Love of the Fallen Angel (Otherworld Series #2)

13

I sat on bed staring at the empty bag of my luggage sitting in the corner of Elijah's room. The cupboard was already filled with my clothes and he did not seem to mind that more than half of the cupboard had taken up space with my luggage. 

I was not really surprised to learn from his mouth later that he was the one who had changed my clothes when I had been unconscious. Flustered and nervous, yes, but not surprised. And then the situation of me being n***d and unconscious had already passed so it was not like I could do anything about it. Not like there was anything there that he had not already seen. My body was just more frail than before, and thin, so that made me flush in embarrassment even more. Not as beautiful as earlier, you see? But those nightmares I had because of Solomon's deeds were not something I could control and the grief of losing Elijah had already taken its control over my conscious. 

I was thinking of trying to find a way to get out of this place. No matter how much I insisted, Elijah had made it clear there was no way I was going to get out of here until I talked to him. And I had made it my mission that no matter what he said or did, he no longer deserved my explanation. I had not asked to be brought into this world, and the consequences of someone else's death had been forced upon me. Bella was murdered brutally, so the only thing that had left on my mind was to make sure Solomon got punished.

The first thing that came to my mind was to go to Bella's father's restaurant and tell him the truth. But the issue was how to get there? I was still wrapped up in a head bandage. 

As I was pondering over the thought, the sound of people speaking loudly caught my attention. Elijah... and another man that I did not know? The voices were loud and angry.

I stood up and inched towards the doorframe to listen to what was being said. I could not see any faces from there though and voices were very low. So I slipped down the stairs towards the hallway where the fight was happening to listen clearly.

"Elijah, your brothers took advantage of old age traditions that the descendants of the throne can not be punished for anything as long as the crime was not murder." a man spat out, "that rule was the only thing that saved you from dying that day that your slave broke rules. But the murders that happened last year all indicate you as the culprit. Do not f*****g think I am going to let you get away with them."

A small gasp left my mouth at the words that I had to immediately cover with my palms. What the hell...?

"I do not see any proof, Ryan." Elijah hissed in a threatening voice, "you do not get to walk inside my house accusing me of things and barking like a f*****g dog with tail shaking towards the otherworld society."

"I do not work for anyone, man," Ryan scoffed in a furious tone, "all I know is to do my f*****g job and you are not helping at all by not giving any statement or words. This is not how things work in my jurisdiction."

I lowered my hands and gently tried to walk down the stairs a bit more so I could see the face Ryan. I was stepping down the stairs gently one by one, but one slip of foot and I was stumbling down three steps with a loud yelp leaving my lips.

Two sets of heads turned to look at me, and I instantly looked around me to find an excuse. 

"I... I just wanted to watch TV." I said as my mind went completely blank upon having two sets of eyes glaring at me.

Ryan was surprisingly a young man, most probably in early thirtees, his muscular body clad with a black , skin tight t shirt and jeans. He was clean shaved,  black hair fell over his forehead from the side part in kind of messy and at the same time strangely set, attractive way. His eyes were light green as they met mine and the glower on his face did not lessen, I was kind of feeling too scared to look away.

"You could have said you wanted to drink water." I heard Elijah's sarcasm filled voice that snatched my attention back to him.

Shoot. He was right.

I looked away from him and attempted to appear nonchalant. 

"Ally, right?" Ryan suddenly asked.

I turned my head to look at them. He was talking to me directly instead of Elijah.

"She does not have anything to do with your shit." Elijah growled and came around to cover me from his sight.

I clenched my fists in anger at his behavior. I did not need him to protect me anymore. Side stepping him, I walked forward a bit and said, "yes, I am."

Ryan's eyes followed me as I took steps to get closer to him. I could feel Elijah's stare shooting daggers on my back but I was done with following orders.

