why not."

"Good. Then, tell me, since I've been here, has there been more than one person you've made breakfast for, yourself not included?"

Daniel hesitated for a brief moment and then sighed, "No."

She thought she'd get even more angry at that…but the truth was, it made her sad. How much did you have to dislike a person to shun your own house just to get away from them?

"Does he do that often?" she asked, hopeful. "Not come home?"

Daniel shrugged. "I don't really know, miss. Whenever he used to stop by, it was only for a few hours, sometimes a day, but then he disappeared again. I don't think he's ever been in town this long."

"He has a house somewhere else?"

"He must have," he said, his eyebrows knitting together. "I'm not sure, though. I never ask him about his personal life. I did once and he didn't seem to appreciate it."

"I know what you mean," she mumbled, that unrest growing inside of her. Did no one know who Lucian Nox truly was?

When Daniel put a plate of scrambled eggs in front of her with a few slices of bacon and tomato, she heard the front door open and hated how eagerly she turned towards the sound. Mike had come in every morning around this time and yet, she always fell for it. Why was she so keen on seeing that arrogant, rude, secretive man?

Maybe to tell him that you're not his prisoner? That rebellious voice snapped inside her head. Or that you don't appreciate being treated as a leper? Or that it's been two weeks now and you still haven't discussed Rodchenko with him once? Even if he doesn't want to exchange pleasantries, he still made a deal! The whole reason you're even here is so you both can join forces and nail Rodchenko to the wall, right? So, two weeks in, you should at least have gone over the case together by now, right?!

"I'll talk to you later," she said, jumping up, the decision made.

"But, Adrianna, you haven't eaten-"

Adrianna was out of the kitchen before he could finish his concerned sentence, following Mike.

Lucian's house had many rooms, but she'd only been in her bedroom/bathroom, the kitchen and the living room. It didn't feel right to be snooping around. Besides...every other door was locked. Not that she'd checked...every day.

When she entered the room Mike had disappeared in, her eyes had to adjust to the darkness for a moment...but once they did, she was mesmerized. Now, Adrianna had been in many offices in her line of work, but she'd never been in one quite like this. Thick, dark carpet tickled her bare feet; a chandelier dangled above her head from the high, arched ceiling and Mike was way in the back, gathering papers on the massive wooden desk that stood in front of a set of giant curtains which she suspected were covering equally giant windows. Everything was so...grant in Lucian's house.

"Good morning, miss," Mike said, looking up from his hands. She wanted to correct him, tell him again that he could call her Adrianna, but after two weeks, she'd given up. Mike was set in his ways, kept a clear line between personal and business and in his eyes, she was business.

"Morning, Mike," she sang, casting him her sweetest smile. "This is one gorgeous office."

He smiled in agreement, shuffling some papers in the briefcase he was carrying. "Mister Nox has great taste."

"He sure does," she said, trying to keep her voice casual. "This whole house is marvelous. It makes one wonder why he doesn't spend more time in it."

Mike's eyes snapped up, pinning her down with a stern look. He knew what she was doing…but that wasn't going to stop her from doing it some more.

"Oh, come on, Mike," she sighed. "He's in his club, right? Why? It's the crack of dawn! There's no one there! And it's ridiculous that you have to drive back and forth, bringing him more work when he could just work from right here. Why have this amazing office when he's not going to use it?"

"I don't know why he-"

"Yes, you do," she cut him off, casting him a warm look. "He's avoiding me."

"I'm sure that's not the case."

"Really?" she sang. "Well, then he wouldn't mind if I hopped in the car with you and paid him a visit, right?"

Mike hesitated for a moment, not sure how to wiggle his way out of that one. "He's very busy right now, miss," he decided to go with, snapping the briefcase shut. "But I'll ask him if you're allowed to stop by."

"I'm sorry," Adrianna hissed. "Allowed to?"

God, she hated that word…

"Okay, that's it!"

With her hands balled in fists by her side, Adrianna stalked towards the double doors that led outside, her blood boiling. She knew what would happen once she flung those doors open. Nox' guards would tell her to go back inside, that they had orders not to let her leave unprotected and in the past, she'd listened. Right now, she couldn't quite remember why, though. Sure, she'd still been reeling from almost being killed, from watching Frederik die, but she was passed that now. All she felt now, was blind fury. She was Adrianna Salvatore, for God's sake! She was Damon and Elena Salvatore's only daughter! Who did this asshole think he was, keeping her locked up, dictating where she did or did not go; who she did and did not speak to or about?

