The grey light of the early morning somehow felt calming as we stepped out onto the empty and silent main street of Chinatown. Instinctively, I looked both ways even though I knew that after Mr. Liu's phone call the Charlet warriors had disappeared. I still couldn't shake the feeling that they were somewhere close by watching us.
"Shall we?" Taylor jingled Mr. Liu's car keys.
"Sure."
Staring out of the window as the quiet morning passed us by, I was deep in thoughts. After Mr. Liu had spoken to what I could only assume was Aaron's father, the warriors had backed off. Taylor tried to explain to me that because he was involved it was now political. I had a hard time understanding it, but to cut a long story short it meant that Aaron was still trying to kill me but he couldn't be as obvious about it. Because if he was seen openly hunting me, it would mean a war between the Charlet and Grimstaw families. The fact that I was a Vortex still seemed to be a bit of a sticking point, but Taylor was counting on Aaron only being willing to share that with his most trusted warriors.
"You know I have to tell my parents right?" Taylor's voice pulled me out of my internal considerations of my current situation.
"You know I have to tell them what you are?" he clarified.
"Yeah," I pushed out, my hands shook slightly so I clasped them in my lap and looked him straight in the eyes.
"It'll be fine," he smiled gently.
I looked back out of the window as we quickly approached my flat. As I closed my eyes I could see him and Mr. Liu arguing last night. Taylor shouting how he was bound by his oath to me. Mr. Liu trying to talk him out of it. I shuddered and worried for a second what his parents would say.
"I'll see you later."
I looked up at Taylor and realised that we were in front of my flat.
He noticed the frown on my face and added, "Don't worry about Mr. Liu. He's a good friend of the family and he's like an uncle to me. He'll keep search the books for any mention of the mark."
I nodded gently.
Taylor added cheerfully, "I have to get changed and work. But how about meeting Tanya and me for lunch? We both get off at two today?"
"Sure," I replied and pushed out a small smile before getting out of the car. It still surprised me how he could zigzag from a serious conversation about the ever-threatening reality of the magic world to something as everyday as lunch plans.
I dumped my handbag on the floor of our hallway. I was so happy to be back, this grey knitwear dress was starting to feel like a second skin in the most unhygienic of ways.
"So you're back?"
I jumped at Matthew's voice. Walking into the kitchen I found him still in his pyjamas making himself breakfast.
"Do you want some scramble eggs?" he offered with a smile.
I shook my head gently, "No it's okay."
I knew Matthew well, I knew he got up at the same time each day and made himself the exact amount of food he wanted each day. He would soon be leaving the house on exactly the same time as every other weekday and go to the office, to do whatever it was he did there. I poured myself some coffee and leant against the kitchen counter. Matthew shoved the scrambled eggs onto two slices of toast and examined me.
"So you've been gone a bit lately," he started.
"Yeah, I guess so," I admitted. I knew where he was going with this. Matthew is good at his well-scheduled life and he is good at being a friend, he looked after me more like older brother than a friend most of the time.
"So you and Taylor..." he raised his eyebrows and bit into the toast.
I shrugged my shoulders and took a sip of the coffee. What does he want me to say? Oh Taylor, he's my warlock warrior and that's why we have been spending so much time together lately.
He examined me for a minute, before taking a deep breathe, "Look, I don't want to sound boring. It's just that I don't get the best vibes from that guy."
"From Taylor?"
"He has this arrogant thing about him, just like Josh did."
"Don't start with that again," I could hear my voice starting to get annoyed.
"You've been spending a lot of time with Taylor lately and I just want you to be careful. You've just started to bounce back from the whole Josh thing. I just don't want to see you get sucked into something else," Matthew pushed out all of his worries quickly as if he was afraid I would cut him off.
I nodded my head slowly, putting the pieces together as to why Matthew had been stand offish with Taylor.
"I get it. Don't worry, we're just hanging out. Okay?" I patted him on the shoulder before turning and walking out of the kitchen.
~*~
I sat down at the one of the outdoor table lining the small square, spring was certainly in the air. I tucked my camera into my bag and pushed my wet hair into a ponytail. The fresh air and the morning in the flat felt like a small re-birth. It's funny how much checking your work emails, showering and changing clothes could refresh you.
"Hi," her excited voice carried over the square as she walked over. Her dark locks played in the wind and her bright smile lit up as she hurried over, followed by Taylor, his dark eyes fixed on me.
I gave her a huge hug as she hurried over, I felt like I hadn't seen her in ages. Taylor was steadily waiting next to us. As I released Tanya, I hesitated for a moment before hugging him too. We are friends, so I guess it would be weird if I didn't hug him. His arms folded around me strongly, squeezing me tightly for a spilt second before releasing his grip.
I was picking at the last pieces of my salad, the sun was warming my face and for the first time in a while I actually felt relaxed. The conversation had died down into a comfortable silence a few minutes ago and now the three of us was enjoying the first few rays of warm spring sun. I looked out over the square and though about how nice it was to do something non magical and normal.
"Excuse me ladies," Taylor got up and made his way into the restaurant.
"He is so nice isn't he?" Tanya lent over the table and looked at me expectantly. I could tell that she was expecting me to start talking but I was at a loss for what to say.
"Yeah, he is nice," I agreed.
