Eli’s home was not what she expected. Being that he was a single man Lilith had naturally assumed that he lived in an apartment. It might be one with two bedrooms, but an apartment nonetheless. She certainly wasn’t expecting a two-story craftsman house in such pristine shape. This was even more surprising since, judging from the age and look of the other homes in the neighborhood, this was not new construction. Someone had put a lot of time, effort and money into restoring the old place. The exterior had been returned to its original look with red brick around the porch and along the foundation of the home. All the trim and columns were painted white, while the rest of the dwelling was grey. Even the detached garage had been given a facelift complete with carriage doors that had black handles and hinges.

“Someone has certainly put a lot of work into this place,” Lilith commented as Eli came back from putting his motorcycle in the garage.

“Yes I did, but you might want to hold off on any compliments until you’ve seen the inside. You may end up disappointed.” He was genuinely modest when it came to his construction skills, but there was no denying the look of pride that shone in his eyes at her recognition.

Stepping through the front door, she suddenly understood why he had wanted her to hold off on her praise. The inside was sparsely furnished with tools, pieces of drywall, paint and various other items lying around. Picking up a hammer that was leaning against the newel post, the demoness was reminded that renovation is a long and tedious process where patience is a virtue and one should be prepared to live in an active construction site for a while. Still, Lilith liked what she saw and could see the potential that the home had. The natural craftsman style woodwork was beautiful with areas already restored to their natural red oak color and others simply stripped of paint and waiting to be stained and given a coat of polyurethane. Judging from the areas where the old dirty carpet was torn up, he was looking to see what lay beneath in hopes of bringing back the original floors. So far he had been lucky enough to find the original red oak planks still in good condition.

“Please make yourself at home. You’ll have to forgive the mess. I’m slowly trying to fix up the place, but I’m only one man and there is only so much money.”

“So, do you work construction or something?” Lili asked.

“I have worked construction before, but I’m actually a welder. When it comes to home renovation I’m what’s known as ‘passable’. I can frame and drywall, even handle some minor plumbing, but I prefer to let the professionals handle the electrical and a few other jobs around here.”

“I’d say you were more than passable.”

“Thanks,” he answered, the look of pride once more appearing in his eye as he ran his fingers through his thick hair. “But, uh, you just haven’t noticed all the mistakes yet.”

“Humanity is obsessed with perfection whether it’s their looks, beliefs, art or what their hands create,” Lili explained as she ran her hands down one of the pillars that separated the entryway from the living room. “There really is no such thing as perfection and it’s flaws and differences that make everything unique and beautiful.” She turned and smiled at her host. “Take the compliment.”

Eli nodded, realizing she was correct. Silently she strolled into the living room and looked around. There was a nice fireplace with a brick and oak surround along with a set of built-in bookshelves on either side of it. There were a couple of car manuals, a novelty book about cats and a fist full of junk mail and catalogs but mostly the shelves were bare. A television hung on the wall above the mantle and across from it was a comfortable looking leather couch and coffee table with the obligatory remote control sitting on it.

“How about I give you the fifty-cent tour?” Eli offered, noticing her interest in the old place.

Lilith seized the opportunity and used it to check every room on the ground floor and basement for anyone who might have followed them and was watching her. She looked into every space where a person could potentially hide and saw no one, nor any cameras. She was so tired of being suspicious and afraid. She longed to feel safe again and not so uncertain. The one thing that made her smile was a picture she noticed on the kitchen table of a little boy about three or four years old playing with some blocks. On the back, she read ‘Elijah David Asher’.

“You were adorable,” she smiled.

“Yeah, well . . . mom came by to check up on me a couple of weeks ago and left that. She forgets that I’m not a kid anymore,” he replied with an eye roll. “Let me show you the upstairs and the room you’ll be staying in.”