No!

Enough!

Flinging the doors open, she walked outside with a determined stride, ignoring both guards who were yelling things after her. She wasn't sure which part of town she was in or which direction Nox' club was, but she sure as hell wasn't going to stop and think about it.

"Hey!"

Adrianna felt a sharp tug on her wrist, a stab of pain shooting through her arm, forcing her feet to halt.

"Let go of me," she hissed at the tall, dirty blonde guard who'd wrapped his big hand around her tiny wrist, clutching it way too rough for her taste.

"We have orders to keep you inside," he barked, dragging her with him as he walked back to the house. "Strict orders."

"I don't give a fuck!" she snarled, digging her heels into the gravel of the driveway, to no avail. "You can't keep me here!"

"Watch me!"

"I'm a cop! This is kidnapping!"

He didn't seem to care very much, instead tightening his grip on her wrist even more. She could feel her skin burn underneath his fingers…and that's when her training kicked in.

Killian and Asher had never needed any real training. As pure blood vampires, skill and strength was ingrained in their DNA. It was in hers too, somewhere, but being human, she couldn't quite tap into it yet. So, since she was old enough to throw a punch, her brothers had trained her to defend herself against the things that went bump in the night…and the day.

Unfortunately for this baboon, she'd been a great student.

Controlling the instinct to try and pull her arm free, she instead relaxed and at once, she could feel the guard hesitate, surprised by her fake surrender.

That's when she struck.

Using his grip on her arm as leverage, she twisted her body and slammed her foot right into his kidney, making him crumple to the ground instantly.

As he laid on the gravel, trying to catch his breath, she noticed the keys that had fallen out of his jacket and picked them up, smiling.

"You don't mind if I borrow your bike, do you?"

The guard just glared up at her, but she ignored him, heading for the sleek, black motorcycle that was parked next to the gate.

Nice, she thought, straddling the impressive machine. No wonder Nox' guards are so loyal. He clearly pays them well.

Right before she put on the helmet that was dangling from the clutch, she heard more footsteps heading her way…but she was out of there before any of them could reach her, leaving behind nothing but dust.


"That's all you got for me?"

Hades' nostrils flared as he glared at the warlock, clutching the spell he'd given him in his fist.

"This is a run-of-the-mill incantation," Hades hissed. "Don't you think I've come across this before in every damned spell book?"

"I-I'm sorry, sir," the young warlock stuttered nervously. "But with all due respect, you're not giving me much to work with. You want to hide a woman from outside forces, but you want to make sure this woman doesn't know what you've done, which means those around her can't suddenly stop seeing her, so I basically can't hide her from the world…So, who am I hiding her from?"

"Things that are not of this world," Hades answered simply.

He couldn't give him more information than that. Sure, he could tell him that he was the Lord of the Underworld and that his brothers-Zeus and Poseidon- were trying to kill the woman he'd been having visions about for the past millennia…but somehow, that didn't seem like a very wise decision.

"I truly am sorry, sir," the boy said, shrugging. "But maybe-" the warlock frowned, adding on a whisper, "There is one book that might help. It's rumored to contain dark, otherworldly incantations. Have you heard of The Gomorrah Codex?"

Hades flicked the piece of paper against the boys chest, snarling, "Leave."

And the warlock didn't hesitate.

Had he heard about The Gomorrah Codex…

Two weeks ago, after he'd dropped Adrianna in his house, he'd stopped by the magic shop and-after arguing with Maggie-had picked up that damned codex. He'd been sure the answers would lay in there…but it had turned out that everything of interest was in some sort of code, a code that could only be cracked with a key. A key he didn't have and had no clue where to find. So, he was back to square one…and time was ticking on relentlessly.

What if you don't find a way to protect her before it's too late? What if Aphrodite was right to be concerned?

Hades forced that thought to the back of his mind once again, ignoring it just as he always did. He couldn't think like that. He was going to find a way to keep her safe. Period.

