Death Watchers

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I'd been waiting all morning and some of the afternoon. Cole still hadn't shown. I picked up my mocha and started to get up, figuring Cole was a no-show and the dream hadn't been as real as it had felt.

He waltzed in just after I threw my cup away and had headed for the door. Seeing me, he gave a hesitant smile, running his hand through his hair slowly. I sighed and reclaimed my booth, waiting for him to come to me. Slowly, he made it, choosing to stand next to the table.

After a moment of tense silence, I said, "You can sit down, you know?"

Cole plopped into the booth immediately, it protesting with a wheeze at the sudden movement and added weight. I didn't know what to say. Had he had the same dream or had he just ended up coming to the coffee shop by chance? I waited for him to start.

My pulse jumped when he leaned forward to rest his forearms on the tabletop, training those brilliantly purple eyes on mine. "So...," I mumbled.

"So, first things first?" he asked, a slight smile appearing.

"Why were you staring at me yesterday?" I blurted.

His brow arched but he answered the question. "I noticed you looked like you were talking to yourself. At first, I thought it was on your phone but then I realized you weren't actually holding a phone. That's when I figured out what you are."

I stiffened. "What I am?"

He scoffed and leaned forward so he could whisper, "Stop acting dumb. You're a Death Watcher."

I froze, my heart jumping into my throat. Clearing it, I squeaked, "How do you know what Death Watchers are?"

He leaned back against the booth, shrugging slightly. "My mom was one, too. She made me realize the signs of a Death Watcher early in hopes I could find more like her." His expression turned grim. "But it's too late now."

"Why?" Even though I hadn't originally come here to find out about his background, I found myself getting sucked in, beyond curious as to how he knew.

"Well, you know that creepy guy with the red eyes? He's been searching for a queen for eons. Every generation of Death Watchers has their own version, and my mom's just found her. And now he's slowly sucking the life out of her, leaving her in ICU even though both my dad and I know she's not going to get better."

"Did she become her Shadow Man's queen?" I asked slowly.

Cole shook his head. "No, she's resisted him ever since he found her, which was, I think, six years ago. Since then, he's been draining her health, making her weak, hoping she'll give in when he offers her strength. Which is what yours will do to you. That's why I knew I had to keep you away from him."

"How were you in my dream?"

He smirked and glanced at the table, watching his fingers pick the edge. "Well, that's where it gets weird."

I motioned him on, needing to know this.

He laughed lightly. "It's complicated. You see, for every Death Watcher, there's a...um, what are they considered? I guess the closest thing is their own guardian angel, but in the human form."

"So you're a guardian angel?"

He scoffed. "No. Absolutely not. My mom said that, since she was the Death Watcher, I would be the one to watch over her, being the male of the family. Normally, Death Watchers marry their guardians just to be extra safe, but my mom never met hers, so she married my dad. She told him about her ability and he accepted her for that, even though it bothered him sometimes to see her talking to herself."