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CHAPTER 30
Thanks to his speed, they arrived home quicker than it would have been had he listened to her concerns and she got treated quickly.
Obviously, both of her parents were shocked she had been playful enough and gotten injured but being the loving duo, they tended to her injuries and offered them food to eat.
Having eaten and was more relaxed, Zale decided to take his leave when Pearl placed a hand on his and prevented him from leaving.
"I need to go, Pearl, it's getting late," he said to her, thus, leading her expression to dull at his persistent refusal.
"If it was Scarlet you will stay," she muttered to herself and lowered her head.
Unfortunately for her, he heard every word she said clearly and he shook his head.
How could she compare right now? Had it been Scarlet, he wouldn't have stayed till this time.
He previously came often because it afforded him the time to be in her presence. How could she not see that?
Chuckling a little, Zale squatted to her level on the chair she sat on in the living room.
"Are you jealous?"
Quickly she whipped her head up, her bright blue eyes meeting his as she saw his smile spill into his eyes before looking away.
'How did he hear that?' She wondered.
But not wanting him to have a funny idea, she crossed her arms in front of her chest and shook her head. "No."
"Okay then, I will be on my way."
"What?"
Shocked by the turn of events, she held his hand again, preventing him from taking another step to leave.
"Fine. You win," she admitted begrudgingly.
"No. Say the word," Zale demanded. "You are jealous, right?"
"Maybe. But only a little," she stated mildly.
"No. Say it or…"
"Go. I won't say," Pearl blurted out and released his hand, permitting him as she turned her head to the side.
Not thinking he would see the day when he adored someone's childish act this soon, Zale shook his head and attempted to leave.
Not until he reached the door, did he not stop and when he did, he turned swiftly, catching her looking at him before she could look away and smiled.
Her gaze held sorrow in them, like a child yearning for her mother.
"Caught you," he let out with a hearty laugh.
Conceding to her demand, he decided to stay until she was sleepy before leaving. After all, one day without staking out wouldn't kill.
She needed him.
Afterwards, both Pearl and Zale sat outside under the full moon and chatted away, telling her so many jokes to make her laugh and forget her troubles.
Unknown to them, while they spent a thrilling time together, the men sent after Zale lurked around in the corner, keeping watch.
"Damn it," one of the men said through gritted teeth.
"Why do we have to wait this long before taking him out? Since we thought he would leave her side but what has he done since? Sticking to her like a cockle burr to a sheep's coat."
"I concur," another man stated his opinion. "It is already late and we cannot return to Master Fearghal without accomplishing the task."
"I understand you two, Amon and Greg but if anyone can agree with me, I think we cannot attack now," a man tall and fiercely looking man chipped in with eyes glowing in the dark.
"We can?" the fourth man cut in with a question.
"Silas?"
"There's no time to lose. She's injured and cannot do anything but run. It should be swift," Silas explained.
"Besides, something tells me, he knows we have been tailing him and is intentionally delaying," Silas added.
"I doubt," Amon and Greg mentioned at the same time.
"Whatever. It doesn't matter. Only our business does. We cannot leave any witnesses. If we take him out, we take her too. Let's vote."
*****
With how chilly the night had become, Pearl rested her head against his shoulder and hummed a nice song, utterly ignorant about the threat that loomed around nor the fact that her parents had their eyes on her from time to time.
More than anyone, both of them were glad to have someone else in their daughter's life to keep her company.
Also, there was the idea of how close the two were. Without asking, they could sense something building between the youngsters and prayed earnestly that it bloomed.
Leaving the pair alone, both of them rested in each other's arms as well, hoping for the best for their child.
"Nice song," Zale complimented.
"Thank you," Pearl appreciated and lifted her head off his shoulder to peer into his eyes, only to see his lips tugged downwards and a definite frown mar his handsome face.
Keeping his eyes ahead, the tone of his voice changed as he gave his order.
"On my count, run inside."
"What?" His confusing words did nothing but leave Pearl addled by what he meant.
Why should she run inside?
Immediately questioning his words, four men rushed out at them with swords and grave expressions on their faces, surrounding and leaving the youngsters trapped in their middle.
Rising to his feet, Zale placed a hand in front of Pearl, blocking her from their view.
His eyes were calculative as he glanced around, studying the men who advanced.
"Tired of lurking I see," Zale stated as though he in particular was actually tired of watching them lurk, and his words left the goons skittering with shock.
But instead of remaining stunned, the leader stepped forward with a mischievous smile on his face.
"Even if you knew, it doesn't change the fact that you die today."
