Nikolai had noticed the red mark on her neck the moment she sat down next to Hera and started light conversation with them, because she wanted to avoid the elephant in the room as long as possible.
Emilly didn’t even realize that she had been walking around with that nasty red mark on her neck.
Nikolai was frustrated when he pointed at the red mark on her neck, which she didn’t realize until now. “Who did you mess around with?!”
Vanesha was completely clueless, she walked out of Sol’s apartment without checking herself first because she just remembered the promise that she made to Nikolai. How stupid she had been. She was careless.
“This is none of your business.” Vanesha gritted her teeth, she couldn’t take her eyes away from him, because it would be a sign that she felt guilty, which was true.
Her brother had never been this angry before while Vanesha had never intended for him to see this side of her.
“What game are you playing, Vanesha?” Nikolai asked grimly. He knew that he wouldn’t get anything out of her right now, because his stubborn sister had decided to shut her mouth. “The reason why you didn’t join the Delta and is in the facility instead, with the other scientists, is not as simple as you told me, right?” The question was very rhetorical, because even without an answer from her, he already knew it.
On the other hand, Vanesha didn’t seem to be bothered at all. She had mastered this expression for a long time, which always came in handy.
“Stay away from me Nikolai,” Vanesha said and that was all she could tell him. “If you still want a relationship with me, don’t bother asking about what I am doing.”
.....
Never in a million times would Nikolai have thought that he would hear Vanesha talk to him so coldly like this, or even give him an ultimatum.
“Or what, Vanesha? What are you going to do?” Nikolai’s expression hardened. He looked ashen when he had to be in this type of situation with his sister.
Vanesha balled her fists when she replied to him. “Or you will never see me again.”
And after saying that, she walked away from that dirty and secluded alley, but Nikolai pulled her back to prevent her from leaving.
“I am not done with you yet!” Nikolai finally snapped. He twisted her arm a little bit harshly, but to his surprise, Vanesha managed to free herself from his grip easily.
This was something that you couldn’t do without a proper training and it was impossible for someone, who worked in the facility, to be trained like this and for as long as Nikolai could remember, Vanesha knew nothing about self defense the last time he left her.
What happened to her?
Nikolai couldn’t ask Vanesha, as he wouldn’t get a proper answer from her. He stared at her retreating back, which disappeared after she turned to the main road.
One thing that he knew from their short meeting was; he needed to dig more into his sister’s matters.
==========================
“Kalee city,” Norbeat read the sign and then his brows furrowed deeply at Chaos. “My lord. Don’t tell me... you came here because you wanted to see him?”
Norbeat looked at Chaos with wide eyes, mortified.
“What is it?” Zuri turned around to see the little boy scrunch his face in such a way that made her furrow her brows. “What happened in this city?”
“Nothing, you don’t need to know.” Norbeat turned his focus to Zuri and immediately, his expression changed. He looked at her flatly, without any emotions, which made Zuri want to beat him up. If only he was not in this little boy’s body, she would be more than glad to beat him to a pulp.
“Chaos, why are we here?” Zuri asked him instead. Recently, Chaos looked so much better. His eyes even remained in their original color for days now, which was a good sign. He didn’t leave her side at all, even when he took care of his shattered souls.
Fortunately, Zuri didn’t need to see any dreadful scenes, because Chaos made it as fast and clean as possible.
“I need to meet an old friend,” Chaos replied.
“Ah! I have guessed it, my lord! I have guessed that you want to see him!” Norbeat snapped his fingers, he looked ecstatic because his guess was right, not at the thought of the person that Chaos wanted to meet.
“Who?” Zuri turned her head curiously toward Norbeat again, which was a wrong move.
“I will never let you know about this,” Norbeat replied smugly. “I know more things about lord Chaos than you.”
Yet, Norbeat’s triumph was cut short when Chaos replied to Zuri’s question. “A dragon shifter.”
Norbeat’s face fell and he felt very depressed because not even once lord Chaos, who he adored the most, came to his defense. He hated it that Chaos readily gave everything to this spoiled girl.
“A dragon?” Zuri’s eyes opened wide when she heard that. She had heard a few rumors about dragon shifters, but she had never seen one in real life. “You befriended a dragon?”
“He is a shifter, just like you,” Chaos added, since Zuri intentionally omitted that fact.
Outside of the car window, they started passing buildings and houses, as they entered the city.
However, Zuri refused to let her interest be put down. “How is he? Is he really scaly? Does he have horns? Can he fly like you even without shifting?” She was very interested.
All of a sudden, Chaos pulled over to the side and then turned his body toward Zuri, as the girl looked at him with confusion.
“Never be alone with him, understood?” Chaos stressed every word that he said, he meant it.
“Why?” Zuri stared at Chaos through her curious hazel eyes. Her long white hair was already standing out enough to attract the dragon shifter’s inquisitiveness, Chaos didn’t need him to be more attracted to her, which was inevitable if he were to know she was a white wolf.
“And one more thing, don’t shift in front of him,” Chaos warned Zuri, disregarding her question.
“Why, so?”
“Just don’t. You will know when you are there,” Chaos said simply. He then turned around and resumed driving them to where this dragon shifter lived.
Zuri glanced at Chaos and then Norbeat. If she couldn’t get anything out of Chaos, she could do something to this soul possessor, since he declared he knew a lot of things about him.
========================
Chaos stopped at a gas station to buy something for them, since it was already lunch time and they still had a few more hours to reach where the dragon shifter lived.
“Does he live up in the mountains?” Zuri asked curiously. In her mind, she pictured the shifter as an ancient human, or a monk.
Chaos laughed softly, this was a rare occasion where he would soften up to her. “No, of course not.” He leaned over and kissed Zuri’s cheek, which caught her off guard, while Norbeat’s jaw dropped.
“Excuse me, there is an underaged child over here,” the little boy mumbled, as he covered his face with both hands, though he could still see through the gaps between his fingers.
Yet, Chaos paid zero concern about what he felt and after that, he proceeded to go out of the car to buy them their lunch. Take-away must do for now, because they needed to reach their destination before dark.
This whole city was beautiful, though here was the outskirts of the big city, where you have to drive for hours by car, but there was no mountain for as long as they could see.
Therefore, it was not even a question in the first place.
“Behave well, young lady,” Norbeat grumbled, but his eyes opened wide when he saw Zuri coming out of the car before opening the back seat door next to him. “What? What do you want to do?”
Norbeat crawled into the front seat, to escape from this young girl’s clutches, since the other door was out of option, as the white wolf had curled herself comfortably there.
“We have a lot to talk about,” Zuri said coldly. She pulled back Norbeat by his collar, which was so easy to do since his body was very small.
“You are bullying a little child!” Norbeat protested, as he struggled out of Zuri’s clutches, but she shoved him back into the seat harshly and pinned him there easily, so he couldn’t move, while the white wolf only gave them an uninteresting glance, before she went back to sleeping.
“You are not a child.” Zuri pinched the little boy’s cheeks, too hard to be said as an affectionate gesture. “Now tell me, what do you know about this dragon shifter? Why am I not allowed to be with him alone and why is Chaos so worried?”
Norbeat glared at her, but his lips curled into a smirk. “You know nothing about Chaos.”
“That’s true,” Zuri admitted. “But, he likes me more than you. I can ask him to throw you out of this car.”
“No, he will not leave me here.” His voice was so stern, but there was doubt in his eyes. During their journey thus far, Chaos paid him zero attention and this hurt his little heart a lot.
“Should we try?” Zuri was so eager with this idea. “I can knock you out cold and tell Chaos that you’ve left. I doubt he will even realize that you are not here.”