Lucky me, I have a club outfit that I used before I worked for Jason. I haven't grown much, so it still fits, but I'm not sure about the agility that it provides. "Does this speak sexy girlfriend who rides motorcycles?" I ask Luke and Delilah as I turn away from my mirror and look at them on my bed. "It's giving hoe-ish stripper," Luke gives me an approving nod before he cringes. "Definitely not something to show your partner's parents," he retracts. "I think it's the kind of look that Keith is going for. But it might be too much around those gang members. I don't think such a provocative outfit is smart when you haven't practiced your self-defense in a real situation. It seems like you'll have to be on your own with these women as you try to get the client's sister out. I wouldn't necessarily count on Keith."
I groan and lean against the wall. "Why can't you conjure me an outfit again?" I whine to Delilah. "Because magic can be detected. It's already bad enough that you practically have a target on your neck because of that mark. You're lucky that nothing has happened to you yet," I readily knock on wood at that statement. "Don't jinx it," I seethe. I have enough on my plate as it is. I can't afford to be hounded by a thousand supernatural creatures.
"The least he could've done is take you out shopping," Luke grumbles. "I don't have the time for that."
"You'd think that we would get more wardrobe considering we work for a fashion company," Delilah plops the rest of her body on the bed. "You know, you could still wear the outfit that I brought," she continues. "Not even. It's worse than what I have on now. That dress is going to attract the eyes of every man in my vicinity. I don't get ogled much, but when I do, it's the most uncomfortable thing. I'm not like you. I can't relish the attention of lustful eyes. At least you have magic to protect you."
Delilah takes the dress out of her bag again. It was a simple, low-cut above-need sleeveless black dress. It shouldn't be provocative, except it is. The way it hugs my body, like a second skin, makes me feel naked and exposed way too much for my liking. "You could pair it with the black short-cut jacket that you have on now with your stiletto boots," Luke suggests. "Are you crazy?! Those are two completely different fabrics! Besides, that dress is meant to be worn with heels, not boots." Luke raises his hands in defense and playfully rolls his eyes.
"This is why you're part of the tech crew instead of the actual designs," Delilah disses him. I have to admit, I like hanging out with these two. It almost makes my situation feel normal. Well, as normal as normal can get right now. When you think about it, in a world where magic exists, these are regular problems. Obviously, infiltrating a gang doesn't fall under regular problems, but it feels like it is with these two at my side. Delilah, being part witch part succubus, feels normal. I thought I'd feel a lot more excited knowing that magical creatures exist.
I have to admit, having Lymphia take me on that tour of the woods was magical. I saw animals that I never would've thought existed. There's a whole other world out there. I even drew down some sketches from it. Maybe we could use it for next year's spring line. I pick my phone up from my desk and read the text from Keith. 'I'll be there in 20," My heart sinks. "Guys, we have 20 minutes! Whatever we need to do, we need to do fast!" I warn the bickering children on my bed. Delilah has sat up and straightened out.
"Luke could've been onto something with the jacket. It's cropped and has a jean-like material. Paired with the right heels, it could be killer. It would leave everything to the imagination while showing the important stuff. Jason would flip if he saw you like that. He'd absolutely ravage you," Delilah wiggles her eyebrows, and I roll my eyes. "Wrong guy! Besides, Jason would never do that," I start to undress so that I can put on the dress.
"That didn't seem to stop him much last time," Luke grins. "That was because of this stupid mark," I remind him. "You mean the same mark that reacts to how you feel?" Delilah reminds me. I groan and put my feet into the dress before pulling it up and over my chest. The v-cut is deep and really shows my cleavage. "Guys, I want an actual relationship. Not this weird tension Jason and I have going on, not a few flings with Sebastian, and definitely not an undercover girlfriend for Keith. How am I in three fake relationships?" I cry out. Seriously, how did I get here? It's a question I've been asking myself more and more every day.
"Do you still think that you could enjoy a trivial life with an average Joe? You've got a hot CEO who wants to feel all of your curves, a badass agent who can kick ass, and a werewolf who desires you. I don't know about you, but I need this extra spice in my life. Can you guys honestly say that you wish none of this ever happened? Instead of looking at it as three inconveniences, think of it as three opportunities to do whatever the fuck you want. No emotions involved. When's the last time you ever did that?" Luke gushes.
