Glancing around quickly, making sure there was no witnesses or security cameras pointed on them, he withdrew the short swords and handed one to Eden. The metal felt strangely cold in Eden's hands.

Making no sound, she and Noah walked around the corner and into the darkness of the alleyway.

Lights from the street, and her brilliant Ankh vision, made visible two people at the end of the alley.

One had the other pressed against the brick wall of the restaurant, the victim's eyes wide and mouth open as the soul eater leaned in for the kill.

Out of nowhere Eden was cast back into the past, to Stellan's room, as he sucked the soul out of Lana. At the time she had been horrified but she had also hungered to do the same to the poor girl.

Now, without that hunger inside her, there was only horror, and the abject guilt that she had let it happen to Lana, that part of her could have wanted to do that to someone. Images upon images tumbled around her. Attacking Lucy Stevens in the school bathroom. Almost killing Charlotte who owned the thrift store. All the times she'd wanted to do that to Noah.

Eden was yanked out of her frozen nausea as Noah charged the soul eater. He ripped victim and monster apart, shoving the girl at Eden. “Keep her there, she needs some of her soul back.” He hissed and flinched low in time to duck a punch from the soul eater. Their prey was a tall female and as she clipped the side of Noah's head in a paint smear of movement, Eden's intuition told her it wouldn't be an easy kill. Dropping to the ground, she wrapped her hands around the girl's head and locked onto her gaze. She hadn't tried to compel anyone since she'd fully transitioned but right now Noah needed her. Pushing her compulsion on the girl, Eden ignored the twinge of guilt and said, “You must stay here. Don't move.”

“I must stay here. Won't move.”

Heaving a relieved sigh that it had worked, Eden stood up to face their enemy just as the bitch plunged a knife into Noah's hand. The move distracted him, giving the soul eater the space to execute a roundhouse kick that sent him sprawling back against a dumpster with a sickening thud. Fury poured into Eden's veins and she clutched the sword in her hand with a steady grip. Calmly she stepped out to face the soul eater, who sneered at her as if she were nothing but a mere annoyance.

“They sent babies to do a man's job.”

“Well, you know what they say about babies.”

The soul eater smirked. “What's that?”

“Don't underestimate the amount of shit they can bring.” Eden looped the sword in a semi-circle as Cyrus had taught her, bringing the blade down at an angle with the full force of her strength. The soul eater skipped back, the edge just missing her. Giving no quarter, Eden continued the attack, backing the soul eater into the darkest corner of the alley. A little panic entered the woman's eyes and Eden felt triumphant, even as the soul eater hefted a huge bag of trash and threw it at her. She expected Eden to dive out of the way but instead she dropped her sword to catch the bag and launch it back at the soul eater. As the female tried to get out of its way, Eden grabbed her sword and dove at her, the blade slicing through the air and down across her hand. The feel of flesh cutting under blade made Eden a little queasy, but it also prepared her for what was to come next. As the soul eater screamed and grasped her severed and bloody lump of a wrist, Eden spun, the sword arcing through the night air in a haze of movement as she used the momentum to force the blade of the weapon through the soul eater's neck.

A clean slice, the head rolled from the body as the body collapsed to the ground. The stinging, sickening scent of copper rent the air and Eden gulped down a little bit of bile as she gazed at her handiwork.

Her first kill.

She began breathing through her nose. It wasn't like she hadn't killed before. She had.

Accidentally, when those rebel Neith had attacked. But killing on purpose was a whole new ball game.

At the sounds of whispering Eden turned around to see Noah, with his now healed hand, leaning over the girl. He'd been guarding her while he let Eden take out the soul eater. A flare of warmth settled across her chest. She loved that he hadn't jumped in. That he had believed in her to take care of it. Just as she was getting the warm fuzzies, Noah glanced up at Eden with a strange look in his eyes. “She's got her soul back but you need to un-compel her.” Oh. Right. She wondered as she hurried back over to them if Noah was mad about that.

“I did it,” she whispered as she knelt down beside him, her eyes wide.

He gave her a small smile as he reached up to wipe some blood off her face. “Yeah.” At his pointed look, Eden nodded and leaned over the girl, removing the compulsion.

“You were never here. You went to the movies to see Dead Zombies 2. You took a walk after to get some air, and now you're going home.”

By the look on Noah's face she knew he hadn't been expecting her to un-compel her only to compel her with something new. But how else were they supposed to deal with it?

