It was obvious (very much so) Jongin wasn’t in the best of moods when he stormed into the school on Tuesday morning, but he also refused to talk about why he was scowling so much. I’d never actually seen him so mad.

“Are you okay?” It was slightly scary waiting for his response.

A blink. Two.

“I’m fine.” A pause. “A friend of mine got hurt. Nothing serious.”

He wouldn’t look that way, I decided, if it hadn’t been serious.

Chapter 21

Death by fire didn’t actually seem the most supernatural way to go.

In fact, it was so mundane that I almost laughed. Granted, it was caused by elementals, which were supernatural, but still… fire.

Then the fear caught up all at once, and I panicked.

Fire. Fire. It was burning all around me, and I couldn’t see anything nor breath or think of a way to react properly. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think -- the dreadful fire was all around me, burning and scorching and drowning all my thoughts that actually made a bit of sense. Jaeyeon, my mind screamed, Kai. Get help. Use your aura.

None of the thoughts computed anyways.

Even if I had managed to phone Kai, he couldn’t have possibly gotten here on time. We were in the middle of nowhere. It was a couple miles from actual civilization. And now, three of us -- two of which couldn’t fight -- were supposed to face down over a dozen fire elementals when Jaeyeon and I hadn’t even been able to handle Yunseo.

I wasn’t sure how long I spent panicking, flames flickering around me and blurring my vision. It was painfully hot. The elemental who had the fire clearly wasn’t trying to burn me, but the smoke was getting suffocating and I felt as if I’d pass out.

And then someone dumped water over me.

It felt ridiculous, it should’ve been ridiculous, but there was the sudden cold wetness and the heat of the flames immediately subsided around me, leaving me wet, cold, and in the mercy of the cold winter wind. My shoes were even more soaked than they had been a moment ago.

For a moment, I stood in shock and silence, and then all hell broke loose around me.

A blur of brown hair vaulted past me, and I caught the familiar features of Kai. There was the flash of a blade or perhaps it was his aura blazing intensely around him, and faster than I could catch, two of the fire elementals beside me had been decapitated cleanly. The water all around me began to dry at an unnatural rate before another wave collapsed over four elementals and Suho raised an arm in a cutting motion.

All around me, the elementals that I had found terrifying just a moment ago were being killed off at a scary rate. I saw Luhan, eyebrows furrowed in concentration as two of the fire elementals dropped dead at his feet. Luhan was the one person I hadn’t seen and couldn’t imagine in action -- he was so quiet, so reserved and so calm all the time that I couldn’t see him killing.

Just like that, the battle around me was finished. It was overwhelming how just the three of them -- Kai, Suho and Luhan -- could gain the upper hand in such a short period of time. Jaeyeon and Jaemin stood, huddled together and wide-eyed. Kai had a dagger out, pointed towards the last elemental alive -- the leader that had been threatening me a little while ago. He was no longer in elemental form, but human, looking like a normal, middle aged man.

I wasn’t sure if I were shivering from the cold or from fear, but the winter wind ripped through my wet clothing mercilessly and while Suho’s water might’ve saved me, it also might’ve been the cause for hypothermia.

Behind me, someone placed a hand on my shoulder. I jumped at the gesture, thought when I turned around, it was only Luhan. His lips were pressed together in a thin line and it hit me there that none of them were impressed with me and I’d probably get banned from walking home alone ever again.

In front of me, Kai still had his dagger pressed to the fire elemental’s neck. The battleground around him was scattered with blood, though grey ashes were all that remained of the elementals.

“What were you doing?” he asked quietly, in a sort of deadly voice that sounded terrifying on him. “What were you thinking to achieve?”

The elemental stared back, though his eyes darted around at what was remaining of his companions. “You Anthantoi,” he spat, “You say you’re protecting people but all you do is go around murdering who you deem monsters.”

Kai’s face was completely emotionless. “You attacked us first. None of this would’ve happened if you didn’t bring it upon yourself.” He dug the blade deeper. “Answer me.”

The creature let out a rasping noise, a wheeze for breath. I stared, shellshocked and barely responding enough to say or do anything. I’d never seen Kai this mad. It was the quiet venom in his voice, the threat, the way he was glaring -- admittedly, it was terrifying. Watching from the side was scary (or perhaps it was the sense of foreboding because once he was done with the elemental I was probably the one getting yelled at), and it wasn't even directed at me.

“The Darkling,” the elemental finally choked out with a laugh, “None of you are safe from him. Sooner or later, he’ll snatch away your little golden aura girl and none of you will be able to do anything to prevent it.”

Kai’s face twisted in anger. “You think the Darkling has any power here?”

“He has all the power, Kim Jongin. More than you think he does. You don’t even know a fraction of what he’s planning--”

The only thing I saw was Suho flinch and turn his head away and a thud as the body of the dead elemental hit the ground. A cloud of ash flew up, as he, too, dissipated into the wind. Silence had never been so loud.

“Let’s go back,” Luhan said quietly, “I want to talk to Jaeyeon and Jaemin and they obviously need healing too. And Mira…” his gaze flickered to Kai. “I think we should go back quickly.”

Kai didn’t move. He stared down at the pile of ashes at his feet, breathin