He wasn't wrong. As stressful as all of this is, I can't lie and say that I haven't enjoyed some of my texts with Keith, a few moments with Jason, and Sebastian's company. Neither man I'm actually committed to. A small smirk tugs on my lips. "You're right. I should be having fun! Jason may annoy the crap out of me, but learning about werewolves is so interesting. And I could get down with being a kick-ass undercover girlfriend who gets laid with a handsome CEO. You won't let me die on this mission, right?" I say the last part towards Delilah.
"Of course not. Whenever you feel like you're in danger, just rub that necklace. Even if the magic does attract attention, I have no intention of letting you die. And when we all get some free time off, can we please go to a fucking club?!" She exclaims. Delilah is fierce when it comes to keeping her magic on the down low, but she's still a wild party girl at heart. Or at least that's what she shows us. "Isn't Saiya going to have a Bachelorette party? We should go," Luke suggests. Delilah pipes up at the idea. "We have to be invited to that, and I honestly don't see Saiya doing that. It's awkward. I don't know any of her friends."
"That's exactly why you have us!" Delilah and Luke smile. "She has no choice but to invite us!" Delilah seems a bit too excited to crash a Bachelorette party. "Is it bad that I want this wedding to go completely sideways?" Luke asks. Delilah and I give him a crooked look. "I've been to a few weddings, and they always end in a happy ending. I want to see someone object or have the bride run off somewhere. I want drama." He rubs his hands together in an "evil" way. I roll my eyes but smile. "That would be entertaining, but I'd never wish that on my family. I'd love to crash a wedding, though, and see some shit go down. I never want to be the drama. I'd much rather witness it." I say before slipping the black jean jacket on and looming into my closet for high black heels that don't scream. 'I work in an office!'.
"I've been to a wedding like that before. The guy stood the woman up at the altar and eloped with her best friend." Luke and I look at each other. "Were you that woman?" Luke bluntly asks. I glare at him, but he simply shrugs his shoulders. "I'm going to need a helluva lot more wine before I get into that." Delilah rolls her eyes, but a faint flash of pain lights in them as they did before at the office, but then it is gone. "Ugh, no fair! You guys are so interesting! I have nothing going on for me!" Luke groans. "You never know. Your boyfriend could be a vampire or incubus with the way you two were going at it like bunnies."
Luke quickly defends himself. "First off, he's not my boyfriend. It was just a nice fling. His personality was too dull for me. Hell, he could've been a vampire with how dead he felt sometimes." Really, I got a different vibe when I met him the day I showed up at Luke's door after my fight with Saiya. Delilah laughs.
"Trust, you'll know a vampire when you see one. They're always trying to charm someone with a cool and collected attitude and flirtatious pick-up lines here and there. You can tell they're vampires because they don't act like how they are typically depicted. Now, some of them are crazy bloody savages. If your fling really was a vampire, you're lucky to be full of blood right now. Vampires aren't pack creatures and go by their own morals. When they do travel in a group, it's called a Clanent. They're either cults or wannabe saviors. The vampire society is very black and white. You either suck people dry, or you get people off by drinking some of their blood. When I lived in the supernatural world, I tended to avoid them at all costs. Never trust a vampire. You'll usually get a cold chill from them at first glance until they practically hypnotize you with their eyes. It's a very submissive relationship, which is why vampires usually don't get with other vamps. They don't take too kindly to being dominated. Thus comes the anger issues and everything else that's wrong with them."
Delilah's warning is serious. A lot of times, I wonder what the supernatural world looks like. Is it like ours, except there are no humans? Is everything operated by magic? But when Delilah tells us these things, it makes me want to shut off my imagination. Not to say that the human world is any safer, but at least I have a chance against someone who can't hypnotize me. I find a pair of wrap-around black stilettos that have been collecting dust. Holy shit, I haven't seen these since I was like 19. They had the height of my previous stilted boots and the elegance that comes with heels.
I refrain from putting on earrings in the event that I need to fight. I do, however, slide on a few silver rings and bracelets. My cat eye that's been perfected throughout the years, accompanied by my smoky eyeshadow, brings out my hazel eyes. I go for a nude look with my lipstick, and natural tones for the rest of my makeup. I put two different shades of lipstick on my top and bottom lip. One matches my nude look, while the other is a little darker. And, of course, it has to be outlined. Luke whistles, and Delilah nearly tears up. "You're fucking perfect. Hell, you could be my girlfriend for the night." she grins. "Only if you beg," I reply and wink.
