The Shadow Circle

Chapter-10

"We haven't decided yet," Kai said soothingly with a gentle smile. "Why don't you come back in a few minutes?"

The girl let out a small sigh of relief. She visibly relaxed when Kai addressed her. Maybe he wasn't such a shitty person after all.

"What do you want?" He asked nobody in particular.

"Blueberry muffin," Blonde Bitch said.

"Chocolate chip cookies," I said.

"Espresso," Asshole said.

Kai gestured for the girl to return and she did so, hesitantly. He relayed our orders to her, she seemed to be more and more at ease as Kai spoke. I knew that, it's what lured me in in the first place. He had a way of making you feel comfortable.

"And for you?" The girl asked shyly but she wasn't trying to flirt with him.

Kai smiled sheepishly. "Anything with lots of caffeine."

And he had a coffee addiction. The girl smiled and went away.

Why was he an ass to me? Was I that special?

Well, that's not strictly true, he did have that stupid nice guy act when I met him at the food court.

"So this is Kestrel Seran," he said gesturing to me. "Possible pyromaniac and an important asset to whatever I'm going to tell you."

"That's Elizaveta Ruslanovna Dragomirova. She's a spy and sometimes homicidal psycho," he said.

How did her name fit on her birth certificate?

"Looks like you have a lot in common," the man muttered.

"And he's Julian Moreno. He's a computer genius, he's even hacked into the Circle's database once," Kai said.

"And he tried to kill me," Julian said under his breath. "Hey."

He had a nice smile. Julian's features were more rugged than Kai's, strange because he was a hacker and Kai was Kai.

He had a prominent chin and heavy set features but the texture of his skin was smooth and made him look like he was in his early twenties. He was also a good few inches taller than Kai, who already towered above me. Somehow, Kai still seemed to command presence.

"Kestrel," Elizaveta said. "Strange name for a cracked girl."

"Elizaveta Ruslanovna Dragomirova. Did I get that right? I needed a new WiFi password," I said calmly, like I'd seen Kai do.

Julian stiffled a laugh with a cough. Kai's lips also twitched upwards.

"You little-" she snarled.

I yawned.

Julian burst out laughing. Kai pursed his lips to keep from smiling. I already had a small smile plastered on my face. The only person not smiling was Elizaveta.

"Kai, I'll kill her," she warned.

All the best with that crazy bitch.

"No, Elizaveta, you won't kill her. In a rather stupid move, I promised her that I would keep her safe. If any of you tries to kill her, you'll have to last more than five seconds against me for a start."

"I like her!" Julian complained. "I don't want to kill her. Thats just Elizaveta."

"I like you too," I told Julian. He smiled at me. Kai rolled his eyes. Elizaveta turned a few shades redder.

"So, Kai? Why did you invite Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon here for coffee?" I asked.

"Who's who?" Julian frowned.