ELVEN | K.TH

51

RINEI

I feel him tense. And a chill settles over my entire body when he fixes a dark gaze on my brother.

It reminds me of the time he'd nearly killed Jimin.

"Stop." I hiss under my breath, gripping the hem of his cloak. "Hey, you. Better behave. That's my brother right there."

"So?"

Arlen's glacier eyes narrow as she senses the change in the air. She steps in front of Jungkook, her expression flat as if just daring him to come at him.

"What do you mean so? I can't have you attacking him like you attacked Jimin last time. You would've killed him, wouldn't you?"

His eyes fix on my fingers gripped tight around the hood of his cloak.

"Better let that go, love. I'm not your dog."

"Well, are you going to attack them?"

His jaw flexes. "They're in a place that they don't belong. It's only right to give punishment for such ignorance."

"Now let go."

Wow.

He really thinks I'm going to let him go so he can get his hands on Arlen and my brother?

My grip just tightens.

Then I peek over his shoulder, giving Arlen and Jungkook a tight-lipped smile. The tension in the air is just so taut that it feels as if it might just snap any moment.

"Hey— Jungkook, Arlen. Why are you here?"

My brother throws a glare towards the other Taehyung I still have reined in tight under my grasp.

"Because we literally saw that— that thing take you away. How were we not supposed to follow?"

His eyes slit. "Is that even Taehyung in there? Who in the world is he?"

Arlen touches my brother's shoulder, hushing him. And I've never been more thankful of the sensible, blonde elf— she understood that provoking him was just not going to come out well.

Instead, she speaks to him.

"You're the King's magic, come to life."

Taehyung's magic?

I glance up at him. And his eyes are full of murder, fixed directly at Arlen. I hesitantly place another hand over his shoulder, genuinely getting more scared by the second he might do something unexpected.

But his voice is cold and calm.

"And if I am, elf?"

"Then you can never take over the King completely. You're still part of him— you will never be something greater than him. It just isn't possible."

Wait.

What?

Arlen looks at me.

"He told you something otherwise, didn't he, Rinei?"

"Don't fall for his lies."