The Darkness Ch. 04

"It is of no importance of who you remind me of, only that you do. You have my curiosity peaked and that is not always a good thing." He walked to the door and paused long enough to look over his shoulder. "I would be careful if I were you. The streets are not always safe, even for a Nothing such as you."

"I see, so you do know who I am--why the game?" She offered a fake smile. "I'm afraid you have me at a loss. You showed up tonight, uninvited, and in time to save me from an unseen attack. Now you have hunted me down to this cabin. I feel there is something more to this little meeting. Correct me if I am wrong?"

"I show up when and where I feel the need to." He corrected her. "I saw you tonight in the club, and then again outside the club. I had nothing to do with the ambush on the street, and I'm positive it was not meant for me, which leads to my next series of questions. Who are you? Why would the Baden's want to attack you in the open, and why would you so carelessly leave the door open? I have my own answers to the series of questions. If I may?" He bowed.

"Oh, I'm listening." Urging him to continue, he had her full attention.

He took a deep inhale of her scent. "Who are you? I can tell by your smell you are human, yet you have the scent of death. Not only death but of age. It leads me to believe you are not what you appear, and knowing the local houses as I do, I would be led to believe you are the one called, Yada. If this is true then it only makes sense that you would be wanted by the Baden's, and yes they would risk an open attack on the streets to get you. More importantly to get to what pumps in your heart," he said in a matter of fact tone.

"I am Yada, and yes, I have often been the target of many of your kind. What better way to cripple my employer than to gain his secrets. He would be exposed and vulnerable, though, I mean nothing to him, what I do allows him to continue his affairs unscathed and unobstructed."

She reached for her jacket and the pack of cigarettes. "Do you mind if I smoke?" But she didn't wait for his answer and lit a cigarette. "So why did I leave the door open?"

"You were expecting me. There could be no other reason for you to be so careless." He sounded smug.

"It is a good theory, but it is incorrect. I was not expecting you. Oh, I did wonder who you were, but I assure you it was not you I was expecting."

"Preposterous!" Hound exclaimed.

"It is not preposterous as you claim."

"Bah," he snapped.

She took a deep inhale and blew smoke over her head. "Believe as you wish, but it was not you I was expecting."

"She was expecting me." A male voice interrupted the duo as he stepped closer.

Hound instantly released his katana, and in a swift move held it at the throat of the approaching man. "Markus," half growling.

"As I said, I was expecting him." Yada nodded to Markus. "And I can see by your reaction you already know him."

"Of course I know Alek," Markus placed his hand on the edge of the blade and moved it an inch from his flesh.

"Curious," Alek mumbled. "Why would a nothing and a no one conspire in private?" He sheathed his weapon.

"For business not of your concern." Markus added, joining Yada. Inspecting her wound, his lips brushed her shoulder as his eyes narrowed to Alek..

"More curious," There was something in his tone. Something dark. He looked out the door then locked eyes with Yada. "I shall bid you a good night, Yada. I'm sure our paths will cross again."

"I have a feeling we will meet again." Yada whispered, turning her attention back to Markus.

When she was sure Alek was gone, she slapped Markus across the face. "Never do that again." She took a deep, long breath. "You could have warned me."

"There was no time. I didn't find out until it was too late." He rubbed the red impression stinging his cheek. "I intercepted the message about two minutes before you left the club. I tried to call."

"Next time, try harder." Replacing her shirt she stood up to face him. "So who ordered the attack this time?"

"I wish you would remember I'm a man, Yada." He nodded to her open shirt.

"I thought we were over this, Markus. You and I agreed to work together as the matters arise. What difference does it make if I am a female or you are a male?"

"It matters because," he stepped closer, gripping her hips. "Because I still have feelings for you," realizing what he was doing, he quickly released her. "It was Michelle Pilkerton this time." He added to change the subject.

Yada grimaced. "It was Michelle, again. That makes," she made a mental count. "Four attempts in the last six months. What the hell did I ever do to her?"

