Serene’s POV

As we descended the stairs I saw Zeph pacing at the bottom of the staircase with a stern look on his face. Ralph was standing on one side with a serious expression while Arlo was standing against the wall opposite the staircase.

Zeph rushed to my side as he saw me. "What happened? Are you alright?" What did Artins Sensei say?" He asked me a million questions in one go. The concerned and anxious look was evident on his face.

"I am alright, I will tell you the details later," I whispered to him so he would calm down a bit. Ralph didn’t say anything, he just touched my shoulder as if saying everything will be alright, not knowing how grave the situation was. While Arlo didn’t budge from his position and kept his eye contact with me.

"Let’s go out in the fresh air," Alvene proposed, taking Ralph’s hand and moving towards the ground. We went outside and sat down around a black marble table, Ralph fetched extra chairs so everyone could sit. Even Arlo sat down with us although he maintained a bit of distance.

The air was crisp today and I shuddered. Damnit I always forget to wear appropriate clothes according to the weather which was heading to a cold one, but then I wasn’t thinking straight today. Zeph was about to take off his jacket again but I stopped him. Maybe cold will help me clear my mind.

"Artins Sensei called us; Ayrden, Ralph, Arlo, Mikasim and me. He said that you are in grave danger and we have to keep an eye on you and not leave you alone. I know it’s somehow related to your nightmares. He specifically instructed that whenever you are outside your room, Arlo needs to accompany you. I don’t understand why he needs to protect you. I am more than capable of doing it myself." Zeph whispered to me clearly not wanting Arlo to hear.

"Ironically, you are not. You don’t possess superhuman speed or strength. All you can do is swing that sword and it won’t work in this case. Basically, you are useless this time around as you don’t even know what you are dealing with. You are a mere human." Arlo replied in a calm but boring voice, there was even a hint of sarcasm. Everyone turned to look at him in disbelief as he hardly ever spoke like that. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Zeph’s expression changes from concern to anger in a split second as he got up and banged both his fists on the marble table and shouted: "And a bloodsucker can protect her? We all know you vampires seek and ravish Fae’s blood the most. Is that why you are always trying to cling to her?"

"I don’t consume blood from fae, folkels, werewolves or witches. So you can drop this dumb notion from your mind that I will ever hurt her. Unlike you, I would never even dream of that. No wonder Artins Sensei chose me over you." Arlo’s expressions were unreadable and his tone was soft but taunting at the same time.

"Shut your damn mouth," Zeph lost all his control as he tried to rush toward Arlo with his clenched fist. Alvene and Ralph interfered at once and grabbed him by his shoulders and waist. "Calm down, Zeph," Ralph shouted at him trying to hold him back.

I had heard enough as I was already at my breaking point: "Shut up, you two just shut up and stop bickering like old grumpy women. I don’t need anyone’s protection. Not yours (I pointed to Arlo) and not yours as well (I pointed to Zeph). I will find a solution on my own if you two can’t even get along for one damn day. Is this really the time to be fighting over me? Am I damn possession of both of you?" I shouted at both of them, bewildering everyone around me as people began to stare at our table to see what the commotion was all about. Zeph opened his mouth to say something. The look of shock had replaced all his anger.

"Don’t you even dare." I pointed at him. "Ayrden, let’s go. And I don’t want anyone following me." With that, I made my way inside the building with Ayrden hurrying behind me. All I needed was some solace but two of them decided this was the right time to win me over and prove who could protect me better. I got tired of their toxic masculinity. I made my way to the roof of the building and laid down on the turquoise marble floor with my hands behind my head. Ayrden sat beside me as we glanced up at the starry sky with two bright orbs (our moons) adorning it. There was no cloud in sight so millions of stars shone even brighter.

"Serene, both of them mean well and they are so hopelessly in love with you that they can’t see you suffering like that. They just wanted to protect you and Zeph felt left out because of Artins Sensei’s order. Both of them are overly emotional and sensitive and want to prove themselves worthy of you." Ayrden told me quietly.

"I can’t handle their drama right now, our world might change drastically any second and all they want to do is fight over me. I didn’t ask for any of this Ayrden, the least they can do is be there for me instead of whining like 3-year-olds." My anger was far from subsiding.

"I know how stressed you must be right now."

"Stressed? I think I am going to lose my mind. The council will probably decide to kill me instead of risking breaking the spell by letting me live. Not that I would blame them but I know this could result in another war and I don’t want any harm to come to my people or my friends. And, I can’t even tell them the details yet because I, myself don’t know what we are facing and what’s going to happen." There were so many unknown factors and I needed to find out more about the dark realm and what lies buried there, which was threatening our world.

We sat there for quite some time, it became extremely chilly after a while and none of us was dressed to bear it. So, we decided to go to our room and call it a night. Tomorrow, we had our results but that was the least of my worries right now. I just wanted to go home, embrace my father and grandmother and talk my heart out to Zian. But, only a miracle could help me pass.