She followed Eli up the wooden staircase, her hand sliding along the smooth oak banister as her feet moved up the treads. At the top, she quickly scanned the landing, her eyes noting each of the four doors and their locations. Staying close to Eli, she was first shown the bathroom with its sterile while walls and matching subway tile. The only pop of color in the space was the sprinkling of black hexagonal floor tiles that broke up the white and also matched the stripe that separated the upper painted drywall from the polished ceramic rectangles below. The room certainly screamed the nineteen-twenties to Lilith and was a masterful restoration.

Returning to the landing, Eli quickly pointed out his bedroom as they passed the door so she would know where to find him during the night if she needed anything. Lili immediately went in and turned on the light so she could look the room over. It was the bedroom of a stereotypical bachelor and quite different from the care Eli had shown in the rest of the house. Her deep green eyes taking in everything, not that there was much to see. There was a dresser covered with keys and other odds and ends to the left of the doorway and his bed was in front of the windows on the opposite wall from the door. The closet door was sitting open and clothes piled in a chair next to a television that hung on the wall. Without caring about his privacy or the presumption of her actions, Lili went through his closet verifying that no one was in there and there were no hiding places. Satisfied, she went back over to her host to continue the tour.

Elijah shook his head and rolled his eyes at her brashness, but said nothing and instead pointed out the front bedroom, explaining that he used it as a computer room. Lilith turned on the light and peered inside looking at every nook and cranny, suspicious of any shadow. There was nothing in the closet and everything about the space was as he said, a computer room and nothing more. Across from the doorway was a set of French doors that led out to a balcony. She opened them and stepped out to see how easily a person could climb up. To her delight the closest tree was on the other side of the sidewalk next to the street and no branches could reach it.

Once she was satisfied, he led her to the spare bedroom. It was immediately clear that he used this space for storage. The space had bare white walls, a futon, bean bag chair, and a random kitchen chair that she guessed was there for use as a step ladder of sorts. There was nothing to give it a homey feel, not even a curtain on the window. Still, it was plenty for one night and the futon looked comfortable enough. Opening up the closet, Eli got out some spare blankets so he could make up the bed for her. He was about to close the door when she came over and inspected it for herself. There was nothing in it but a couple of winter coats, a down comforter and pool cue sticking out of its case. Satisfied that no one was hiding in the house, she finally relaxed and set her backpack on the bean bag chair.

“Can I get you something to drink or eat?” he asked, unsure when she had eaten last.

“I don’t suppose I could have a shot of bourbon?” Lili asked, remembering a bottle she had seen sitting on the kitchen counter during the tour.

“Sure, but I should warn you, it’s the bottom shelf variety.” he cautioned as they headed back down the stairs. “I spend just enough so it’s palatable and no more, well unless it’s around a holiday, then I pick up something a little nicer.”

“That’s fine with me. Right now I would be happy drinking rotgut that tasted like straight kerosene, just so long as it’s alcohol.”

The two went back down to the kitchen and he reached into one of his cupboards and took out a juice glass then poured her about a shot worth into the glass. As soon as he handed it to her, she swallowed it down and handed the glass back to him with a request for more. Eli was a tad surprised at how quick she had thrown the drink back, but said nothing and poured her another.

“Are you going to tell me the story?” he asked, handing her back the glass.

“What story?”

“Yours,” Eli answered, getting out another glass and pouring himself a drink. “A little background, where you’re from . . . who or what are you running from? I’m willing to take the risk of having you in my home . . .”

“I never asked you to,” Lili interjected.

“No you didn’t,” he agreed, drinking the shot of bourbon he had poured and putting the bottle back on the shelf. “But you can at least tell me about yourself and what I’m sheltering you from. You told me at the fair you were trying to elude someone and I just watched you scrutinize my house with sharper eyes than a home inspector so why don’t you just tell me what’s going on.”

“Maybe I’m not sure I can trust you,” she answered, taking a drink and bracing herself. “You are, after all, a stranger. How do I know you’re not working for the very man I’m trying to elude?”