As the sound of a rumbling engine pierced the air, Hades leaned back against the wall of the alley behind his club, rubbing his eyes. Humanity was started to weigh on him. Everything felt so slow in this world. Or maybe he just needed a good night sleep. He never used to need sleep as a god. The only time he'd slept was to be with Adrianna and he'd had to drink a potion to get in that state. Now, however, he could feel how his body longed for rest, but for some reason, he couldn't provide it. If he slept three hours every night, it had been a good night at this point. His mind and body were just too restless to wind down…and he had a pretty good idea of why that was.

The memory of her flashed before his eyes, smiling, talking to him with amusement and love in her eyes…

God, he missed her. And not just the soft, gentle Adrianna he got in his dreams, but even the stubborn, rough around the edges Adrianna that existed in this world. He just missed…her.

"Sir?"

Hades straightened, turning towards the man who was leaning out of the iron back door. "Yes, Brian?"

"We have a little situation inside."

"What kind of situation?"

The man hesitated, rubbing his neck. "You should come and see for yourself."

Hades frowned, following him back inside his club, briefly halting when he heard that beautiful voice snap,

"-don't care that you're not open! I'm not here for a damned drink! It's eight in the morning! I just want to talk to Nox!"

How the hell did she get out of that house? he thought, as impressed as he was ticked off. Why did he even have security if they were just going to let her walk out, by herself?! There was a fucking killer out to get her!

"You can't just come in here, miss," Levi, his manager said in a calm voice that would no doubt piss her off even more. "You can make an appointment-"

"Oh," she hissed. "You can take that appointment and shove it up your-"

"Detective Salvatore," Hades cut off her impending insult, trying to ignore how his heart was racing the second he laid eyes on her. Why was it that every time he saw her, it seemed like he'd forgotten just how beautiful she was? And this morning, she looked extra ravaging. He could tell she'd recently showered by the vanilla scent that hung in the air and the fact that her dark, long locks were damp and sticking to her smooth skin; the jeans she's put on were tight fitting, showing off her beautiful, curvy behind and that blouse…She should never wear any other color than blue. It made those mesmerizing eyes of hers stand out even more, making his jeans tight.

"Can I help you?"

Those same mesmerizing eyes narrowed dangerously, right before she flung a helmet at him, full speed.

"Good arm," he growled as he ducked the thing just in time and heard it crash into the wall behind him.

"Oh, you haven't seen anything yet," she fumed, stalking towards him.

Levi moved to cut off her path, but Hades raised his hand to stop him. Not that he was worried Levi would hurt Adrianna. He was worried it would be the other way around.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" she snarled, her finger poking his chest. "You leave me in your house,"- Poke. "Alone-" Poke. "For weeks-" Poke. "Order everyone not to answer my questions-" Poke. "Instruct your guards to use any means necessary to keep me inside-" She moved in for another poke, but he'd grabbed her arm before she could, tugging the sleeve of her blouse up a little too roughly.

But he couldn't help it.

He was seeing red.

"What happened?" He snarled, cradling her wrist as he examined the bruise that colored her skin.

She tugged her arm out of his grasp, her eyes angry and confused. "Like I said, your guards-"

"One of my men did this?"

He could see her eyes widen a little before her eyebrows knit together. "Yes. I left and he didn't like it."

"Who?" Hades hissed.

"Silly me, I forgot to ask his name as he was manhandling me!"

"Describe him."

She huffed. "I don't know. Tall, Blonde, good taste in motorcycles, sort of looks like one of The Backstreet Boys on steroids."

Hector.

"Look, it doesn't matter anyway!"

Like hell it doesn't!

"You and I made a deal!" she continued. "We were going to work together to take down Rodchenko and so far, I haven't even seen you, let alone worked with you!"

"Actually, as I recall it, we didn't make any deal, Salvatore. I told you to get your ass in my car or I would go to your sergeant and you complied."

"You said you wanted to take down Rodchenko-"

"I never said I needed you to do it. You made that assumption, not me. "

She swallowed hard, her tiny fingers clutching in fists by her side. "You son of a-"

"Why don't we go into my office and talk," he cut her off, gesturing to the stairs.

"Why?! Afraid your staff will hear what an asshole their boss is?! As if they don't know already!"

"Office," he ordered, shooting her a stern look. "Now."

Her jaw clutched. He knew she didn't like being ordered around…but she listened anyway, stomping up the stairs, mumbling curses under her breath.