"I was surprised when he asked me to go to lunch with you. I would have thought he would rather just spend time with you," Tanya waggled her eyebrows as she dragged out on the last four words.
"We have spent quite a bit of time together lately," I admitted.
"Really?" she squealed in a high pitch voice.
"I hope I'm not interrupting," Taylor slid back into his seat.
"Cara, I just got a call from an acquaintance of mine who's in need of a photographer," he continued.
"Really?" I could hear the happiness in my own voice. I really needed to get some work in this month.
"It's in west London," he admitted. Something danced in his eyes, I could sense this worried him.
"My friend is in the neighbourhood, he could drive you there now?" he continued.
"Sure," I agreed.
"Let me make another call," Taylor got up from the table, phone in hand.
"So, he's lining up jobs for you now," Tanya's voice was had that excited, suggestive tone to it.
"Will you be okay here on your own?" I heard myself ask.
"We work together. I am sure we'll find something to talk about," Tanya said in an excited voice. A voice that worried me about what sort of stupid, intrusive questions she might ask.
As I stared into the distance I spotted a car pulling up. I recognised the car from this morning and I did recognise the driver. I grabbed my handbag and got up from the table at the same time as Taylor returned. I looked from the car and Mr. Liu and back to Taylor. I didn't know what he had set up.
"It's a job and I thought you might need the money," he said.
"Okay. I do need the work," I admitted.
I gave Tanya a quick hug and ran over to the car, jumping into the passenger seat. As we drove off, I felt myself hesitate for a moment but I reminded myself that if Taylor had set it up there must be a reason for it. I trust him.
After a good thirty minutes of silence, Mr. Liu pulled up on a small street in Chelsea. A long brick wall lined the side of the street, clearly hiding something on the other side.
"I'll continue to search the books, Taylor will tell you if I find something," he nodded his head curtly.
"Is it through there?" I pointed at the small wooden door in the middle of the brick wall.
Another curt nod from Mr. Liu.
"Thank you for driving me," I added softly and slide out of the car.
I barely had a chance to press the doorbell before the door swung open, revealing a short, stocky grey hair woman. Her body almost filled whole door frame.
"You are the photographer, yes?" she clucked.
"Yes, Madame," I replied and pulled the camera from my handbag.
She practically pulled me by the wrist through the door, shutting it quickly behind us.
I was stunned, staring at all the green and the flowers. Behind the brick wall, a garden was hiding. I could see green houses and a little café to my right across the lawns and rows of flowerbeds, trees where concealing the rest of the garden.
"We need images for our website," she clucked next to me.
"Of course," I replied, still trying to take in the beauty of the oasis in front of me.
She tapped me on the arm, "I'll be in the café if you need me."
I nodded as she walked off.
I followed the small gravel path, stopping to take a close up of a particularly beautiful purple flower. The sounds of the city was hidden by the large brick walls and as I continued in between a hedge of larger bushes my heart skipped a beat when I saw a small Japanese inspired pond. I sat down on one of the large marble benches and took another couple of snaps.
"So it's here you're hiding?" his voice froze every part of my being.
I turned around and started straight into his blue eyes. The grey tailor suit he wore fit him perfectly and the sun was playing in his blonde hair.
"What are you doing here?"
"I came to talk to you," he replied nonchalantly.
Like we have anything to talk about. I got up from the bench, grabbing a steadier hold of my camera and walked over a large bush. I looked at its silvery grey delicate leaves swivelled around in the soft wind through my camera lens, adjusting the focus before taking a few shots. I could sense him as he approach me, the swells of magic coming from him were so intense. My focus was on my camera and I continued to ignore him.
"Fine," his voice was cool and annoyed. "You don't have to talk, you can just listen."
Moving a few steps away from him, I focused on a gorgeous pink rose and hunched down to get a better line to photograph it.
"I don't know what your Grimstaw warrior has told you about the throne. But the current king is dying and when he does, we'll all fight to replace him. The throne is a source of magic, making the whoever is the king more powerful than they were before."
I snapped my head back, "Why are you telling me this? Why did you come here?" I didn't like his self-entitled attitude and I couldn't see how this had anything to do with me.
He grabbed my wrist, "Cara, warlocks kill for the chance to be king."
I tried to pull away, but his fingers had my wrist in an iron grip.
"I know you think you're safe now because you can use magic and the Mathlow's are protecting you. But you're not," his blue eyes turned to ice.
"How do you even know this?" as soon as I asked the question, I froze from the inside out. Taylor had told him. He had sent him here to talk to me.
"Charlet are still trying to kill you. The only thing we have going for us is that Aaron doesn't trust his father, he would never tell him that he allowed a Vortext to take magic from him."
"Just make sure that Aaron and his warriors don't kill me then," I hissed back.
"I will," he hissed back.
"Now let me go," I countered.
He still held a tight grip on my arm and he was just about to snap back when I felt anger swell inside of me. I pulled my arm away with more force that I thought I had in me, feeling his power hum through my veins. For the first time, I hated that feeling.
Author's Note: Sorry for being bad with updates. My life has been very busy and a bit stressful lately. I must say - I loved writing this chapter and I hope you enjoyed reading it. What do you think of the story so far? I would love to hear your predictions of what you think will happen.
Song: Folded Like Fabric - I Tried