I clenched my fists in annoyance. It was my first normal day this week, and Eugene decided to ruin it with his presence.

"What're you doing here?" I hissed.

"Keeping an eye on you," Eugene answered calmly. He lazily leaned against the tree and looked around.

"It doesn't look like that. We've agreed to go hunting at night. There's plenty of time, and I'd like some privacy with my boyfriend with no supervision."

"I don't bother you. I keep a respectable distance not to make you nervous. I'm not going anywhere. I'm on a mission."

"I don't give a damn about your mission! Get lost! Don't you need to take a nap or something?"

"I don't waste time on sleeping."

I was getting furious. Eugene was not willing to compromise.

"We've agreed to meet in the evening and go hunting or whatever it's called. Right? How about midnight? If I got it right it's the time when the evil spirits get down to business…"

"Ironically, Nefarious, Murky Shadows, Demons and demigods are always among the people, regardless of the time of a day. And you can be attacked at any suitable moment. And this hasn't happened yet simply because they're afraid to be erased since you stay in public places all the time. So, whatever you say, I'm staying. If it makes you feel any better, I'm watching the perimeter but not you. Just relax."

"It's hard when I know there's a babysitter nearby," I muttered.

"I don't like this as well. But my duty is to protect you now, and only the Commander assigning this mission can call me off," Eugene pulled a face, making it clear that the debate was over. This fellow has not even looked at me for the entire conversation. This was rather annoying because it seemed like I was nothing. "By the way, it's too late to meet at midnight, so we'll meet as soon as it gets dark.* You still have to train."

"I can't make it earlier. I got things to do. No later than 11 p.m. I can't just disappear in the middle of the night with no explanation. People will start asking questions."

"Okay. Let it be at 11 p.m. and not a minute later. If I don't find you outside, I'll come and get you out of bed, even if you're naked."

"Dare to try, and I'll kill you."

I did not see his expression, but I heard him mumbling, which I understood nothing. I was in a bad mood for the rest of the day. I needed to deal fast with this debt that was imposed against my will and get back to normal life without Guardians, who watched my every step, and hovering around supernatural creature. I could only hope that the memories of the past and subsequent days would be erased after all these events.

I was no longer willing to go on playing frisbee, and I sadly threw pebbles into the pond, mumbling something to myself.

"Darsy, are you okay? Did anyone was rude to you?" my boyfriend was worried.

"No. Everything is fine! I'm just getting more nervous…"

There was nothing else to say. Jackson silently hugged me, and so we stayed until the gorgeous sunset. The sky was colored in red and purple, and the last rays reflected from the glass surface of skyscrapers, creating a colorful rainbow. You could even feel its smell in the air if this natural phenomenon had any smell.

"It's time to go home!" I said sadly when the sun was all the way down the horizon and colored the sky in dull grey.

I still felt like being tailed. It was like paranoia that had grounds. I could only hope that the watcher would not follow us to the apartment.

I called my Mom and waited for her to answer. My little sister picked up the phone. She was not offended, though she often liked to be a little weepy. Mother did a great job and persuaded Mary to get used to things the way they were and would be from now on.

After the bedtime story, I started to get nervous. Jackson often stayed up late working on the project. And I really needed him to go to bed earlier today. I did not have to puzzle over a certain plan for it because I had one option that worked perfectly. Ten minutes later, Jackson was already snoring and should have been sleeping until the morning. Usually, he was sound asleep after sex, and it was impossible to wake him up even with a shovel. So, not caring about noisy, I quickly got dressed and went downstairs, and only then I realized that Eugene and I did not discuss the meeting place.

Looking around and seeing absolutely nothing in the pitch darkness, I went to the only lighted street, so he could find me.

"And I was about to pick you up!" Eugene appeared from nowhere. He just emerged from the air.

"What? How did you?"

"Haven't I mentioned that I can become invisible if needed? It's the main gift of the Guardians. That's how we can guard the reliquiae and creatures while remaining unnoticed."

"So, in the park, you just wanted to piss me off?"

"You're smart!"

"For a principled and inhumane Guardian, you possess too many of our habits. Are you sure you're not a hybrid?"

I squinted and tried to calm down. Eugene certainly sought emotion from me but his motives remained unclear.

"Wait! This means you can spy upon me even in the shower???" I was horrified.

"I can but won't. I've already explained to you that I'm attracted to people neither in physical nor in any other sense, so to say. Besides, Tol explained to me that people extremely value their personal lives. Though I don't get it, I promised to respect this."

"You sound like you don't have any private life," I snorted.

"It's not like in your world. We can train now and then go hunting, or vice versa."

"Let's do the opposite way. I don't want to be exhausted before fighting a demon. How are we going to do this? How do we find someone we need to kill?"

"I believe it'll be even easier than you think. All supernatural creatures feel you, or rather the Force inside you, and want to obtain it, so they'll come after you. We can simply walk into a dark alley or a closed space and… By the way, the prohibition on leaving the underworld was set by a reason. The thing is that Charon is the only one able to take the Force of others. Everyone knows this but the soul or Charon himself can only pass through the gates. Even Hades has no right to cross the River. Charon was safe there until his first escape. He was aware of all the risks because his absence doesn't let souls find peace and ruins the Balance, and he also endangers the whole world, wandering without protection, where every Nefarious can take away his Force. It's not an easy task but the human form makes him vulnerable. If the Force is captured by someone with evil intent we are doomed."

"I can't get one thing. Charon is immortal, as well as some demons, but, nevertheless, they can be killed. Isn't that absurd?"

"Gods, as well as Charon, can't live on the Earth in their normal form. Therefore, they're forced to transform into a human, which makes them vulnerable. Demons are another kind of creatures. Demons originally didn't exist. When Hades was kicked out of Olympus he got furious with supreme Gods and dreamed of revenge, though he was weak and alone for that. Then he used the only option he had – souls that couldn't be transferred. These souls can't be exiled to Tartarus and brought to the Island of the Dead for one reason or another. They'll dwell in the river and suffer forever. And suffering demonizes them. And Hades used these souls. He gave them form, bestowed the abilities and released to the Earth. That's how demons appeared. All the other creatures have formed from demons mating humans, demigods, nymphs, Guardians, and others. Demons were becoming more and more powerful over time, and Gods made them immortal for special services. The weapon of Hades was often directed against him. These creatures were too greedy, so they failed to serve one master. Since they got a second chance, they craved to get it all. Not many manage to harm or kill the immortal. But Gods created a weapon for that. Every powerful demon must be afraid of death. Otherwise, it can get out of control and cause troubles. There are three ways to do this: The Sword of the Guardian," he grabbed the handle, focusing my attention on it, "erasing for mistakes, which will lead to unwanted attention to our world, and your Force. You can absorb immortality and then kill the vulnerable demon."