"I don't mind a threesome," Luke inputs. I chuckle a bit. "Should I put my hair up or down?"
"Up,"
"Down," both Luke and Delilah say at the same time. "If she puts her hair up in a messy bun, it'll accentuate her eyes and elongate her body. If she wears it down, it'll be too much black on black, " Luke argues. "If she leaves her hair down in her normal long waves, it'll make her look more fierce and sexy! It compliments the outfit and matches her eyes! Besides, her hair isn't extremely wavy. They're far and in-between, so it won't be too much." I roll my eyes. "Rock, paper, scissors, guys," I tell them. Luke picks rock and Delilah picks paper. Delilah squeals with joy and Luke pouts.
"You totally spelled that," Luke grumbles. "Don't be such a sore loser," Delilah rubs it in and pokes his cheeks. I leave my hair in its natural waves and look at my phone. 'I'm outside,' Keith's text read. "Okay, thank you both for helping me. Food is in the fridge if you want to stay a while. Love you guys!" I walk out after they reply. Keith gets out of the car and escorts me to the passenger seat. "Damn, you look stunning." He gives me a swoon-worthy kiss on the lips. Keith has gotten me adjusted to kissing him whenever and being comfortable with it. I'm taking Luke's advice and having fun with this. If I was doing this for everybody else, I might as well make the most out of it for myself.
"I know, right." I give him a chaste kiss to finish off our little session. He helps me into his black Ferrari. The help was unnecessary, but I took it anyway. "There's something different about you today," Keith points out. His black button-up dress shirt is rolled up to his elbows, showing off his forearms as his muscles flex. His dark blue jeans scruff at the top of his ankle-length boots.
"I'm happy. I'm actually really excited to meet your parents. I'm excited about everything. Work is so damn stressful, but Jason is going to get me an assistant, so that'll take a bunch of workload off me, but she needs to get trained first. I just want to enjoy my time outside of the office," Keith grins. "So, in other words, you finally pulled that long ass stick out of your ass. That's my girl," I roll my eyes but maintain my smile.
---
After a little over an hour of driving while discussing Keith's parents, we pull into a fairly modest house. It's painted white all around and is a two-story. The porch wraps around towards what I assume to be a playground. Our dark colors completely contrasted with the setting, but I never expected Keith to be conformed. We get out of the car and link hands. We walk up the few steps that lead onto the porch and knock on the door. It only takes a minute or two for the door to open wide. "Oh, honey bear, you're here! You actually took time off to see the woman who carried you for nine months, went through eight hours of labor, gave birth to you, and then raised you for years!" Elizabeth's voice is sweet, but her tone and intent are very evident. Her grey hairs have nothing on her as she proudly rocks them. She's on the taller side, looking around 5'7. Her body aged well and...is that a six-pack I see outlined by her sunflower dress? She has crow's feet under her eyes that nearly scare the shit out of me when she turns to me with a glare. Her blue eyes are cold and peirce my skin.
"Another stray? You've got to stop this nasty habit of picking up women from the streets. You know what happened with Eliza. These girls are no good. I never knew why you were interested in this kind of girl anyway. I was really praying for a sweet and elegant one this time."
Surprisingly, her comments have zero effect on me. It's one thing when someone joins your family through a paper and criticizes you. It's a completely different thing when a stranger does. I don't like to admit that some of the things Nat said to me when I was smaller actually affected me.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Elizabeth. Despite your rude assumptions of me." I smile. When I say that nothing is going to break my mood, I mean it. Elizabeth gives me an unimpressed look and stares me up and down. "It's Ms. Everly to you. Did you come here thinking he was taking you to a club?" she corrects me. "I knew exactly where I was coming when Keith picked me up. No offense, but I have no intentions of changing my appearance for your convenience. I don't really go to clubs, but I did work at one when I was younger,"
Ms. Everly glances at Keith and then at me. "A stripper I presume?" She says it more as a statement than a question. "How did you guess? Do you do kickboxing? You have quite the body on you," she scoffs. "Flattery will get you nowhere, darling."
"I'm not in a rush. Besides, I wasn't trying to compliment you. I simply made an observation and asked a question based on it. How you take it is completely up to you."
