Chapter 27 - What Happened Next?

"No way! What happened next?" Jane asked, fully engrossed in Echo's words. She leaned closer, with a wide grin. Jasmine couldn't help but laugh at the immature behaviour of her sister.

Echo was just as enthusiastic about telling the story, "Oh my goodness! It was the best feeling on Earth… His lips are so… they're so soft. He's like… I don't know. I never expected them to be so soft, and he hugged me from behind today." She felt giddy thinking about the hug he gave her on the balcony that morning.

"Oh my gosh! No way… That's so romantic!" Jane almost shrieked from excitement, as she continued, "Anything else happened? Did he ask you to be his girlfriend?"

"No!" Echo's voice got lost inside her mouth, as she sighed. He had not yet asked her to be his girlfriend. Her mind was juggling with dangerous thoughts.

She couldn't help but think more about some of them. Was there any chance that he was just messing with her? He was a demon after all, but Damon was never that kind of guy. And then she had not known him for a year… if she changed so much… Maybe he did too.

Echo's mood changed swiftly, and her smile disappeared. She noticed Jasmine and Jane's change in expression. Jasmine even nudged Jane's shoulder.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…" Jane was interrupted.

"No! It's fine, you did not nothing wrong!" Echo replied, smiling a little, as she soon moved on to ask, "Did anything happen between Sebastian and the commander? They looked like they were about to kill each other."

Jasmine sighed, she turned to Jane, who blurted, "They're both just afraid of Damon."

Jasmine slapped her sister's arm, while giving her a glare. Jane turned to her, and immediately smiled at Echo, as if she had not just told anything.

Echo leaned back on her chair staring at the two sisters, crossing her arms, and giving them both a menacing glare.

—

The commander, Sebastian and Damon could easily hear the conversation the girls were having.

Sebastian turned to Damon, with no expression on his face, "So you asked her to kiss you?"

"It just happened!" Damon blurted. He crossed his arms, and was ready for either man to attack him. It didn't once leave his mind that both men were trained warriors, and deadly ones at that. He had heard several rumours about Sebastian and the number of demons he had killed. Indeed he was standing in the enemy's headquarters.

The commander noticed Damon's tense, defensive stance. "No one's going to attack you here, at least not on my watch." He exchanged a glare with Sebastian.

"Then why did you call me away from her?" Damon asked, in a calm voice and his face expressionless.

Sebastian leaned on the shelf, while the commander kept a casual but intimidating stance.

"Echo doesn't know everything about you, does she?" the commander asked.

Damon was silent, before answering back with a question, "Are you telling me you didn't brief her?"

Sebastian smirked, he had always thought demon's weren't that smart, but this man proved him wrong. Then again, he wasn't only a demon.

The commander glanced at Sebastian, who spoke, "Don't try to play smart around here… demon!"

Damon smiled, turning his gaze to Sebastian, he opened his mouth to speak, but the commander cut him off.

"From what I see you really care about Echo. So I'm going to invite you to the masquerade tonight. No one's going to notice you being out of place, and I suggest you keep things that way. I don't want any Protectors panicking and starting a fight."

The commander gave Damon a white envelope. Sebastian glared at the commander.

"You're serious?" Sebastian asked, he held his tongue when the commander glared at him.

"Go on," the commander motioned to the table where the girls were.

Damon stared at the two men, and walked away. He was confused. Why was the commander helping him? They had both locked each other in the dungeons, but let each other out. Was he just being nice towards him, or did he want something?

His thoughts ceased when he saw Echo glaring at Jasmine and Jane. He approached them, "Hey, love. Everything okay?" He gently stroked her cheek. In his eyes she looked rather cute than scary, but looking at the expressions on Jane and Jasmine's face it was obvious that he was the only one with that thought.

"I wanna go shopping!" Hunter blurted, standing up from the table where she was sleeping.

Echo did not reply to the cub, but kept her unwavering gaze on the two sisters.

"Echo. I think you shouldn't worry much about what others think. For now, enjoy your time with… Damon," Jasmine replied, glancing at Damon.

Echo was confused. She wanted to know why everyone was afraid of Damon. He was just a demon, and many other Protectors have killed demons before, so what was so dangerous about him? Was there something they weren't telling her? Maybe she should talk to Damon, or the commander. She was just too curious to give up.

"You look so cute when you're angry," Damon stated, smiling, while keeping his hands on her shoulders. He gave a slight nod to Jasmine and Jane, who took it as a cue to leave.

Standing up with Jane, Jasmine spoke, "We need to get back to the Healer's room. We'll see you around. Bye." The two sisters rushed out of the library.

Damon sat beside Echo, with a broad smile on his face. He was happy because he accomplished his mission in keeping Echo safe.

Echo glared at Damon. She was so close to getting a reply from them, and he just sent them away. She crossed her arms, asking "What was that? I was waiting for them to answer."

He smiled, cupping her cheeks, "I didn't do anything, you scared them away."

"He's right, you look really scary when you're angry," Hunter blurted, standing exactly in front of Echo, on the table.

Echo smiled, reaching out to the cub, "You wanted to go shopping?"