Upward

Gently turning the handle of the metal door, I was suddenly ripped inside the stairwell.

Shining yellow eyes grabbed my attention as I was slammed back into the cold gray wall. I closed my eyes as a loud "Oomph," escaped my lips echoing off the stairs. My back went numb while my brain stopped rattling inside my skull.

I could feel a hot breath on my face and I could think of in that moment was 'Damn, I'm caught.'

From the aura pressing against me and almost trying fill me from the inside out, I knew it was Cash.

I wasn't careful enough, but should have known he'd be waiting for a chance to take me out. Can't blame him for his natural instincts. I shook my head and opened my eyes.

"WHO ARE YOU?" His hot breath hit my face hard with those words and I could feel the anger riding in the waves of his aura.

He tightened his grip as I was gathering my thoughts on how exactly to answer. Pulled to my tip toes at that moment, I started to stutter an explanation.

"I, uh, am here, COUGH." I started coughing harder and couldn't get my words out because his hands were pressed into my windpipe making it difficult to breath. I started feeling dizzy at this point and called my aura to help kick my consciousness back to where it belonged.

He felt my aura and hesitated, his grip loosening enough for me to gulp some air.

The air started pulsating as my aura came up and pushed a slight warning at him. With his hands still at my neck, I thought I could finally stand flat footed on the worn white painted concrete floor. I realized I was wrong when he opened his hand and slammed me back into the wall again, this time causing a shock of pain through the numbness down my spine. He was pissing me off.

"Slam me one more time, COUGH, and see how many puppies you won't get to name in your future." He froze for a second, not sure what to make of my threat. He assumed I was human at first, but just found out otherwise.

"What are you?"  He let go and backed up by the stairs. as he asked genuinely curious. 

I bent over and was going to call on my wings to pop out but didn't want to rip my hoodie, so I just took a deep breath

and calmed myself.

"To answer your first question, COUGH, my name is Ayda. To answer your second question, I am your newly assigned body guard is what I am."  I answered him but he just looked at me and started laughing and the room vibrated with his deep voice. 

"Bodyguard? Haha, no thanks, this body guards itself well enough on its own." I knew the moment he said that, this was not going to be as hard as I thought, it's was going to be much, much harder. 

Shaking his head, he turned and reached down to pick up his coffee and doughnuts over by the stairs. I noticed the muscles oh his arm and back, he was ripped more than I had assumed when seeing him in just a pull over hoodie at the coffee shop. 

"I'd seen you there, you know. You and that Angel. You were watching me, I could feel his stare, his aura, but yours, definitely not. At first, I thought it was funny that an Angel and a human were trying to not be obvious."

He stopped on the first step and turned to me using a cocky tone, "Look sweetheart, if you're wanting something to guard, I don't mind, if you think you can handle it." His eyes sized me up. The corner of his mouth perked up, and the sight of it made something in me warm for a moment, but I knew what he was implying and didn't find it amusing.

"You aren't going to make this easy for me, are you?" I asked and nodded my head as if I was trying to acknowledge that fact, "Fine. Think it over. You want to end up as someone else's target canvas and littered with holes, that's on you buddy." I started to dust myself off before leaving, but before I could blink, he had me pinned up against the wall again by my neck, he was fast.

This time I was ready, however, and noticed I had enough room to gain momentum heading straight up out of reach. My wings came out as I planned, ripping through my hoodie with force, pushing me off the wall. I grabbed his wrist taking advantage of his shock at the confetti of feathers coming down.

I twisted my grip on his wrist to the left taking his arm with me while I ducked under it and slammed him to face the wall. I had his arm pinned to his back while my wings beat at the air in big swings causing feathers and dust to cascade around us.

He may be fast, but I was stronger, with wings. I pushed off of him, jumping as my wings beat downwards propelling me upward, and I perched on the railing that ran along the edge of the first floor platform. There I waited while he straightened his cloths. I hurt the wolfs pride, but what must be done is now done. 

"I apologize, but you had it coming. Please don't make this hard, I don't want to be here anymore then you want me here. You have a hit out on your furry head, and I have to make sure your head stays where it's currently at." I said dropping a feather to glide downwards.

A murmured growl acknowledged the hit, he apparently already knew. That growl gave me goose bumps. I watched in relief as he walked over by the door to grab the discarded pie bag and spilt coffee cup. Coffee had leaked out and made little tree root designs along the floor. I felt bad about that but he started it. 

Standing up he looked at me where I was perched. 

"Well, you are definitely not an Angel, not with those dirty wings, but, you're not simple, I'll give you that." The dig on my wings stung, they weren't the pretty ethereal white of an Angels but resembled melted cookies and cream ice cream.

They are nice to have when I am in a bind, but my experience with them has always been a love– hate sorta thing.

He started up the stairs. He still didn't agree to me coming or going, but before I had the chance to argue with him some more, he stopped midway on the stairs, grabbed the coffee cup with a finger to hold in the pie bag hand, and pulled out his cell phone. Was he calling the police? I chuckled at that thought.

I knew most of the humans and others that worked on the force, even though I had been a thorn in their side in the past, they tolerated me.

"Garret, I need you to check on something for me. What kind of Other runs around with white wings that look dirty, extremely dirty? No, it's not a drunk Angel. No," he paused to stare at my face a minute, "she isn't a demon. At least not on the outside." He paused for a moment and I shot him a nasty look for demon comment.

"Ah, okay. I see." He hung up the phone.

"So, you seem to have connections in Heaven? Interesting, so, I guess we don't have a choice here. I don't want you to stay and you can't leave." He said it with a tinge of annoyance in his voice. If only he knew what true annoyance was. I figured once things are settled between us, I would show him.