"I'll be right back," Hades said to Levi.

At least, I hope so.

"You don't need me?" She fumed the second he entered his office. "You said the whole reason you wanted me to come with you was because-"

"-I knew he would come for you," he finished. "Yes. That's why those guards are outside my house. So that when he tries anything, they can apprehend him. You're bait, nothing more."

The second he saw a flicker of sadness cross her eyes, he wanted to tell her that was a lie; that he would never use her as bait; that he would never endanger her like that; that those guards were there to protect her from any sort of harm…but he couldn't say that. It was good that he'd hurt her, that she hated him. That's what he wanted… Right?

"Please tell me that's not the extend of your plan," she snarled, her voice a lot colder than before. "You know Rodchenko isn't stupid enough to make a move on me when I'm surrounded by security, right?"

"It's not the extend of it, no." And that wasn't a lie. He was looking into this Rodchenko-character, trying to find a way to bury him…but Adrianna had been right. That fuck was thorough. He didn't leave any evidence behind.

"So, you are working on the case?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest. "Did you find anything interesting?"

"Not yet."

"Then let me help you," she tried again. "Let's go over the case together, see if I've missed anything or-"

"Detective-"

"Just think of it this way," she cut off his protest. "The quicker we nail Rodchenko to the wall, the quicker I'll be out of your life."

She has a point, a little voice argued in his head.

I can't work with her! he barked back. I can barely be in the same room with her!

Which is why you need to get this over with as fast as you can. She's clearly not going to drop it and I don't think she'll go back to your house voluntarily at this point, which means she'll go after the man who tried to put a bullet in her head by herself. Is that what you want?

Off course not!

Then, if working with her is the only way to insure that she'll stay near you and your guards, maybe you can suck it up for a few more day!

"Fuck."

"I'll take that as a yes," she said, smiling that adorable smile of hers.

"Just sit your ass down," he snapped, nodding towards one of the chairs opposite to his desk.

She listened, gathering her hair over one shoulder, making that vanilla scent grow even thicker.

"So, I should probably catch you up-"

"No need," he rumbled, unbuttoning his suit jacket as he sat. "I'm caught up."

"On what's been written in the papers, yes, but there are things we never told the press-"

She snapped her mouth shut when he pulled a file out of a stack of papers and threw it in front of her.

Her eyes wide, she opened it, flipping through it with a exasperated look. "This is my file. My personal file. The file that should be in a locked drawer in my desk back at the station. Where the hell did you get this?"

"Out of the locked drawer in your desk back at the station."

She huffed, annoyed. "How did you get this?"

He shot her a cold smile, snapping, "I have my ways. Now, let's move on. I'd like to get this over and done with as quickly as possible."

"Dito," she snapped…even though he saw a trace of hurt in her eyes again. "But just to be clear though, mister Nox; steal anything of mine again and I'll make you regret it."

He had to hold back a smile as he growled, "Noted." and watched as she curled herself into his chair and got to work.


"What about this witness?"

Adrianna glanced at the documents he was holding, shaking her head when she noticed the name. "He was a dead end. Drug dealers don't make good witnesses. Especially not those who still owe the suspect money."

He made a low, rumbling sound in agreement, flipping over to the next page. She had to give it to the man, as obnoxious as he was, he would make a good cop. Every discrepancy she'd found in eyewitness testimonies, coroner reports, DNA-results, he'd picked up, too. If there was anyone who could see something she'd missed, it would be him. Unfortunately, so far, there had been nothing...and she feared there wouldn't be anything, either. She'd gone over that file with a fine-tooth comb, so she seriously doubted she'd overlooked anything important.

"What if we don't find anything?" he asked, voicing her own worries.

She sighed, rubbing her tired eyes. The club was already preparing for opening, so it had to be late already. "Then I guess I'll have to go after more evidence myself."

His grey eyes touched hers, a trace of anger in them. "Meaning?"

"Meaning, I go back to surveilling him. It's only a matter of time before he gets that itch to kill again. Serial killers only stop killing when they're stopped by someone like me. He probably already has his next victim lined up."

"And it's probably you," he growled.

"No, I don't fit the profile."

"He kills young, beautiful women! Like hell you don't fit the profile!"

She could feel her cheeks flush. Had he just called her beautiful?

