Chapter 25

Cadella's POV

"Cadella, wait.” He called again, making me turn around.

“Hey Mark. What’s up?” I asked.

“Why did you ask that?” His asked as one eyebrow rose.

“Ask what?” My unease grew.

Had I been too obvious about what I knew? Was it not common knowledge? Was there some line I’d crossed?

I couldn’t reveal Vasile’s true identity.

My mind spun as I tried to come up with a valid reason for asking it. Lying was never my strength.

“About the vampires and demons. What made you ask if they had a war?” He pushed.

“It was just a question.” I shrugged.

“How would he know if the species knew about each other?” He stepped closer to me, almost appearing angry.

“It was a question. You’ve made it pretty clear it was a stupid question. Clearly I didn’t think it out. Sorry if I offended you.” I took a step back, the back of my legs hitting a picnic table with enough force that I was forced to sit on the bench.

Mark leaned in over me, placing a hand on each side of me on the table at my back. His body tensed as he froze for a moment. The corners of his mouth turned down a little bit as his eyebrows drew together in confusion.

I pushed back as far as I could as he leaned closer to me. Turning his head slightly so his nose was by my ear, I heard him take a few deep breathes through his nose.

Did he just sniff me?

My palms began to sweat as my breath froze in my chest. The muscles in my shoulders tensed as he pulled back from me so he could see my face. His nose wrinkled and lip curled into a snarl. I watched, frozen on the bench as his eyes became colder and his eyebrows lowered and pinched together.

“You’ve already been caught by them. You should be careful who you choose to befriend, Cadella. You’re dancing with the devil.” His words were a warning, but they made me feel like I couldn’t escape whatever danger he thought I was in.

A look of pity crossed his face as he pushed himself back up to his full height and walked away. It was only when he disappeared from he parking lot that my chest finally released the breath it’d held hostage. I let myself fall heavier against the table behind me as I tried to catch my breath.

The honking of a horn pulled me from my thoughts, and turn to see the taxi waiting in the parking lot. Smiling I waved and jogged toward it. My smile grew when I recognized the driver as the one I’d been driven by a few times.

“Hi again. I feel like we should exchange names, if we’re going to keep seeing each other. I’m Cadella.” I forced a smile on my face.

“Toma.” He nodded as he turned around to leave. “You looked distracted. Is everything alright?”

“Of course, my friend was just being a little, um, odd.” I looked out the window, hoping he wouldn’t push the issue.

“You know, I was surprised when I got the address to come pick you up. Not many people venture out to Maga Park. But then I saw it was you, and it all made sense. The little historian who fears nothing.” He grinned in the rearview mirror at me.

“I fear plenty.” I huffed under my breath.

Like the man who just sniffed me like he was a dog.

“Yet you have the courage to push through the fear. That, Cadella is an admirable trait. Courage isn’t often found in today’s age. People are too caught up in their phones and social media and trying to go..what do they call it…sick? No that’s not it, they say that though at other times when they aren’t speaking of being ill.” He muttered under his breath.

“Viral. They try to go viral.” I smiled and looked back to Toma grinning.

“Yes. Viral. What a horrible thing to try and be.” He shook his head looking horrified.

I couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped from me at his misunderstanding of the word.

“Either way, courage is good. But fear is good, too. Makes you careful.” He shrugged. “To the university?” He asked.

“Um, no actually. I moved out.” I rattled off the address to my new home with a smile.

“A good move, then?” He asked with a grin.

“Very good.” I agreed.

“Good. Everyone deserves to be happy. Especially courageous historians.” His smile suddenly grew bigger. “Oh, I love this song! Do you mind?” He pointed to the radio.

“Of course not.” I smiled as he turned up the music and started to sing along.

My mind drifted back to the incident in the park. Why would Mark smell me? His words played through my head. You’ve been caught by them. Who was them? Did I smell of them?

It was kind of rude to be honest.

Smelling people.

He said I was dancing with the devil. The only person I was around other than the members of the club and Mara was Vasile. He wasn’t evil. And I highly doubted that bubbly Mara would ever be considered bad, let alone evil.

Was Mark human? If he wasn’t maybe that would explain him smelling me. The taxi slowed as it approached my new home.

“Here, we are Cadella.” I smiled and handed him the cash for the drive. “Call me if you ever need a ride again.” He smiled before he pulled away.

Walking up the walkway I glanced at my watch. 4:30PM. Vasile usually called around five. Maybe he’d have some answers. If nothing else, I knew he’d listen to my concerns.

Locking the door after I’d entered I moved to the kitchen. I quickly made myself a sandwich and sat at the table, pulling up my reading app on my phone. Taking a bite of my sandwich, I decided a fiction book was in order. I needed something to distract me, another world to get lost in.

I frowned as my screen turned black, but then smiled when Vasile’s name appeared and it started buzzing. Pushing my now empty plate further onto the table, I accepted his video call.

“Hello, soricel. How was your day?” He asked with a smile.

“Good. I went to Maga Park with the club I joined.” I smiled.

“Maga Park, huh? I thought that place was closed.” He frowned.

“No, just never visited.” I shrugged. “I do have a question though.”

“Of course you do. What conversation wouldn’t be complete without a question from my soricel?” He rolled his eyes but smiled.

“Do you have a better scent of smell than humans?” I braced my phone against my empty glass and leaned forward on my elbows on the table.

“Better than humans, but lesser than shifters.” He shrugged, then his eyebrows pulled together. “Why do you ask?”

“One of the guys in the club approached me as we were leaving and I swear to God he sniffed me. Then he got all odd and told me that I was dancing with the devil and around evil. It kind of weirded me out.” I frowned.

“I can imagine, that’s a little odd to tell someone.” Vasile frowned, but then a grin grew on his face. “Not that you need to worry about anything. I’ll protect you from what ever evil it is that you’re apparently dancing with.”

Some of the unease that I’d been hanging onto since Mark talked with me left with his words.

“I know.” I smiled.

An ache settled in. My chest. I wanted to curl up with Vasile and sit in front of the fire. I knew he’d protect me, but I ached for the physical reassurance.

“What sad thoughts are you spinning in the mind of yours, soricel?” His voice was gentle and soothing.

“I just miss you. Are things going okay there?” I asked.

“They are, I think I should be home in a day or two. Don’t go missing me too much.” He smiled as he leaned forward, placing his elbow on his knee and supporting his chin in his hand.

“I can’t just stop missing you.” I rolled my eyes.

“Does it make me a bad person that I like that you miss me? Not because you’re sad or lonely, but because you care enough to miss me?” His voice grew thicker.

“No. I just hope you miss me like I miss you.” I bit down onto my lower lip.

“I do, soricel, I do. I can’t wait to be home and hold you again.” His expression softened as he spoke.

“Tell me about your day.” I changed the subject, needing a distraction to ease the heartache I was feeling in his absence.

He grinned and leaned back into the chair he was seated in. I loved listening to him talk of his family. He always smiled and I could tell how much he loved them. Leaning forward, I let myself get lost in his words, savoring whatever time I could have with him.