Lyra's POV
When I regained my consciousness, the first thing I felt was lying comfortably on a mattress. Its softness was unlike anything I had in my poverty-stricken life. The heavy burden of my eyelids fluttered open and I was greeted by the sun rays for the first time.
The feeling was completely different from where I was in Slumber Hound City. Every morning, we were awakened by either darkness or the lights we continuously switched on. But now, looking at the large French window, I was mesmerized by the sight of the city landscape, the green hills with immaculate state-of-the-art houses, and—
My eyes widened as they glued at the familiar large rustic sign which was in bold words: HOLLYWOOD.
"N-No fucking way.." I uttered as my hand placed gently at the window pane. "Am I in Los Angeles? The real one?"
I must be dreaming. There was no way I would be here. I slapped my own face.
Hard.
"Ow!"
Okay, I should have pinched my cheek rather than mar it with my printed hand. But who the fuck cares?! I'm in Hollywood!
Beaming to myself, I jumped back on my bed, rolling over as I giggled. "Holy shit, I'm here! I'm finally fucking here!"
But the brief happiness was momentarily shattered when there was a quick knock followed by Jakub entering the room with his usual stern demeanor. His lips twitched, trying not to react with my childish action.
He cleared his throat as he said, "You are awake."
I frowned, slowly getting up from the bed. "How long was I asleep?"
"Three hours." Jakub said, simply. "You fainted after crying."
I did?
The red tints on my cheeks couldn't hide the embarrassment I felt. So, as usual, I schooled it out with my usual tough bravado and changed the question. "Where is that asshole?"
There was a flicker of anger in his brown eyes and I had noticed that Jakub looked…extremely young.
"Watch it," he hissed, his fists clenching. "You shouldn't speak of Master Julian that way, human."
It was also clear that he was a hot-headed guy pretending to be a mature and composed young man. The memory of him killing those bounty hunters was still vivid in my mind.
Yet, knowing I was Julian's fated mate, I took advantage of it. "So? If I were his wife-to-be, I can call him whatever he wants. He did call me "kitten" from time to time."
"If you kept overstepping your boundaries, I—"
"What?" I smirked, challenging him. "Kill me? Hurt me? What right do you have, eh? I am his fated mate, yeah? That means I should be away from harm."
Groaning in frustration, Jakub ruffled his unkempt brown hair. "Master Julian will be back…soon."
What a cryptic answer. Yet, I could see the worry in his eyes.
He was about to turn around and leave–clearly to run away from dealing with the likes of me, I stopped him.
"So this place is called…California, right?"
"Yes," he said quite reluctantly before clearing his throat. "Yes, we are."
"Uh-huh…."
Unlike Julian who often hid his emotions, making it difficult to know what he was thinking, Jakub was like an open-book.
"Anyway, you must be hungry. I won't allow you to starve yourself to death. You said you could eat anything, right?"
With the snap of his fingers, the door swiftly opened and a flying green creature with long spindly arms pushed the meal cart, moving its way until it reached in front of me. Despite its short size, its head is disproportionately bigger than his overall body and it was wearing a tiny chef hat between its bat ears.
"Izz nighi farah sheeba!" The flying green creature squeaked its shrilly voice as it spoke its foreign language.
Then it opened the trays, revealing fancy dishes that were far better than the ones I stole from Diamond Hotel!
My stomach growled. "All of these are for me?"
Jakub nodded. "Our cook believed that you, humans, are satisfied with food like this. Pan-seared scallops with saffron risotto as the appetizer, beef tenderloin with roasted asparagus for the main course and for dessert—" he paused, seeing me wolfing down the food with my bare hands. "Hey! Are you even listening?! And, l-learn some table manners!"
""Mmph! Cahn't tahlk, foo'sh d'lishus!" I continued pigging out the food.
It made him rendered speechless as his cheeks turned red. Meanwhile, the flying creature gave me a disdained look as it shook its head.
Both of them stared at me as if I was an uncanny specimen for their experiment. But I couldn't give a damn.
Once I gobbled everything in less than five minutes, I felt stuffed. "Do you still have more of this err…cake?" I showed the now empty plate while I licked my lips. "I still have room for desserts."
While the creature was sprouting nonsense, I stared at the creature. I knew it looked familiar and the way its ugly bat wings flapped made me remember those portraits from the books.
"Holy shit! You are an imp!" My eyes widened, a realization dawned on me. "We rarely see you guys in Slumber Hound."
Like a child, I grabbed the flying creature, my curiosity piqued and tried pinching its ugly face.
"Wow, the rumors were right. Despite its appearance, the cheeks were as soft as cherub angels!" I said, continuing playing its face.
"AH! JAKUB, VARA GA! VARA GA!" The Imp frantically squirmed violently that its chef hat dropped on the floor.
"Let go of him, you ungrateful cretin!" Jakub's eyes lit crimson as he grabbed my wrist.
I didn't need to be told twice and dropped the flustered Imp.
"You—" Jakub took a deep breath before letting me go. "Just don't do something stupid that would end up with Izmah killing you in your sleep. Imps hold grudges, you know?"
I frowned. "I was just curious, okay? I've never touched an imp before."
Glancing at the imp known as Izmah, he gave me a menacing glare as he squealed gibberish shit while hitting my head with a wooden spoon.
"Ow! You, little goblin!"
"Uh, uh, uh… remember to play nice." Jakub gave me a warning glare.
"He hit me!"
"You started it first, human," he said. "Plus a little smack on the head is nothing to an underground dwelling like you."
I wanted to punch this sorry-ass baby-faced motherfucker but I decided to keep cool. If I wanted to gain allies from these monsters, I had to be smart about my actions.
"Izmah, was it?" I turned to the tiny creature while he was fuming. "Sorry about that…and the food was delicious." My cheeks flared. "T-Thanks."
Fine, I wasn't known to be grateful.
Izmah was skeptical at my sudden meekness and he turned and mumbled gibberish words to Jakub and he only nodded in agreement.
"Just accept her apology, Izmah. She did like your food."
The little Imp kept squeaking words, shot me another death glare, flipping the middle finger and flew away with the meal cart.
I took that as his way of saying 'You're welcome'.
"Izmah said he would bake you another batch," Jakub said while rubbing his temple. "Now, Master Julian will be back soon. Just stay here and don't roam around outside this room."
"And why the hell not?"
He gave me that look.
"B-Because!" He turned red. He was definitely acting his age. He was no century old vampire, that's for sure.
I smirked. "Jakub, if I am going to be your master's wife, I believe it is your job to tour me around, hmm?"
Jakub's mouth turned dry then he cleared his throat. "I only listen to Master Julian, human."
"And I am his fated mate, his equal. Now, let's roam around the mansion, shall we? Chop, chop!"
Something tells me Jakub was about to erupt like a molten volcano. But I gave him credit for keeping calm despite that.
I grinned.
"Oh, Jakub? Call me Lyra."