DOUBLE UPDATE CH. 20 AND 21.

                  “Why are you so ridiculously dressed up?” I asked, eyeing Lord Chanyeol and folded my hand comfortably in front of my bust. He glanced at me and back at the hem of the armory. “It’s Balor. We have to take precaution.”

                  It was a surprise to see the Lord with armor, all ready; frighteningly calm and calculative. He didn’t have a helmet to cover his head, but the coverage on his full body was more than enough. I looked down at my casual jumpsuit and suddenly felt pretty much out of place. Jinki was not going. Not because he didn’t want to, but because he couldn’t. He had to keep tabs on the surrounding clan, notably the Faery and werewolf clan which were situated the nearest to the Water Prison.

                  I was wary, but I didn’t let it show. I never feared death. I was only a half-human, so I knew that my immortality was a questionable subject. I would, or would not die. Not like I cared much about it anyway.

                  I looked at the Lord once more and contemplated.

                  “Are you worried?” He asked, and I swore that the wink I saw just now looked more like a hallucination than reality. I had a hard time controlling my facial muscle. A smile almost broke out of my lips, but I held myself with pride and bit my lips. I shook my head and back. “Not really. You should be the wary one. After all, you threw Balor into the Water Prison and let him rot there.”

                  “You can leave Balor to me. I will take care of him,” Lord Chanyeol came between us, suddenly serious, “I need you to go down the prison and find the cell where Irene’s mate is hidden. You know what he looks like. Warlock of a millennia can’t be that hard to find.” He rolled his eyes, “But remember, don’t take too long. We are going to rescue someone, not to kill Balor. And there’s only so much time I can buy before it gets really, really ugly.”

                  “I know,” I nodded grimly.

                  “But most importantly, you should look after a sword,” His eyes darkened, and Jinki’s face became extremely grim. I took notice of the sudden change but made no remarks against it. Instead I kept quiet and waited for the words he wanted to say. “This sword is no ordinary sword, it belonged to me.”

                  “I highly suspect that the Winter King had put a seal on it,” Jinki suddenly cut him off. “I have a confirmed source inside every clan. Did Baekhyun tell you anything about that?”

                  Ah. Baekhyun. Somehow, hearing his name cut off a piece of my heart. It hurt. I had always been good at pretending, this time it was no different. “No, he never said anything about that. I doubt he knows. His main duty was to keep an eye on the Winter Prince, Kyungsoo. And as we all know, the Prince and his father never have a good relationship.”

                  Jinki nodded, “If she said so.” Lord Chanyeol looked at me, almost as if he knew what I was thinking about. Then he averted his gaze to Jinki. “That ol’ man Leeteuk sealed my sword?” There was sort of an admirable possessiveness to his voice that acted as a double-edged sword. It was sharp and scary.

                  “He might have done that,” Jinki raised his eyebrows. “We are talking about Excalibur, yea?”

                   “No, Durandal,” The Lord mentioned another sword that was less familiar for the human. Excalibur was more romanticized for the magical power of King Arthur, but we knew that if it weren’t for Merlin, King Arthur would most likely be just another name in the history. “Excalibur was damaged beyond repair. I couldn’t careless. But Durandal,” Lord Chanyeol hissed and the cruel glint flashed in his eyes. He muttered curses in ancient language I couldn’t understand.

                  “What’s the deal with Durandal?” I whispered curiously.

                  “He sealed some of his power into that sword,” Jinki replied, “What are you going to do now? How do you know that the sword is really there in the Prison?”

                  “Hades,” He hissed. “I swear I will kill him someday.”

                  I shook my head, “I’ll just have to find it somehow. Swords before men, a’rite?”

                  The Lord nodded, “The prisoner is not that important. We have to get Durandal before it falls to the wrong hands.”

Since the sword seemed to be much of an importance, it was going to be our first priority to find it. Only that when we got there, the list seemed to be messed up into a thin blur of line. Both the Lord and I knew that survival would be the only thing that mattered.

***

                  Jinki transported the three of us into the Faery territory. I had never stepped foot into this sacred land, since the Faeries were highly territorial and overly possessive. We arrived near the lake, where some of the Sirens resided. The Sirens and the water were our allies.

                  From far a distance, I could see shadows of guards in the barrier. There must be some tension between the clans, especially between the minor and major clans. Last I heard everyone had severed whatever alliances they had. Thanks to Baekhyun, everyone was pretty much scattered.

