King of Locusts | ✔

Chapter 12

Azrah's eyes narrowed and she pursed her lips.

"Don't take me for a fool," she continued in a low tone. Lunan pushed himself to meet her piercing gaze with an uncaring expression.

"I know what you are. What is the saying? Birds of a feather are bound to find one another. Come now, do you feel nothing around me?" she said.

Lunan was conflicted. The way Azrah approached him intimidated him, and despite her all but confirming Lunan's suspicions, something held him back. Although time progressed and he no longer lived in fear of people like Heather, Lunan didn't want to risk uprooting the peace and security he finally held.

"I don't know how you can expect me to respond," he finally answered.

She took a deep breath.

"This is probably too sudden, yes? Can I at least have your number? I would like you to get to know me and to see that I'm not lying."

Lunan mulled over Azrah's words. That much he could do.

"Sure," he acquiesced, and they exchanged phones.

"She said what?" Elena said incredulously.

Lunan was at Elena's house, as usual, snacking on tea and cookies in her room.

"You heard me," Lunan mumbled over a cookie. "'I know who you are,'" he mimicked Azrah's serious voice.

"Horse shit. I would have sensed if she was a witch, or Bellara would have told me."

At the sound of her name, Elena's right shoulder brightened as the spirit woke from her slumber.

"You weren't immediately able to sense my magic, though," he said, ignoring her glare. "We still don't exactly know my affinity after all of these years, either. Not everything about magic makes sense."

"So you think she's a special case like you? You realize how unlikely that is, right?"

He shrugged. "I can't say for sure," he admitted.

Elena shifted a pillow to support her back.

"What do you feel around her? What kind of signals?" she asked.

"I'm not sure how to describe it. I felt a strong pulse go down my arm. She felt familiar, but I also felt a bit uneasy."

"Maybe you should listen to that warning."

Elena bit cleanly through a biscuit.

Azrah texted Lunan the following night.

Hi, Lunan! It's Azrah. How are you?

He debated responding to her, thinking of Elena's earlier warning. He decided to give Azrah a chance, wanting to at least hear her out first. He knew how it felt to be the new person in an unfamiliar place.

Good, he wrote. You?

Also good. If it's alright, I would like to reintroduce myself and talk to you about magic in more detail.

Lunan's fingers trembled as he typed, Go ahead.

OK. I've never been to America before, so I apologize if I come off as stiff.

No problem. Your English is fine, just a bit formal.

Thank you. I want to show you my abilities so that you no longer doubt me.

And what would these abilities be?

Many things. I can levitate and summon swords. But my greatest powers are over death.