Nothing Without You

XV: Unlocking the Secrets of Evil

Now | Christian

No one was home.

No one came home for a long time.

The grass hadn't been cut in, I couldn't even guess how long it had been since someone tended to it. There were weeds overgrown in empty gaps and patches of the once beautifully picked stone flooring leading into the garage.

This was where Adelaide was living?

I turned the car off and stepped out, breathing in the fresh air. I had to hand it to her to pick a place a little outside of the city. New York could be a little overbearing and someone as small and timid as she couldn't survive the monsters.

Even if she came down from a line of them.

The sun beamed viciously, but the wind hid the smell of summer and the sounds of the grass and trees blowing side to side made living a little, tiny bit easier.

I leaned against the car, my foot tapped against the ground. It wouldn't take up much of my time to walk up to the door and ring the doorbell, but I was sure no one was home. I wouldn't be surprised if she left the front door unlocked. Idiocy suited her well.

"Can I help you?"

I turned around at the raspy, old voice. The woman had her head covered with a scarf and a briefcase in her hand. Her eyebrows scurried as she took me in from head to toe. Something fell from her expression.

"Christian Hayes."

Not a question.

"Uh," this must be Qura. "Yes, and you are?"

She didn't shift under my gaze and shrugged me off. "None of your business," she moved around me to get to the front door. She had the keys with her. Keys to Adelaide's house. Last time I checked, maids didn't have keys to their owners' homes. Unless...

"If you're planning on stealing something, think twice."

It was the wrong thing to say. Fuck. The old woman looked at me like she'd watched me burn in this disgusting, overly-grown garden and never smile at me. "Sorry," I muttered. "That was the wrong thing to say, but this is my," my words trailed off on their own. "Fiancee's house."

"You understand my concern for thieves, right?"

Her scowl fell from her face and she shifted to her feet. "What do you mean Fiancee?"

"Adelaide Hayes," my feet moved on their own accord towards her. "This is her house, right?"

"No," she said. "Yes," adding on. "I mean, it is. But this isn't where she officially stays." Her brows furrowed, "Back to the fiancee topic..."

"So you live here?"

"No," she sighed. "Ya Rabbi, let me speak please."

"You're asking me about my fiancee and yes, Adelaide is my future wife." I looked around with agitation and faked my impatience. "Although I'm not sure why I'm telling a maid this."

"I am a nurse and you don't get to speak to me like that, boy."

"Nurse?" She fell into the trap I set for her. "Why would Adelaide need a nurse?" Her eyes widened and she muttered something under her breath. "Better yet, why does a nurse have keys to her house?"

"It's none of your fucking business, Christian."

My back straightened, turning around to face the angel-turned-devil.

"I was wondering where you were," I said with a smirk. "Stayed out to release some tension?"

"Maybe," one of her brows raised, challenging me to question her. She took a step towards me, "Maybe I let someone fuck me."