Page 6 of The Human Element (The Human Element Collection #1)

The kind man was standing, cross-armed behind the bar with a rag in hand, a stern look towards the mysterious man who stood behind her.

The man walked back towards the bar and pulled out a couple of pounds, placing them on the counter, his eyes glancing back at Lorelei as the now satisfied barkeep sauntered away.

“Lorelei, we don’t have time. You need to come with me, now. ”

How does he know my name?

Lorelei’s heart raced beneath her chest; not only did she see this man in her dream, but he was here in the flesh, knew her name, and was spewing nonsense that if she didn’t follow him, she would die .

If there was ever a time for Ashton Kutcher from that pranking show to appear…it would be now. Or if I could just wake up again from this in my hotel room, peacefully having fallen asleep after an exhausting day of travel, please..

Coming towards her, the man placed a white-knuckled hand on the bar counter, turning her chair to face him abruptly.

He was so close to her, she thought she could smell a musky cologne, the scent of citrus and pine, perhaps?

He leaned in closer, his lips brushing her ear so only she could hear his next words.

“Please, I want to help you…but I can’t do that here.”

Swallowing, her breath hitching at the back of her throat, she forwent all logic, feeling that same immediate familiarity in her dream; the way he made curiosity run rampant.

She needed to figure out what was going on.

He stepped away, allowing her room to pack up her stuff, and finishing the last bit of her beer, she slips on her jacket.

The man waits for her, and then follows behind as she leads them out of the pub.

Once outside, she looks around once again, but still, no Dean.

Sighing, she turns to the man who is beside her now.

“So, where should we go then?”

He doesn’t answer immediately. He was glancing around in a protective way like a guard dog making sure nobody was near, before pulling her over to the side of the pub in an alley.

He unzips his hoodie, he wasn’t wearing a shirt despite how cold it was.

His toned body was still the same from when she saw him in her dream and she did her best to suppress the blush threatening to paint her face.

To her shock, she saw the large, black wings snuggled against his back.

“Oh geez, I must be fucking drunk to be seeing this…”

“Hush, it’s the quickest way back to your hotel room.”

“How do you know...you know what never mind. I’m obviously dreaming. I fell asleep in my room at the hotel and all of this is a dream. Might as well go with the crazy flying man to see what’s next, huh!?”

The man rolls his eyes at her once again, not in the mood to try and convince her otherwise. Holding out his arms towards her, he motions for her to come to him.

“Come on. We shouldn’t be out here.”

Lorelei can only laugh at him. No amount of curiosity or vague sense of affinity towards him would make her lose all sanity and hop into this stranger’s arms and fly off into the sky.

“Haha, no way buddy. I’m good. This night is already too much for me to handle, there is no way in hell I am doing tha-a…”

The man growls and finally goes to her, throwing a strong arm around her waist, and before she can fathom what is happening, they are zooming up into the sky at stomach-lurching speed.

‘Holy shit, holy shit, holy shiittttt!”

Lorelei screams as he whips across the night sky back towards her hotel.

She buries her head into his chest, just waiting and hoping it will end soon.

She couldn’t help but think she was going certifiably insane.

None of this could actually be real, right?

But as quickly as he soared her into the night sky, he was swiftly lowering her onto the balcony outside her room.

She continued to cling onto him, her hair severely wind-blown and practically falling out of her ponytail.

He let her gain her legs for a moment, and then recoiled his arm from around her, walking towards the glass door, and sliding it open.

He pulled his wings back, letting them once again rest bundled up upon his back and put the hoodie back on.

Surprisingly, the hoodie covered the wings quite nicely, with nothing more than a slight bump where they lay.

If she didn’t know they were there, she would never have known.

He would’ve looked like any normal guy-although most men don’t have this shoulder-length silver hair and looked a mix of a rockstar and a rugged biker.

Lorelei stood watching a moment and then walked inside, sitting down on the bed, her mind racing and spinning like a tornado. After some minutes in silence, Lorelei looked over at the man, who was now sitting in the chair by the desk in the room.

“Who are you? And...and what are you? You were in my dream earlier today and now you’re here, why? You obviously know who I am? And why isn’t it safe? And how did you know that Dean would be a no show?”

She was on the verge of hyperventilating with each question she asked, placing a hand on her chest, she tried to slow her breathing, and then her eyes met his once again. Sighing, he pressed a finger at his temple, applying pressure and then answered.

“Alright, slow down. I’ll answer every question you have.

My name is Daemon, I’m an angel...well, a Fallen angel.

But that’s a long story so we are going to skip that for now.

I have zero clue how you saw me in a dream, so on that point, I can’t help you.

I know of you, yes, but only because I know what you are meant to do, and I want to help make it happen. ”

He looks at her for a reaction, but she remains speechless, her previously sarcastic attitude from before replaced entirely by shock.

“It’s not safe because there are demons around trying to harm you.

They are trying to get rid of you before you can even fulfill your destiny, Lorelei.

And that prat, Dean? I knew he wouldn’t show because I made sure of it.

