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been so clear and blue and she had lost herself in the waves, a feeling she felt now as she met his steady gaze.  As he smiled, she saw a flash of small fangs denting his bottom lip.
    “Tessa meet my older brother, Elijah Harper.
    Elijah stepped forward and took Tessa's hand, laying a soft kiss on her upturned palm. Harper looked like he wanted to slap his brother away but Tessa was glad he didn’t. If her heart still beat it would have been going a hundred miles an hour. Some memory fluttered in a dark corner of her mind but she couldn’t focus on it, couldn’t focus on anything except for Elijah’s eyes which still held hers. She dimly felt someone take her arm and pull her back and she slowly snapped out of her daze, smiling weakly.
    “A pleasure to meet you, Elijah. Harper never mentioned that he had a brother.” Elijah snorted and crossed his arms over his chest.
    “No, I wouldn’t think he had. Loki likes to imagine himself an only child.”
    “Again, I ask, what are you doing here exactly, Elijah? Tessa and I were in the middle of something.”
    “So I saw and I must say I feel no regret at barging in. You’ve gone too far this time, brother and I'm here to clean up your mess. The girl has to go.” Again Harper snarled and Tessa furrowed her brow in confusion. She didn’t know if she’d ever get use to calling him Loki.
    “What do you mean I have to go? Go where? I just got here and no offense but I don’t know you.” Was it just her imagination or did hurt flash through his eyes, swiftly hid behind a look of indifference? The situation was just getting more and more confusing and Tessa's head was starting to hurt. “You don’t get to just storm in here and start ordering me around.” Elijah raised an eyebrow and a corner of his mouth curved.
    “Feisty. No wonder you like her, Loki. Look, I don’t know what my brother has been telling you but-“
    “Elijah, shut up.” Loki's voice was sharp and harsh, his face contorted in barely contained anger. “You need to leave, right now.” His grip on Tessa's arm tightened and she shrugged his hand off, stepping away from the both of them.
    “Forget it, he’s right. I need to get out of here, like now. “
    “I didn’t mean-“
    “Seriously, this is all a little too much for me right now and I need to go find Penny anyways before she gets worried and starts looking for me.” She backed up further, creeping towards the door. The two brothers stared after her, neither one making a move to stop her. Harper sighed and ran his fingers through his short hair. It was amazing to her how different the two were. One was like darkness itself while the other seemed bathed in sunlight.
    “We’ll talk later, right?” Harper was almost pleading with her, his eyes worried and anxious. Elijah just seemed amused. Tessa nodded slowly before locking eyes with the older brother. His amusement drained away, replaced with…something else. She wasn’t sure what that something was.
    “As I, too, shall see you again, Tessa. That, I assure you, is a promise.” It was like her unbeating heart leapt into her throat and she swallowed hard then bobbed her head quickly.
    “A-Alright.”
    “Till we meet again.” There was that smug smile again, his eyes unbelievably warm.
    Tessa fled the room before she lost herself in them again.

 
    Dying sunlight filtered through the curtained windows, falling across Tessa's prone form sprawled atop the purple coverlet of her borrowed bed. After rescuing Penelope from an overzealous human boy at the club, the two had rushed back to the apartment and went to bed without Tessa explaining anything that had happened to her.  A week had nearly passed and still Tessa had remained silent about it and Penelope didn’t push for information. They  had spent the week with Tessa sleeping away the days while Penelope worked then spending the nights curled up on the couch watching old movies and Tessa slipping out for a drink. She was