She glares at me for a moment longer before letting us into the house. "Uncle Keith!" A little boy with dirty blonde hair runs up to Keith and wraps his arms around his leg. Keith lifts the boy and throws him in the air and catches him. "Hey, there buddy. What are you doing here?" The boy doesn't have a chance to respond as an extremely tall man enters the room. He has to be at least 6'7! He's a fucking walking tank! I gulp. No amount of self-defense classes could ever help me against this...thing. He reminds me of Dylan as tattoos are scattered around his body. While Dylan has tattoos mostly representing his family, this man has skulls and multiple other symbols including some type of tree that takes up the majority of his chest area.
His shirt has a low v-cut, allowing me access to see such things. His light brown hair is cut short and his dark brown eyes are nearly black. He reminds me of a Doberman. "Your brother is here. He's leaving Danny with us so that he and Gemma can take a day off," his deep voice could cause earthquakes. Hell, even with Jason being a werewolf, I'm not sure that he could take him. At this point, I'm practically shaking in my boots. Well, heels now. "Oh, that punk is here?" Keith's mood noticeably darkens. "Language, son. Who is this fine little lady," Little would be an accurate term for how I feel right now. He's a fucking bear while I'm a gerbil!
Keith sets Danny down and grabs me by my waist. "This is Soren, my girlfriend. The one I told you that I was bringing." The giant scratches his head bashfully, unfitting for his build. His eyes portray no such shyness though. "I find it hard to keep up with you these days." I'm starting to think that they would've been more satisfied had he not had a girlfriend at all. I summon all of the courage possible right now, which isn't very much, but I try nonetheless. "I'm Erik. You don't have to call me by my last name." Why the hell didn't Keith say that his parents are gangsters?! He made them sound like worried parents who only wanted their son to grow old with someone. This jackass completely mislead me.
Erik puts his hand out. I don't dare to put mine in his. Compared to his, I'm a Barbie doll. I'm a good 5'7 and a half in these heels at best. Keith seems to be a good 6'0. This man towers over us all! "Respectfully sir, you scare the shit out of me and I'm afraid that you're going to crush my hand if I shake yours, so we're going to have to stick with a hello wave." Erik pauses for a second before shaking the house with his laugh. I'm genuinely terrified for my life. Keith smirks at me as if this is all shits and giggles. "I love the honesty, but it's Liz that you should be worried about." I was so close to rubbing this damn necklace and we haven't even gotten to the actual gang part yet.
Keith kisses my cheek and tries to reassure me. "You're doing great. They already love you," If this is how they love then I can't imagine them angry. We all walk to the dining room. The pictures on the walls seem so...normal until Keith's teenage years. The photos seem more forced. In one of them, I notice a woman. She didn't look related to any of them. The way Keith looked at her...it was pure love. He had to be around 18 in that picture. Unlike the long ovular dining table at Mom's house, theirs was circular. This put little to no distance between anybody sitting together. Lucky me.
"If it isn't my baby bro!" A man who almost exactly replicates Erik with a more modest height of about 6'1, greets Keith. Keith makes no attempt to talk to him. "You must be his latest victim," he smiles. I don't know why, but I instantly dislike this guy. He reaches for my hand and kisses the back of it. I instantly retract it as it brings chills down my spine. What the hell is with this guy? A better question would be what is with this family. At least Elizabeth is honest about her feelings towards me. I feel as if I'm in a pack of hyenas. Their smiles remind me of how hyenas maniacally laugh during a chase. Nothing about any of this felt right.
"This seems to be an ongoing joke between you all, but I'd prefer it if I wasn't called names outside of the one I was born with. If you can't say my name, then don't address me." I couldn't ignore the irritation that mixed with the fear. God, I am so tired of being afraid. How many times have I had to run away now? Even Keith is surprised by my words, but he quickly covers it with a smile. He kisses my temple. I take a moment to snuggle into his neck, because right now in this moment, he was the only person I trusted.
"You'll be called as we please under our roof," Elizabeth sits down and the rest of the family follows except for Keith's brother. I stand tall and look Elizabeth directly in her eyes. "You can call me as you please, but don't expect an answer if it isn't my name. Let's get this out of the way right now, I don't deal with attitudes. I'm not patient and I don't tolerate being treated like shit. I will not kiss your ass nor will I try to stoop to your level. With the way I'll ignore you, you'll wonder if I'm mute by the end of it all.