The girl walked out of the alley and began talking on her cell like nothing had happened. As she strolled away into the night, jabbering away on the phone, Noah got on his cell to tell Cyrus they'd killed one of the soul eaters and needed a clean-up crew. The clean-up guys would get there in under an hour but for now Eden and Noah hid the body behind the dumpster. They were wearing black so blood wouldn't show up, but Noah wiped the blood off Eden's face and she checked him over for any splatter. Once they were sure they could, they took to the streets again. Eden shoved her hands into her jean pockets to keep them from trembling. Her first kill. She'd done it.

“Remember to be careful with that, Eden,” Noah suddenly said in a gruff, low voice.

“With what?” She frowned.

“The compulsion.”

A guilty flush crept up the inside of her cheeks and although it wasn't visible she was pretty sure Noah could tell. “I didn't know what else to do. We couldn't have her running off and you needed help.”

He glowered at her. “For the record I never need help.”

Arrogant little… “She stuck a knife in your hand, Noah.”

He huffed. “Just try not to do it again, OK. I don't want to have to kill Neith who are intent on killing you if they find out about it.”

Hmm. Eden's heart did a little triple beat as she gazed up at him. He refused to return her gaze. He was worried about her? Not the compulsion. Her. The warm fuzzies started up again. “Would you really kill Neith to protect me?”

Noah shrugged. “I already have.”

She thought about Darius' wary interview of her. “What if the other Ankh tried to hurt me?” A distressed frown appeared between his eyebrows but he continued to keep walking. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, what if they decided to turn on me for some reason and… they tried to kill me?” Now his jaw clenched so tight it looked close to shattering. He appeared to be trying very hard not to look at her. “Then they'll have to go through me first.” At the determination on Noah's face, Eden bit her lip feeling giddy. He meant that. He really, really meant that.

A surge of emotion ripped through her in that moment and without another thought Eden grabbed the front of his shirt, tugging him down into a kiss. She felt his surprise under her lips but it lasted a mere millisecond before he was kissing her back, his arms wrapping around her waist and drawing her tightly against him. His familiar scent, heat, the feel of his heart pounding against hers, his skin heating up under her hands as she cupped his face between her palms, sent Eden into shivering combustibility. Opening her mouth to deepen the kiss, she felt the way her involuntary shudder affected Noah as their tongues flicked against one another's. His muscles tightened under her and he squeezed her so tight she'd probably be bruised in the morning. But she didn't care. Kissing Noah was everything she ever dreamed it would be, and as his hands slid across her back, snagging her top up so his fingers brushed her bare skin, Eden wished they were anywhere but in the middle of a street. They came up for air once, only to plunge back under for more, Noah's groan against her mouth sending her into whimpering convulsions.

Where are we again?  She thought vaguely, desperate to collapse to the floor and drag Noah down with her.

“Ahem.”

They both froze, lips still locked together.

“Don't you need oxygen yet?”

Val.

Eff. Eff. Eff. Eff.  Eden pulled away from Noah breathlessly and shared a somewhat stunned look with him before they turned to Val. The ancient warrior stood in the middle of the street, arms akimbo, eyes glittering with humour.

“We killed the other soul eater in a mall parking lot off Princes Street. Did you get yours?” Eden groaned at the deliberate double entendre as Noah answered, not taking his arm from around her waist. “Eden did. Cyrus has a clean-up crew coming.”

Val's grin widened. “Congrats on the first kill, Eden.” Her eyes flickered over them mockingly.

“That might help soften the blow when I tell Cyrus about this little development.” She gestured between them.

Oh crap.

Eden turned to Noah.

He sighed. “Crap.”

Chapter Twenty

Forever is a Long Time

Despite her threat, Val didn't tell Cyrus about the kiss when they met him back at the Douglas' home.

The walk back to the house had been fraught with a tension that had Noah clenching and unclenching his fists. He'd known Val had enjoyed herself, these humorous little snorts had bubbled up from the back of her throat every ten minutes or so.

Eden on the other hand… Noah hadn't been able to get a read on.

She hadn't touched him since the kiss and had walked with a foot of space beside them so there had been no chance of touching. The fact that she had initiated the most surprising and hottest kiss of his entire seventy years (and he'd had a lot of kisses) didn't mean a thing if she wouldn't look at him.

He stood back with his arms crossed over his chest as Cyrus proudly grilled her for a detailed description of her kill. He tried to shake himself, he really did. It had just been Eden's first kill after all. But it had also been his and Eden's first kiss.