MY DARLING DAREDEVIL

Seed of doubts and lies

Aziza took the potion, gulped it all down in a goal and handed it back to Russel. He had a smile on his face, a smile of victory that illuminated his eyes. But he wasn’t done. The potion was not so different from what she had been taking for years. Yet, it took so long to withdraw and dormant the powers she possessed. She needed to take more of it, if she must be rendered powerless, she needed to take something stronger, more effective and he was going to get it for her.

Aziza did not understand what it meant, she only got upset that he was smiling at her when he knew that she was pissed at him. Suspicion was never in her heart and such never came to her thoughts. She trusted him, she believed him and would never have such thoughts cross her mind. Russel the man who saved her, gave her everything, made her strong, she would never have such thoughts. Not even one that would hurt her the tiniest bit. She didn’t speak to him anymore. She was still angry about what he said to Damon and she was left alone to fix it. So, she zoomed off, leaving him behind and headed to Damon’s house.

He was coming out of his house when she arrived and she stopped in front of him.

“I thought you were going to take a bath,” he teased as his lips stretched into a smile when he saw her in the same cloth that she had worn the previous day. But then again, had she not always worn one particular cloth all the time he had seen her? She flashed him a glare for his obvious taunting question and it only made him smile even more. Her heart eased up over the obvious dilemma of what her uncle had said. His smile made her heart warm up, giving the opposite vibe of what her eyes revealed and she looked away.

“I have different clothes of the same attire,” she responded and moved away from his path. He walked past her and towards his car, then he hopped in and she watched as his guards got into their cars as well. He frowned at himself the moment he got into the car. He had been wanting so bad to remain angry and wary, yet when she showed up, he was already behaving stupid. Aziza watched the cars and thought of what Damon could be thinking. She did not want to go into his mind, not at that moment. She was scared of the suspicion she would find laid within. Moreover, she felt extremely weak and would not want to use her powers for anything more for the time being.

“Are you not coming in?” Damon turned to her. She stared at him, and the car for a while.

“No, I can…..”

“You are here to protect me, are you not? You can do that from the car, my house and the top of a building. I’m guessing it’s more comfortable from a car,” he added and stopped her protest. Truly, what he said was correct, but on the other end, she knew Damon was more of a distraction. With his smile, his face, his hair and his eyes. He would only pull the strings of her heart and pull them back from where she had buried them. She was trying not to make the relationship hard as it was, getting closer to him would only get it more complicated.

“No, I like the top of buildings more,” she protested and shut the door. He frowned and stared at her for a while. He wanted to pressure her into getting into the car more because he wanted to find out the truth, the real truth behind Russel’s words the previous night. Whatever the case was, he was Damon Roxwell and would not allow anyone to use him. If that was her plan and goal, then whatever protector relationship they had would have to end and he would have to bear the repercussions of what was to come. But he didn’t protest. Something told him that she would not change her mind so he allowed the driver to drive and leave her behind.

She breathed a sigh of relief when he did not pester her anymore and in her usual manner, she ran the route of the road he would take. From building to building, tree to tree, road to road, shop to shop, office to office, she moved at the speed of light making sure that there was no incoming threat before she relaxed a little. She found a perfect building and stood while she watched his car coming from a distance. She thought of what she would have to say if Damon asked her about what Russel had said the previous night again and her heart fell. Being caught in a dilemma was becoming a new thing and she was not liking it. She would of course prefer to tell him the truth about her true intention. He was a prince, a true blood prince and should be back in their home, his home where he should rule as the dominant demon king of the entire realm. But that was not the only truth, even though she knew that. Honestly, she would not have cared if he went back or not. She would not have cared for those people if he was not a prince. But he was, and she needed the power and authority that came with his power and name. How could she tell him that? No one wanted to find out that they were being used and definitely not by a woman. Yet it was a truth she had to tell, if she wanted his full trust in the nearest future.

She was still thinking about this when the familiar wolfish scent came to her nostrils. She growled and balled her hand into a fist. She was not in a good mood for a fight, yet the wolf had been following her non-stop. She sniffed the air, deciding to end the wolf when Damon’s car sped past. She had to be with him, and not behind. So, her plans were short lived to look after Damon first. She went after him.

His car came to a halt in front of the very location of the ongoing construction of the university. A contract that was given to his company and one they were carrying out rather pleasantly. She stopped a distance away from him and stared at the people who were working. All with machines, cover all, helmets, boots and gloves. They were all serious and a thousand men seemed to be at the site. Damon came out from his car and relaxed his back against it as he watched it from a distance. It was still under construction and everything was still on ladders, rods and more. it was dangerous to go in there without the proper gear so he just stood out. Everyone who saw him gave him the respect he needed, because they knew who he was and were rather ready to please him. He ignored most of them, putting on a hard look as he paid close attention to what they were doing in the part he could actually see with his guards and hands behind his back.

“Aziza,” he called out to his protector after a while, feeling her gaze on him. She smiled at the mention of her name and stormed in without further delay.

“You called?” she answered dryly. Like she did not like the idea of being there with him.

“Remain here with me, would you? It's rather boring.” He entered.

“That’s the work of your assistant,” she retorted.

“You have made her life a living hell already, don’t make it worse and give her space to rest. You can replace her if you want though” Her heart fell at the way he had described her to herself.

“I don’t even know this woman,”

“She has your face, she is your look alike and because of all your doings, everyone and everything is after her. I feel sorry for her,” he stated, completely ignorant.

“I did nothing,” she retorted like he was accusing her of killing someone.

“You always do nothing, Aziza,” he turned to her.

“Like how a bullet killed the senator and you have refused to apologise.” She frowned at the choice of his topic and flashed him a glare.

