Chapter 15: Pawn

ARTEA’S POV

“Kaylee!” I grabbed her wrist and walked straight into my car, avoiding Kane who was walking swiftly in my direction and wanting to get out of there as soon as possible. We drove back to our house, which was empty, as expected, and I placed her in the living room while I went to get the first aid kit.

“Artea…” her soft voice said “Why are you helping me?”, I blinked at her “Well… Why not? You’re getting abused Kaylee as much as I want to ignore that… The bruises always takes my attention” she flinched at the mention of the word ‘abuse’.

“Could you please tell me who did this to you?” I asked her in the gentlest voice I could muster, not wanting her to feel threatened or pressured. She settled her light brown eyes on her lap and furrowed her brows, "Someone close to me..." Her voice was barely above a whisper, but I could make it out.

I pursed my lips and hummed lowly; if this is what she wants to tell me, I have no choice but to leave. “Please notify me if that person injures you again and you when you need medical attention. “Our door is always open,” I said, trying to hide the bitterness in my voice and face.

She nodded with a grateful smile, and before I let her go, I offered her some food and drinks. I didn't want her to think I was treating her like a homeless person or that I pity her, so I asked her to stay and finish the project... without Kane, of course.

I dropped her off at the usual cafe, “Can I get a cold brew with sweet cream and cinnamon dolce?” the barista nodded, and I paid for my order, sat in the corner booth. I pulled out my phone and texted my younger brother.

Me (now): where are you?

Troublemaker (today at 5:30 PM): at Terrence

Me (now): need to be home by 7

Troublemaker seen

“You did a good job avoiding me,” a smooth low voice accused me, and I didn't have to lift my eyes to see who it was, Kane, that smooth masculine voice that makes my blood boil and sends shivers down my spine, I pursed my lips and lifted my head, our eyes locked.

Brown meets Hazel

“So?” I kept my gaze on him, and he scoffed at my response, "So? Did you forget we helped you?”, “And helping me is lying to me, right?” My expression changed to a challenging one, challenging him to lie to my face again, challenging him to deny the lie that he had been caught on.

He pressed his lips together. He realizes he has no choice but to tell the truth or remain silent and walk away. But Kane, being Kane, did not; instead, he sat directly across from me and apologized, but I could tell he was struggling to be genuine.

“Look, I'm sorry, but it was the only way I could—” I abruptly cut him off, saying, "The only way?! So telling me the truth isn't an option?!” I sarcastically laughed at him, "So you lie to everyone you think needs protection?" “How did you even know?” he asked, shaking his head. That statement made my blood boil.

“You can't simply avoid the question, and it's none of your business. Look, I don't want any harm to come to my ONLY family, so if you could all just act like I'm the new girl and you're the popular kids everyone wants, that'd be great.” I emphasized the word "only" and quickly stood up and walked away from him.

THIRD PERSON POV

Kane's face contorted in annoyance and anger because of the Lenner girl. It was natural for Artea to be angry at Kane and his family, but he hoped she was grateful rather than angry.

His fists were balled up in frustration, and unlike other girls or people, she wasn't afraid of him. It frustrated him at first, but then it intrigued him, and now he despised that side of her knowing that she was correct ate Kane's ego.

With a heavy sigh, he asked, "Rough day?" When he heard an unfamiliar voice say something to him, he turned to face a dark blonde cafe worker. “Yeah, you could say that,” he replied uninterestedly, “Can I do anything to make it better?” she asked, hinting.

Kane took it for flirtation and blew her bubble "Black coffee and vanilla cake." “Oh, perhaps I can—” An irritated tone cut her off, "That's my order..." He looked at her name tag and said, "Nina," in the same tone as before.

The girl huffed and walked away from him to prepare his order. He was now beyond irritated, and the girl's flirtation only added to his annoyance. Finally, the same girl brought him his order. Their gazes met, and she quickly averted her gaze; Kane didn't care about anything right now; the only thing on his mind is the obstinate girl.

~~~

The two children in the Lenner household were perplexed as to why their mother had not yet returned home. “She probably has a lot of work to do,” Greg says, not worried unlike his sister. “She would've texted,” even though the older sibling was concerned so she just cooked dinner for the two of them.

‘I shouldn't be surprised, we can take care of ourselves, and Mom has a lot on her plate,' she reassured herself, but an uneasy feeling lingered in the back of her mind. She went to her room after eating, and Rhett appeared.

“What is it that bothers you, Artea?” Rhett inquired of his master. “Rhett, can you track people or something, or can a spell track people?” The witch asked her guide, "Yes, it's in the book you got from the library," and she took out the book and began reading the titles to find the spell.

I was all in latin but she learned a little bit in the past 1 week… the basics… but with Rhett by her side there was no problem at all, that’s what she thinks.

Spargant quia vestigo

'Tracking Spell' She read the instructions and what to do, "Okay, maybe I'm overreacting here..." Once she finished reading the entire page, she became nervous and questioned herself. “Doing a tracking spell doesn't have any bad sides... well, it won't work if you did it wrong, but nothing BAD,” Rhett assured his master.

“I don't have a map of this location.” ”Let's look at your mother's books, maybe there's some map,” Artea deadpanned her guide. Artea disagreed, so she said she'd get a map from the nearest bus stop.

Rhett was disappointed that they were not going to look for certain items. So, when his master left, he flew to mother Lenner's room and searched everywhere. He'd pause for a moment to listen to the male Lenner so he wouldn't be caught. And he discovered something perplexing and instructive, but he couldn't place it.

So he went back to his master's room to wait for her. She returned a few minutes later, laid out the map on her bedroom floor, and followed the instructions. She went into her mother's room, got her wedding ring and placed her it on the center of the map while chanting the words...

ut quaeram magis in hominem

ostende mihi locum suum

Nothing changed when they examined the map and the ring. Artea confronted Rhett saying that this is pointless, the fae only replied with "Hey! This isn't my fault!” He re-read the book, and they tried three more times. “How come it isn't working?” At this point, Artea was exhausted.

Suddenly, her bedroom door swung open...

~~~

“Some things aren’t what they seem”

~~~

A/n: Sorry for the long update but I had to cut this and the next chapter will be the part 2 so I could polish the things that needed to be add and cleaned. Also for the latin speakers out there I'm really sorry because I just got the latin in google translate and I went from there 'cause I only know a little in latin.

Votes and comments are appreciated~