A dark glint flashed before his eyes as he pushed his other hand to the side.
"Pearl, on my count. One..." His brows furrowed, even more, glaring daggers at them.
"Run!"
"Not on my..." before the leader could say anything, Zale moved with a speed far beyond them and sent a punch right into his face.
Getting that as her boost, she rose to her feet in a hurry, ignoring the pain that coursed through her brain, and dashed for the house.
"You can't run," Amon growled out and chased after her.
"Damn it," Zale gritted and turned quickly to attack the third man before he got the chance to chase after Pearl too.
Knowing fully well they came for him, he wanted to be the one to bear the brunt of the matter and he was determined to do so.
Almost instantly, the other two men rounded him as several swords were flung in his direction.
Swiftly, Zale dodged the first and kicked his wrist, forcing him to let go of the sword. Without wasting time, he picked it up and advanced.
Clashes of swords could be heard as the fight only intensified with each passing minute.
On the other hand, due to how slow Pearl was because of her injured leg, the man who chased after her burst into the living room only to see they had more witnesses present in the house.
Lotus yelped as soon as her eyes landed on the bulky-looking man with low-cut brown hair wielding a sword and a knife in both hands.
"Well, well, what do we have here?"
He licked his lips and advanced for Pearl first but before he could catch on to the young lady, her father, Lux moved quickly, picking up a wooden stool, ready to impale it on his body.
"Get away from my daugh…" No sooner had he said those words than Lux halted in his steps with both hands raised above his head, holding the stool.
Shocked by the sudden stop, Pearl turned around to see what went wrong when she caught sight of her father's red-stained shirt and the knife lodged deep into his chest.
"No!" She screamed and immediately rushed at the killer and bit into his arm.
"Ahh! Damn pest," Amon grunted and slammed his free hand, now turned fist on her back before pushing her off him with his left hand.
Due to the impact on the small of her back and her sprained foot, her vision blurred and she was sent flying into the shelf close by as its content fell on her body.
Everything had happened so fast but as terrifying as it was for Lotus, she knew she had to protect Pearl first.
Ignoring the tears that trickled down her face, she made her way toward where her daughter had fallen when Amon shouted at her.
"I think taking care of the pests first would serve me better. How about I send you after your husband?"
Her eyes went wide as she backed away from Pearl. Even if she was to die, she felt taking the villain from Pearl would be the best thing to do.
Picking up anything she could see; she pointed the stick Pearl had come home with at him with shaky hands as she swung it in front of her.
"Stay back," Lotus demanded with trembling voice.
Rather than yielding, he chuckled and lounged at her. Seeing her attacker coming, she lifted the stick but before she could hit him, Amon thrust the sword into her stomach.
CRASH!
At the same time, a loud sound followed the breaking of the wooden window with one of the men rolling on the floor.
Quickly another figure jumped in and Zale's eyes went wide, seeing the sight before him. Pearl's mother was stabbed with her attacker's sword still lodging in her body.
"No." He balled his fingers into a fist, tightening his hold on the sword in his hand when a punch was sent on his face.
"Worry about yourself first, pretty boy," the leader informed and lifted his sword, ready for another attack.
Pushing from the wall, Zale lifted his sword just in time to block the attack at the same time Amon yanked his sword from Pearl's mother's body.
"Where's the little runt?"
Unknown to Pearl the mishap that had happened, she struggled against the stack of books covering her and scrambled to her feet while holding her head.
Immediately her eyes landed on the corpses of her parents, tears streamed down her face in a torrent.
And when Amon stalked closer, she took a step back only to trip over the stack of books behind her.
Her brain buzzed, increasing the ringing sound in her ears. To make matters worse, her vison was instantly blurred by the tears that seemed not to stop.
Regardless, she quickly got up, wincing at the pain from her sprained ankle, and moved back till her back hit the wall.
From the corner of her eye, she could see Zale battling for his own life with the two men on him.
Left to fend for herself, she returned her focus to her new demon.
"Time to join your father and mother, don't you think?" Amon grinned wickedly and twirled his sword in his hand.
With her tears rolling down her face continuously and several aches in her body, plus the pain of losing her parents, she opened her palm and struggled to channel her powers.
Due to her less practice with her powers, she needed to be in a state of extreme calm to do anything.
Sadly, her attacker thought differently when Amon rushed at her, with the sword's tip facing her chest.
Petrified, she lifted her hand just in time to cover her face as the sound of a sword piercing through flesh tore into the air, and her shimmering eyes went wide.