Waiting wasn't my forte. Others have waited on me, but I have never waited on anyone else. Instead of worrying over what I couldn't control, I busied myself with taking care of business. Lazarus hasn't gotten back to me yet about the incident in North Dakota and I knew I couldn't stay here for much longer. I needed to return and manage things from home.

However, nothing was going the way I wanted. Waiting on Silas, Lazarus, and Ophelia.

Fuck...Ophelia...

Just the mention of her name made me feel all kinds of ways.

I stood up from the fireplace in Lazarus's guest bedroom and walked to the walk-in closet. It was two in the morning and still dark outside.

I couldn't resist glancing at the crystal for the thousandth time today. Still, there wasn't any activity. Frustration boiled inside me like a kettle. I couldn't think or breathe.

Grabbing a towel, I decided to go take a shower. A cold one—at least it would help in de-stressing whatever I was feeling inside. I stripped out of my clothes and hopped in. Turning the cold water to max. I stood inside the shower and inhaled deeply. The air stretched my lungs as I held in my breath for a few seconds. I released it a second later.

I don't know how long I stood in the shower. When I came out, I felt slightly rejuvenated. In the middle of drying myself off, my ear twitched to the sound of scuffling in the bedroom. I stopped to wrap the towel around my waist before walking out of the bathroom.

To my surprise, it was Ophelia.

The heaviness inside of me lifted. Before I knew it, I was by her side and pulling her into my chest. I wrapped my arms tight around her.

"You're back," I breathed.

Ophelia sighed and wrapped her arms around my waist. It felt good to have her in my arms again. I put one hand in the back of her head as she lay her head on my shoulder.

"What took you so long?" I asked, still holding onto her.

"How long was I gone for?" she replied.

"Six days." Six days of darkness. Six days of feeling of heaviness in my chest. Six days of missing her. Fuck, I missed her. I really did.

"I guess it is a good thing I was gone for six days. It looks like you missed me," she said sassily.

I pulled back to look at her. She lifted her head to look at me. There were dark circles under her eyes. She looked pale and her normal cherry lips were dull. She still looked beautiful, but you could tell she looked exhausted.

"Why were you gone for so long? Do you remember anything?"

"I only disappeared back into the crystal, Atlas. There's nothing wrong with me."

"You look paler."

"You don't look so good yourself." She pushed me away before walking to sit on the bed. I followed her.

"You made me worried sick. I told you to stay back at the cabin."

"And I told you, no."

"This isn't going to happen again. Next time I tell you to go inside, you better listen to me."

"I thought you were going to kill me." Ophelia looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm still thinking about it."

"You know, just say you miss me and you're glad I'm back."

I eyed her for a moment. At that moment, I appreciated everything about her. From the roots of her hair to her tippy toes. How the hell did she get so beautiful? I raised a hand to cradle one side of her face and she looked at me, slightly shocked.

"I'm glad you're back. I don't know what I would do if you came back a day later." That was the truth.

I leaned forward and captured her lips. Her precious lips. It felt so good. I cradled the other side of her face and deepened the kiss. It felt so good, as if I was taking my very first breath for the first time. I couldn't stop. I just needed more.

Her hands caressed my bare chest lightly before wrapping around my neck and urging me to deepen the kiss.

When we broke the kiss, both of us were panting. Her eyes were heavy with desires. I wanted to rip everything off from her and touch her all over, but she looked so tired, too. I pressed my forehead against hers.

When did I get so close?

How did I allow myself to be in this kind of situation?

My feelings for her were undeniable. She meant more than just an acquaintance or a friend. The voice inside of me was practically handing out flyers about my feelings. My feelings for her rooted deeper than I expected. I've never allowed a woman to get this close. How did she end up getting past all that without me noticing?

"I need to shower," she whispered.

It was then I noticed she still had blood on her body. It wasn't so bad, but she looked exactly like how she disappeared. I nodded my head and watched her get up shakily and walked to the bathroom. I waited for the shower to turn on before standing up and walking to the closet. I pulled on a pair of briefs and sleeping pants. I pulled a long, black t-shirt of mine off the clothes rack and walked out of the closet.

Several minutes later, Ophelia stepped out of the shower wrapped in her own towel. Her hair was damp from the shower. She looked cleaner and a little more vibrant than when she first appeared.