“Okay,” Eli conceded, putting his empty glass in the sink. Reaching into his back pocket he pulled out his wallet and flashed his ID at her. “The name I gave you is real and if you don’t believe my driver’s license, then I will personally pay the fee so you can run a background check on me if you want. I’m a journeyman welder spending my days burning rod and building tanks in a shop while trying to keep management off my ass. I make payments on this house every month without fail and it’s my blood, sweat, and tears that’s restoring it. You want the license plate numbers from my car and bike, I’ll give you that too. Fingerprints . . . blood sample? My parents are Joyce and Brad Asher and they live in Pierce City. I have no siblings and the only roommate I currently have is a tuxedo cat named ‘Mr. Jingles’. No kids . . . no marriages . . .”

“Okay, okay . . . I got it,” she yielded, cutting off his detailed autobiography. Eli waited, but she just stared at him unwilling to say a word. Why should she? Ever since this whole thing started, six months ago, plenty of people had tried to be her friend and confidant, but only so they could sell her information to her pursuer. It only added to her already considerable list of reasons never to trust anyone, ever. She wished she could believe that this man, Elijah, was different, but how could she be certain? Even the forthright way he laid his credentials before her for scrutiny was suspect, at least it was to her. A man eager to prove himself must be up to something . . . right? Even if he was just trying to help, there was no reason to think that he wouldn’t sell her out as soon as he heard the name of the man stalking her. She couldn’t let that happen. She had to protect herself because she knew from experience that no one else was ever going to.

This was a terribly cynical view, but if Lilith had learned anything from humanity it was that greed and looking out for number one was deeply ingrained in human DNA. Blood might be thicker than water, but gold was thicker still and humans truly seemed to love their money. Wars were started over it, people murdered each other for it, and it could be argued that avarice led to the other deadly sins. A true act of evil could be overlooked with enough money or severely punished because of the lack of it. Some might cry out that this was an example of a double standard between the elite and the impoverished and that it should be done away with, but Lilith understood something they did not. She knew that no matter the ideology or good intentions there would always be those with wealth and those who were poor. You simply trade one king-maker for another. There would also be those willing to exploit others to obtain their fortunes as well. The man dogging her every move was a master of this sort of manipulation.

Lilith looked down at the glass of bourbon in her hand and contemplated her options. This man was offering her shelter for the night so it only seemed fair that she owed him some sort of explanation. The question was just how much she should say. She wouldn’t lie to him, but she felt no inclination to tell him everything either. The very nature of who her stalker was made it difficult. He would either call her a liar and refuse to believe such a man would ever do something so heinous or would see opportunity knocking. Putting the glass to her lips, she quickly emptied it then took a deep breath before choosing her words carefully.

“About six months ago a man began stalking me. The woman I was staying with, Millie, tried to intervene and he made certain she got out of his way . . . permanently. Today, I decided it was time to disappear.” Lilith watched his face and the way he furrowed his brow while lightly kicking at the tile floor, taking in what she said. Lili couldn’t tell if he believed her. If he did, then she didn’t doubt that he was regretting his kindness and she really couldn’t blame him. If he didn’t, well, she was no worse off than she was before she met him and the demoness had no issue with walking out the door and never looking back.

“And your stalker’s name?”

“I find that giving out that information has a way of bringing out the worst in people,” she answered a bit curtly. “I’m also not convinced that I can trust you yet.”

“Sometimes you have to take a leap of faith,” he shrugged.

“I abandoned faith a long time ago after it turned its back on me.”

“That’s a pity.”

“No, that’s life,” she countered. Seeing the consternation in his face, it became obvious to her that this whole arrangement was going to be a bad idea. They were just two very different creatures. Lilith handed Eli her empty glass and apologized. “I’m sorry, but I think it’s best if I just go. Thanks for the drink.” She quickly left the kitchen and ran up the stairs to get her backpack.

She wasn’t upset about it, in fact, it was nice that he had offered at all. Over the centuries she had found herself either treated like a goddess or a pariah. Rarely did it fall in between. It also wasn’t the first time she had found herself making a speedy exit either. Catching the strap of her satchel and tossing it on her shoulder she turned and noticed Eli standing in the doorway silently watching her.

