Malevolent

Chapter 28

Finally exhausted, Lily packed her notebooks, pens, and books into her backpack. Her coffee had emptied long ago and to be honest it hadn't even given her the boost she needed. What she needed now was to push her laundry onto the chair by her desk, hop onto her bed, and curl herself into her plush blankets, and drift into a deep, deep slumber, far away from midterms and research papers.

She took out her phone and texted Alexie that she was on her way home. She doubted he would reply at this time of the night, but all that mattered was that she texted him and now he wouldn't get mad at her the next day. 

Well, truth be told, he'd be mad at her anyway for staying in the library so late.

Lily dropped her empty coffee drink into the trash and stepped out of the library. The air outside her campus was nice and fresh for the walk home. The student housing wasn't far off. In fact, once she turned the corner, past the couple unlocking their scooters, she could already see the complex. Her small room faced her direction.

As Lily walked, she tried not to think about all the upcoming assignments she had to do, but she felt if she didn't, she was just setting herself up for failure. 

Gosh, what she would give for a couple of shots of tequila and a hot body to dance with. She decided when she got home, she would stay up and study some more so that her weekend would be left free to herself, but as she was lost in thought, the feeling that she was being watched settled over her, just as she was reaching the parking lot.

For the last couple of weeks, she had had this same feeling. As if someone was there...just watching her. 

They never made any attempts to show themselves, but she knew someone was there behind her. 

At first, she'd felt afraid, but after the incident at the fair, she felt more curious than afraid. A strange man with a hood had been following her and her friend Daisy after they left the fair. Lily had felt a pair of eyes on her but ignored it, until that hooded man had appeared and started following her and Daisy.

Lily had prepared to call the police but when she and Daisy turned to face the man, he was gone. 

Another time, Lily had been walking out of a store, finally relieved that she hadn't felt watched. She thought perhaps it was over, until a cloaked man had appeared out of nowhere. 

Lily had inadvertently cornered herself into an alleyway and was sure that the cloaked  man would catch her and hurt her, until that familiar sense of being watched returned to her. 

She continued running and could hear the cloaked man behind her, but suddenly the man's grunts of pain caught her attention. She just had to know what had happened, but when she turned, the cloaked man was gone, and that feeling of being watched returned.

As silly as Lily had thought it was, she began to think that the hooded person watching her, was perhaps keeping her safe. She just wanted to meet this person now. 

Lily stopped walking and turned to look behind her where she felt the person watching. She squinted, looked at every shadow, at every possible place someone could be hiding, but to her disappointment, no one was there.

Maybe someday they would be brave enough to face her. For now, she would just have to deal with it and hope she would someday meet the strange person. 

Lily adjusted her backpack on her shoulder and turned around, suddenly coming to face to face with a girl so close to her she practically fell back with a shriek.

𓄋

Dante cinched Amra's waist tightly towards his body. He could feel her anticipation drumming wildly through her veins. Her heart was thumping so hard, he was sure he could feel it if he placed his hand by her chest.

"Breathe." He mumbled into her ear, as he placed a kiss at the top of her head.

Her small hands clenched and she was biting in her lip, but she closed her eyes at the feel of Dante's warm breath by her ear, his kisses on her cheek, ear, and head somewhat helped calm the unease she felt.

Dante had portalled them to a the college campus. It was late in the night and there were very few students walking around. Dante made sure to make the area around them darker, so that no one else would be able to spot them. 

From the parking lot, he could make out some of the buildings, and then finally, someone appeared, heading towards them.

Dante recognized that scent instantly—Arlo.

"Dante." The darkborne said rather nonchalantly.

He'd entrusted the fallen to watch over Amra's siblings. Not that he had much of a choice, Dante knew Arlo owed him, seeing as he'd helped him escape hell.

"Where are they?" Dante asked simply.

"Lily is in the library, she should be out soon and her brother is in the dorm already."

"Lily..." Amra uttered to herself, shifting in Dante's grasp.

Dante looked down to find Amra gazing desperately at the library Arlo had nodded towards. 

"T-that's my sister's name?" She asked, shifting her attention to Arlo with wide gray eyes.

Dante wanted to shield her eyes from Arlo's sight. Her gaze was for him only, but he restrained himself.

"Yeah." Arlo gave her a small smile, his eyes were a very neon shade of green and he had a green streak in his hair to match.

Amra knew he was most likely a demon, but that's not what she cared about. Lily, her younger sister, was now only steps away from her. She wondered what would happened once they met. Would she remember her? How would she react? Did she even want to meet her?

The second a girl turned the corner of the library, Amra's thoughts stilled.

"That's—" Arlo began, but Amra cut him off.

"Lily." She had known it the minute she saw the girl.

Amra watched the girl move with such ease. She was about her height, slender, with a cute mousy nose and much bigger eyes. Her shoulder length hair wasn't the pitch black Amra's was, it was slightly lighter— a deep brunette.

In a split second, Amra slipped from Dante's grasp and marched straight towards her sister. 

Dante let her go, watching Amra with intrigue as a swirl of thoughts rushed through his mind. He'd never had a family, so watching Amra rush towards hers, made him feel odd. It was a unique experience he was witnessing through her...and he found it pleasing.

He chuckled softly, watching as his little human had practically knocked into her sister.

"Thank you for watching her siblings for me." Dante said to Arlo, without taking his eyes off Amra.  

Arlo shrugged his shoulders, "Eh, it was easier than I thought." 

"Did you encounter any hunters?"

"Nothing I couldn't handle." Arlo grinned.

Dante looked beside him, studying the way Arlo watched the two girls, but he didn't miss the way Arlo's eyes raked over Lily rather possessively.

"Then, I need you to do one last thing for me."

"I believe my debt to you is paid." Arlo said matter-of-factly.

"It is...but I doubt you would protest to this."

Arlo raised a brow in interest.

"I'm taking Amra with me to Hades and I want you to take care of Lily and her brother while we are away."

Dante wanted to chuckle at the way Arlo pretended to mull it over.

"Or, I suppose I could get someone else to watch her...maybe Stark?"

"No!" Arlo growled, eyes turning pitch black. "I mean," he cleared his throat. "I'll do it."

"I thought so." Dante grinned, returning his gaze back to Amra.