Laurel

20

Cole was on the hunt. It had been too long and he wasn't able to sense Laurel directly, he had no real tie to her anymore after so long apart. He tried to mark her as his, there was no reason it should have failed, if he hadn't fucked that up he would have had a direct line to her. She would have never been able to sneak out of town, right out from under his nose, he would have been able to follow her anywhere in the world.

He was still very cranky when he thought about all the time he had missed with her, and how she was now tangled up with a demon who was much higher up on the food chain than he was. The PI that had come snooping around Laurel's past had a very interesting ring on her finger that protected her from demons, and if he was guessing right it also alerted the wearer when a demon was nearby. Such things were insanely rare, he had only ever heard of one existing before over his long life.

Another toy he didn't get to play with. No one took him seriously, no one took any incubi seriously. Just silly little dream and sex demons, no real power, no real strength, no cunning, no big plans, just good time demons that's what he had heard for centuries about his kind and he was fed up. He was certain Laurel was his ticket, she had some kind of power and when he attached her to him for eternity things would turn around, he would do as he had always done and take exactly what he wanted, but no one would stand in his way with her on his arm and her power feeding him.

He just had to find her first. But dammit if searching this insufferable town for her was like looking for a needle in a haystack. He had spent hours wandering around the streets aimlessly, hoping the fates would lead him to her but it does not seem like the fates were on his side. With the sun at its peak beating down on him he was growing frustrated.

He started this morning by checking property around town, starting with the cheapest apartments to see if she was listed on any of the leases. He was at first overjoyed that her name had been listed on only the third building he checked. But his joy turned to bitter ashes in his mouth when he arrived at her apartment building and noticed movers emptying out the small apartment leased in her name, her scent heavy on the furniture, confirming her identity and where she had been. The movers all had protective rings on and he was unable to compel them to tell him where she was or where her stuff was being taken to. This put the ring count up to six! What demon could have accumulated so many of the mythical rings that they could be loaned out on lowly men of labour like this? Cole stewed in his head thinking about the other demon, Damon. Stupid old world demon picking a name like a pun. Cole knew he himself wasn't powerful and most demons would be stronger than him, his only hope was to be more sly, to slink around like a snake on its belly and remain unseen until the moment before he struck out.

Cole had gotten so lost in his thoughts that he had started blindly turning down random alleys, the roads getting narrower and less populated as he went. Suddenly he was shaken from his dark musings when he felt the familiar tingle of a demon's innate magic at work nearby. He put his nose in the air like a bloodhound seeking a scent and began to trace towards the source of the magic. He turned one final corner and saw a small tucked away sushi restaurant that had an expensive black SUV parked out front. The magic was a defense bubble, intended to keep humans away and warn other demons to mind their own business.

Cole was never one for being smart, he quite enjoyed sticking his nose in where it wasn't needed, it's how he had managed to bed most of the European royalty over the past three centuries after all. So ignoring the unpleasant itchy feeling over his skin as he pushed through the aura, he walked into Sun Sushi and was at first overjoyed to see the beautiful, auburn hair that he knew so well sat facing away from him in a comfortable booth. His joy melted slightly when he noticed Damon Black staring back at him, and Damon did not look happy.