The Dark Warlock: The Nox Haven Series

Chapter 2: The Broken Necklace

"The opening ceremony doesn't start for another ten minutes. He has time." My eyes flickered briefly to Alix.

I would be lying if I didn't say that she was absolutely terrifying. There was a fire that blazed behind her green eyes, that was almost as lethal as Caddie's. Alix risked her life everyday protecting Caddie's life, I respected that- even if Caddie didn't need to help. But I wasn't ignorant to how Alix really felt about my girlfriend. She was waiting for a second alone so she could quickly get rid of me and inch closer to Caddie's heart.

"Anyway," Caddie pinched the inside of my arm, "We can worry about this later. Right now, we should join the other heirs before someone notices we're missing."

I rolled my eyes. The press knew our favorite foods, shoe sizes and blood type- they knew exactly where we were.

"Okay," Alix agreed, "But who's going to hold onto the scroll and necklace?"

Caddie shoved the scroll into Alix's hands faster than I could blink. She didn't want to be associated with it for another second. It was the normal Caddie way of dealing with a situation that personally involved her. She could storm into an abandoned tunnel or a power plant filled with Dark Ones, without a fear in the world. But the second something gets personal she'd run away.

"Hold onto the scroll for me. You're a psychic, prophecies are your thing."

Alix rolled her eyes, "I specialize in the future, not the past."

Caddie nodded in acknowledgment but said nothing else. We all knew what she was doing, and it wasn't going to work. One way or another the prophecy would come true. She was either going to consciously search for the solution or accidentally stumble upon the solution. Either way, she wouldn't be able to evade her destiny.

"So what are we going to do with the amulet?" I asked, playing along with her silly game.

Caddie wrinkled her nose. "I was going to keep it. Where else would I put it?"

"How about somewhere far away? There's something weird about that necklace. It could be dangerous."

Caddie narrowed her eyes. For some unexplainable reason, she didn't want me anywhere near the gem. No matter how hard she tried to repress her emotions, I could feel her mistrust. Shrugging my shoulders, I tried to play it cool. Like I was completely fine with her crazy behavior. Caddie gave me a parting glare before slipping the amulet into her coat pocket.

"Let's just forget that this happened and focus on the rebuilding of Nox Haven."

Before she could turn her body out of my grip, I slipped my hand into pocket and pulled out the necklace.

"Aleksander! Give that back!" She yelled.

The gem pulsed in between my fingers, but I didn't feel the heat from earlier.

"Caddie, you can't just pretend this didn't happen! Stop running away from your fears."

She managed to grab ahold of my hand. Her fingers grazed the gem. That simple contact was all the gem needed for the heat to return. Instead of jumping away like before, we continued to hold on. Our heated glares were almost as powerful as the heat surviving within the gem.

"This has nothing to do with me! It happened two hundred years ago!"

Two hundred years.

Two hundred years.

The earth shook beneath our feet, and sent us teetering backwards. We fell into Alix and Jaxon. All four of us lied on the ground as Caddie wrestled for the necklace. She pulled one way, I pulled the other. Caddie loosened her grip and the amulet flew out of our hands and into the sky. Our eyes went wide, when a crunch resonated through the air.

The amulet broke.

An ear-splitting screech tore through the wind as the amulet convulsed on the ground. Dark smoke poured from the cracks, creating two black tendrils in the sky. I couldn't physically move, the fear coming from all four of us was way too much to handle. My mind was being seized by panic, I could barely form a rational thought. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Caddie was in the same condition as me. Alix and Jaxon were screaming their heads off, and clinging to each other like children.

I didn't know if anyone from the crowd saw what happened. If someone did, they didn't come to our rescue. They probably watched- frozen in fear- as the black smog morphed into a hand and reached down to grab us. Caddie grabbed my hand as the Slade twins latched onto our backs. The black mist locked it's hands around and pulled us up off of the ground.

We were going to die.

That was the last thing I remembered before  my mind became as blank as the world around us.

**I'm sorry that this is short, but I feel like what is about to happen next would best fit in a separate chapter. You guys voted and most of the votes pointed towards Aleksander so he will be the second POV for this book. I'm excited to have more opportunities to explore  his character. That's also a reason why this chapter is shorter, I'm still figuring out how to see things through his eyes. I hope you guys still liked it though, tell me what you thought. And if any of you know would like to help me edit or know of somebody who edits, please tell me. My books definitely need a grammar nazi.
XOXO,
Ro.**