"You didn't do anything. It is political." He quickly added, walking around the small table he picked up the bullet from the tray. Inspecting it closely, "357 it looks like," said with a shrug as though it was a daily event to inspect slugs.

She took the bullet from him and dropped back in the container. Seeing her reflection in the mirror, Yada didn't like what she saw. A pale woman looked back at her. She had lost a lot of blood. "It looks like it. Shanda's favorites are hollow points so I'm guessing she wasn't behind this. You know I have that paranoid feeling again."

"You always have that feeling." Markus brushed hair from her eyes. He leaned closer, sniffing a few strands of her hair.

"So do you. The funny thing is we are normally right."

"True," he ideally looked away.

"So...what do we do now?" She finished dressing and slid her arm into her coat sleeve. The pain killers were beginning to work. She pulled the leather over her shoulder. Feeling the inner pocket and wondered if Gabriel's letter was damaged.

"You have dinner with me this Friday night" Markus asked out of the clear blue. He walked around the room looking into a container, bringing to his nose before making an odd expression.

"Will Michelle be there?" Yada joked.

He sat on the stool and placed both hands between his legs. He smiled. "As a matter of fact, she will."

"Then I'm looking forward to it." Yada grinned, though the grin wasn't pleasant.

Markus stood quickly as if someone had touched him from behind. Finally leaning against the window, he peeked out of the curtain. There were a few moments of awkward silence between them. "Why do we play this cat and mouse game?"

"Are you referring to our employers, or hinting to something else?" It was no secret there was an attraction between the two of them. It had started the moment they met on the beach. He was a very handsome man. Tall,broad shoulders, brown hair and deep brown eyes, and when he wasn't thinking he sometimes had an accent. There were times Yada thought of him as a young Colin Farrell.

"You could have been killed tonight Yada," he started. "For what? For a little bit of knowledge that lies secret in your blood. Don't you ever get tired of the game?" Markus sounded sincere.

"I get tired of patching up my body. M". She walked in his direction and spoke in a soft tone. "I get tired of long nights listening to idle garble as the Council talks about nothing and everything. Hell Markus, I get frustrated just as you do. But no, I don't get tired of being me."

"Do you ever get urges?"

"What type of urges?" She knew it was a loaded question.

Markus quickly moved over Yada and kissed her long, hard, and deep. His lips slanted as his tongue forced its way into her mouth, tasting ger. His hands moved down her sides slowly before releasing her. "Urges like that?"

"Of course I do," she whispered, aching to be kissed again as liquid heat pooled between her thighs. "But...I can't. No. I won't act foolishly over human emotions." Her head found his chest and several deep slow breaths defied her wishes. Markus would know the truth that she wanted to discover the dawn in his arms. But Gabriel had forbidden her from ever getting involved with another human.

Markus shook his head, "But you are human."

"And so are you. But you are an Arcadian and I'm a Michelson." She rubbed her throbbing head. "Now can we talk seriously about Michelle?" Yada stepped away from him, moving closer to the door to get air. She needed to regain control of her emotions.

"I told you that I was a man." He laughed. "Ok seriously, Michelle is going to be at a dinner party Friday night. Alexis is hosting the Council Session at her home. Everybody will be there. I was thinking I would escort you to the diner. Just think of the look on her face when she sees both of us together."

"Yeah, I can see it now. The gossip will be all over the city by Monday that House Michelson and House Arcane are in bed together."

"That's the fun part of it. No one will know what to believe. You know that deceit loosens lips."

"I know," she mumbled. "Alright, I'll let you take me to the party, but as soon as the meeting starts I'll be on Gabriel's arm."

"And I with Michael and I promise I will go back to ignoring you." Markus sighed.

"Sounds like a plan."

"Meet me at my place on Friday. I'll have everything ready for you."

"I'll see you at six." She looked over her shoulder as he was leaving.

"Until then," he nodded.