There were hushed whispers. The sounds of a cracking fire in the distance. The soft whine of a dog. Where was the pain? She'd expected the pain. But there was only weightlessness. Sweet weightlessness. Was this death? There were no bright lights, no golden gates protecting castles made of thick, fluffy clouds. There was only the endless dark void she floated through. Both comforted and frightened, Nadia tried to think, to remember. There as pain, and fear... And then he came. Andrae. The demon. The animal sent to kill her. How could he?
How dare he?
A strange voice in the distance. An unfamiliar accent that was musical, soothing, telling her to relax, that she was safe. Warmth. Beautiful warmth soothing the pain away. She felt every muscle relax, pulling her closer to the heat. The voice continued to guide her, calm her. She was safe. If this was death, she gladly accepted.
Andraemalek watched as the bruises and marks slowly faded from her skin. She wasn't going to die, he'd been told, but she'd been close enough to death to prolong the process of saving her. It took two to help her while a large dog sat vigil; one to heal her body, and one to soothe the dark thoughts of her mind when they threatened to take control. She wasn't going to die, not today.
"It's going to take a few more minutes."
Andraemalek stared at the red haired man who healed Nadia. His blue eyes brightened as he worked. He wanted to ask questions but decided to wait until the job was done. The marks on her skin continued to fade until the natural color of her beautiful skin reappeared. She looked so peaceful.
"You need to stop thinking so hard," the other one said, "You're making it difficult for me to concentrate on her."
"Sorry," Andraemalek murmured. The abrupt apology had both men and the dog staring at him. "Help her," he admonished. He cleared his thoughts and waited.
"What happened to her?" the redhead asked.
"She was tortured by Nyx."
"Shit." The healer stood back and stared at the woman as he said, "She's lucky to be alive."
"Yeah," was all Andraemalek said. He watched as the man working to soothe Nadia's thoughts pulled away from her. His short blonde hair and misty green eyes should have been familiar to him, but they were strange and much too penetrating. "How is she?"
"It took a lot of work. She's pissed, D." The blonde haired man stood and rubbed the back of his head. "I couldn't get rid of the trauma from the torture, but I did manage to help her adjust to what happened." He looked at Nadia as he said, "She refused to let go of her anger. At you."
"I never thought that she would let go of that."
"Good." He took a step toward the large demon, unsure of how to act. Though Andraemalek had shifted back to his human form while he waited for the woman to be healed, he'd arrived as his demon self, shouting orders and looking ready to do battle. "Your thoughts were too loud for me to block out, so there were parts of your subconscious that she received."
"I don't care," Andraemalek replied. All that mattered was that she lived.
"Yeah, she'll live."
"Get out of my head, Caleb."
"Stop thinking so loudly." Caleb placed his hand on Andraemalek's shoulder and smiled as he said, "Even if it had to be like this, welcome home, brother."
"What took you so fucking long to come back anyway, asshole?"
"Liam, for five minutes, could you please put the temper away?" Caleb asked.
"No." Liam took a step toward Andraemalek as he said, "Darling brother here hasn't been home in over one hundred years and it's pretty obvious that he wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the human." He glanced at Nadia's sleeping form as he added, "By the way, why the hell would you come to us? Word is that she's out to expose demons."
"She is," Andraemalek answered. He controlled his temper because of Liam's. After one hundred years, some things never changed.
"Yet you're protecting her." Caleb said nothing to his brother's quick nod. This was interesting; his no nonsense, virtually unemotional brother went out of his way to protect a human he was sent to kill. A human he feared would die. "The Order won't like it."
"I'll take care of The Order," Andraemalek said as he looked at Nadia. She lay wrapped in her blanket looking small and vulnerable on the large bed. He decided against looking about the room; it had been his when he'd lived with his brothers. From what he knew of his family, they hadn't changed a thing. "I'll protect her, and the Brethren."
"So keeping her alive and hiding her is the best way to do that?" Liam asked. Under normal circumstances, he had no problems with his brothers using the manor as a safe house. But this wasn't normal.
"When did you go against the number one rule of not killing humans?" Andraemalek looked at his brother, expecting an explosion of temper. Liam was infamous for going off at the slightest provocation. Being contradicted was one of his largest pet peeves, meaning a shouting match was possible. Andraemalek would have none of that around Nadia.
"It's either you complete the mission or keep her for yourself, something Caleb sensed you wanted to do."
"You really expected me to keep my mouth shut about that?" Caleb asked when Andraemalek looked at him accusingly. He did not care that his brother had feelings for a human, or that he planned to protect her. His brother's life was just that; his. All Caleb was concerned with was the probable discovery of the Brethren. "Besides, I knew the humanity in you had to show itself sometime."
Andraemalek didn't say anything, only looked at Nadia's sleeping form. She'd want clothes when she woke up, things that she used everyday as well. "When do you think she'll wake up?"
"Sometime around morning," Liam replied. He felt his temper fade slightly as he watched his brother. Andraemalek was only concerned with the human. "What's her name?"