“If you want me to apologise, then you are simply wasting your time.” she snapped, still not understanding why she was being blamed for the death of the senator.

“Someone died,” Damon snapped, hating her stubbornness more to this particular topic.

“And someone was saved,” she gritted through her teeth and glared at him. He glared at her with the same animosity as well and for a long time, they held each other’s gaze in a fearsome battle till Damon pulled away. He took a deep breath and tried to calm down. He just didn’t understand why she was being so stubborn about it.

“You can at least, say your condolences to his daughter,” he mumbled, giving up on getting the apology.

“Damon,” a very familiar voice called out from behind them. Aziza gritted her teeth recognizing the voice in an instance and they both turned around. The daughter of the late senator stepped out from her car and came towards them.

“Vanessa,” He called out to her, surprised to have seen her. She smiled at him, revealing her perfect set of teeth. The colours in her face had returned to her face and she looked different, more filled with life than the previous day. She hopped towards the man and wrapped her hand around him in an instance.

“You look...”

“Better than a mourning daughter” she finished for him and he chuckled slightly.

“I did a lot of crying the previous day and my dad left a lot of things to me. Things I need to handle and I can’t do that while I’m inside my house crying and drinking,” she pulled away from him but her eyes remained on him, nonetheless.

“Yeah right,” Aziza retorted, seeing through her lies very easily. She was not moving on because she had so much work to do, she was moving on because she had Damon and was making her move. She could see that longing in her eyes. Just like it had been with every other woman that came his way. The way it had been in her eyes years ago when she looked at the mirror.

For the first time, Vanessa took a hold of the red hair and the colours in her face drained off in an instant. Truly, she was different from the blonde woman, it was written all over her. If not the looks, the hair, the eyes, then the dark aura around her that clogged her like death.

“You b***h,” she screeched and stormed towards her. Her anger and hatred for the red hair pushed her, making her want to hurt her, to avenge her father’s death that she did not think and just as she had done before, she lifted her hand into the air, to vent and leave her print on her face again. But at that moment, Aziza was not Ivy, the assistant. She took hold of the woman’s neck fiercely and summoned her powers. With her superstrength, she lifted her from the ground and tightened her grip around her neck. Vanessa had caused her a lot of pain the previous day, not to add the slaps and the humiliation. It was time for payback.

Vanessa's eyes went wide. She held the hand of the woman who held her like she was simply a child and struggled aimlessly as she tried to get away from her grip. But she was strong and her breath was already coming short.

“Aziza,” Damon growled and immediately stood in front of Aziza.

“Keep her down, now,” he ordered, his powers washing over her skin slightly, reminding her of her place beside the prince. She snapped her eyes to him, and he took a step backward. Her red and dark pupils seemed bloody, dark and tormented. Vanessa shouldn’t have dared the wrong person, but she was being too much and he was scared that she might kill a woman who was still mourning.

“Please,” he added when it seemed like she was not listening. She groaned and looked away from him, then she let go of her neck and Vanessa dropped to the ground. She coughed and gasped for air as she hit the ground while Damon immediately squatted beside her and patted her back. Aziza saw the single gesture and her heart clenched with jealousy and hate. She glared at the both of them, Vanessa more.

Vanessa took a while to catch her breath, then she lifted her gaze up to find the woman staring at her. The colors drained from her face and the pain of her father’s death returned in waves, especially when she could see the murderer in front of her and was still unable to do a thing about it.

“Next time, you might join your father,” Aziza growled, her jealousy taking over.

“By mistake of course. After all, your father was only in the wrong seat, at the wrong time,” she added and smirked wickedly. Intentionally rubbing salt over her wounds. Damon got up and took her by her arm, then he pulled her away angrily to a corner and forcefully pushed her aside.

“Have you gone mad?” he growled at her. Pain pierced through her chest at the way he looked at her, the tone of his voice, they were the very opposite of the way he looked at Vanessa. One time in their life, he actually looked at her differently, even more than the way he looked at Vanessa. The painful memory threatened to tear her from the inside, but she pushed it back and glared at him.

“Are you really angry at me because I only defended myself?”

“From what? A powerless woman who is only mourning a father?” he snapped.

“You feel sympathy for her, I get it. But don’t force me to feel that way too. He was sitting right there, I neither shot the gun, nor put him there. I only moved you away from a bullet and he was at the receiving end of it,” she retorted. His heart fell at her lack of feelings and so did anger fill him.

“It was not your fault, okay great Aziza. But don’t you have a father? don’t you have a family? Or are you so dark, that you do not care about anyone else but yourself?” her heart dropped and for the umpteenth time, she felt like she was being stabbed deep.

“I don’t have a family. Not a father, not a mother, not friends, no one but me. Guess what, I lived my life being beaten, bitten, flogged and slaved by werewolves, vampires, demons and witches alike. So no, I don’t know what sympathy means, neither do I know what it’s like to feel remorse because no one taught me how and no one felt that way for me,” tears burned the back of her eyes.

“But I did care about you. I care about you, that’s why I’m slaving away my life for you even when no one asked me to,” she added lastly and turned around to leave.

“Don’t give me that crap, Aziza. We both know that you are out to use me to gain something, that’s why you are slaving away like this,” he finally said. The words Russel had planned in his heart like a seed the previous day. She stopped, wishing that what he said was a lie, wishing that was not partly the reason why she was there as well. But unfortunately, it was but she would never tell him that. Not to ruin her plans.

“No, I have nothing to gain except to bring back the prince that was lost back to his people. And to return to my people, accepted, safe and finally loved by them.” she lied to him and to her self. It was all a lie from the beginning anyways.