As I was close enough to talk to Ryan face to face, his lips suddenly twitched to a small smile. I thought he was being a mean person and trying to mock me, but to my shock, he extended his hand and introduced himself,

"Ryan Sloan, Chief inspection officer of the otherworld." 

I hesitated a bit with meeting his hand. I did not know what he could find with the touch of his fingers.

"I am a human, Ally," Ryan said even before I could voice anything out, "just as powerless as you when it comes to having supernatural powers."

My mouth dropped a bit in shock while my head turned instantly to Elijah to confirm. He was not saying anything. His hands were folded up on his chest while a vein jumped in his jaw, showing the anger he was clearly trying to hide.

When he did not give me any confirmation, my head turned back to look at Ryan who was patiently still holding his hand out to me.

I gave an awkward smile and took his hand in mine, shaking it. 

"Ally," he said while the smile on his face turned to complete seriousness, "I would like to talk to you regarding the matter of Elijah's supposed burial that was supposed to happen because of you."

"ENOUGH!" Elijah's roar shook the hall and before I knew any second thing, he had me pushed behind himself as he pushed at Ryan's chest, making him stumble back a step, "get the f**k out of this house before I order an investigation on YOU for ruining my private space."

To my shock, and honest appreciation, Ryan did not look shook up or scared even a bit. If I were in his place, I honestly would have just turned around and left. But the man standing in front of me came chest to chest with Elijah, pushed his hand aside and said, 

"I do not take orders from anyone, Elijah. And you are no exception whatsoever."

Although his reminder of Elijah's burial had left me feeling extremely down once again, but his strength and uptight attitude despite of standing in front of a male whose strength went way past the lengths of any basic human male impressed me instantly. Maybe... maybe Ryan was going to be my way out of this place?

"I am ready to talk." I said before Elijah could say anything. 

Elijah's head immediately turned to glare at me, his eyes furious and his face red in anger, "Repeat that one more time."

I did not look at him. Honestly I was not as brave as Ryan to stand up in front of Elijah without flinching. So I stared at Ryan, hoping he could help me out.

"Great." Ryan said and side stepped Elijah, coming to me, "let's step out for a bit."

"You are not taking my guest anywhere." Elijah's deathly calm voice suddenly halted the feet that I had lifted in Ryan's direction. 

Ryan looked back at Elijah and said with a straight face, "You do not have any authority to stop me from investigating a willing, adult individual. It is my responsibility to drop her back here within the next ten minutes. I would appreciate your cooperation, or be ready to have Ally removed from the premises of this mansion for the illegal stay of a human."

The silence that surrounded us was haunting. I could literally see Elijah's shaking in fury but in that moment I knew, Elijah did not have a power against Ryan's statement. 

Ryan indicated me to follow him which I did with a hidden smile. This was the first time I had seen anyone take victory over Elijah. Damn... sweet, sweet satisfaction, even though it was not me who had beaten the dominance of Elijah.

Ryan guided me out of the house and took me towards the garden that surrounded the property. We walked for a good while before he stopped and turned to look at me.

"First of all, I would like to apologize that you had to see me like that inside that mansion." he said gently and bowed his head a bit in an apologizing manner calmly. I was baffled. I was not expecting this. Like at all.

"N.. not a big deal." I laughed a bit awkwardly and shook my hand side to side, "It was not like there was a b****y fist fight or something like that."

"It was about to become one if you had not walked in." Ryan grinned, "Elijah is..." he stopped and looked around awkwardly to find a word.

"Hardheaded dominant...?" I smirked a bit and attempted to finish the words for him.

Ryan snickered a bit before looking around and nodding his head a bit, "Hard to get through, yes."

I giggled a bit and looked around me. There was nothing to see except for the grass and trees. No cameras as well.

"What did you want to talk about?" I asked, suddenly feeling a bit anxious. I had agreed to talk to him in a fit of anger because of Elijah but I did not know what kind of person Ryan actually was.