I walked over to her and tugged the towel off her body. She didn't stop me at all. It dropped to a pool around her feet. My eyes caught sight of her voluptuous breasts, pinched waist, and curvy hips. Ophelia looked like a river nymph with her red hair and pale skin.

But I knew better than to do anything more than look. I needed to be a gentleman. She looked exhausted still and having me salivate over her body wasn't the brightest idea. I slipped the black t-shirt over her head. She didn't argue. Ophelia raised her arms over her head and slipped them through the armholes. It fell down her body and just below her butt.

"Thanks," she murmured. "Do you think I could have some underwear, too?"

I frowned. "Why? You need rest."

She smiled, and Gods above, Ophelia was radiant. My heart thumped hard on my ribcage. I thought I might fracture a rib if it keeps beating at this rate.

"I slept long enough, Atlas. I need to eat. Feed me."

I chuckled before nodding my head. It's true. She has been sleeping. I didn't argue with her further.

"Wait here. I'll be back."

Ophelia nodded her head before walking over to the fireplace. She sat down in the chair that I had sat down earlier. Leaning back, she curled up on her feet and stared into the fire. Her eyes were distant.

I turned and walked out of the bedroom. Heading downstairs to the kitchen, I looked in the fridge to see if there was any human food. Of course, there wasn't much in the fridge since everyone here was vampires. I sighed and closed the fridge. I walked into the pantry room to see if there was anything I could cook without using fresh produce.

Luckily, I saw a few bags of ramen noodles hanging in a corner. After checking the expiration date, I started up a pot to cook the noodles according to the instructions on the back.

Several minutes later, I finished the noodles. I looked for a bowl in the kitchen cabinet and poured the noodles into the bowl. Looking at the bowl, it looked small. I realized it might not be enough to feed Ophelia. She's been gone for several days already.

So, I opened the fridge to see what else was available. I found an apple that still looked fresh. Picking it up, I sliced it up and plated it on a plate. I poured her a glass of water and placed everything on a tray before carrying it upstairs.

When I got upstairs, she was still sitting on the chair. Her eyes were closed. I set the food on the table in front of her before moving closer to her. I smoothed her damp hair back and her eyes fluttered open.

"You fell asleep. Are you sure you don't want to sleep?"

Her lips curved upwards, and she nodded. A glint of sassiness simmered in her eyes.

"I'm hungry."

I nodded my head before moving away from her view. Her eyes found the food, and they lit up. Her smile grew as she moved closer to the table. She picked up the noodles and slurped everything up. She drank the soup as well.

She demolished the apple slices next before gulping down the water. When she was done, she looked better.

"How are you feeling?"

"Good. Thank you." She sounded more proper. Not a lot of sasses. I brushed it off, as she was tired from just waking up.

Ophelia yawned out loud.

"Do you want to sleep?"

"No, no, no. I'm not tired. My eyelids are just feeling heavy." She leaned her head against the chair and closed her eyes.

A few minutes later, she was already snoring.

Sighing, I swept her up from the chair and carried her to the bed. I slipped beneath the covers. A second later, my cell phone rang.

I picked up the call when I saw it was Silas who was calling.

"Atlas? I did what you asked. I went looking for any books or paper trails of what you were looking for, but damn, even books about witches are hard to find. But I think I found what you are looking for."

"What did you find?" I asked.

"I found not a book, but someone that might be able to tell me more about Ophelia. I have made contact with him. I am just waiting for his response. Once I receive confirmation and gather all the information, I'll meet up with you."

"We are leaving in two days. If you can't make it to follow us back home, I'll see you at home," I replied.

"You be okay to travel on your own?"

"We'll be alright. Just do what you can to find out everything you can. I need as much information as I can."

"I'll try, but it's like searching for a needle in a haystack. There is literally no information about witches. Everything seemed to be hidden within covens. That kind of information would be damn hard to steal."

"That'll be our last resort. For now, we'll follow the lead you just got. Keep me updated, alright?"

"Sounds good. I'll talk to you soon."

We ended the call. I turned to look at Ophelia, who was already in a deep slumber. I sat my phone back on the nightstand and crawled beneath the cover. Lastly, I pulled her into my arms. She snuggled up willingly with a sigh and a smile on her face.

Author's Note:

Ah! It's so quiet in the comment section. It's all my fault. I've been gone far too long, but I do hope you all jump in every once in a while to say hello and introduce yourselves. I always enjoy meeting new readers and seeing my older readers return.