I meant everything I said, but at the same time, I'm shitting bricks here! I've never wanted to get out of somewhere so badly. Suddenly, I'm grateful for my family issues. Elizabeth grins and exchanges a look with Erik. He also looks pleased. "Okay, Soren. If you insist," I'm surprised when she calls me by my name. The table is already set up with the food on the table. "Dinner is getting cold, sit," She says towards Keith. Keith's brother, who I never got the name of, leaves without a peep. His child, Danny, doesn't seem to mind.
If I ever thought for a second that Elizabeth had accepted me, I was fooling myself. She may have said my name, but I wasn't addressed at any point during the meal. As a matter of fact, I barely ate anything. Lord forbid this food is poisoned. I sat between Keith and Danny. Since Danny couldn't really add any input to most of their conversations unless it was about him, we ended up chatting with each other. The more I got to know him the more curious I was about his lifestyle and his father. He had his father's dimple and the rest belonged to his mother. What threw me off was his smile. Nobody in this family seems capable of producing one. A real one. His smile was lopsided but had a boyish charm to it.
He'd definitely be a lady's man when he grew up. "What's your favorite animal?" he asks. "Well, it was a wolf, but I may have to go with a fox now."
"Why?" he asks. "Well, as it turns out, wolves get very moody and irritating," This for some reason makes Danny laugh. The kid was absolutely adorable. Danny signals me to come down to ear level with his hand gesture. "There's a girl named Ariel who is like that. She always steals my crayons and food, but she can be super nice. She drew a picture of me and even shared her dessert with me this one time. It was so good. I think I like her, but she's always picking on me." He finishes whispering, but when he's done, his smile is gone. So, this girl steals his supplies then uses them to draw a portrait of him, and takes his food, and only shares her dessert once. This girl doesn't seem too nice. I don't know why little Danny likes her, but I'll try to give him my best advice.
"Maybe you should ask her why she does those things and why she likes picking on you. She may like messing with you and enjoy your reaction." Danny looks like he's actually mulling it over. "When we were drawing portraits, she drew a poop emoji. What does that mean?" It means that she ain't shit and he should run for the hills. "It means that she isn't worth your time or affection. Nobody should ever show you love by picking on you and messing with your feelings. If she does anything that makes you feel bad and you tell her but she doesn't care, drop her like she's a hot plate burning you, okay?" Danny's boyish grin returns. "Okay," he says. He wraps his pinky around mine in a pinky promise.
He talks so well for his age. He seems to only be around the age of ten or so. "When I marry someone, I want them to look as pretty as you," he doesn't whisper the last part and it grabs everybody's attention. His words actually make my heart swell a bit. "Aww, that's so sweet. Thank you, Danny. Try and stay as sweet as you are, okay?"
"Okay," How can he be such a happy child? We release our pinkies and when I look back at Keith he gives me a questioning stare. I shrug it off. "So, Soren, what's your job?" Erik asks. I laugh a little bit, realizing that Danny's crush's name is Ariel. "Sorry, I was thinking of something. Anyway, I work as an assistant for the CEO of a fashion company. As a matter of fact, I'm sure you're wearing his brand right now," I say, pointing towards Elizabeth's dress. That design was out before I joined the company, but it was part of his summer line back a few years ago. I remember trying to replicate the stitches. I failed. Miserably.
"Is that so?" Elizabeth doesn't seem as cold. I think she may be actually warming up to me. Even if her version of warming up to me is from an avalanche to a snowstorm. "What do you do?" I ask her. "I run a woman's self-defense course not too far from here," It wasn't surprising. "Have you ever used them on Erik?" I ask, genuinely curious. This brings a small smile to her face. I instantly scream for joy in my head. Haha, another point for me. "Once or twice, not that he didn't have it coming," she defends herself and smirks, waiting for Erik's reaction. "Like I said, she's the one that you need to be worried about," He grins. He has no shame in admitting that he was brought to his knees by his wife. I'm sure in more ways than one.
The conversation actually goes smoothly from there. She talks to me about ways to overthrow anybody, no matter their height or weight. I find it hard to believe that just anybody can flip over a 500 lb man. Erik may not be that heavy, but his stacks of muscles aren't convincing me otherwise. Elizabeth says that she'd teach me when I come over again. She assumed that there would be a next time. I pat myself on the back for getting that out of her. But I also had to ask myself the same question: how long will this deal last?