MY DARLING DAREDEVIL

Cops: a call away

Aziza turned her gaze to the other side of the car and found Damon staring at her like he had been doing ever since she pushed her way into his father’s house. That look was still in his eyes, the look of admiration and adoration, he was like a kid who just met his role model. The same way she had rolled her eyes at him the previous time she had turned and found him staring at her like a fool, she rolled her eyes and turned away again. His gaze on her was uncomfortable, and it felt hot against her skin, but what was wrong with him? she was not going to let anything get in her way, not even the mate bond.

Aziza had left the hospital in rage and annoyance. Angry that the universe was playing a cruel game on her, like they were mocking her and telling her to let go. She was taken aback when she found out that he was her mate, it was like the universe only brought her to him with their own plans in mind when she had hers to execute, they didn’t just do that, they kept them apart for so long only to have it known to her that she was his mate. How cruel of the gods?

Shocked at the turn of events, she only needed time to think. Being her mate was going to change the game totally for her, it would make her feel things and lose concentration when she is not supposed to. It would make her want him and pull her to him more than she already was and it would completely mess up with all her plans and her emotions. But who was she kidding, she was Aziza and she had spent years watching him and being with the humans without feeling anything? Her heart could only go colder, and not even a mate bond was going to stop it. While the gods and the universe make a different plan, she was going to carry out her plans no matter who he was. At that moment, he was nothing but her redemption, her ticket back to the supes and the very power she needed to make them all pay.

“Would you stop staring at me?” she growled when she couldn't take it anymore. His gaze was too warm for her, she could feel all the excitement and foolish feeling he was feeling and it was becoming very uncomfortable.

Damon snapped his gaze away from her when he realised that he was simply doing too much. He had been staring at her for so long, and probably making her uncomfortable but he could not just help himself. She had always been with him, by his side like a loyal dog but more. Only his parents and grandfather had stood by his side for so long, only them had loved him for so long and showed their support for him no matter what. Yet there was someone else. He had always known, he had always known and he was so sure of that familiar gaze on his skin. He could remember very well when he woke up in that room. It was an unending spiral of loneliness, emptiness and space. He was right at the depth of the ocean, where he drank and drowned but never died. He always woke up and continued to drown without ever seeing the surface. For so long he had kept dying, drowning and the circle continued non-stop. But something had pulled him out.

Damon shut his eyes tight as he relaxed into the car seat, allowing the memories to flood back. Someone had jumped into the water, dressed in a very simple and plain gown. His heart had finally seen another life after so long and he had not known how to react to her, he only stared at her and watched as she stretched her hand towards him. He had shaken his head and pulled back, ready to drown again without taking her hand but she took his hand nonetheless and pulled him out without giving him an option. Now that he thought about it, he never saw her face. Her cloth was the only thing he remembered and her hands as it reached out to him. she swam upward to the surface while she pulled him behind giving him no chance to drown again. The moment he got to the surface, the moment his face pushed through the water and rose high above it, an electric bolt had knocked him out and he shot up with a gasp and found himself at the hospital with nurses and doctors staring at him. He had thought about that unknown girl for a while till his thoughts learnt to forget about it, right after he started feeling that he was being watched. His grandfather and father thought nothing about it, but when he had come of age to search for who it was, and found her not, he had let go of it and had grown up to feel that gaze on him like it was meant to be on his skin forever.

“Why have you been watching me for so long?” he finally found his voice and broke the awkward silence that had suddenly descended between them. No matter how irrationally comfortable he was getting with her, he still had to know what she wanted. His mother had been right, no one would watch him and save him for so long without wanting anything else in return. They might have thought light of the situation earlier, but with the new revelation of the little she had done right from his high school, she had literally dedicated her life to him like she had nothing better to do with hers and it made him feel slightly wary.

Aziza went mute as she thought of what to say to him. Earlier she would have jumped on the idea of telling him the truth up front but she had seen the fear in the eyes of Flossie. She had watched him for a long time to know that he was a gem in their eyes yet she did not understand why they lied to him. But on that day, she had been close enough. That look was so rare, so precious, so beautiful, it reminded her of someone. Someone who could look at her that same way, someone who cared enough if she had a mosquito bite on her skin and if she had eaten enough. The ugly feeling of guilt and self hate rose its ugly head in her heart at the moment she had seen the way Flossie looked after Damon. That look in her eyes, the helplessness that fell on her when they saw Aziza, told her enough and whether she liked it or not, it was the exact reason why she had not said the truth to Damon right in front of them.

“How much do you love your parents?” she suddenly asked, brushing away his question like she had not heard it. He frowned at her action, seeing what she did there and growing a little suspicious and wary of what she might want.

“Very much,” he responded nonetheless, then a smile appeared on his lips at the thought of them.

“Too much in fact,” he continued proudly. They were the only people he knew, the only people who truly loved him without wanting to get anything else in return. There was no one else who had shown such pure love and care in his life except for Maeve, his one and only girlfriend who had died years ago. They were the only people he had known all his life and though he had a fallout with them once or twice, he knew they loved him and would never hurt him.

“They would never hurt you, right?” she asked just to see what he thought.

“No, they would never.” He said with pride and satisfaction, it stung at her heart and caused a slight pain for she knew the truth and they were hurting him more than he knew already. But his statement had only made her work a lot harder than she thought. She didn’t just have to deal with a mate’s pull, but to cover up lying parents. But why should she care about that again? Oh yes, Damon. He trusted them too much, he loved them so much and saw no wrong in what they did, and she was scared of being the one to break that trust.

“Do you trust me?” she asked when his house came to view. Damon frowned at that question, not just because she had to ask but because without thinking, he was ready to blurt out ‘yes’. He really trusted her but he could not help but ask himself if it was wise to actually do that. But again, was there a reason to distrust her when she had stood idly and ghostly by his side for a very long time?

