Beautiful Like An Angel Or Demon

The light from the candles and the fireplace provided a comforting warmth to the large study room. In the center, a woman sat on a chair, behind a wooden desk, with her back straightened and a book lying open on her lap.

The curtains were drawn making the room quite dark, though it was still illuminated by the fire dancing in the hearth. Her eyes were fixed on the pages before her and the only sound that could be heard around her was the gentle tick of the clock against a wall while Aylin, who stood behind Andromeda, shifting from one foot to the other, sighed one more time as she glanced around the room for the third time.

"You know, if you keep sighing and moving, my poor ears are going to start bleeding from all the noise." At these words, the woman finally tore her gaze away from the pages, "I have told you, that there is no need to be nervous."

No need?! Hell, there was! She had every reason to be fucking nervous! Whether she lives or dies all depends on if he believes her or not, so why shouldn't she be nervous?

Aylin didn't say anything, she simply wrapped her arms around herself, murmuring, "When will he be here?"

Andromeda sighed and placed the book on the table, she opened her mouth to speak but immediately closed them before turning towards the entrance, where two men walked into the room.

Aylin's heart rate increased when she saw silver hair, his tall frame walking graciously into the room and she couldn't tear her eyes away from him. The way his hair shone in the warm light of the flames, and the shadows cast on his face, made him appear to be some kind of angel or a demon.

But just as she was about to avert her gaze, he had to look at her!

No, he wasn't only staring at her, he was assessing her.

Kian had seen her before, but he didn't pay attention to her appearance because the thought that she was a witch who had broken the barrier around the Mansion was all that was on his mind when he looked at her at the time.

Aylin felt his inquisitive gaze from her head down to her toe, his eyes filled with question. She didn't have to guess why. It was a normal occurrence for her from the people who saw her for the first time.

Aylin also assessed him, though she'd done that in their not-so-good first meeting, it wouldn't kill to do it again.

He was tall and sturdy, but not too muscular with broad shoulders and a powerful jawline. His skin was flawless and his crimson-red eyes stared back at her with the same intensity she had seen since they'd met. They were curious and yet… something else she couldn't identify. He was the most beautiful man she had ever seen. He was dressed in a white shirt that was tucked into black pants, and a little earring dangled from his left ear.

Wait... an earring?! WTF?!

Aylin's eyes almost bulged out of their socket.

He was wearing a freaking earring!

It took everything inside of Aylin not to walk to him and touch his ear to make sure that what she was seeing was real.

This… This WASN'T FAIR!

"Anyone ever told you that it's not good to stare for too long?" A voice said, breaking her out of her thoughts.

Her eyes went back to his, "Well... you can't blame me, you are just too handsome that I couldn't help but stare. And weren't you also doing the same thing?" She muttered to herself, but the smirk playing on his lips was enough for her to know that he heard her.

"I doubt it's for the same reasons," He replied, one side of his lips quirked up.

"It definitely isn't," Aylin muttered to herself, her gaze still on him.

Kian walked to the chair in front of the large wooden table which contained several types of books and papers placed neatly on it. As he sat down, he crossed his legs, placed his right hand on the table, tapped his fingers on the hard but smooth surface, and stared at her.

For a few seconds, they remained silent, neither of them saying anything, but eventually, Andromeda broke the silence.

"I know you have a lot of questions for me Kian, you can –"

"Not a lot, but three questions Grandmother," He said as he averted his gaze from Aylin. "And I'm sure you know what they are, so let's just skip the part where I ask you questions and just go straight to answering the questions, hmm?"

"Very well then," She nodded, closing the book in front of her, and placing it aside. her amber eyes gazing at his red ones, with a mocking smile, she said, "I didn't know that you can't even distinguish between a witch and a human,"

"So you are saying that she's a human?"

"I'm not saying. She is a human, Kian."

"Alright...so what about the barrier? how did she get to the pool, and who is she?" He asked, cocking his head to the side.

"Aylin will be the one to answer this question," Andromeda said, turning to face Aylin.

Clearing her throat, "I don't know anything about the barrier but I know that I'm not a witch, and I don't know how I got here, all I know is that, was in the parking lot when my heel broke and I fell, but when I landed, I was in a different place. I didn't even know that magic was real, and the fact that I was somehow transported somewhere else...that's something I'm still trying hard to digest." Aylin paused for a second, "When I told your grandmother, she told me that I had fallen into a portal."

