Her Quest : Magic in the Blood
Chapter 6

Ian gulped as he moved towards the door. He had to replace her before his Mom got a wind of this and threatened his existence.

He quickly shut the door, muttering incoherent words under his breath. Berating himself for his carelessness, he searched around for a weapon. The only satisfying thing he could replace without wasting much time was a pan.

Holding it in front of him, he suddenly recalled Rapunzel. Not that he was into watching those Disney movies, but it had been a different situation. One of his mother's employee had requested him to look after her daughter for a few hours. It was not an overall pleasant experience but in the end, the little girl had fallen asleep on his lap and he was forced to watch the whole movie as he was unable to get up.

But Rapunzel or not, he felt like a brave knight holding a sword ready for battle. Now he only needed to replace the intruder, defeat him and save his princess.

That is, if she was still intact and not slaughtered or massacred. The thought brought him out of his reverie. He smiled a wicked smile.

I should lock the front door so that the worm is trapped in the house, he thought and keeping to the shadows, crept forward.

On the way there, he happened to peep into the living room and almost missed the lump on the backrest of the couch.

ALMOST.

Holding his breath, he stepped into the room and inched towards the lump. Walking towards the couch, he lifted his weapon high, ready to strike when the sight before him made his hand freeze mid-air. His breath caught in his throat as he leaned over the backrest.

There she was. Lying on the couch - not dead - but asleep. Ian walked around the couch and bending down, placed a finger under her nose. Yes, she was definitely sleeping. Letting out a deep breath, he dropped down beside her, careful as to not wake her up.

Turning his face in her direction, Ian looked at her. She was sitting cross-legged, the damn laptop still on her lap. One of her hands was lying on it as if incapable of typing in another word, the other was by her side. A stray lock of hair lay on her cheek. Almost involuntarily, his hand reached out and he moved it away, tucking it behind her ear. While doing so, his fingers brushed against her cheek.

So soft, was the first thing his brain registered.

She was beautiful, there was no doubt about it as he observed her in the light of the lone lamp. But she was different from the other girls, judging from what his brothers had told him.

His brothers obviously knew her better considering the good amount of time they had spent with her. That wasn't the case with Ian. He had spent not more than a few moments with her. And most of those were filled with him being a douche bag. Except for the seventeen minutes they had together in her room on the day of her arrival. That was a pleasant conversation, now that he thought about it. But even that time frame was not much for him to form an opinion about her, now was it? The inner voice questioned and he snorted in response.

"I am glad you are not dead or anything," he whispered, his finger lingering on her cheek lightly, "‘cause then I would have to clean up all that mess before Mom returns and that would have been a pain in the ass, right?" He looked at her, waiting for a response from her side.

Sonia moved slightly and he quickly got up from his seat.

I must wake her up, he thought, she must be uncomfortable sleeping here.

"Sonia", he whispered leaning towards her. Why am I whispering? He frowned. Clearing his throat, he tried again, a bit louder this time, "Sonia, wake up."

She stirred a bit and mumbled, "Five more minutes, Mumma."

Ian took a deep breath and shook his head. He should probably just jostle her up like he would to one of his brothers. But no, he can't do that now, can he? She was a girl after all and surely the others would not like it if he accidentally broke her neck whilst shaking her awake.

Shaking his head at the thought, he tried again, "Wake up, baby." He took a hold of her hand and gave it a squeeze. It felt so small compared to his big one. When she mumbled and shifted again, he withdrew his hand from hers.

Raking a hand through his hair, he gazed at her. She was in a more uncomfortable position now. And he was not willing to let her be. He looked around for some help. Finding nothing, he cursed under his breath, "Sonia, wake up," he tried to sound stern but couldn't keep the smile from his voice. This was actually fun. She just shifted again in response.

Sighing, he plucked the machine from her lap and placed it on the coffee table. He leaned down and gathered her in his arms. Sonia on the other hand, uttered her protests at first but snuggled closer to him with her head on his chest.

"Sorry, baby. But I gotta tuck you in bed," Ian whispered trying to ignore the tight knots forming in his stomach.

He walked out of the room and towards the stairs. Gearing himself, he began climbing up, carefully placing one foot in front of the other. Still, he stumbled on the fourth step. However, by some divine intervention, he managed to balance himself and not fall face down.

Ian looked down at her. Somehow his grip on her had tightened and now she was closer to him than before, their faces mere inches apart. Her long lashes whispered against her cheeks in a rhythm and her face looked so serene. Ian's mind conjured up an image of how her face would lose all that peace as soon as her orbs would flutter open and see him so close to her.

He mentally burned that image and cursed under his breath before hurrying up again. Once her room came into view, he muttered a quick prayer of thanks to the Almighty. Walking to her bed, Ian gently laid her down and drew the duvet over her. He stood up straight and glanced at her again to replace her sleeping soundlessly, snuggling under the covers.

As he made a move to leave the room, his gaze fell on her hair, splattered across the pillow. Ian remembered how they had tickled his chin on their way up. He leaned forward to touch her cheek, wanting to feel its softness once again.

Instead, he tucked the sheets around her properly and turned off the lights. Heaving a sigh, he started to walk out of the room determined not to glance at her.

Somewhere whilst closing the door, he turned and looked at her sleeping form. It was then he knew that he did not want to go back to his plans. They didn’t hold his interest anymore.