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I watch her retreat with absolute, undeniable horror in her eyes and I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that I have screwed up. Again.

I want to run after her and grab her. Prevent her from running away from me yet again. All to selfishly soothe my own fucking soul.

I have known for a while now. That very first night I revealed myself to her and she told me she could see my face, I had known, deep down, that it was because our souls recognised each other. I had already been watching her for many months before that night. The first time I saw her, I had wanted to end her right then and there for being able to kill an unmarked target. She was wrecking havoc in a very fragile system and I needed to take care of the problem. But then, something surprising had happened. After snapping a man's neck one night by the river, I had seen in Emma's eyes something incredibly unusual.

Repulsion.

It had not been aimed at her victim, but at herself. Uncensored and raw, it poured out of her and I could not fathom how it was possible for me to feel it. To feel what she was feeling. It made her skin crawl. Her eyebrows were scrunched together and with every shaking step she took, I could see her head shake lightly above tensed shoulders. She had looked away from the corpse and had buried her head in her hands. In that moment, I had had the impulse to reach out to her and embrace her just to take the pain away. It had been a foreign emotion to me. Something I had not felt in so long, I barely remembered what it was like to care for someone else. But this girl was a stranger, a thorn in my side at best.

From that moment on, I had followed her. Watched her from afar. Became her stalker. I was curious. I wanted to know more.

I had watched her do countless assassinations. Sometimes, it was like nothing had happened. She would shrug it all off and continue about her business. Even going as far as enjoying it, indulging in over-the-top theatrics. Like it was all a show. Like it was not actually real. And maybe that was how she managed her guilt and self-loathing.

Other times, I could clearly see the pieces of her dying along with her target. My little Emma was good at burying down her feelings, but sometimes, just sometimes, she let them spill out a little bit. Like a glass filled with misery that, when tilted a little too much, overflowed and poured out from her beautiful hazel eyes.

She had consumed me. A perfect contradiction. I was like an addict, drawn to her against my better judgement.

That night in the woods with the witch, I had had every intention of ending my obsession by taking her life away. It did not matter that her time had not come yet, I needed to regain my sanity.

Then, of course, things had not gone as planned. She had looked at me with bright, fierce eyes. Defiance, it was. And it sparked something in me. Something carnal.

When she had revealed how she could see my face, my suspicions had been confirmed. She was not like other humans and if I killed her now, I would never find out why. It would have to wait a little bit.

It had not taken long after that for me to realize what she was. My Soul Mate. And as much as I had wanted to fight it, I could not stay away. I still am unable to.

The urge to go after her now is strong, but if I have learned anything of Emma, it is that I can not force myself on her so abruptly. If she left, it is because she needs time to process things. Time I am willing to give. But not too much of it.

"You're gonna pay for that," I snarl at Luci before I start pummelling him to the ground. He lets me hit him. My fists do not even put a dent in his smug, annoying face. Immortal little fuckers we are.

A flash of bright light erupts in the room and I immediately know who it is without having to take my eyes away from Luci.

"Stop!" he yells, separating us with a gust of energy. I stumble back, but regain my footing before hitting the wall.

Luci jumps back to his feet as though I did not just try to stamp his face on the kitchen tiles.

"Dimples," he says mockingly, "Nice of you to join us. Life didn't care to join our little family reunion, did she?"

"You know very well she couldn't," says Yav through clenched teeth.

"Still an overworked little bitch, I see."

"Azrael, care to explain what in the heavens is going on? It sounds like thunder's coming from this place. The entire neighbourhood is on high alert."

"Why don't you ask him?" I reply, nonchalantly. I dust off my cloak.

"I was merely about to have tea with Emma, when Azra decided to show up and ruin our party with his violence."

"My violence?" I growl, grabbing him by the collar, "You've been keeping tabs on my mate behind my back, Lucifer. What's your agenda?"

He pushes me away, anger still coursing through my veins. Unfortunately, if I rip his head off, there will be no one left to torture those souls down in Hell.

"Relax, I was just keeping an eye on her. For you," he lies through his teeth. He never just does something for someone. "Yav has been doing the same," he turns to our brother who is sitting at the table, making a steeple of his fingers. "And while we're on the subject, why a boy on a bike?" he grimaces.

"Better than an old, crazy cat lady," he retorts.

"Why have both of you been spying on her?" I try to keep my voice levelled, but all I want to do right now is punch some faces. Emma is mine to keep watch on. And mine only.

"We can feel her too, you know," says Yav.

"Kind of like an itch we can't scratch." Lucifer scratches his chin pensively.

Yav sends him a dirty look.

"What do you mean, 'you can feel her'?" I ask a little too aggressively. If anyone is going to feel her, it is me. These two can go feel whatever the fuck it is they can feel in their own realms.

"Her soul. We can feel that it's connected to us," says Yav matter-of-factly. As soon as he takes in my hostile expression, the one that says I am about to murder both of them for feeling a connection of any shape or form with my Emma, he quickly adds, "But not in a sexual or romantic way."

Luci starts chuckling from his corner of the room, "Real smooth."

"In what way?" I raise an eyebrow at him. Relief washes over me at his answer. None of us has ever found a soul mate. This is new territory.

"Kind of like she is family?" offers Yav, scratching the back of his head.

"What he means is, although we don't want to shag Emma, we feel something toward her."

I drive my fist straight into Luci's nose.

"Never use her name and the word 'shag' in the same sentence ever again," I hiss, blood boiling. I need to get away from these two assholes before I do something I seriously regret.

"Luci, are you daft?" Yav shakes his head in his hand.

"I'm out of here, the two of you are pissing me off and I have a mess to clean up." And a mess it was. I have no idea how to even start fixing this with Emma.

"Wait, Lucifer has something to tell you."

"I do?" asks Luci dumbly.

"Yes," he tsks, "The vampires."

"How do you know about that?" Luci frowns, visibly taken aback.

"Mary caught you doing your... little investigation. We catch up often and she let it slip."

"What about the vampires?" I ask.

Luci's jaw ticks, but he recovers by plastering a smirk on his mouth.

"Have you ever heard of a vampire named Alicia?" he asks me.

"No, why?"

His smile grows a little wider, looking pretty happy with himself. "Well, rumor has it, brother, that Alicia's mate was murdered recently. Vanished out of thin air. The last time he was seen was with a little, auburn-haired human in a dancer bar. Does that sound familiar to you?"

Damn leeches. I should have known. They had to be the ones behind the attacks on Emma. They wanted revenge for that vampire, Nicholas, she had assassinated to get back at me.

Now that I know who to go after, taking care of this threat is going to be much easier. Vampires are easy to take care of. So much bloodlust and so little brains.

I should thank Luci for the tip, but I decide not to.

"I gotta go."

***

Finding Emma is easy. Ever since she took my blood, I can feel my entire body buzzing with greater intensity when I get near her.

I am not surprised when I find her in the woods near her house. I know she finds it peaceful here, away from everyone. There is a certain charm to the place, but I prefer it at night and I think she does too.

When I reach her, she is furiously digging. She stands at the bottom of what is now a four-foot-deep hole in the ground. With every stab of her spade, a cute huff escapes her lips. The sun is beating down at her, its light reflecting off the layer of sweat that has gathered on her forehead. She looks beautiful. Exhausted, angry, but beautiful.

My body creates a shadow on the ground and when she notices it, she looks up, eyes glaring at me with all the force of a bulldozer.

"What do you want?" she snaps.

What do I want?

Everything. I want everything, and then all things that were taken away from you. I want them back too.