Coveted [New/Revised Version]

DIRE CONSEQUENCES

     Zairian bent to retrieve his sword and Iris didn't hesitate. She moved out of Lisa's embrace, kicking Zairian's sword out of reach. With a surprisingly steady hand, she held the Sword of Zenas against his chest. She didn't care that she was exhausted. This was going to end now.

Zairian laughed sinisterly.

"What do you plan on doing Miss Chancellor?"

"What I came to do." Iris bit back in a lethal tone. "Kill you."

He beamed at the same time he stepped into her weapon. She inhaled sharply. Anything through the heart paralyzes. That was her fallback plan. Despite the Sword of Zenas unquestionably driven into his chest, he continued drawing closer.

"By all means sweetheart..." he laughed when he had the sword fully submerged up to its hilt in his chest. "Do it."

Iris tried to wrench the sword back to free it from Zairian's torso but couldn't. It was like trying to pry the Excalibur from a boulder. Except, she wasn't King Arthur in this tale. She stumbled back on instinct, releasing her grasp on the sword in the process.

"Did you expect this to slay me because it's the infamous Sword of Zenas?" He placed his hand over the handle and took the blade from his chest.

Sky reached down quickly and took Iris's hand, pulling her up. Her mind was still reeling as he took a defensive stance in front of the girls, growling deeply in his chest. Zairian laughed and Blake stood defensively beside him. The latter was notably exhausted.

There was a disturbance in Iris's peripheral. Her mind registered a lissome woman with black hair and blue eyes. Her mind, however, didn't process the woman's identity. It was simply an improbability seeing as how she witnessed her death. No vampire survived decapitation.

Zairian was the only exception.

Galilea took her place by Zairian's side, the same smirk she wore in Greenwood Park plastered on her face.

"Didn't I kill you already?" Sky snarled at her.

"Necromancer," Galilea laughed. "It takes more than decapitation to kill me."

"Good to know. This time I'll make sure you stay dead."

She cackled maniacally. "I'll hold you to that."

"I'll deliver."

"Shall the other Jayden come out to play now, hm?" Zairian inquired. "Or am I to give him a running start? Please, say it's the latter. It's been so long since I've had a good hunt."

Sky showed the hybrid his teeth, both his displeasure and warning clear.

A sudden noise in the backdrop had everyone pausing. Each cautiously turned toward the source of sound. A red Audi with tinted windows was pulling up behind them. The driver didn't immediately step out. In the tense period that followed, no one dared move a muscle.

Slowly, the door of the Audi opened and the driver got out. Iris took in the debonair pinstripe suit with elegant cuffs, black dress shoes, smoothed back hair, and the popping of bubblegum. It was Mr. Huller but something was different. Her mind felt as if she had been looking at him through a sort of haze before seeing him this moment. Certain features of his had changed.

As her history teacher, he looked like a chameleon, blending into his surroundings. That was clearly not the case. In fact, he was striking with a delicate yet masculine face. His eyes weren't brown. They were the same shade of green as hers and his hair was black luster.