Solasta Academy: All Hallows Eve

Chapter Nineteen

"Graves?" Amias questioned. "What are you doing here?"

He shrugged as if it was unimportant, but Calia could see right through him. He cared about her safety as much as Amias did, so he came to keep her safe. After all, the notorious drug dealer almost became her stepfather years ago, so he might as well be here now. It took some time, but she finally found him. And that made Calia Nox the luckiest girl on the planet. "I heard what happened and came to see if Calia is okay."

"But why?" Amias frowned.

"Because he helped my Mother back when she was pregnant with me and took care of us when we were the most vulnerable. Graves fell in love with her, and he almost became my stepfather if my mother hadn't taken me and run away from him. Not because he's a monster but because she didn't think it was safe for her to settle down with Graves, even if he would have done everything to protect us. Now he's here because he loves me as much as you and wants to keep me safe. But don't worry, he's not going to get in the way of the adoption—"

"Fucking breathe, Calia," Arzhel whispered.

She took a deep breath and turned her head to Amias, who looked between her and Graves with an understanding expression. His warm brown eyes landed on Graves, and they stared at each other for a full minute. She counted. "Do you...have pictures? Of baby Calia?"

Graves grinned ear to ear. "I'll send them to you. I have everything."

Her guardian cleared his throat as he said, "Thank you. I'd love that."

Before Calia could think through everything that happened and the conversation between Graves and Amias, the former spoke again as he pointed at the door. "What's with the Fae soldier holding that boy hostage? Is it because he brought our Calia to that goddamned bar?" Gods, she needed to leave here because she was in it for another lecture. Good news, she learned her lesson and won't fucking go to a Vampire bar again!

"Kerim is watching him because Gideon is after him," Amias grumbled. "If he weren't, that boy would probably be dead by now."

Graves clenched his jaw as he said, "Well, I'll help you with that if the time comes. Now, what are we going to do about the dead guy after our girl?"

It surprised Calia when her newfound family protected her like she was their flesh and bone. As if she wasn't some girl who needed help finding herself again after years of believing she was an ordinary human. Every answer she learned about her past and family led to even more questions: Who was she really? She was different from any other Fae, but why? And why were these so-called hunters wanting her dead?

The only thing she knew about herself was that she was a survivor—a final girl from all the horror movies she was forced to watch with Soari. She was the last Nox in the world, and she would make sure that her lineage lived on for centuries.

Before she could reply to Graves' question, a strong force made her collapse backward until the legs of her chair broke. The back of her head banged on the marble floor below, and she instantly felt blood behind her eyes. Calia fluttered her eyes open, and her heart beat rapidly against her chest at seeing him. Before she knew it, Gideon clasped the back of her neck and dragged her upwards, even though her legs were so numb that she could barely walk. Her ears were ringing as he forced her backward until her backside landed on the wall behind her. She felt his calloused hand move to the front of her neck and slowly crush her windpipe, making her grab his hand to stop him.

Finally, she found his evil eyes that were the cause of her nightmares for months now. "Do you know how much trouble you cause me, Calia Nox?" he spat.

"You murdered that girl," she cried.

"To make you see the whole fucking picture!" he yelled in her face. He punched the wall above her head with his other hand, making her flinch. "No matter how many goddamn heroes protect you from what's going to happen, they will fail. You will die eventually because those fuckers want your blood for their own, and they will not stop until they get it. If it means they erase your entire family, they will!"