KELANI POV"Guard the house," A yell from Zain made me jerk out of my slumber.With wide eyes, I gazed around the dimly lit room before searching around for the switch of the lamp.Pressing it down, light flares in the room. I shrieked as a hooded figure stood before me."It's me," Riley said, stepping closer."Riley!" I exclaimed, eyeing her as she let down the hoodie."I'm sorry," She winced, pushing a hand through her hair. "I couldn't sleep, and the noise from outside kind of made it worse.""What happened?" I asked her.Climbing down from the bed, I stepped towards the window and peered out.One of the best things about the room I currently was in was the ability to see all that was going on outside without needing to go outside.The fact that Zain had explicitly asked for the room to be cleaned for me even though I wasn't actively speaking to him says a lot.And for some reason, the kind gesture made me want to forgive him."What's going on?" I asked her.Zain continued to yell,
KELANI POVI turned to Riley, who shrugged, and as Vesper twisted the handle continuously, she hissed."Calm down, lover boy." She said, moving to open the door.As soon as it opened, Vesper stumbled inside. Sweat drenched his body, and the shirt he wore was stained with blood.Not worried about the state he was in, I ran into him, jumping into his open arms and wrapping my arms around him."You're okay," we said in unison.Vesper's arms wrapped tightly around my lower body, and I shuddered. This wasn't the first time he'd be hugging me, but this felt different.It felt as though he poured all his emotions into the embrace.As he let me go, he cupped my face, closing his lips around mine. I gripped his shirt, scrunching it, and stood on tiptoes to access his lips as well."I'd have said get a room, but then, I don't think I am really to have a mental image of what both of you could be doing in that room," Riley grimaced, clearing her through, which broke us apart. I flushed, gazing aw
KELANI POV"You left," Riley said as soon as I stepped in.I nodded, walking to where Vesper was. He was fast asleep, and I turned to Riley."I had to inject him since he didn't want to take any drugs. I tried to ease his pain until I am certain of what attacked him.""And I made sure he isn't going to die; I gave him the right dosage," She added.I turned to Nathan, "I didn't ask what attacked both of you. Can you tell us how to make our work better? It would help if you can describe as well.""Sure." Nathan stood, dug into his pocket, and brought out a sheet of paper with a pen in his hand. "I'll try my best to draw as well. Although I am terrible at art."Riley and I nodded. I didn't care if he drew it well; I only wanted to know what had attacked him so Riley could find spells in her book to cure him.At this rate, I didn't think we could do anything without Vesper. Since it was said teamwork was the only way out for most of the things we engaged in, I believed this wasn't differe
ZAIN POVI never thought seeing Vesper again would bring back the jealousy I felt that night. It was even mightier than the first time.He appearing in my doorway, looking all bloodied and asking for Kelani even though he saw everyone present. It was as if it was only Kelani that existed to him.Well, maybe she was the only one who existed. At that instant, I had just wanted him to stay out and get attacked once again.I knew that attack would kill him. But then, I didn't care. I didn't feel anything at that moment.All my thoughts were borderline evil.Now he was on the fucking bed she had left on, and there she kept checking him out at intervals as if he was the only one she could see.When I stepped into this room again, I smelt Vesper on Kelani. I knew Lance did, too, because I saw him frowning in Vesper's direction.And Kelani's body was bloodied, which confirmed my suspicion, likewise her lips.Had she kissed him? I wondered. It wasn't unlikely, yet I couldn't think of it happen
KELANI POV"What happened back there?" I asked Zain as I tended to his bruise. Even though it was not really necessary, as it was already fading, I wanted to get him out of there.It felt like if he continued to stay in the same place as Lance, he would be tempted to do something awful."He tried to kill me," Zain said, wincing as I pressed my hand to the bruise."Do you have a broken rib?" I asked him."Seems like it," He gritted his teeth, then sucked in a breath as I prodded him, "I am going to kill that bastard.""You won't do no such thing," I said, letting his shirt fall back down."Why not? He fucking tried to kill me, Kelani. I am sure if you had been there, you'd have said otherwise.""I did stop that from happening, didn't I? And it's the reason I brought you here. When Lance is done watching, you can resume," I said.Zain grumbled for a brief second, "I wish you came a few minutes late.""I don't believe you could have done anything to him," I said."You don't even know hal
KELANI POVStaying a few minutes while waiting for Zain to appear, much to my disappointment, as I caught no sight of him, I turned to Lance once again.Rather than be involved in the search, as everyone was, he wasn't the least perturbed.Rather, he was on his phone, typing nonstop and laughing at whatever he was staring at.Marching towards him, I yanked off the phone from his hand, "Okay, that's enough," I muttered with a glare."Hey!" Lance exclaimed, jumping to his feet. "What the hell? I do not know where the fuck Zain left off, and give me back my phone.""You should, and I don't believe you one bit," I said."Why not?" he asked me, his eyes were narrowed. He stepped closer to me, but I didn't flinch despite how intimidating he looked."Believe it or not, you owe Zain your life. He took you under his room, and is this how to repay him? Besides, no one fucking asked you to be his keeper. He must have said something to you. Or you must have, by chance, seen him walk off somewhere
KELANI POV"The spirit of discord?" Vesper scoffed. "How would you know that? Are you a witch that can sense powers now?""I don't know how I felt it, I just do, and if we don't eradicate that, I don't think any of us can live peacefully if we don't," I said."How do we do that? Do you have witchery powers?" Vesper asked."I don't need to have it. And I can always ask Riley to help me with one." I said."She's mad at you," Vesper pointed out."Yeah, about that..." I grimaced, shaking my head.It was common sense not to approach Riley when she was furious because she could be mean and even do far more dangerous things.But then, our lives were at stake, and waiting for Riley's anger to quell might even be more harmful than whatever she would do to me if I decided to approach her now."I am sorry. I don't mean for that to happen, and I thought defending you would make...""You don't need to apologize," I cut him off. Stepping towards him, I gripped his hand, locking eyes with him, "Just
KELANI POVRiley arrived as I had presumed, and she walked past me, not asking me any questions.She walked around the room briefly, ransacking through the shelves and checking some of the books.Her brows were creased as she continued to search. Without even saying anything to me, I knew she was searching for the Talisman.But I couldn't help but wonder why she wasn't asking if I had seen it. Perhaps she was trying to keep it a secret from me.Riley hissed, and she turned to me abruptly. She gazed at me longer than intended. Even though I wasn't looking at her directly, I felt her gaze on me, drilling holes in my back."Kelani," Riley said eventually, and I turned.I raised a brow at her, "What's up? Thought you were giving me the silent treatment.""This is not the time for jokes," She said, almost snapping at me."Then when is the time for it?" I asked her."I am too busy for that, but I need a response to what I am about to ask you," Riley stated."You are too busy to joke with me