In the Heavens

Chapter 20

"Alastor?" 

 All pleasantries were completely disregarded as Andrea stared at Andreas in shock. "Mama? This is Andreas. He's a friend from Red Fountain." Kalani tried hard to ignore the slight pang in her chest when she heard her mother call her new friend her dead Father's name. 

Andrea looked at him as if he'd grown two heads before redirecting her attention back to her daughter, almost in a panic. "Gah! I'm sorry! I've been running back and forth to prepare my students for the winter show in a couple of weeks. I haven't had a good night's rest in a while." 

That was a lie. The next show wasn't until February, and Andrea was someone who slept no matter the conditions. So why she lied to Andreas was beyond her understanding. But regardless, she politely smiled and took off her boots, leaving her in her high-high socks. 

"Is Dad at work?" She asked as Andrea guided the two to an empty classroom. "Yes. I told him that you were coming home today for the festival of the rose, but his boss wouldn't give him any time off. Something about his boss not allowing Lewis to slack off for a bogus holiday." 

Kalani rolled her eyes at the mention of Lewis's boss, Marlin. Lewis always considered Marlin a stick in the mud. And after meeting him by chance in a bookstore, it was safe to say that she agreed. 

But she shrugged her father's absence off, "I can stop by his work before the two of us head back to Magix." Andrea nodded, but her eyes were still focused on Andreas, who was trying to ignore the stare and instead look over the design of the building.

Kalani was rather unnerved by Andrea's behavior. First, she called Andreas her biological father's name— a man who's been dead for a decade and then some. And then, she wouldn't stop staring at him, almost as if she was afraid of him. Which made it obvious that his presence wasn't exactly welcome.

 And he knew Andreas knew it. But he promised Kalani that he wouldn't leave her side, and seeing as he'd never set foot in the human realm before, he needed to keep that promise. "How long have you owned the studio?" 

His question was meant to defuse the tension, but it only seemed to make things worse. I— I uhm, bought it when Kalani was two, so I've owned it for abo— about twelve years." She stuttered. 

Andrea never stuttered, not even when Mitzi's mother threatened to shut the company down for failing to meet building regulations. And that was the straw that broke the camel's back. They needed to leave before anything that her students or staff weren't supposed to know came to light. 

Kalani reached for her phone that was tucked away in her purse and looked at it. She donned a worried expression as her eyes darted across the screen before looking back at Andrea and Andreas. "Stella, Musa, and Bloom are in trouble. The Trix are demanding Stella's ring and somehow stripped them of their magic." Andreas's head whizzed around so fast that Kalani swore he would have whiplash. His eyes were wide with worry as his thoughts ran a mile a minute. "Did they say where they were? Are they injured? Is that troll with them?" 

"Message didn't say. But we need to go. Now!" Kalani and Andreas made a beeline for the door, but not before Kalani grabbed her suitcase that was settled by the door. The city streets were bustling with civilians as it was one in the afternoon. 

Students were leaving school, parents were speeding through the streets in an attempt to pick their children up before the line became too long, and with the sun beaming down, crossing guards were sheening with sweat. 

Andreas pulled Kalani down the sidewalk, but even with her digging her heels in the pavement, it was still proven pointless. He was a trained specialist, so it would be normal for him to be stronger than her.