Chapter 4: The Forced Bride

I froze on the stage, fiddling with my fingernails. Now, the world would find out the truth that something was wrong with me. Cage would also be discovered, and only I would pay for it.

The gasps rose. I feared them. My feet fell back a step, and just when I was about to crumble, broad shoulders stepped in the gap and pulled me in. 

It was him. Cage. My face was currently buried in his chest, but if I didn't hate him so much for making me give up my life's legacy, I would have snuggled closer to inhale all of him. The enemy smelled good. Too good.

"What are you doing here?" I croaked.

"A bodyguard must protect his owner at all costs."

His hand patted down my hair. The other one slipped around my waist, pulling me close. If we weren't faking this to save ourselves, I would have been convinced. 

The reporters would forget the past minute and the sudden colour of my eyes. They had seen a bigger dirt to gossip about. Blue Meyer and a man who's not Noah.

It was the news of the decade, but too bad the headlines about my death would replace that soon. 

I tried pushing away from him. We had done enough damage, but his reply shocked me. 

"One more minute, Blue. Stay still." He whispered.

"No, I've done what you asked. Let's get this over with." The hostility in my voice could not be missed or ignored. 

Cage finally got the memo and started moving. He helped me avoid the cameras, keeping his hand on my waist to make a statement. 

I expected a car, but were approaching a motorcycle parked at the curb. He got in and handed me a helmet. I paused for a beat, thinking hard. Motorcycles are dangerous. Men like him are dangerous. 

Blue always played it safe. 

That is, until I heard the sound of the reporters looking to draw blood. I crossed my leg over it and settled with my hand tightly gripping his waist.

The streets weren't congested with traffic. Cage drove us back to my house and was kind enough to serve me a glass of water while I slipped into the island seat. 

"We must get going, Blue. The city isn't safe for you anymore."

"Get going? I'm not your witch, remember? I just resigned from my company because you asked me to clean my life up before you take it."

Cage sat across from me tentatively. He swiped a document to my front on the marble tiled top. I was hesitant to open it, so I didn't.

"Khal and his astronomer weren't wrong. You are my witch." He clasped his hands on the table, watching me with piercing hazel eyes. "I did something thinking. You couldn't open the sword because you don't have access to your powers, but very soon, you will be able to do that."

"So, I'm not dying?" 

He maintained the cold look on his face as he said, "You will die if we don't leave this city now." 

I shot to my feet as tense as a live wire. The thought that those shadow demons would return again scared the shit out of me. I was willing to take my chances with Cage, even though he promised to kill me, and I still hate his guts.

"Okay! Do I need my passport? Obviously, I do, but if I may ask, which city do you intend we run to until the attacks stop?" 

Cage was right in front of me, distracting my already frazzled train of thoughts. He grabbed my trembling hands that clutched at my roots and dislodged them before I could harm myself. All I could smell was him again.

"No city on the world map is safe, Blue. Those demons will find you wherever you go. The only person who can keep you safe is Khal."

I could have died from a heart attack, but my body was so healthy that the chances of that happening were zero to none. There was no place on earth I would be safe in. How did my perfect life come down to this? What sort of joke was this?

Fear paralysed me. I couldn't breathe, but death was shy of me now.

"Who is this Khal? How much do I need to sway his sentiments? I would give anything, Cage."

Cage stepped back. He pulled off his shirt and stepped into the sunlight, pouring into the room through the living room window. His skin glittered like diamonds. He was in pain because the sun burned him. 

He brought out his talons next. His eyes glowed amber like mine. Furs coated the skin of his face and neck. His fangs gleamed under sunlight. He had only shown me a glimpse of it the first time we met. Now, I witnessed things from a vantage point.

"What are you?"

"I'm what they call a hybrid." His voice had changed. It was much deeper and butter-like. "I'm part werewolf and part vampire. I have lived for a thousand years in Kandare and the human world, Blue." 

"A thousand?" I gasped, incapable of hiding my shock. "Kandare? I'm so confused. I—I..."

I also noticed the way his eyes were drawn to me now that he had partly shifted. There was hunger in his gaze, and I couldn't tell what kind. Cage was acting differently. It was almost like he was struggling with control.

"Kandare is where you belong, Blue. The land of supernaturals will welcome you."

"What about my life here?! I have friends and fans to return to. I can't just leave forever. How do I stop the demons instead?"

Cage's bare chest heaved as he stood before me again. I could still see that hunger blazing like a wild fire in his eyes. It was passionate instead of feral, and it threw me off guard. I found myself drawn to it, too.

"You can't stop them. The Alpha of Kandare sent me here to find the Ember Blood Witch and make her his bride."