Aside from the Siren, warlocks were our greatest allies. They were stronger, more vicious, and in a way, they were more like us. Warlocks were half-Demon, and that made them fiercely loyal, even if they didn’t want to. Bloods were indeed, thicker than water. And now we had Irene, one of the warlock council members at our feet. Surely, the major clans had noticed the changes of stance. They couldn’t be that stupid. One or more were bound to find out. The only thing that mattered was when.

The sooner they found out, the more we were at disadvantage. The Demon clan was still gathering more allies, and the Lord hadn’t said anything to help out. Only he would know what he was thinking about. And that made us wary.

The situation was warzone. Danger level at the highest. Not that we weren’t used to this. But the feeling was never the same. My heart was pounding at my chest. I was so ready to strike, and yet at the same time, I was nervous my knees would turn weak anytime.

“Don’t frown like that,” Lord Chanyeol casually grabbed my right hand and squeezed it. I ceased my thoughts and turned to look at him. He had a very casual smile, one that made my heart sped faster than it should have had. Never in my life had I ever met someone who was so lethally charming. His single touch would leave me begging for more. “I can’t read what you are thinking about. And it’s driving me crazy.”

I was never one for words. Nor was I the affectionate one.

But damn those words if I weren’t affected by them.

“You shouldn’t try to read my thoughts,” I replied, in the lowest, deepest voice I could muster. I couldn’t squeak and giggle like a little girl, so this was the best I could do. “I am a nullifier, it won’t work on me.”

“Ah yes, Jinki said you are a Stealer,” He nodded at me as we walked forward. “Quite a rare ability, isn’t it? I haven’t met any Stealer since Jungyeon.”

Jinki was calling on the water, talking to the head of Siren. He was a very attractive man who looked like someone in his early thirties. And he was half-, courtesy to the tail of his lower half. Not that he interested me very much. But it was quite unnerving how he kept on glancing my way when he was talking to Jinki. So I returned the look and glared.

“She was probably the last Stealer recorded in history,” I shrugged and kept my eyes fixed.

Whether it was because he knew it or he didn’t, Lord Chanyeol suddenly stepped in front of me. I tried to peek through his broad shoulder, but he was so much taller than me. I could feel his glare even from behind. It was amusing. He was either jealous or being ridiculously possessive over me. Maybe he was the ‘territorial’ sort of person.

“If he keeps on looking at you like that, I will claw out his eyeballs,” The Lord hissed, and along with him, I took a step back. I was so used to threats that they didn’t bother me anymore.

“He wasn’t looking at me like that,” I tried to reason, but I felt his whole body trembled a little, and his whole built suddenly stood a little straighter.

“Of course he was looking at you with that stare! You, women, wouldn’t even understand,” Okay, he was officially jealous. I bit back the laughter and kept on,

“And how exactly does he look at me?”

“Like he wants to you.”

That was really…. straightforward. I blushed beet red at the mention. was never on my mind. Sure, guys did look at me with the same stare the Siren was giving me, but I never did pay attention to them. Besides, the language that he used was so controversial and daring!

“Then ignore him,” I tried to keep a straight face at him. Perhaps I was a better actress out of us two, because when he turned sideways, he was dead serious, and I wished I could’ve captured this moment with a phone or a camera, which sadly wouldn’t work in the Shadow world.

This moment was precious.

“Like hell I could,” He growled, and I could feel the sudden swell of happiness that he was being protective of me. “Nobody looks at you like that. I do not appreciate the eye- he is giving you.” He was adding more colorful words to his sentence and I was loving the honesty of it. Because seriously? I thought it was rather hot.

I couldn’t hold back the laughter anymore. He was really amusing.

He didn’t share the humor and looked at me sourly. I might as well put salt over his wound. That was a really good comparison; he looked like a wounded puppy.

Until he suddenly nudged closer to my neck and grazed his lips over the length of it. ! My mind screamed and my entire body just froze in shock. The Lord just took his time on it. I couldn’t seem to find my strength back. I began to wonder how my knees could keep up with the weight of my body. Because right now, I wanted to fall into his arms and kissed him. The longer that I got to be with him, the more I was losing the control of my sanity.

“Mine,” he opened his lips and bit my neck. And damn… I meant… damn me, damn him, damn everyone around us! The word was echoing in my whole system, and my mind was screaming back at him. Mine, mine, mine. I winced at the sudden pain as he marked my flesh. When he pulled away, I could see the redness forming an obvious scar of his canines.

I stared at him dumbfoundedly and he looked back with the same stare. , if Balor didn’t kill him, he would definitely die in my hands.