Embers & Spells

21 – Warning

I still felt the chills in my hands as I went down from Arawn’s bike, returning the helmet to him. He looked unfazed, his same calm and collected expression still on display. I had so many questions to him but I knew he would just dodge them like a pro. Everytime we were together, danger seemed lurking behind the bushes.

“Thank you,” I said, keeping my hands to my jacket’s front pockets to warm them.

He looked like he would say something, but he would shake his head and kept his silence. “Tomorrow, then.”

The moment he drove away, I heard someone gasped.

“Agatha?” I walked toward our house’s front door, seeing my friend already there, waiting.

“Is that Arawn Rhys?” she asked, eyes wide, twinkling. “Holy s**t. Did he drive you home, Tana? Is there something going on between you two when I was away? I thought you and Inigo are- “

I held her hand, stopping her. “Agatha, nothing’s going on. There’s just this creep that kinda bothers me and so he helps me out and drive me home. That’s all.”

Her eyes narrowed, her smile teasing.

I rolled my eyes on her, biting back my smile. “Why are you here, anyway? You should have called me.”

“Yeah, I should. But it’s not on my plan to go here. I just drove my grandma to the bus terminal and I just figured to drop by.”

I nodded, unlocking the door and let her inside.

It was a bit odd that she somehow felt at home in our place. “Aren’t you supposed to have beauty sleep tonight?”

She shrugged, tossing herself to the couch, grabbing a magazine on the table. I waved my hand, whispering a spell to secure the door behind her back.

“But I can’t sleep,” she said, sighing. “Rio wanted to get back together.”

I sat beside her, noticing she was having some sort of internal conflict. “Do you want to?”

She scrunched her nose, resting her back on the soft couch and discarded the magazine. “I don’t know, Tana. I mean, he’s okay for me. But… I just feel like we’re better off not together.”

“What did you like about him, anyway?” I asked, suddenly curious.

“Well, I used to feel this spark when I’m with him,” she adjusted, sitting comfortably, now facing me. “He’s hot, right? Oh, Tana, he’s a good kisser and, ‘ahem’, good in everything.”

I laughed, shaking my head. “That’s too much information!”

She giggled. “You ask for it!”

I pulled up my legs, hugging it against my chest. “And now, there’s no more spark?”

She shook her head. “Have you had a boyfriend before?”

Her question caught me off guard. “There’s none.”

Agatha smiled, her innocence twinkling in her eyes. “I think Inigo will be good for you. He seems like the kind of guy who will do anything for you, you know?”

I never had a girl talk with someone my age before. Looking at Agatha and her dreamy face, I decided to just open up myself with her.

“I don’t know what I feel about Inigo,” I said, realizing the truth of it. “He makes me feel accepted, and it’s nice to know that someone might actually likes me. That someone sees me. I feel at ease when I’m with him.”

“Then, girl, you like him.”

I stared at her, letting her words sunk for a moment. "You think so?"

“Oh, I know so.” She shrugged, as if she already mustered reading feelings. “You’re ultra-analyzing what you feel for him, he makes you feel nice and the fact that you’re questioning whether you like him or not means you like him already. You just want to deny it.”

A smile turned on my lips up. Maybe she was right. Maybe I did like Inigo now. But…

Agatha snapped her fingers. “Hey, don’t overthink a lot about what you feel. Stop thinking about all the ‘buts’ and ‘what if's’ and whatever. If you fall in love, you fall in love. You can’t do anything about it.”

“Yeah, I know.” I nodded, finding some more clarity about what I really wanted with Inigo.

****

The loud music and bouncing spotlights vibrated the auditorium, the seats almost fully occupied. My eyes felt heavy from the lack of sleep the night before, as my thoughts about my feelings with Inigo took over my head.

How cruel the world was, sending a guy I like, only to realized I had to take his life, or else, our souls would be damned for eternity. If Arawn was right, which I didn’t know if he was, that killing the alpha would only cause my downfall. But delivering him to Set would mean I completed the deal, and he would release Erin from her suffering. That part of the deal was clear to the both of us.

But would my godmother forgive me if she learned that I had blood on my hands just to set her free? Knowing her, guilt would hold her forever.

“Tana,” Inigo called out, making his way form the thick crowd on the auditorium’s longue. “I’ve been looking out for you.”

I was wearing a black shirt with a white printout ‘STAFF’ stamp across the chest. “Sorry, student assistant duties.”

Inigo nodded his head. “Everything seemed set already. How’s Agatha?”

I motioned my hand inside the auditorium. “Backstage, preparing. She looks stunning. But nervous.”

He smiled warmly, his composure steady. “We should head inside. All seats are getting taken one by one.”

“She’s not free to go yet.”

We both looked to where the voice came from, seeing Arawn with his bucket hat. We wore the same t-shirt, a camera on his hand.

Inigo grabbed my arm, stepping beside me. “Says who?”

“Says Arawn,” he muttered, matching Inigo’s composure.

“I’ll head inside in ten minutes, Inigo. Just need to polish some things up,” I chimed in, betting in between them.

Inigo turned his eyes on me. “I can help you. Just tell me what I need to do.”

“I’m good. I just need ten minutes and I’m done. I’ll join you in then.”

He slowly nodded. “I saved us front seats, Tana. On the left wing.”

“Great, she’ll be there in few moments.” It was Arawn who replied.

I could feel Inigo’s death stare at the Math Wiz and how he could easily break his bones in a snap. Without a word, he walked out, leaving us in the lobby.

“You can’t help being an ass, can you?” I muttered.

He smirked, pocketing his hands. “Just testing the patience of an alpha. Don’t you want to experiment?”

My eyes grew wide at his words. But I shouldn’t be surprised. He already gave me a hint that he knew what Inigo really was. “Lower you voice, will you?”

“Humans are too busy filling themselves with jealousy and envy, acting supportive to the ladies who passed the audition of some event that really doesn’t matter. Relax. No one’s paying attention to us.”

I shook my head, looking around at the rest of the visitors and students scattered in the lobby. Arawn was right.

“Is the dragon glass with you?” he asked.

My heart sunk. “It’s on my bag in the locker cabinet. Why?”

He held my arm gently, his hands so light, as if he was afraid to touch me. We walked toward the entry way, the lights already dimmed inside the auditorium.

“Just be mindful, Tana Axle. Remember the shadow we saw yesterday?”

“Yes.”

“He’s not dead yet so he could return and attack anytime he’s starving.”

Its red glowing eyes popped inside my head, fear once again crawled like a maniac up my skin.

“How do you know what it was? I’m sure it’s a wolf.”

“Werewolves don’t turn on half-moons.” His voice low, eyes penetrating me.

“Then what the evil shadows like that are doing here?”

He shrugged his broad shoulder. “Hunting? I don’t know. What we both know, is you have to be careful.”

“You know a lot about the underworld. Are you once like those evil shadows?”

Arawn laughed heartily, as if he enjoyed a joke. “You’re cute. I like it that you wanna know me. I guess my mysterious aura gets to you, huh?”

“Not really. I just want to know who you are so that I would know how to get rid of you.” I said, giving him a smile.

He leaned closer to me, his lips on my ear. “Good luck with that, hybrid.”

I felt his breath on my neck, sending shiver down my back. He smelled like mint and fresh air, too distinct and manly. He softly tapped my shoulder and walked out, disappearing behind the entry way.

Dang. He was hard to crack.

But his cryptic words sent an odd sensation inside me, like a sense of warning that something bad was coming my way.

And I don’t like it one bit.