Fireflies.

Estelle

I became slowly aware, of a hushed conversation that was conducted in angry hisses. I kept my eyes closed and listened closely.

"You deal with these situations all the time, handle this one." Eric's voice washed across me, and I felt the faint tinges of fear. Where was I?

"You're right we do handle these situations, but your darling Queen told us to stay out of this. That you'd be the one to handle it or she would."

"She knows?" The hiss became a hushed roar and I clamped down on the urge to flinch.

"Of course she knows, she may be insane but she's not stupid."

A pause as whoever it was moved across the room, the soft click of her shoes growing closer. The voice was female, and strangely familiar.

"Eric, you know who she is and what she thinks of your world. The only one that has any hope of talking any sense into her is you. She can't reject this, you know what's at stake, for you and us."

And with that her fingers brushed across my cheek, her fingers warm and dry and comforting. My eyes flew open, and I flicked them up to the woman and gasped.

Her red hair, her eyes, the familiar planes of her face. Adeline. Alex's mum. What the hell was she doing talking to Eric, why wasn't there like a million hunters crawling through this place. Why was he near me.

I sat up quickly and she placed her hand on my shoulder, shaking her head. "Easy, Estelle." The dizziness shock me again, and I swayed slightly. Eric was at my side in a flash, I didn't even see him coming. Dimmit.

"Go away." I mumbled as I struggled to stay sitting up, I rubbed my forehead as it pounded.

He chuckled and placed his hand over my other hand, the one bracing me up right. It all faded, the dizziness all of it, the moment his skin touched mine.

"What the hell..." I turned slightly and glared at him, yanking my hand away.

He didn't say anything and I looked at Adeline. "I don't mean to be rude or anything but why the hell is Eric here?" My voice didn't shake, which I was grateful for. Eric had somehow taken away my symptoms, but it only made me more tired. Like after recovering from flu, your body’s exhausted from its battle.

She gave a soft sigh, a tired sigh. "He's here to explain a few things."

"What things, and how is this okay?" I glanced between the two of them. What the hell was going on, Adeline is like the OV queen, she's top bitch so to speak. She rules over everyone. She looks over every sector in America. And Eric was well Eric, the almighty whatever he was, the one we are supposed to be hunting.

"He's not the bad guy in this situation Estelle." She said as if she was guessing my thoughts.

I raised my eyebrow at her, completely and utterly lost.

"I'll leave you two to talk." She gave my shoulder a soft squeeze before she turned and left.

"You’re leaving me alone, with him?" I motioned to Eric, was she insane?!

"He won't hurt you, I promise." She fixed me with her unwavering gaze and I half believed her. After she left I gave a soft sigh and glared at Eric. Not before I took note of the guards standing outside the door. She may trust him but I sure as hell didn't.

He gave me a small, amused smile. "Lay down."

"No."

He sighed, "Estelle, you've been through a lot. Lay down please. "

I glared at him for a moment before I eased myself back down onto the bed. I finally took note of my surroundings. I was in a massive bedroom, beautifully decorated with bare timbers and ice blue and white trimmings. The wood was so pale it was almost white, flicks of chrome and silver added the finishing touches.

"Where am I?" I ask finally.

He paused, and sat back down in a chair that sat close to my bed. He folded himself effortlessly into the small chair, his powerful frame moving elegantly. How could someone so tall be so damn graceful?

"The Court." He said simply, his eyes focused on me.

I groaned, "I was trying to avoid this place."

He said nothing more for a second as he sat forward and braced his elbows on his knees, his eyes still on me.

I looked away and I felt my confusion rise again, why was I here. Here with him.

"Why am I here?" I asked softly, things hadn't been adding up for a while. The lack of information in the records on Eric, on his past. The sudden summoning, I'd done some crazy shit but nothing that has ever led in a summoning.

He paused and I was about to repeat my question before he rose his hand and motioned for me to stay quiet. A retort was on my lips but I bit it back.

He sighed, the sound tired. As if this very conversation exhausted him. It was a long moment before he spoke.

"Estelle, what I'm going to say won't make a lot of sense, but I need you to keep an open mind." His voice was patient but wary.

Warning bells sounded off in my head, this wasn't good. I looked at him carefully, tracing the planes of his face, the curve of his lips. Before I lifted my eyes to his.

"Why would I believe anything that came from your mouth?"

He stood in a single effortless movement and crossed the distance between his chair and my bed. His hand reached out to cup my cheek; it was tribute to myself control that I didn't flinch away. Or maybe I just wanted his touch. Now that was a stupid and dangerous thought.

His touch triggered the usual shudder that ran through my body, igniting the nerves and spreading heat through me. I became hyper aware of his closeness. Gah.

He lowered his face, and I suppressed another shudder as his warm, intoxicating breath washed over my jaw and neck. Before he lifted his eyes to mine.

I again became lost in their depth, they drew me in. Dangerously so.

"Do you trust me?" His voice low, triggered the heat once more, his hand felt almost hot on my cheek.

I didn't say anything, didn't trust my own voice. Did I trust him? Hell no. But why didn't I? Had he ever seriously tried to harm me? Sure there were the games, the chase in my apartment. The roof top incident. But had he actually ever lifted a blade or took aim against me?

No.

"How did I get here?" My voice crossed my lips before I could stop it, my words nothing more than a whisper.

"I brought you here.'' he said with no hesitation.

"The vampire?" I asked carefully.

"Dead."

"How?" I asked as I again lifted my eyes to his, searching their impossible depth.

"I killed her." He said if it was the simplest thing in the world, like it was nothing.

"Why?" One worded questions, god I'm so intellectual.

"Because she would have killed you." Again no hesitation, a statement of a fact not a question.

I searched harder, looking for traces of a lie. Why would he kill one of his own kind, for me? It didn't make any sense. The Vampires were nothing if not loyal to their nest mates. None of it made any sense, he would have placed himself in a very difficult position. Killing a Vampire over a Hunter wasn't something that went down well in the Damned community.

Looking into his eyes I realized he had these answers, the answers to the questions I'd been trying and failing to find answers for. Could I trust him? Something told me I could, and that scared the hell out of me. Trusting the Damned was something Hunters where taught to never do, but I had never been the average hunter.

It took me a while to sort through this, and he waited patiently. But finally I gave a soft sigh and spoke.

"I trust you." And the terrifying thing was I did.