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“Lucian,” I responded with a polite head bow.
“Sorry for crashing the party,” she said, before glancing back at the door. “Well, I guess I’m intruding then, huh?”
I stood and shook my head. “Not at all. I need to get ready for work, anyway. It was nice meeting you.”
As I grabbed my leather jacket off the couch, I stopped next to Zoe, contemplating kissing her. But maybe she wasn’t ready to be so public about it in front of her friend. For all Annabelle knew, I might’ve just stopped by for coffee.
So instead, I opted to let my fingertips brush against Zoe’s as I passed, subtle, but it should have made it clear to her that I wasn’t done with intimacy if she wasn’t.
Zoe blushed, a flicker of something dancing behind her eyes as she saw me out. “Thanks again for watching out for me,” she murmured. “Jacob’s a wuss, so I really doubt he’ll try anything after you did the whole… hellhound thing.”
“I hope not, for his sake,” I said, suppressing the growl that wanted to escape my throat. “See you soon.”
She responded with a soft smile, still clearly buzzing from what we shared last night.
And with that, I headed out, feeling just as dreamy as she was.
But then a strange sensation prickled up the nape of my neck as soon as I stepped into the stairwell. My instincts flared as I caught a faint whiff of an acrid, pungent aroma that made my beast’s hackles rise.
It couldn’t be him, could it? That little imp who had tormented me for years now?
My muscles tensed as I descended the steps, sniffing keenly. As I made my way through the lobby, the scent only grew stronger, and I could feel the fire rising up inside me.
Had he been following me this entire time?
The imp was an old enemy I had never been able to stamp out. He was a dreadful little creature from the underworld, a gleeful fire starter, and an outright pain in my side.
After what I did to him last time, I figured he’d never dare cross me again, and yet…
I turned the corner and was assaulted with a freshly exhaled plume of cigarette smoke. An old lady in slippers and a bathrobe squinted at me as she took another puff.
I growled. “Take that outside! You can’t smoke in here.”
“Says who?” she snorted.
I glared. “Says the captain of your local fire department.”
She looked me up and down, seeming to decide that I certainly looked the part. With a sigh, she relented and stomped out the cigarette on the ground before heading back into her apartment.
I took a moment to settle down, breathing in and out slowly.
I hadn’t meant to snap at her, but the thought of the imp showing up again had made my blood boil—almost literally.
But I calmed down almost immediately as I looked down at the crushed butt. The little demon smelled exactly like a lit cigarette, so this wasn’t the first false alarm I’d had. It’d been years, in fact, since I last saw him.
It was nothing.
Yes. Zoe was safe.
Besides, my station was nearby, and she had my number. I couldn’t start acting so protective and overbearing when we were just getting started.
She was a tough woman who’d already managed to handle so much by herself. I would support her, support the person I instinctively knew was my mate, but I wouldn’t overstep or force myself into her life until she was ready.
I stepped outside and took a long breath of the chilly morning air before grabbing a cab back home to get ready for the day.
Chapter 10
Zoe
