"Your not a beast," Xael argued, mad she would even let those words faze her, "Don't listen to that. You belong, just as much as everyone else. I've been called names too...so has Ashlin. No one likes hunters, because we are different. But please, don't call yourself a monster, because you aren't one."
Her next words made his heart sore, but the fact of the matter still was he was leaving town, possibly for weeks.
"You could come with," he offered as he put his empty plate as well as hers on the tray, "If your contract is in our direction, you can do both. And then Ashlin won't kill me for letting Elijah tag along, because your there."
"You don't have to come though," he continued, "But I will be gone for at least a couple weeks. And I don't know how you'll feel about that. It's ultimately up to you, Luna."
~~
An hour later they were walking out of thier inn, Xael's hood pulled low over his head to keep the sun at bay. Normally he didn't notice how low he had to wear his hood, but with Luna beside him he noticed how the hood cut off some of his vision, so he had to crane his head sideways to see her. It became too much of a nuisance to look at her, so he stared ahead, moving his arm around her shoulders instead so he knew where she was.
They'd agreed that she would tag along until they had to split for their separate contracts. Neither of them wanted to be far from the other, as if some invisible force was pushing at them to be together. Even thinking of not being able to see her smile, or hear her laugh for more than a day made Xael nauseous. As they pulled up in front of the south gate Xael pulled her into the shade of a tree. The street was empty and quiet, mostly because people rarely left the city, so there was no reason for townsfolk to be wandering near the gates. It gave him and Luna a few more minutes alone, before Braxton and Ash arrived. Tugging at his hood, he pulled it back enough so he could look down at her and smile. With two fingers he tilted her chin and planted a soft kiss on her pale lips, making her smile.
"I couldn't help myself around you. I had to steal one more," he grinned, "Your intoxicating to me, Lunar."