My suitors

Chapter 7

An hour passes, and I'm still lying on the ground. All my attempts to leave have been futile.

- I'm in too much pain to move, I say in my head.

- Damn it, I say.

- Why couldn't I use my powers. No wonder no one wants me to become queen, I say in my head. I hear someone calling out in the distance.

- Kira, where are you, Adal shouts. I manage to sit myself up and wave.

- Over here, I mutter.

- Why are you on the ground. You're supposed to be, Adal says. He finally notices my disheveled appearance.

- Guess I shouldn't have been left here alone. Someone came out of the portal and attacked me. I tried to protect myself, but they were too strong, I say. Adal covers his face with his hand as if he's too agitated to speak.

- Don't say another word, Adal says. His other hand reaches out to me.

- Take it, Adal says. I do as he says, and I'm yanked up. Adal wraps his arm around me carefully, and my heart skips a beat at how firm his grip is.

- Are you hurt, Adal asks.

- No, I feel a lot better now, I say.

- I'm still taking you to the nurse, Adal says. With his arm still wrapped around me, he leads me to the infirmary.

The nurse looks me over and rubs a salve on my scrapes.

- You said that someone came out of the portal, Kira, Rey asks.

- Yes, the guy was pretty huge. I think he was a demon, I say.

- Are you certain. No one is permitted in that area. Even if there was some vigilante group. That information has never been shared with anyone besides the prefects and ourselves, Rey says.

- Well, someone was smart enough to find out, Adal says.

- Indeed. I'll see if the academy's security cameras have any clues, Rey says.

- Thank you, sir, I say.

- But in regards to the breach on the barrier, I still need your help repairing it, Rey says.

- How could you make me do that after what I just went through, I yell.

- You won't be going alone next time, Rey says. He leaves before I can say anything more.

- Why would he want to send me back there. I thought he was supposed to ensure my safety, I yell in my head.

- It's so unlike him to be this blunt, I mutter.

- I'm sure he has a lot on his mind right now, Adal says.

The next day, Draco wanted me to see him in the library once I was done with my classes. I spot him sitting at one of the tables.

- Sorry I'm late, I say. He puts down what he's reading, looking up at me.

- No need to apologize, Princess, Draco says.

- What were you reading, I ask.

- A book on the barrier, and the pendant that can allow one to traverse our world and the human's. I was thinking this would help us pin down what could possibly be happening, but I haven't learned anything valuable, Draco says.

- A pendant. I think Trevor said something about that when I visited his dorm, I say in my head.

- Why are you so invested in all this, I ask.