The Risen | ✅

Chapter Eighteen

"You guys had better be back soon, because I refuse to cover for you. As soon as the heat gets turned up, I'm going to snitch." Skye said bluntly.

Alex rolled his eyes. "Wow thanks a lot, Skye."

She smirked in return as her eyes began to glow. Before my eyes, a trial of smoke materialized in front of us and snaked its way into the vents disappearing from view and no doubt leading outside.

"This is going to feel strange." Alex warned.

"Don't worry. I've teleported before." I said, reassuringly. Like, only two or three times before, but that was enough, right?

He looked me over warily before cracking his neck and flexing his fingers in preparation. "Here it goes." He murmured.

It suddenly felt as though I was being snatched from the ground and carried away. I nearly screamed at the sensation of it, like I was on some sort of fast paced water slide. Everything around me was grey and muddled and I swear my heart stopped.

I nearly fell when we appeared outside of the Eros building. Had it not been for Alex grabbing me, and keeping me upright, I would have fallen right into a huge wet puddle.

"I told you it would feel weird." He said cheekily.

"That? That was NOT weird, Alex!" I said with a shaky voice. "That was downright SCARY!"

"Sorry Princess. You're the one who said you could handle it." His eyes sparkled.

"You are a prick!" I hissed with a small smile as I walked off.

"Well, excuse me. I think I'm rather charming." Alex smirked, following close behind me.

_ _ _ _

The area where the meeting was held soon came into view. It wasn't too hard to find out the location. Posters advertising the event were everywhere, which was shocking considering it was just announced a few hours ago.

Alex and I blended into the line of people filtering their way into the building and I was silently thankful that they didn't make us pay an entrance fee or something. The place was crowded upon entry and Alex and I struggled to find seats. We wanted to be as far away from the stage as possible, yet close enough that we could still see everything. And almost every seat was occupied. I almost considered standing up near a wall, when Alex beaconed me over to the seats he had managed to locate.

The building was loud and smelled like mold and must, but I kept quiet and waited patiently in my seat.

Well, not too patiently, because I allowed my leg to bounce up and down, to express my eagerness to hear Dorian's news.

Alex placed a hand on my knee to calm me down and cast me a small smile as he rubbed circles there.

'It's going to be fine.' He mouthed. Or, at least I think that he mouthed it. The room was so loud, I could barely hear my own thoughts.

The swarm of people coming in seemed almost endless and my heart raced a bit. What if some people from my old school decided to show up with their families? What if they caught my eye in the crowd and recognized me? Would they say something? Would they tell?

What if Diana was the one to do all of that?

A round of applause drew my attention to the stage as a petite blonde haired woman walked onto the stage, waving to people as she went.

The mayor.

"Welcome!" She smiled cheerily as she took the microphone. "And thank you for coming out here today on such short notice!"

She waited until the applause died down before continuing to speak. "As you all know, New York's resident EH businessman, Dorian Grey, has done so much for us and our economy, and we couldn't be more grateful!" Another round of claps ensued. From the corner of my eye I saw Alex roll his eyes.

"As you all know, he has decided to come forward to the public to make a huge announcement about his plans for the future of Elementalists hunting, so if you all would, help me give a huge round of applause to the wonderful, Mr. Dorian Grey!"

The mayor stepped away from the microphone and joined the roaring crowd as they clapped while the one and only Dorian Grey practically waltzed onto the stage.

He smiled widely, yet in a very composed manner as he took the mic. "Good afternoon, New York." He called over the loud crowd. "Thank you for coming out tonight!"

I practically gritted my teeth and forced myself to clap as his multicolored eyes scanned the crowd. "Mayor Christine practically stole my introduction speech, but I suppose I could make do with what comes off of the top of my head." The crowd chuckled at Dorian's minor joke.

"Now, you all know why you're here." Dorian began, "Curiosity. The suspense of not knowing what comes next drew all of you out this evening. But guess what? That suspense ends here. Here, you will get the answers you so desperately crave."

I saw the doors open and men in suits walk in. My heart stopped as one man stopped by each row of seats.

"Now, what I'm going to show you isn't actually a thing, but a person. She and I are very close, though I'm sure she'd rather not admit it."

"Circe..." Alex murmured. "Circe, I think we should get out of here."

"We've been at odds for a while, but I'm very glad that she decided to put all that aside and come out tonight. It meant a lot to me." Dorian continued.

The men subtly began to pull out their tasers and I gripped the armrests of my seat tighter. Just a few more moments. I needed to know. I had to.

"She's a real treat, folks, let me be the first to tell you. She's got more spunk than I've seen in my entire life and a heart that burns with ambition. It's a truly refreshing thing to see in these darker times."

He picked the microphone off the stand and stepped closer to the edge of the stage."Now, let me welcome to the stage, for her first public debut,"

His eyes met mine and they narrowed as a smile rose to his face.

"Circe Jane Lewis."