I'll Protect You (Re-Edit #2, 2016)

There's a certain thrill that comes with being arrested

dedicated to INNOCENT9146 for the amazing banner she made!!

* * *

It was almost nearing a full twenty-four hours since Alec's phone call. The sky was fast approaching the darkness of the night, though it was only five in the evening, since the year was still lingering in the winter. Yet, despite it being a Montana winter, I stood in a simple loose tank-top and tights, sweat dripping down my neck as I ducked a punch from my brother, who let a grin spread his lips. 

"Your reflexes are getting sharper with each match," he complimented. 

"Just admit that--" I swung my fist towards him, but he swerved out of my aim-- "you're getting to old for this stuff."

"Old?" He took the offensive again, pushing me onto defense with ease. "You call this unbelievably youthful and toned, not to mention attractive, body old?" 

"You forgot wrinkly," I added as I attempted to take back the offensive. However, Archer just kept pushing back my advances until my wrists were caught in his hands. The two of us were panting heavily, the heat of our duel fending off the February cold. 

"Me? Wrinkly?" Archer made a face of horrified disgust. "What a traumatizing thought."

"It's not as traumatizing as having to look at your face every morning."

"Now, now, just because you're planning on murdering a certain Darkwood doesn't mean that you have to be mean to me too," Archer frowned as the two of us headed back into Elijah's house. 

It was nearing a full day, and I hadn't slept a bit. Anger and determination rushed through my veins with every breath I took as I thought about everything that happened. Every time I heard Darkwood's voice playing in my mind, Logan's last words to me echoing around me when all was silent, something broke inside of me. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't relax, making it impossible for me to sleep. 

After last night, Archer immediately phoned the Order of the Dragons and beckoned them to visit Paradise. Now we were waiting for their flights to arrive, and though Archer had promised me that he would put a plan into action soon, an anxiety pulsed in me as I thought about the clock ticking down the time that Logan had left to live. 

When Six hadn't been discovered in any of the vans, and the agents who had been attacked reported seeing Six with Alec before they blacked out, Archer declared him a traitor to the dragons and the agency. Minnie and Zen had headed back to the dance after Archer requested that they keep an eye on Sophia, as well as to clear up the rumors that surrounded our trio due to our abrupt departure (apparently, the mystery girl with the brown hair hanging around Minnie and Zen as the three charged out of the building caused quite the gossip to travel).

But, according to Zen and Minnie's texts, Sophia didn't seem like a threat whatsoever, seeing as how she hadn't left her brother's apartment ever since she got home from the formal. 

Since the majority of Archer and Elijah's equipment was held in Elijah's house and not the apartment, we returned there instead. While my brother and cousin conversed quietly in the kitchen, drawing up plans and exchanging inaudible words, I took my frustration out on Elijah's punching bag out in his backyard. I had been at it for hours, doing everything I could to relieve the tension in my muscles, thriving off of black coffee and water. 

How could he do this? I thought as I slumped down at the kitchen island, running a hand through my roots. We were his friends, we were his family. How could he just threaten Logan's life as though it meant nothing to him? As though hurting me was nothing but a game. 

I replayed Darkwood's words again in my mind, understanding the message that he had sent me. Pot of gold, rainbow. It made me think of leprechauns and the moral of the stories of what really lay at the end of a quest for gold. He the green lands of Ireland, and I wondered if Darkwood had chosen the location. Flynn lived in Ireland. Was Darkwood also planning on finishing off his half-brother as well?