Awakening

Chapter 9

A strong, bitter smell assaulting my senses finally caused my lids to flutter open. Focusing my eyes it wasn't hard to figure out why. A cup of coffee was being held directly beneath my nose. Flinching backwards I looked up only to see that the hand holding the coffee belonged to Ryker. A very wide awake Ryker who was looking at me with expectant eyes.

"What are you doing?" I asked, my voice still scratchy from sleep.

"I'm waiting on you to wake up and take this coffee because I'm getting a bit tired of holding it," he said.

Taking my time I sat up and stretched my arms and my legs. After hearing Ryker heave an impatient sigh I finally reached out and took hold of the steaming cup. Slowly taking a few sips I enjoyed the bitter taste as the warm liquid slid down my throat. Only after hearing my appreciative moan did Ryker moved away and sit on his own bed. Sneaking a glance at the window I noticed that the shades were drawn but I could see a light pink hue peeking in between them, a sign that the even the sun was just starting to make an appearance.

"What time is it?" I asked.

"Around 7 or so."

Closing my eyes I let out a sigh and dropped my head back against the headboard to the bed. "I'm not even going to school and still I can't sleep in," I said. Hearing Ryker chuckle I peeked an eye open to glare at him. "Find something funny?"

"No, nothing at all," he said putting his hands up in mock surrender.

Taking another sip of my coffee I looked over and noticed that Ryker was already dressed for the day. "How much longer do I have before I have to get back in that damned car for God only knows how long?" I asked with as light a tone as I could muster.

I really did dread getting back into that car. As a kid I used to love road trips with my parents, and the longer the drive the better. But I suppose that was because it was time that we all spent together in one place. In a moving car no one could leave. There were no cases to run off to, no clients to advise; just my parents and I. We would spend the entire drive talking about anything and everything, laughing at memories of old times, or just playing any games we could think of. But with Ryker, it didn't work that way. Ryker was reluctant to talk, about anything. I couldn't really blame him. He was a demon after all and how often did a demon have to endure a talkative teenager? But what Ryker didn't understand was that if I didn't find something to pass the hours then I would lose it, plain and simple.

"We will leave as soon as you get ready," he said staring at me with those dark eyes. "Which means that you're going to have to get up soon." At his insistent tone I could only arch a brow at him. "Like now."

Throwing him a smirk I said, "And what if I just decide that this bed is entirely too comfortable to leave right now?" As I spoke I managed to slide my way back underneath the covers.

"Well in that case I would just have to throw you over my shoulder and put you in the car myself." He said it as if he were talking about the weather.

"You wouldn't dare," I challenged. His only answer was to raise a brow at me. After a moment he stood and made to reach for me but I shot up out from under the covers and stood up. "Alright, alright. I'm up," I said. I glared at him as he threw me a smirk that looked much to perfect on his handsome face. As he turned to walk away I scooped up my pillow and chucked it at him. He spun around much quicker than I would have ever expected and snatched the pillow out of the air.

"Nice try," he said. His smirk grew into a full blown grin as he listened to me grumbling. "Now that you're up and about sunshine, get dressed and get your stuff together. The sooner we get back on the road the sooner we get to Penjamo. I'm going to go and finish up a few things. I'll be back in ten minutes." I watched as he threw the pillow back to me and walked out the door, my eyes glaring a nice sized hole in the back of his head. As soon as the door clicked closed I threw the pillow at it, wishing that it was Ryker who it hit instead of the door.