"Ally, first of all, I want you to know that I do not blame you for choosing yourself over Elijah that day." Ryan's words were said in all seriousness as his green eyes stared in mine, "it does not matter why you chose to get out of here instead of saving Elijah, but you are a human and you have every right to choose yourself over anyone in this world. You do not owe anyone a life."

My eyes were blank as I looked at Ryan. Since the day that had happened, he was the first person to tell me these words. The words that I was not wrong for choosing my life over Elijah's. Even though Ryan did not know the full truth behind my decision, the sincerity of his words gave me actual hope and insight into Ryan. He was not faking it. He was saying what was on his mind.

I gave him a small smile and responded, "thank you. I... I don't know how to explain this or what to say."

"Ally, there is just one thing I want to know and that is how you were treated by Elijah when you were here. Was it true that you broke rules or not? What exactly happened? I just need to know the truth."

My mind ran wild as I tried to decide if, or how much to reveal to him. I was not confident at all that anything I said would be held or used against me or not. And even though I was not on good terms with Elijah, I was not about to let him be subjected to any more misery than he had already been through.

"He was good to me." I responded gently, "the circumstances were not in my favor, but he was good to me."

Ryan did not look satisfied with my answer but did not try to pry in either, respecting my words and shaking his head in acceptance. 

"Can I come by to see you from time to time?" he suddenly asked, making me confused about why he thought it was a good idea...? 

Seeing the confusion on my face he instantly responded, "I just need to clear this case and get it out of my way. Elijah is tight lipped about the matter and refuses to say anything. I can not prove his innocence until I have some kind of proof and information regarding what was happening when you were here. I would appreciate it if I can come by and talk to you. And hey... you human and I am also a human, a friendship is bound to happen in this foreign land, don't you think?"

Ryan was smiling brightly by the end of his sentence. This was the first genuine smile I had seen on his face since I had seen him. He looked beautiful. Gosh. Not more than Elijah, but still pretty handsome. Or maybe my brain was just f****d over by Elijah's love so much that every man on the planet just appeared less attractive than him. 

Fuck my life.

*****

"What did you talk about with Ryan?" Elijah repeated for the tenth time as he followed me towards the kitchen.

"Not going to tell you, Elija," I repeated, for the tenth time, "it is none of your business."

Elijah came around the kitchen aisle to glare at me. Surprisingly, this glare and the furious glare he had given to Ryan less than an hour ago had so much difference. This one was not nearly even scary as the earlier one give to Ryan. And my brain was trying to kick myself for realizing and recognizing this difference so easily.

As soon as I had walked back inside the mansion, Elijah had been hot on my heels constantly asking what we had talked about and where Ryan had taken me. I was not going to tell him that I had not crossed even the border of his home. Ryan had just dropped me outside the house with the promise of coming to meet me again soon.

I had not objected. Seeing the face of someone else that was not Elijah would be good. 

"Ally," Elijah looked at me like I had kicked him in the shin while I prepared a sandwich to each, "you can not trust people so easily. This is not how this world works."

I lifted the sandwich up to my mouth and said with a mouthful, "none fof youwe busisess."

He scrunched his nose up in distaste, "finish the food in your mouth first."

I gulped down the bite in my mouth and drank a sip of juice dramatically before putting the glass down, and lifting my head up to repeat the words, "none of your business." and smiled.

He gritted his teeth and lifted the sandwich up to push it into my mouth, "do not come to me if anything goes wrong! I am not going to help you."

I tried to push his hand away, swatting at it in frustration while taking a bite. When I was done swallowing it, I glared at him and snapped, "I never asked you to. Let me go back home and I this s**t will be over. If I am not even here, Ryan would not come to talk to me anymore. "

His eyes widened while his mouth dropped open a bit in sheer frustration, "anymore...?" He turned around while pushing his hands in his hair before turning back to look at me, "this was a f*****g one time thing Ally. Do not even think of meeting that dickhead again and giving him any information or I swear to God I am going to do something drastic that will not be tasteful to you."