” Daemon made a smirk with this last bit of information, leaning back in the chair and throwing a hand behind his head to prop himself up, a satisfied grin spreading across his face.

Shaking her head, Lorelei could feel a severe headache coming on from the amount of thinking she was doing over all of this new information. Furrowing her eyebrows, she returned her attention to him.

“What do you mean by you made sure of it?”

Daemon leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, his pupils widening like those of a satisfied predator.

“What I mean is that Dean was a demon. Do you remember when you passed out before leaving for your little date? I made that happen so that you would be delayed. Although, I mistimed the casting of the spell that put you under. I meant to cast it when you were closer to the bed-sorry about that. I did it though so that I could get to Dean before he could get to you. I took him out, to protect you. Otherwise, you would be dead right now. So, you’re welcome by the way. ”

Blinking several times trying to grasp what he said, she shook her head once more in hopeless denial.

“Dean couldn’t be a demon. He didn’t look like a demon for one and he was so kind and generous.”

Daemon rolled his eyes and gave a slight growl of frustration.

“What do you think demons look like, hm? Horns protruding from their heads? Big ol’ bat-like wings and jagged, snarling smiles?” He laughed and proceeded to lean back in his chair again, folding his arms across his chest.

“Demons only look that way in Hell, and most of the time it’s never that grotesque; besides the particularly nasty faction bred specifically for nefarious purposes.

Most demons only have a horn or two, not much more than that.

They are quite gifted in taking the form of humans though, as well as being deceptively charming when the need arises.

It’s no surprise really that you would be hoodwinked by him, he was even better than most; a master at manipulation.

His real name was Erigos, and he was a high level demon, with the sole mission of ending your life . ”

“Okay hold on, you said I have some destiny or something, which is why Dean, I mean….Erigos was trying to kill me? But all I am is a writer for a small magazine. I'm just trying to get by in life. What kind of destiny could I possibly have?”

Daemon rubbed the back of his head and then answered her question, his eyes meeting hers, with a look of surety.

“You have to save humanity, Lorelei.”

“What?!”

Lorelei looked at him pleadingly, exasperated by the evening's events. She couldn’t believe what Daemon was telling her, or the fact he was a Fallen angel or the fact that supposedly she flirted with a demon today and narrowly escaped death at its own hands.

But especially the fact that Daemon said her destiny was to save humanity somehow.

And he just admitted to committing actual murder; with a smile on his face.

Or, was it considered murder if it was a blood-thirsty demon out to kill her?

She wasn’t ever the religious type, her father instilling in her from a young age to appreciate more than the Christian ideologies, she often explored religions and spiritualities from around the world, especially favoring concepts from Buddhism.

She often recounted her friends hurrying off to church on Sundays, while she sat researching in the museum religions and belief systems across the globe.

Questions always formulating as she found countless ideologies that fascinated and calmed her.

Although she believed there had to be truth in all religions to some capacity—but to actually be standing face to face with a fucking angel?

Her mind was spinning uncontrollably, causing the headache that had been slowly approaching to hit her at full strength and making her close her eyes, resting her head in her hands.

“So there's Heaven and Hell? And what religion is this all from? Are you on the ‘good’ side or…the bad?”

She was exhausted and she knew she couldn't process another word. Daemon finally stood, making his way over to stand before her. Lorelei looked up from her hands and met his gaze. He was much closer to her than she anticipated and although it made her heart beat faster; she didn’t mind it.

Daemon’s eyes grew darker, a wave of concern taking over his features that before seemed haughty and sarcastic.

He spoke with her in a softer tone, like he knew this was too much to understand all at once—like he knew she was overwhelmed to the point of tears with this new information and the questions whirled rapidly through her mind, getting wilder and more convoluted with each passing second.

“Aye..aye..it’s okay. I’ll answer more of your questions. But first you need rest.”

Daemon knelt and placed a hand on her shoulder.

A pulsing warmth emanated from his palm and into her, spreading throughout the rest of her body, making Lorelei instantly feel a little calmer.

Her headache began to ease and her heartbeat slowed down to its normal pace.

Standing back up, Daemon walked over to the sliding glass door leading to the balcony, opening it, he let the cold air leak into the room. He turned back to her and spoke again.

“It’s been a long and trying night for you. I will keep watch over your room to make sure you’re safe, so you won’t need to worry about that. I will be back in the morning for you.”

Lorelei only nodded, words unable to formulate in her mind to make a response.

She knew she needed to sleep, as she was starting to have that aching feeling deep in her muscles that always happened when you were beyond exhaustion.

The only thing she could think of was to thank him for his help tonight, so she looked back up to do so, but he was already gone.

The sliding door was once again closed and she was alone.

Closing her eyes, she gathered what strength she had left to wash her makeup off and throw on an oversized t-shirt to sleep in.

Once finished, she crawled into the bed, which although wasn’t the most comfortable bed, welcomed her happily.

She thought she might have problems shutting off her mind from all that happened that day, but within minutes, she was fast asleep.