"You're not going after this guy, detective!" he added on a bark, pissing her off again.

"Yes, I am. What did you think we were going to do? Just sift through these files and read the same things over and over again until we miraculously found something on him? That's not going to happen, so the only thing that's left to do is get more evidence."

"Maybe so," he said, his voice stern. "But it won't be you who's getting that evidence. It's too-"

He cut himself off, his jaw locking.

"Too what?" she asked, her heart suddenly racing. "Too dangerous?"

Was he worried about her after all? If he was worried, he couldn't hate her all that much, right?

"Too important," he corrected her, making her false hope vanish into thin air. "I want Rodchenko for shooting at me and since you were his initial target, he probably knows what you look like. If he sees you, we can forget about this whole thing."

"Then I'll make sure he won't see me. I've been trailing this guy for years and-"

"-two weeks ago, he almost put a bullet in your head," he finished her sentence for her. "It's safe to say you didn't hide in the shadows deep enough."

She bit her tongue, holding back the profanities she wanted to spit out. "The only way you're nailing Rodchenko is with my help. I know where he goes, when he goes there, what he does, how he thinks. Besides, even if he does spot me, he won't know you're involved, so you can try it your way when-"

"-you're dead?" He gnarled, his hands balled in fists on top of his desk.

Her heart jumped again. He sure sounded very concerned about her wellbeing for someone who claimed he couldn't care less.

"I was going to say, when I take myself out of the field. This will work, trust me."

"Damn it, Adria-"

She smiled when he cut himself off. "You were going to call me Adrianna."

"An innocent slip-up, detective," he barked, adding on a snarl, "Wipe that damned smile of your face."

She sniffed, grinding her teeth. "You know, I've worked with people of all sorts, criminals mostly, and you are without a doubt the rudest man I've ever dealt with!"

"I find that hard to believe."

"And I find it hard to believe you're allowed out in public!" she spit out. "I mean, seriously... You know everyone is afraid of you, right? Your butler, your driver, those people down there-" she said, pointing at his staff below though the massive window. "That can't be your intention, right? To strike fear into others? If you just dropped the act-"

"It's not an act," he growled, raising from his chair to tower over her. He'd taken off his jacket sometime during the day and even though Adrianna was furious, she couldn't help but notice how his muscles were bulging underneath the white fabric.

"This is who I am, detective."

She huffed, standing up too, pressing her palms down on his desk as she leaned closer to him. She could see him flinch for a second, clearly considering moving away, but then he reconsidered, narrowing his eyes even more.

"Lucian," she sang, those eyes darkening. "I grew up in a house packed with Alpha Males, with people who are a lot bigger, badder and stronger than you. I'm not so easily intimidated. Or scared. So, whatever the reason you're behaving the way you are, you might want to reconsider treating me like something that's stuck underneath your shoe, because it doesn't work on me."

She could see a flame ignite in his eyes, could see his jaw set as they glared at each other, neither of them willing to break their stance first.

And then, his charcoal eyes dropped to her lips...and her body ignited. She was angry at that bastard, furious...and yet, in that moment, she wanted nothing more than to close the little distance there still was between them and taste him, feel him, touch-

"Boss?"

Adrianna jumped at the man's voice, rubbing her forehead as she took a few steps back from that desk...and the tempting man behind it.

What the hell was that?

"What is it, Levi?" Lucian growled...and she could've sworn she heard his voice tremble.

Had he felt that, too? That electricity? That fire? That screaming urge?

No.

Off course not.

If he wanted to kiss her, he wouldn't work so hard to piss her off. He'd probably just glanced at her lips because she had something on them, that's all.

"There's a problem with one of the deliveries," this Levi-person said as she ran her fingers over her mouth.

"Okay," Lucian growled, walking out of the room without another word or a single glance her way.

For once though, she was glad he was an ass. If he'd looked at her, he might've noticed her red cheeks or the way her breathing was still shallower than it should be. She'd never felt like this; like she'd just finished a marathon, but without the exhaustion. She could practically feel the endorphins coursing through her body, setting her blood alight, making her pant. And that pull... When he'd stood there, within her reach, she'd never wanted to be close to anyone the way she'd wanted to be close to him. It hadn't even been a want, more a need. If Levi hadn't come in when he had, she wasn't sure what would've happened...

