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“Mine too,” Reef agrees.
“Maybe. But that’s because you’ve had time to get to know her, to forge a real connection. Malia and I have butted heads since day one. The attraction now is just the magic of the prophecy, trying to ensure it comes true and we save everyone.”
I’m not convinced but I can tell there’s no shifting his perspective on this. Vance isn’t ready to believe he could fall in love, and no amount of telling him how real all of this is will bring him on board.
Reef leans forward, his eyes darkening. “So what are we going to do about this?”
“I don’t know,” the professor admits, looking defeated.
“I can’t control myself around her. Maybe we need to bring in someone who can help with the magic aspect of this.”
“Who?” I ask, feeling a sense of desperation rise within me. We need to fix this, and soon.
“I don’t know,” he repeats. “But we need to do something before we all lose control completely. Maybe I should go back to the elders.”
“I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” I say carefully.
Reef nods. “I agree. I don’t want to bring Malia to the elders any sooner than we have to. We’re still not a hundred percent sure she’s the star, and if they think she is, they’ll speed up the timeline on this mission.”
“I’m not ready to say goodbye,” I say honestly. “The thought of trading Malia to the elders for world peace doesn’t sit right with me.”
The rest of the conversation is a blur as we try to come up with a plan. All I know is that we need to help Malia, in whatever way we can. She’s the one at the centre of all of this, and we can’t let her become collateral damage in our quest to save the world.
As we finish our drinks, a plan begins to take shape. We’ll need to seek out someone who can help us understand the magic of the prophecy, someone who can guide us through the murky waters of our destiny, but someone who isn’t from our world. That way we don’t run the risk of word getting back to the elders that we’re stalling on our mission. It won’t be easy, but we have no choice.
“I’ll start looking for someone,” Reef says, breaking the strained silence that has descended upon us. “Maybe there’s someone in town who can help us.”
The professor nods in agreement, his expression grave. “Start with the doc. She’s the most well connected supe we know. And in the meantime, we need to keep our distance from Malia. For her own sake.”
I feel a pang of sadness at his words, but I know he’s right. We can’t keep putting Malia in danger like this. We need to get our shit together and figure out a way to break the spell that’s binding us together.
As we leave the bar and step out into the night, the prof’s phone rings once and then cuts off. He looks at the screen and frowns.
“Who was it?”
“Bhodi.” The prof hits redial, putting the call on speaker, but it just rings out.
Unease washes over me as I exchange a look with Reef.
My phone starts to ring and I snatch it out of my pocket, just in time to see the caller display before the screen goes blank.
“Malia.”
We’re running to the prof’s car without another word.
Not gonna lie, it cut me up seeing Malia upset like that. As much as I want to kill the professor for hurting her, I’m glad I was the one made to stay and watch over her.
I didn’t expect her to let me in, but when I took some chocolate and a soda up to Cove’s room, she surprised me by saying I could come in.
I stayed with Malia in the dark, quiet room for what felt like hours. Her sobs eventually turned into soft whimpers as she drifted off to sleep.
That probably should have been my cue to leave, but instead I find myself still sitting here, watching her chest rise and fall with every breath. I can’t help but feel an overwhelming urge to protect her from any harm.
She looks so vulnerable. Her face, usually so strong and full of life, is now peaceful but marked with silvery tear tracks. Her hair lies in a tangled mess around her face. The sudden urge to run my fingers through her hair, to hold her in my arms and tell her everything will be okay is compelling.
But I can’t do that. Not yet, at least. I have to keep a level head and make sure she’s safe. I don’t want to take any chances.
A noise downstairs has me carefully extracting myself from Malia’s sleeping form and tiptoeing out of the room. I check the time on my phone, surprised by how late it is, but glad that the guys are finally back. I sneak down the stairs, frowning when I find the house in darkness still with no sign of the guys or the professor.
