Zevran.

If there is one thing I have grown to understand but still cannot wrap my head around no matter how many times I witness it, then it is Leilani’s hardheadedness.

It is how she can take a moment from a flat zero to a scalding hundred in a matter of a few seconds.

And it was how, despite all this, she still managed to retain her air of innocence. And that was exactly what she did after head butting Keisha so hard, the latter stumbled backward and fell into the filthy floor.

Her loud painful screams echoed through the space as she clutched her nose in her hands, and when she finally pulled those hands away from her face, I wasn’t so surprised at the copious amount of blood I found streaming down her nose like running water. Hell, if anything, I expected it.

Her eyes gleamed with anger as she rushed to her feet and I could only watch in confusion and horror as she staggered towards a table filled it different kinds of torture materials.

She rummaged through the table like the devil was hot on her heels, and only pulled away when she picked up a large syringe filled with a clear liquid. And as soon as I saw that, my heart fell.

In panic, my eyes darted over to Leilani’s who surprisingly was already watching me with a calm that felt unsettling. She cast a glance at me, shrugged and muttered something along the lines of: "don’t worry," before turning away to watch Keisha who approached her slowly.

And goddess, I really wanted to ’not worry’.

I really wanted to be as cool as she was. As unaffected and as she seemed.

But I couldn’t.

Not when I knew how deranged Keisha was. Not when the mere thought of anyone with the intention of hurting her being around her filled me with so much worry and anxiety.

My heart raced wildly in my chest and my body shook violently against the chair.

The noise I made caught Keisha’s attention and when she turned to look at me, she smiled— a bloodied sinister smile— and turned away.

"This would be interesting," she drawled, "he would have to watch while I torture you."

I gulped

It was obvious that she was talking to Leilani but I couldn’t help but feel the caress of her words dancing along the length of my body. It made goosebumps spread across my skin and filled me with so much apprehension, I could literally shit my pants if spooked any more than this.

I tried to speak but no words would form, and when my brain finally cleared enough for me to come up with something— anything— it was already too late because at the time, she had already stuck the syringe’s needle into Leilani’s neck and pushed the clear liquid into her body.

My heart fell when Leilani instantly jerked forward, shaking violently with her eyes rolling to the back of her head as she crashed forward.

I jumped right out of my seat as soon as I saw that scene despite promising leilani otherwise, and with a scream, I rushed forward, struck Keisha clean in the midriff and watched as she fell to the floor like a pack of cards.

Her body hit the ground with a loud thump and she immediately went unconscious.

I sighed.

And goddess, this was the part where I would try to loosen the clasps around my brothers’ wrists, right?

This was the part where I should call for help right or do something sane, right?

RIGHT?

But I did not.

I was panicking too much and shaking with so much terror, the only thought I could process was how to save Leilani.

I vaguely heard the voices of my brothers behind me as they tried to talk me into loosening their metal clasps, but at the moment, all I could think about was how Leilani wasn’t breathing.

How she was pale as fuck.

How cold her skin felt against mine.

Goddess, please if this is death... if this is the part where she would take her last breath and leave me all alone to continue to live with the burden of her loss, then please take me and save her.

"Zevran!"

"Zevran, be quick!" Kael’s voice finally seeped into the haze I had once been lost in and when I lifted my head to regard him, I was shocked to realize that Keisha was no longer on the floor in the spot where she’d been at only a couple of minutes ago.

In fact, she was nowhere to be found.

My eyes widened as they darted around me, and I vaguely heard Caelum say the words; "right behind you!" before I felt something relatively hard strike me at the back of my head.

The pain and force made my head spin. It made a groan slip out of my mouth before I could help it. I felt warmth at the back of my head before I smelled the blood.

I hissed; "Bitch!"

But she didn’t respond. She didn’t even react. She only smiled that same bloody sinister smile at me before lifting the metal baton in her hand over her head one more time.

I closed my eyes immediately, waiting for the impact but a second passed and then two...

And then five more seconds.

I peeled my eyes slowly, half expecting her to burst into laughter and accuse me of being a fearful wimp; But ladies and gentlemen, that was not what I was met with.

At all.

Do you know what I was met with instead?

Yes... no?

I was met with her darkened face which was now twisted in pain.

A sound, one associated with agony, slipped past her lips as she shrunk into herself.

My eyes thinned as I glanced from her to the person beside her and my eyes widened when I saw who it was...

"Leilani?"

She shrugged; "Zevran?"

And I gasped.

But it wasn’t her nonchalance that struck at me so deep. It wasn’t the fact that she now held onto Keisha’s arm that surprised me; And heavens, that was all she did. That was all she was doing even as Keisha’s face was twisted into the darkest painfullest (I know that’s not a word) grimace.

However, what shocked me the most was her eyes and her form— her glowing eyes which shone like a million lightbulbs had been turned on in them, and her form...

How do I explain this?

How do I explain that she was half human half beast?

How do I explain that she was now stuck in a state of mid shift despite being shot with several doses of Moonveil draught only a couple of minutes ago?

And how do I explain that all she did was hold Keisha, and the latter’s arm snapped?

There was no way to explain that.

And that is why I simply let my jaw fall open as I watched her in surprise and shock... and pride.

Tons and tons of pride.