Rubbing her forehead, she sank down on his couch, her back immediately molding into the leather. This couldn't be happening. Not now. She couldn't get feelings for anyone now. In a few months, she was going to leave this life behind and become a vampire. Getting involved with someone would only make that decision hurt...

Moaning softly, she laid down, her eyes suddenly growing too heavy to keep open.

And then, for the first time in weeks, Adrianna fell into a deep sleep, breathing in his warm scent.

It would only be much later that she would realize her mind and body could only truly rest when Hades was nearby.


Hades watched as the man who he'd just torn a new one scampered out of the room. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew he'd been unfair. The order his people had send over to the supplier had been unclear and anyone could've made the same mistake...but after being stuck in one room with Adrianna for hours, drowning in her scent, forcing his body to stay away from her, he'd been a tad frustrated, to say the least, and the delivery-guy had been his proverbial punching bag.

Rubbing his forehead, Hades sank back against a shelve, trying to get the image of Adrianna's lips out of his mind; of her neck flushing; of her breathing turning shallow...

"Fuck!"

"Sir?" Cindy, one of his waitresses, stuck her head inside, her brown eyes worried. "Everything okay?"

"Perfect," he snapped. "What is it?"

She hesitated for a brief moment and then said, "We're about to open and I know you don't like being on the floor when the crowd comes in."

Hades nodded, rumbling a quick thank you before pushing passed her, into the club. His first instinct was to go left, back up into his office...but she was there. So instead, he turned, giving his security strict instructions not to let anyone in-or out- of his office and then slipped out the back, disappearing into the hotel right next door.

"Good evening, boss," Seth, his receptionist said politely as he rushed passed.

When Hades had built his first club in Austria, the supernatural land there had been so big the club hadn't covered it all and since supernatural ground was rare and he needed it to appear on earth as a god, he hadn't been about to let any go to waste. So as a solution, he'd built a hotel right next door. When he'd found his second patch of land, same story and after a while, his chain had become so well renowned, it would've raised eyebrows if he'd suddenly stopped building the club-hotel combo. As a result, to diverge suspicion, he'd built both in every spot he'd found land.

"Mister Nox," a hostess greeted when he entered the restaurant on the ground floor of his hotel.

Hades shot her a tight nod as he made a straight line to his private table. As a god, Hades had never had the need to eat, but as a human, he'd found food to be a necessity to function.

"What will it be tonight, sir?" A petite waitress asked, her voice full of nerves.

Adrianna was right. People really did fear him...except the one person he needed to be afraid. Why couldn't she just stay away from him, enjoy the luxuries of his house and let him deal with things?

Because that's not who she is. And you love that about her.

"The usual," he answered the girl's question, unbuttoning his jacket.

Has Adrianna eaten?

"And make sure the chef has a freshly made lasagna ready by the time I'm finished," he rumbled as that question popped into his head. "To go."

The girl frowned at the addition to his regular order, but then wrote it down neatly, thanked him and headed for the kitchen.

After Hades had finished and the lasagna had been brought to him as requested, he decided it was time to face the music. He was sure she would have a thing or two to say about him leaving her and once again ordering people to keep her where she was, but he hoped the food would take the edge of her anger.

Although, deep down, he knew it wouldn't.

Entering the club through his private entrance, away from the crowd, Hades could feel his blood heat more and more the closer he got to his office. How was he supposed to do this for days, maybe even weeks? How could he be close to her and not be with her?

"Okay," he said, entering his office with his free palm raised in a calming gesture. "I know, I'm a rude bastard and-"

He trailed off when he saw her, lying on his couch, breathing in a soft rhythm. Quietly, he closed the door without taking his eyes of her. This must've been what she looked like whenever they'd shared a dream. Peaceful, innocent, sweet.

"God, I love you," he whispered.

Even though he knew she couldn't hear him, he just wanted to say it to her, out loud, just once.

His heart aching, he sat himself behind his desk again, trying to pick up where he'd left off in Rodchenko's file...but suddenly, the letters became blurry and his eyelids felt heavier than before.

Yawning, he sank deeper into his soft chair, molding his body into the leather.

And then, for the first time in weeks, Hades fell into a deep sleep, listening to her breathing.

It would only be much later that he would realize his mind and body could only truly rest when Adrianna was nearby.