“Yes,” he responded without breaking a breath. His entire being trusted her.

“I will tell you what I want soon enough, Damon. Trust that it isn’t something you can’t give, and it would not put you, your name or your family in any form of danger,” she explained.

“For now, just believe that my life is linked to yours.”

******

Aziza thought of the very last words that she had said to Damon non-stop. It was not a lie that she had said. Her life goals were going back to supes, and she could not do that without Damon. It was the link between them but it was already deeper and stronger than her revenge and aim for power, wasn’t it? She sighed heavily and in exhaustion as she walked into her apartment that early morning and straight for her room. Her body was weak and she might need more rest than she had expected, especially because she had none the previous night. The moment she walked into her bedroom, a foreign scent filled her nostrils and made her senses alert. She groaned inwardly wishing only to rest at that particular moment. Slowly, she stepped into the room and stared intently at the room for a sign, or any form of threat but found none. But it looked like someone had been in there, because her wardrobe was open and so was the door to her bathroom. She sighed and shut the door as she walked inside and thought of Maddie. She was the only one who could have walked in there to create a mess. She yawned, deciding that she was going to take care of her in the morning and fell on the bed.

Her alarm rang too early and she jumped from her sleep while her heart ran out of her chest. It raced and pounded inside her chest for a while, then she turned to the alarm and knocked it out completely. She fell back on the bed and stared at the ceiling. She had only left Damon an hour or so ago. She would never have left if she was not so f*****g tired. She had only made sure that there was nothing or no one lurking around, waiting for her to leave before she finally left him. Now it was already morning and she had to prepare for work.

Groaning, she got up from the bed and picked up her phone. Taking it to the bathroom with her, she eased her bladder, washed her hands, then her face and picked up her toothbrush. Her hair was in a mess, and she still had her bloody dress on. The memories of last night came back in her mind in flashes and she frowned. She was unable to heal in the usual way she always healed and that was not a good thing. Not at the very least. It was the reason she had lost a lot of blood and had gone very hungry. Quickly she dialled Russel’s number and put the phone on speaker as she brushed her teeth. It rang for a while, and went straight to voicemail. She frowned, and dialled him again, still it went to voicemail.

“Hey, we need to talk about self-healing,” she dropped her message and dropped the phone. When she was done washing her mouth, she took off her clothes and changed into a robe. Put on her blonde wig and blue lenses, then she packed the cloth in a trash bag and took it outside. She dumped it into a trash can across the street in an alley and snapped her fingers. Nothing happened.

A frown settled on her face and again, she snapped her fingers, still nothing happened. She was no witch, though Russel claims that she was one but that was a little trick she knew. She almost never did it because witchy things needed energy and concentration and when faced with guns, weapons and claws, concentration was hard. It was just a simple trick she learnt from Russel. She tried once more and nothing happened. Annoyed, she matched back into the house, picked a light and came back. She lit the match and threw it into the bin where the bloody clothes burned. Then she turned back to her apartment to prepare for the day without thinking much about the trick she could not perform.

Aziza was almost done getting ready for the day when she perceived pancakes and hot coffee. Her stomach growled instantly and she sighed. It was probably Maddie and she was not good at sharing. Remembering the very baddie reminded her that someone had broken into her room the previous day. She stared at herself in the mirror, making sure that she did not miss anything, then she picked up her bag and her phone and turned to the door.

The door opened instantly and the devil she was about to speak to came walking in with a dish in her hand and a cup of steamy coffee in the other.

“Hey,” she said dryly. Aziza frowned and stared at her, completely taken aback that she would walk into her room and wondered what she would want.

“What do you want?” she asked, going straight to the point.

“And this isn’t your room, don’t you know how to knock?” she snapped, finding her intrusion again, very annoying.

“Ahh…” Maddie opened her mouth to say something but found nothing to say. Ivy was always so sweet and she was always the baddie in the apartment. Why did it seem like she changed overnight? except her suspicion was correct and her housemate was really the red hair they were looking for. She would have been so sure if she found something to implicate her when she searched her room.

“I will take your permission next time.” she found her words again and walked deeper into her room.

“Like you took permission yesterday before breaking in here and searching for what exactly?” Aziza retorted and crossed her hand over her chest. Maddie smiled sheepishly seeing that she had already been found out.

“That’s why I’m here,” she said and stretched the cup of coffee towards her. Aziza snapped her eyes at her and glared at her hand like she was about to cut it off and she chuckled with her heart in her chest. She could not tell if the red hair and her roommate were the same but she would not want to piss her off to find out.

“It’s for breaking in here. I simply want to apologise, that’s why I made breakfast,” she stretched the plate she had towards her as well. It had pancakes in it and Aziza could not help but salivate at it. She was really hungry but then again, she could not trust the woman in there.

“I didn’t poison it,” Maddie entered, seeing her reluctance.

“I can take a bite if you want,” she added just to clear the air. Aziza forced a smile and gave into her hunger. She took the cup of coffee and took a sip, then she sighed in relaxation and took the plate from her. She turned to her bed and sat down, then she started eating without saying any more words to Maddie. Only when she was done with her breakfast, did she turn to the woman who had stood there like she was scared. It made her grow suspicious and wary instantly.

“What did you want here?” she asked and Maddie’s eyes went wide, then fear came upon her and she froze. Aziza frowned and stood up from where she sat and turned to her.

“What did you want?” she asked, this time harshly and fearfully.

“I...”

The mocking sounds of sirens and screeching sounds of cars came sharply into her ears before Maddie could speak and her heart picked up.

“You called the cops?” she growled at the woman suddenly understanding her fear, the reason for her search and why she stalled her with breakfast.