The following evening, Dante, Zac, and Megan returned home from their training at the laboratory, finding Sophia and Victoria in the kitchen.
"Hey guys!" Victoria greeted the trio as they entered.
"H-hey Tori!" Zac replied, slightly blushing.
"What were you guys doing? You look a bit roughed up…" the visitor asked, noticing the minor marks and bruises on Zac and Megan's body.
"W-we were at the gym," the redhead replied, quickly making his way to his room to take a shower.
Victoria chuckled after seeing Zac running upstairs, turning around to keep on helping Sophia with dinner preparations.
"How was the study session?" Megan asked as she sat on the kitchen counter.
"Pretty good. Honestly, we might ace this test," Victoria replied.
Megan let out a slight, satisfied smile that caught Dante's attention before she went upstairs to take a shower.
A few minutes later, the group sat around the small dining table and served themselves some of the stew that Sophia had prepared with Victoria's help.
"Oh, by the way, Meg. I already invited everyone here, but there is a big event on Saturday at Firewater—so, of course, you should join us!" Victoria said.
Megan raised her eyes from her plate to look at the smiling brunette with her indifferent gaze. "Sure…" she coldly replied.
Nonetheless, Victoria beamed with happiness at her response, saying that she couldn't wait to have fun with everyone there.
After they had dinner, Victoria said her farewells and made her way out. However, seeing that she had to walk a few blocks to the subway station, Zac decided to accompany her, as it was dark on the streets.
While the pair walked away, Dante felt Maya's presence moving along with them, so he knew that the agent was guarding them from the rooftops of the buildings without them being aware.
"Thanks for walking with me…" Victoria commented with a slight blush on her cheeks.
"It's no problem!" Zac loudly replied, looking away from the woman as his heartbeat got faster.
"Everyone has been avoiding me on campus lately, so I'm glad that you guys are still talking to me," the brunette continued, making Zac turn to her with a serious expression.
"Avoiding you?" he asked, although he had a pretty good idea of what she meant.
"Yeah. It's gotten harder to hand out my pamphlets. One girl even said she didn't want to die and ran away from me…" Victoria explained.
Seeing her speak so somberly made Zac frown. He remembered when Turner beat him up for simply talking to Victoria, and while he didn't give up on hanging out with his friends, he could understand why others wouldn't want to mess with Turner's threats.
'What can I even do for her?' The redhead pondered.
"A-anyways, sorry to dump all that on you…" Victoria continued, getting closer to the subway station.
"No, Tori. It's fine," Zac said with a severe tone that surprised the brunette.
"I promise, no matter what, that I and the others will not leave you alone…" he continued, glaring confidently at the woman as they stood in front of the train tracks.
Victoria's eyes got watery, and she held her neck up to look at Zac's determined expression, letting out a heartfelt "thank you" right before the subway arrived.
As the brunette waved goodbye from inside the wagon, the redhead waved back with a smile that was quickly erased as soon as she left his sight.
'How can I stop this…?' he thought.
He knew that the only reason he was able to be there with Victoria was Dante, whose presence not only gave him the courage to stand up to Turner but also saved him from being gravely injured by the bullies.
'If it weren't for Dante, I probably would have stopped talking to her, too. Dammit!' He thought as he clenched his fists with anger.
Turner hadn't been to the campus since his encounter with the warlock, and while he was happy about it at first, he was starting to get worried.
'Maybe he is planning something… Or could he be embarrassed to show his injuries to the others?' the redhead pondered.
Remembering the saying his mother always repeated to him— "We must fight to keep what's important to us," —Zac was resolute in protecting Victoria from anything that came her way.
____________________
While the redhead accompanied Victoria to the subway station, Dante helped Sophia clean the dining room as Megan flopped on the couch.
"Hey, Sophie. How did you and Victoria meet?" the warlock curiously asked.
"Hmm? Well, we met during our first year of high school… But after the whole 'thing' happened, Megan and I had the rest of our classes at home," the blonde explained.
"We kept talking with each other on social media, but we only started hanging out when we started college," Sophia continued.
"Hmm, I see…" said Dante, inquisitively placing a hand on his chin.
"Why do you ask?" the blonde interrupted his thoughts.
"I was just thinking. That Turner guy said he was telling people to stay away from Victoria, but I don't think he said that to you…" the warlock commented.
"Of course, he didn't…" Megan interjected, raising her head from the couch's cushion to look at the pair.
"If he is going around saying he has ties with the mafia, then he probably knows who we are. The Jade Dragons may be dead, but that doesn't mean that any gang can come for us…" Megan explained.
"Still, how would he know? Do the other gangs have a picture of you guys?" Dante inquired.
Megan got up from the couch and raised her shirt, showing the green serpent dragon tattoo on the side of her torso that trailed along her defined figure.
"This is the mark of the Jade Dragon's leader. Anyone who is in a real criminal organization knows what this is…" Megan replied.
"I see. So, the guy was scared of you, that's why he didn't threaten Sophia…" Dante muttered while inspecting the tattoo, making the brunette shrug.
"Even if he did. That won't stop me from hanging out with Tori!" Sophia exclaimed proudly.
Seeing the blonde's reaction, Dante felt another fluctuation of positive energy coming from Megan, piquing his curiosity about what the brunette was thinking as he couldn't recognize her emotions.