"A portal huh? Seems like today is full of surprises," He turned to Andromeda, "Right? Grandma?" He asked with a very wide smile playing on his lips.

What? Did he believe her? Just like that?!

Andromeda's brows furrowed and she wrinkled her nose. "It seems so, and don't call me that."

Kian's smile fell, replaced by a frown. "But why not? Are you, not my dearest Grandmother?" he said, making Andromeda glare at him.

He smiled at her before turning his head towards Trevor, "I can't believe you mistook a human for a witch, Trevor," He shook his head, sounding disappointed.

"I–"

"But I guess it's only right for you to have thought that because it was exactly the time she fell into the portal and landed here that the barrier broke." He shrugged, leaning back on the chair while placing his arms on the armrest.

Aylin looked back and forth from his face to Trevor's, was he shifting the blame on Trevor?! She gaped at him in wonder while Andromeda rolled her eyes.

"Next time, you should confirm before jumping to conclusions Trevor," He reprimanded him. "Aylin isn't a witch, and she never had been but she had to go to the dungeon. It shouldn't happen again," he told Trevor.

"Yes, Your Grace, it will never happen again!" Trevor who was used to this bowed his head.

"Aylin?" Andromeda called as she turned to Aylin.

"Yes?"

"Could you step outside for a moment? There's something I would like to discuss with Kian."

"Sure, I will be right outside the door. Excuse me," With that Aylin exited the study room. Once the door closed behind her, Andromeda turned to her grandson.

"So? What do you think?"

"About what?" He replied as he raised an eyebrow.

"You know what I'm talking about Kian."

"I don't know what you're talking about grandmother. I'm not a mind reader." He gave her a crooked smile and she shook her head.

"Forget it," She sighed, her expression turning serious "She fell into a portal, which we both know isn't something that's supposed to happen since there are no more chosen ones, it could only mean one thing, that it was the black witches," Andromeda said calmly, resting her back on the chair.

"So what you're saying is that…" He stood up from his seat, dipping both his hands into the trouser pocket, and he walked to where she sat. "There is a powerful witch out there, who knows how to create a portal?"

"Yes, that's what I'm saying."

"The probability of that being true is slim, but it won't hurt anyone to check, right Trevor?" He inquired as he briefly glanced over at Trevor who stood by the door.

"Yes, Your Grace!"

"Good, now that we have cleared –"

"There's something else you need to know," Andromeda said as she stood up, straightening out her gown which was slightly wrinkled after sitting in her chair for such a long time.

"And what might that be?" He asked, arching his eyebrows.

"Since Aylin won't be going back to where she came from anytime soon," she started, "and she needs somewhere to stay, I told her that she could stay in one of the rooms in the mansion. So now you will be having a new guest."

Kian chuckled. "You didn't tell me before you allowed her to stay here, so why are you telling me now?"

Andromeda smiled softly at him and sauntered to the door "I just wanted to let you know." She stated before leaving the room.

After hearing the door close behind Andromeda, he turned his head to Trevor, "What do you think?"

"I think she was telling the truth. I didn't detect any lies in her words." He answered.

"You never know, my dearest grandmother is helping her, and you and I know that she doesn't go around helping someone she barely knows, there must be something between them," he said.

Andromeda wasn't that kind.

"I will make sure to keep an eye on her," Trevor declared.

"No, Connor will do that, I've something else for you to do."

Witches. Those creatures left a bitter taste in his mouth. He had thought that that girl was a witch so not wanting to hear her screams and pleading, he had stopped her from talking. However, what he didn't know was that if he hadn't taken away her ability to speak, she would have done nothing but curse at them.

He was telling the truth when he said that today was full of surprises, because who would have thought that there was another world aside from this one? He knew from the time he saw her that she appeared strange, from her clothing to her words to the way she spoke, she was nothing like the women of this world.

Witches, creating a portal?

His eyes narrowed as he thought about it. Those creatures were nothing but trouble which would worsen if a black witch had learned how to create a portal. But why would that girl be the one to fall into a portal?