15 Chapter Fifteen: Clear

The final bell of the day rang. Jade and Derik were standing by their lockers, Jade glaring up at Derik. The students around them gave them a wide berth. The bolder girls stood nearer, listening to their conversations, wanting some Demonic gossip.

Derik sighed and ran his hand through his hair, and Jade had to fight back a smile. His hair was messed up and she had an urge to fix it. Pinching herself, she snapped out of the thought and focused on being mad at him.

"So, Jade. I get I hurt you. I didn't mean to. What I said, I didn't mean them the way they sounded." Derik said, looking into Jade's eyes.

"Wow. Is the great Derik Heath apologizing to a human?" Jade asked, sarcasm lacing the question.

Derik took a deep breath, a slight growl to his voice.

"Jade." He said, holding back his anger and taking a step towards her.

"Careful, don't want you to get too close, might lessen Your worth," Jade said, a growl entering her voice.

Jones and Mark cleared their throats, reminding the two what they were supposed to be doing. Both Jade and Derik let out their pent up breath, seeming to deflate.

"Please listen to me, Jade," Derik said, a slight begging to his voice.

Jade stayed silent, apparently waiting.

"I know now, that I hurt you. And I never meant to. When I said those things, I meant to say that, I'd never toy with you because you're worth more than that. You're worth too much to be toyed with." Derik clarified.

He seemed to hold his breath in nervous anticipation. Jade was still silent, she was studying him closely, looking for any sign of untruthfulness. She found none, and his words pierced the armor surrounding her heart. She wanted to believe him, she wanted to so bad, she was just afraid to.

"Jade..please accept my apology, hurting you was an accident, a mistake I never wanted," Derik said, apologizing out right.

Jade bit her lip to keep it from wobbling, tasting the freshly applied lip stick. She was thinking, looking through his words for anything that could condemn him, but she found nothing. She closed her eyes and took a breath in, then opened her eyes and let the words fall out of her mouth, along with her breath.

"I forgive you. I hadn't been thinking of your back ground, and how it may affect your words.." This was the part Jade hated, admitting her own mistakes. "And I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions. Seeing how different everything was, I doubted a Demon from a powerful family could be doing anything other than toy with me."

The smile that lit Derik's face was something that surprised Jade. It lit up his entire face, causing Jade to smile as well. Startling her, he swept her up in his arms, hugging her. His chin rested on the top of her head, and she quietly spoke to her.

"Thank you, Jade." He murmured to her.

Heat raced to her face, and she struggled to keep her breathing normal.

"Yeah, sure, but we need to work on your people skills." Jade joked lightly. "So, what now?"

Jade and Derik's moment of tenderness evaporated, and they were back to serious.

"Now we get your other supplies. And you teach me how to banish." Derik said.

"I can't," Jade replied.

"Why?" Jones asked.

"To banish an Incubus, the prey's blood is needed. Fresh. So either I supply blood and not be protected by Derik, or I do the banishing." Jade explained, shrugging as if it was a simple choice.

"You'll be in danger then," Derik said, his voice low.

"I'm a Hunter, I was born into danger." Jade pointed out.

Derik sighed and put his arms around her shoulders.

"Fine. What else do you need?" He asked her.

"Sage, a bowl, a knife, and Obsidian Paint," Jade said, listing off the ingredients from memory.

"My mom owns a flower shop, could there be Sage there?" Jones asked, raising his hand like he was in class.

"Probably," Jade replied.

"I don't like the sound of a knife," Derik commented.

"Yeah, well, it's necessary. " Jade said, looking at Derik with a small smile.

"Does it matter what type of knife?" Mark asked.

"No, just make sure it's sharp," Jade said.

"That leaves the Obsidian Paint," Derik said.

The silence that followed felt awkward, so Jade spoke up.

"I'll bring the paint. My dad keeps a store of Obsidian in an old chest, his Hunting gear. He won't notice some missing." Jade said.

"Be careful, he might not let you out of the house if you go home," Derik warned.

"Don't worry. You think I haven't snuck out of a lock-in before?" Jade said, smirking.

"All right. Meet at the Scorpion Motel by nightfall." Derik ordered. "I'll pick you up, Jade."

"Got it," Jade said, nodding.

She was relieved that Derik would pick her up, she didn't have a clue where the Scorpion Motel was. Hell, she only knew where the school was because the building was impossible to miss.

"Okay, See you all then!" Jade said, smiling grimly.

She hefted her bag onto her shoulder and turned to leave when Derik stopped her by putting his hand on her shoulder.

"I'll see you later, Jade," Derik said.

Then he surprised her. He kissed her briefly, leaving her with tingling lips.

"See ya," Jade said, then walked out of the school and back home.

Jade took a breath and opened the door. By the lack of greeting, no one was home.

'Good. I can get the paint.'

Jade hurried into her father's room and to the old fashioned chest. She opened the chest and moved the contents around until she found the paint. She was tempted to grab a gun and Obsidian laced bullets, but she thought better about it. That, her father would notice missing.

She shoved the paint into her bag and closed the chest, rushing out of her father's room. She still had plenty of time, so she grabbed some left over dinner and ate it quickly. She had just finished cleaning her dishes when the front door opened. Jade feined calm as she walked to the entrance room.

"Welcome home Dad." She greeted her bag still on her shoulder.

"Hey, Jade. How was school?" He asked her, his voice calm.

Just hearing his tone told her that he knew she had skipped most of her classes.

"It was fine." She said, keeping her cool and reaching for the door handle.

"You didn't come home for lunch." He said, more as a statement than a question.

"No, I ate lunch with some new friends." She replied.

Their entire conversation was short and to the point, neither wanting to be the one to confront the issue.

"Ah." Was all he said.

He was waiting for her to explain further. Without turning around, she knew he was leaning against the table, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Well, Dad, I'd love to continue our chat, but my new friends are waiting for me." She said, starting to open the door.

"I don't think it's a good idea. If you're caught at night, that Incubus might attack." He said calmly.

"I'll be in a group. It wouldn't dare with so many witnesses." Jade replied, just as calm. "I'll be home later. I love you Dad."

Before he could get in another word, Jade was out the door. She speed-walked about a block before slowing and checking the time. Five o'clock. It would be getting dark in another few hours. And Jade still had to find somewhere to draw the banishing pentagrams.

Derik met her by the school, and Jade explained what she still had to do. Derik nodded and led her to the Motel. An alley-way a block away was where they planned on banishing the Incubus. Jade set up the pentagram basics, making the shape with the Obsidian paint. She still had to cast the Soul Stones in sage water, but she could do that later.

With the pentagram basics done, Jade along with Derik, headed into the motel. Derik had rented a room, and there Jade set out the Soul Stones and Obsidian paint, as well as the journal which was opened to the Incubus page.

She was reading through the banishing spell again when strong, warm hands circled around her waist and Derik's warm breath tickled her ear.

"We have about an hour before the guys get here." He said, his voice deep and husky.