Magics: Escape (Book 2)

Chapter Five

Kai rushed through town as quickly as he could, trying to somehow politely shove people aside with quiet 'sorry's. He kept a wary eye out for Moon, but thankfully didn't see her. He wasn't too happy about that, either, because that meant he didn't know where she was, meaning she could be at the library where Falte worked. As Kai pushed through crowds, Chase murmured apologizes as he rushed behind Kai quickly. 

As soon as the library came into view, Kai wasn't being wary anymore. He was just running full-speed toward the doors, with Chase yelling at him from behind to slow down. Kai ignored him and pushed the door open without hesitation, immediately looking around the aisles for his father. Chase entered in a more polite manner, apologizing to the library security guard, who was scowling in Kai's direction. 

The library thankfully looked undisturbed, but Moon was crafty, so Kai knew she could still be in here. He checked passing women for any signs of her, but no one resembled her. He breathed a sigh of relief and rushed into an aisle, scanned the long space, and when he didn't see Falte, did the same to all of the other aisles until he found his father with a rolling cart of books, standing on his tiptoes, trying to shelf a thick book that was too high for him to reach.

Relief like Kai had never felt before flooded into his chest, and he relaxed as he walked forward. Falte spotted him and stood correctly, giving up the book onto the cart. 

Chase floundered into the aisle, gasping for breath and looking quite flustered. He too looked relieved when he saw that Falte was unharmed.

"What's going on?" Falte asked curiously. "What are you two doing here? I thought you hated reading, Kai." He shot a playful dismayed look at his son, but it faded away when he saw how disheveled the two boys looked. "Are you guys okay?"

Kai nodded. "We're fine, now that we know that you're fine too." 

"Huh?" was all Falte could come up with. 

Kai took the thick book and shelved it for his father, who gave him another playful steely glare, as Chase explained.

"Gabriel came to our house, saying that Moon had chased him through town," he said to Falte. "We're pretty sure she knows exactly where we live now, which isn't good. Then again," he said mostly to himself, "she probably already knew. Anyway, she tried to kill Gabriel, but probably mostly to scare him. So now she's taunting us again." 

Falte visibly shivered. "I know I've never met this woman, but I already hate the sound of her. What do you think she wants?"

"To play with us," Kai replied, crossing his arms over his chest. "She likes doing things like this. Taunting people by hurting others. Messing with past trauma or anything you've dealt with before. She likes to poke at all the bad things that have happened in your life."

Falte shivered again, and Kai remembered his father confessing briefly to his son that his family hated him and abused him daily. When Falte had told him, Kai had felt more anger than he'd ever felt in his life. That was why he never got to see his dad's side of the family, and he didn't really want to. He had vowed that his father would never again be hurt like that, and he planned to keep it that way. Just thinking about Falte's parents beating up such a kind-hearted, innocent, sweet boy made Kai seethe with anger. 

"I'm not letting her get to you, Dad," Kai said quietly, making his father look in his direction with a smile. "She's not getting to any of us. We're going to do something about this - as soon as we figure out what." 

Chase nodded. "Well, now that we know you're alright, we should head back. The others are probably freaking out." 

"No," Kai said. "I'm staying here until he gets off. I want to stay with him, to make sure Moon doesn't show her butt up here."