Chapter Eleven : a Shield

Pov, William.

I feel like I'm acting like a really worried dad.

I'm sitting in my chair, staring at the blue ring that hasn't flashed since Evander went missing.

I exhale and rest my head on the chair behind me, staring blankly at the ceiling.Thinking.

"William!"

As usual, this guy barges into the classroom and comes up to me with a seriously intense look on his face.

He'll probably ask me questions that I won't know the answers to.

I get a little startled when he leans across the desk and slams his hands on it. I notice the dark circles under his eyes.

It's clear he hadn't slept at all, trying to figure out if that little fairy was real or just in his imagination.

"William! Tell me that what I saw last night was just a dream!"

I smirk and cross my arms. "Why? What did you see in the dream?"

He looks at me with a shocked expression, shoving his hand into his pants pocket and his other hand slips between his strands of hair, breathing out of his mouth.

He lets out a light laugh, looking at me out of the corner of his eye.

He's got a suspicious look on his face.

My heart jumps when he grabs me by the collar of my shirt, and I close my eyes to avoid the rain falling on my face.

"You're messing with me, right? I saw a fairy fly in front of me!"

We're looking at each other until Evander runs over to me, looking really happy. "Mr. William!"

He rushes over, falls into my arms, and squeezes me until I groan. Then he whispers in my ear, "I knew how to break the curse!"

He moves away from me and keeps going. "All I have to do is make the ring owners confess. That's it! I could get rid of the first ring!"

"What? " I say, not really understanding what he just said, he nods and smiles, his hands behind his back.

"Evander," I say, remembering what I saw in the school playground a moment ago. He raises his eyebrows, waiting for me to continue.

I narrow my eyes and ask, "You mean the boy you were following to the playground?" The one who you almost finished off?"

He lets out a sigh and plops down on a chair nearby. "I didn't hurt him, so don't worry." He looks at me with a frown and says, "Why are you worried about someone who almost killed your son?"

I'm shocked by what he says, and I can't help but say, "What?"

I see him in return, and he looks nervous, putting his hand on his mouth like he said something he shouldn't.

"Luciana, you naughty little goblin, I knew it." Leo suddenly says, and we look at him in surprise. He's laughing, wiping away imaginary tears with his thumb.

He starts clapping slowly, and I furrow my eyebrows in confusion as I sense the sarcasm in his words.

He's used to making fun of others, but not in situations like this.

I open my eyes really wide, and my heart jumps out of my chest when I notice the grey glow in his irises.

Then I realize something is wrong.

"It's Cynthia." The goblin speaks, and I turn to him, staring in shock. Then Leo approaches me until he's standing right in front of me.

He tilts his head, a mean smile on his lips, and talks to the blue-eyed boy, who keeps looking at him defiantly. "Evander, you shouldn't have gotten rid of the ring. You defied me, and you've really hurt yourself."

"Don't you dare hurt him! I'll kill you!" The goblin screams, grabs my arm, and makes me stand behind him. "That boy has done the same as you. You're both thieves, and you're the thief of the throne." He says.

"I'll keep looking for the rings and find them all, and then I'll break the curse and get rid of you, you miserable vampire."

I'm terrified of her, but I'm also afraid that she'll hurt Leo and use his body as a shield.

And she's convinced that neither of us would ever hurt him.

"You're such an evil, pathetic." I say, then she looks at me.

I don't even realize how long it took her to get in front of me, with only a small distance between our faces.

I close my eyes and feel her hot breath on my skin. I'm definitely going to die of panic.

"You can't hurt me." I say in a shaky tone, trying not to show my weakness, and I bite my lower lip hard when I feel her fingers running down my cheek to my neck.

I notice her smile fade and realize that I'm right.

Fortunately for me.

I let out a sigh of relief when she moves away from me.

I follow her with my eyes as she walks towards the window, sits on the windowsill with her arms folded, and stares at both of us with a strange smile.

"If I can't hurt you, I'll hurt the person closest to you." She says in such a sly tone.

"Don't you dare!" Evander's scream makes my body shake as I stare wide-eyed at Leo, and he throws himself out of the window, realizing what she said too late.

I can't even scream. My legs are frozen, and my face shows the shock and panic I'm feeling.

Did she just kill my only friend?

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