Devious Claws

Chapter Five

"And yeah... then he went out the window."

I stared into my coffee, wondering if there wasn't a pair of eyes forming in the foam. I put my finger in the cup, wiping away the two spots in the cappuccino. It didn't help much. Truth was, I'd felt watched all day; my neck was burning when I opened my bedroom door to Luke standing there, bright and early with a stack of papers in his arms. When we walked to the local coffee shop, I could swear there were shadows in my peripheral. And as I sat opposite a wide-eyed Luke telling my story of what happened in my bedroom that night, I had to will myself not to look out onto the streets.

"Hold on." Luke had a pen and a notepad next to his muffin but it seemed he was too flabbergasted to jot down anything at all. "You had a werewolf in your bedroom last night?"

I nodded. Furrowed my brows. "It was weird, he looks so normal. Well, actually, not normal - but human."

"He's not though."

"I know that, Luke! God, how did this happen?" I put my palms against my eyes, wishing I was still asleep.

"Honestly? No idea." He scratched his head. "There's nothing about this in the binder. And you're sure he said he was going to protect you?"

"He even got down on his knees and called me mistress."

Luke's jaw quite literally dropped. The pen fell from his hand. "Okay, Cindy, this is pretty unbelievable."

"This is unbelievable? Seriously, Luke, you have to help me get out of this. He's watching me, I feel it."

"Really? Right now?" He looked to the street, then the other people in the shop. "I hope that doesn't mean he's after me. I did shoot him."

"Luke!"

"Alright, alright." He picked up his pen and scribbled some words down while I finished my coffee. "It seems like this vow of protection is some cultural thing, a tit-for-tat. How crazy is that? Werewolves have a culture!"

"So how should I get out of this? I want nothing to do with this. It's christmas next week, I don't want a big wolf under my tree."

"I get it. Don't worry, Cindy. This is actually good, because now we can use this to finish what we started!"

"Oh." The cup dropped to the table a bit too loudly. I quickly picked it up. "You mean we're going to kill him?"

"It, yes." Luke eyed me. "Cindy. Don't let the monster fool you, this is our shot. Especially if he really is following you."

I nodded, but my gaze drifted to the street again. Eros' eyes flashed behind my eyelids when I blinked, but closely following were the rest of his very human appearance. It was hard seeing him as a monster - and the thought of shooting him again made me queasy.

"So what now?"

"Act normal." As if to further punctuate his words, Luke leant back in his chair and smiled. "Nothing is wrong and no monster is following you."

"Easy for you to say."

"Hey! I'm going to think about this, about what we can do."

Luke soon departed, mumbling about ideas and theories. He was going to stand by the supermarket again, spreading the news. I found myself strolling the square, half-heartedly eyeing mannequins and Christmas lights. Time and time again I found myself in the store windows' reflections, looking surprisingly normal. It seemed it was my insides that had taken the brunt of it all. My hair was not as neat as I liked it to be and it was clear I hadn't gotten much sleep - tight curls framed a puffy face.

"Hello."

I stifled a scream as another face joined mine in the reflection.

Eros stood tall. His hair was stuffed into his hat, clearing the view of his beautiful face. He really was breathtaking, even more so in the light. I could see the redness on his nose tip. But closely following these revelations were strong discomfort - I'd have to be involved in a murder twice.

"You're here," I couldn't seem to stop myself from saying. "Out here. In the square."

Eros nodded. "Of course. I have to keep close by, as to be able to protect your life."

"And you can be out here? Without burning up or..." I stopped myself this time as I realised I was sounding insane and, clearly, was thinking of vampires.

"Are you doing some shopping?" Eros nodded to the clothing store I had been looking into. "I wouldn't want to interrupt you. Please, go on."

"Oh, no, it's fine."

Our eyes met. Actually, it felt like his more or less pierced through mine. They were still yellow, a bit more pale in the cold but unmistakable in their color. I wondered if anybody could tell - or if they would even care.

"Cindy. I assure you, I wish you no harm." Nothing in his eyes betrayed that he knew of my plans with Luke. Then again, his eyes didn't betray much of anything.

Eros reached a naked hand out. It almost touched mine.

I pulled away with a nervous smile.

"Alright," I said with way too high of a pitch. "Sure, you can join."

My eyes met my reflection once again. It felt like every thought racing through my head was written plain on my face for him to see.

Why did it feel like I was the monster about to be put down?

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A/N
The holidays have kept me busy, but yay! Another chapter!

Please let me know what you think<3