“I didn’t take anything,” she declared, assuming the worst.

“Didn’t figure,” he answered, leaning against the door frame. “I said you were welcome to spend the night here tonight and I meant it. Tomorrow I can drop you by the airport or the bus station. Whichever you prefer.”

This didn’t really make any sense to Lilith. Yes, she knew the story of the good Samaritan, but that was a parable, certainly not something she had ever witnessed or experienced. There had to be an underlying reason for Elijah’s helping her and the most obvious motive came to mind. Almost every man she had met had desired her, whether she used her power or not, so it only stood to reason that Eli did too. She really didn’t mind the idea of having sex with him. He was, after all, extremely attractive and she could certainly use the distraction.

Perhaps it was inevitable that she would misread the situation since Lilith had no real understanding of sympathy or compassion. Confident in her charms, she set her backpack down and strolled over to him with a playful smile on her lips. Looking up into his soft brown eyes the demoness then raised up on her tiptoes and brushed her lips against his, confident in her allure. To her surprise, his reaction was not what she had expected. Far from returning her kiss, Eli took two steps back and put his hands up.

“Um . . .” he began, trying to choose his words carefully. He didn’t want to hurt her feelings or lead her on. Whatever assumptions she had about this arrangement, Eli had no intention of having sex with her. He didn’t even know her. “I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong impression, but that’s not why I brought you here. You looked alone and I just wanted to make sure you had a safe place for the night, that’s all.” Lilith couldn’t speak. This had never happened in all of her incredibly long life. Men had always fought for her attention. How was it possible that this man was able to tell her no? “Uh, you’re probably tired and I should let you get some sleep. If you need anything I’ll be downstairs or in my room across the hall.” Lili could only stand there dumbfounded as he left the room. How could anyone reject her? Was it possible she had lost her touch? If her body had not been craving sleep so much, she probably would have questioned him right then and there about his refusal. For now she would have to let it and get some rest.

This was probably one of the more frustrating things about being stuck in human form. In this state, she was subject to all the normal mortal wants and needs. She used to be able to go for long periods of time without food or sleep. In fact, if she indulged in eating at all it was because the taste was pleasurable. She only slept in times of extreme exhaustion and as a powerful immortal that was a rarity indeed. She didn’t understand how humans could waste so much of their short lives stopping to eat all the time or lose large chunks of it to sleep. It was insane!

Looking about the mostly empty space, she decided that before she could sleep she was going to have to cover the window. Carefully she pushed the chair up against the sill, then taking one of the blankets she draped it over the empty curtain rod. It was a pity she needed to do that because until her stalker stepped into her life she had always loved to look up at the stars. She knew every constellation and had used them a million times to identify the time of year and to navigate her travels. With the invention of electric light, she still admired their beauty but lamented the way modern convenience had made so many vanish. In recent months she had found herself no longer seeing stars but many eyes spying on her every movement.

Tired, Lilith kicked off her shoes and changed into a favorite old tank top that she had carried for the last few years. It was comfortable and she liked how it said ‘what doesn’t kill me better start f*cking running’. Exhausted, she turned off the light then crawled into bed and stared at the empty ceiling. She longed for sleep but found herself unable to switch off the whirring cogs of her mind. It felt as though her brain was running at top speed contemplating everything from her stalker and how to disappear permanently to . . . well . . . Eli. Why was he being so nice to her? From her experience, men were only eager to help her because they wanted to sleep with her. Eli had refused her advances. He was the first man she could think of who had done so and it amazed her.

How long Lili lay there in the darkness staring at the ceiling, she didn’t know, but it seemed like a long time. The silence was finally broken by the sound of Eli coming up the stairs and retiring to his room. At least she thought it was him. It couldn’t be anyone else, right? After all, there were only two of them in the house, weren’t there? Still, she couldn’t quite shake her doubt or the endless ‘what-ifs’ that plagued her. What if someone had broken in and Eli didn’t know it? What if he was dead or knocked out? What if he was working for her stalker and had let him in? What if he was leading him to where she was right now?