Lyla regained her composure quickly, repositioning herself on the seat and sighing loud enough for them to hear. She turned to him, keeping her words cool and face neutral, almost bored, she waved her hand in dismissal, "Is this about that guy? It's your fault, you know. You have been rather...", she sized him, "...unsatisfying"
A huffed laugh sounded two sits down as Lucien's eyes met hers, glowing in amusement.
"Besides, what would a protector be doing on this side?" She clicked, taking a sip of her drink; it was actually good. "Wouldn't harboring a Protector be criminal?"
His eyes blazed with pure thrill, for some reason, he seemed to enjoy this.
But Lyla noted the nod of agreement from the mam behind him. Aeneas had mentioned Umbreath's dislike for his kind, all part of the hate the two sides felt for each other. She inwardly sighed, the weight of her mission lying heavy in her heart.
"Okay, you two, enough with your lovers' quarrel," Mor said in a way that indicated it wasn't the first time she had dealt with them
Lucien said nothing in retort, so she went back to sipping her drink, relishing the sweet taste.
Mor excused herself, whispering to a coworker before motioning for them to follow.
"What the hell?" she almost shouted once they were in privacy
"She's a protector," he said casually as though her refusal could not deter him
"Again, I'm not; however, I was training to be. There's a difference."
Ignoring her, he added, "She killed the Wompus."
Mor whirled to her, the motion so swift she wondered if her neck was okay. The redhead sized her once, twice, then a third time.
"Her?" Heavy disbelief etched itself on every letter
"Yeah, saw the whole thing."
The woman's eyes were on her again, curiosity, wonder, and a hint of doubt still in them.
"Well damn," she whistled after a long moment, "the protectors must be shitting themselves for losing you."
A shameless hint of pride soared in her at the praise and newfound look of respect from her.
After the two exchanged a few words far from her hearing, she and Lucien left, heading back to the cottage. Just like before, the journey was silent, only this time she was thinking of a thousand ways she could kill the man walking casually beside her.
"Why the hell would you do that?" she asked, the need to shout becoming an aching presence in her throat.
"She's my friend, I thought she should know."
"Yeah, and shouting to the whole world was the best way to tell her."
"Did I shout? I didn't notice," she was seconds from punching his gorgeous face.
"It was for your wild amusement, wasn't it?"
"Was it?"
"Why else? They could have killed me."
"Yes, they would have."
He had to be crazy, absolutely insane. If those people had believed him, they wouldn't have thought twice. To have a protector here would mean she was a spy, and in turn suggest that Luminara was planning something against them. She would have had to fight her way out of there, and even if she managed to escape, they would still hunt her.
She couldn't understand why else he would do that, if he was suspicious, why announce it? He could have simply dealt with it, for fuck's sake, she had been sleeping in his house; it would have been easy, so why?
Unless….
Lyla stopped abruptly, turning to him, hands folded. It couldn't be, could it?
Lucien stared at her, noting every scrunch of her brow and twist of her mouth. He watched as the wheels of her brain turned.
"Why," she breathed, and he gave a satisfied smirk, as if he was proud she had pieced it together
"It was the surest way to make you understand." Yeah, he was crazy
"A simple, don't do anything to make anyone suspicious would have sufficed."
"And what would have been the fun in that?"
"You're insane," he grinned, proud and arrogant.
"You handled it well...again"
She was at a loss for words; he had taken a dangerous gamble, and still had the nerve to shrug it off. It took everything not to lunge at him.
*
Lyla was standing in a dark bedroom. A king-sized bed was placed in the middle, on the side lay a desk with books, papers, and a pen, and on the right were bare windows, allowing the light from the stars to filter in, but that wasn't what made the room intimidating.
There, in the dark corner, sitting eerily on a chair was a man, their long legs sprawled before them. One of their arms was held on the chair, their thumb and forefinger on their lips, their head tilted, eyes roving, assessing every inch of her.
Minutes passed as Lucien simply stared at her, and for whatever reason, she was glued to the spot.
He stood, walking towards her slowly and tauntingly stopping only when a few inches separated them, his tall frame consuming her shorter stature. She lifted her head to meet his surreal orbs.
As if time lay at his mercy, he just stared and stared at her.
"Just who are you?" he finally said, a question more to himself than her.
He lifted his hand reaching to touch her, but…she was suddenly awake, confused and disoriented.
She scanned the room twice before relaxing on the bed again. It had been a dream. A sickly vivid dream like the ones she had before entering Luminareath
She could still feel it, the warmth that filled the dark room, Lucien's eyes on her, his breath fanning her face, the spicy and woody scent of him, his hand mere inches from her.
It was too real and too fresh that she couldn't push it off, even as day came. Especially not when she laid eyes on him sitting on the couch
His eyes had met hers, and all she could do was stare.
He stayed in the house the whole day, and she couldn't help but sneak glances at him. He had caught her a few times raising a brow in question, but she said nothing. What would she even say?
Mor had visited, and Felix followed an hour after, happy as ever. The three friends chatted, laughing occasionally and drinking from their bottles. She had just sat there trying and failing to keep up with what they said, the dream a constant shadow haunting her.
Nothing alarming had happened in the dream, nothing she could pin to the discomfort, other than the feeling of it being more.
Lyla was still deep in thought when she noticed something in her peripheral. She turned to check, but saw nothing. Then she could have sworn she saw something on Mor's hair, then something slithering under the table.
She almost leaped out of her skin when she saw a horned snake curling its way up her leg. She screamed, jumping out of the chair while shaking her leg vigorously. She scrambled to the person closest to her, who so happened to be Lucien. He smirked down at her as Felix burst out laughing. Mor joined in, and when she looked, there was nothing there.
She looked back at them, then to the spot she had been, then back again. Felix had a proud grin as Mor smiled cheekily at her.
There was only one gift that could do that. She narrowed her eyes at the blue-green-haired male.
"You are an illusionist!"