"Nadia," both Caleb and Andraemalek replied. They stared at each other for a moment before Caleb said, "D., you're pretty much stuck between protecting everything we're about and protecting her. You have to choose."
Andraemalek looked at his brothers for a moment before he said, "I have no idea why you just said that. Everyone in here knows that I already have." There was a long moment of silence before Caleb and Liam walked out of the room. Andraemalek immediately felt exhausted, as if he hadn't slept in years. He glanced at the large golden dog sitting vigil beside Nadia's bed and asked, "Anything you wanted to add?" He watched as the dog brought its expressive amber eyes to his a scant second before it looked toward the door. "I figured you'd agree with them," Andraemalek muttered. With a slight shake of his head, he remembered her needs. "I have to get some things together before she wakes up. Will you watch her for me?" He nodded in thanks when the dog gently placed a large paw on the bed. As he turned he heard a low whine, one that would not wake Nadia. Andraemalek almost smiled ash he said, "It does me good to see you too, brother."
* * * * *
Nadia stretched lazily as she burrowed herself deeper within the covers. She hadn't had such a peaceful sleep in... Ever. What time was it? She had class to get to and errands to run. Reaching for the bedside clock, she frowned when she only managed to bang her hand against the side of the bed. Opening one eye, Nadia looked around and immediately sat up at what she saw. Rich walls that reminded her of butter were accented by deep burgundy curtains and enhanced the dropped, picture frame ceiling. A large armoire rested against the far wall to the right and on top of it was a small round clock and two books. A dresser sat nestled between two windows and on it was what looked a lot like the hilt of the knife. A very old knife; knives didn't come encrusted with rubies and emeralds anymore, did they?
The edge of a very expensive looking oriental rug caught her eye and the deep greens and bright reds of the fibers accented the highly polished wood floors. A few wall sconces had burning candles in them to add to light bursting forth from the fireplace. There were no light fixtures. Where the hell was she? Nadia rested her head in her hand for a moment before she remembered. She gasped as everything rushed back to her. The man who tortured her... Andrae's admission... The voices... "Oh, God." She moved to get out of the bed but stopped when she realized that she was wrapped in her comforter. She wore nothing underneath. There was no possible way she could leave the room if she had no clothes.
Where was this place?
The soft mewl of a cat brought Nadia's attention to the far side of the room. The cat looked more like a miniature lion as it perched itself on the backrest of the high backed chair resting near the fireplace. Its amber eyes seemed to bore into her and she would have looked away had it not been for the fact that the cat motioned to the pile of clothes resting on the seat of the chair with its head. As she stood, Nadia grasped the comforter to her body and stepped forward. There was something strange about the cat, but it had a certain charm, especially when it turned its back to her. She said nothing, only looked at the clothes; there were two pairs of sweatpants for her to choose from, as well as a small selection of t-shirts and sweaters. Paranoid, she held the clothes to her nose and felt relief at the fresh scent of recently washed fabric. Nadia quickly pulled on a pair of black sweatpants, a dark blue t-shirt, and a hunter green sweater. The clothes hung off her, but they were clothes so she could not complain. For some inexplicable reason, she found herself saying, "I'm done," and frowned when the cat turned to face her. She wanted to thank the cat for the clothing and privacy, but told herself that the notion was idiocy; she would have been thanking a cat.
She needed to go home. As soon as she was in the safety of a familiar place, she could figure out her next plan of action. Nadia knew that Andrae had placed her here, which meant he was bound to return. To kill her? Probably not, but she wasn't in the mood to find out. "Shoes," she muttered. Shoes would be nice, especially if the ground outside was littered with stones or other sharp objects. At the sound of the cat mewling once more, she stared at it blankly as it used its paw to point to the armoire. She cast a cautious glance backward before she walked to the armoire and opened it. Then she frowned at the shelves of boots. They all seemed to be four sizes too big, but she didn't care. Nadia reached for the first pair she saw and stuffed her feet into them. She'd look weird walking in big clothes and even bigger shoes, but she'd make it home.
Nadia turned, ready to walk to the door, but found herself jumping backward and falling into the armoire at the sight of the tall man adjusting the t-shirt he'd pulled on. If she wasn't so damned scared, she would have appreciated the harsh beauty to his pale face. His long blonde hair fell in a straight blanket around his shoulders, framing and emphasizing the oval shape of his face. The crooked smile on his face displayed straight white teeth beneath his slightly crooked nose. Even from across the room, Nadia noticed his brilliant amber eyes. She looked to the chair, then looked back at him when she realized that the cat was gone. He said something to her, but she was barely able to hear over the rush of her blood racing through her veins. "I... What?"
"I asked you how you were feeling." The look of sheer terror in her eyes kept him from moving, though he couldn't help but smile at the rat's nest of hair perched on her head. She was a pretty thing, this Nadia, but he wasn't concerned with the way she looked. "I thought you'd be asleep for a few more hours."
"How did you get in here?" she asked as she righted herself into a standing position.
"I've been in here for hours."
