The Broken Crystal

Chapter Nineteen

"God, I hate hunting!"

Ricky glared at the whining girl as they made their way through the woods. They were supposed to be silent, as they wouldn't exactly catch any prey being loud, but Evanna hadn't stopped talking since they left. His jaw tightened when Evanna continued to complain. "I promise, I'm so gonna murder the guy that assigned me here!"

Jane sighed. "Yeah yeah, we know." Evanna shot her a look, eyes narrowing. "It's not my fault I got assigned here! If it was up to me I would've been with the thieves."

Ricky rolled his eyes. "'Cause we all know you like the villains." Evanna's eyebrows practically rose to her hair. "Yeah? So?" Her arms crossed. Ricky frowned at her.

"I'm just sayin-"

Jane saw Evanna's eyes narrow and knew she had to stop Ricky from saying anything else. Her gaze flickered across the forest grounds. "Ricky?" she said. He hummed at her. "Aren't we in the middle now?"

"Yeah," he replied. "At least I think so." He slowed to a stop, rolling his neck in mock preparation. "Time to change." He heard Evanna scoff behind him and could only imagine the face she was making.

"There's no way I'm changing." The girl forced her gaze up to Ricky. She crossed her arms and glared at him. Ricky threw his arms in the air, releasing a heavy breath. "Seriously?" She nodded.

"Why the hell not?" Evanna fiddled with the hilt of her sword. "'Cause werewolf form is boring. I can't even fight properly, just bite and claw and shit."

"Too bad, you don't have a choice. Change." She shook her head and Ricky growled. "God you're such a b-"

Evanna's eyes widened in warning, pulling out her sword and pointing it at him. "B-uh, berry." She shoved the sword back into its sheath. Ricky smirked, turning away from her to take off his shirt. "Bitch."

"Hey!" He felt a heavy weight on his back and instantly tried to shake her off. "Stop it! Get off!"

Evanna growled. "Not until you take that back!" Her fingers dug into his scalp and ripped at his hair. "Ah! Goddammit not my hair!" She laughed, but it was cut short. He threw her off and she landed hard on the ground.

While she was busy trying to gather herself enough to attack, he charged, his fist millimeter from her face when: "Guys, seriously, stop!" Jane looked sternly at them.

Ricky pulled his hand back, all the while glaring at Evanna. The girl stood up and glared back, sticking her tongue out at him.

Jane shook her head. "God, you guys are acting like kids! Pull yourself together."

Evanna scowled. "Says the kid."

"Hey! Don't insult my sister!"

Jane sighed and rolled her eyes.

"You're such a-"

"I don't even-"

"Fuck you li-"

"Guys!" Jane said. She was frowning, nose in the air. Something didn't smell right.

"What?" Noticing they'd said it unison, Ricky and Evanna turned to glare at each other again.

Ignoring their feud, Jane said: "Do you smell that?"

Ricky sniffed the air, while Evanna simply crossed her arms and arched a brow. "Yeah," Ricky said. "It smells... weird. What do you think it is?"

Before Jane could reply, Evanna was already moving to investigate, sword out in front of her. Every tree, every leaf, seemed suspicious to her. Behind her, she heard the muffled noises of Ricky and Jane following in her footsteps.