The Four Protectors

Thirteen

I was in the middle of potions class, trying to make something remotely resembling a sleeping draught, when Azriel burst through the door. Mrs. Walters, an elderly woman with absolutely no cares in the world barely looked up from the book she was hunched over. Azriel's eyes scanned the room until they landed on me.

A couple of people looked genuinely disappointed as he made his way over to my table and I resisted the urge to shoot them all a smug smile,

Of course, such childish thoughts cleared from my head when I noticed the alarm on Azriel's face. He grabbed my arm and dragged me out of class a tad roughly. I was too shocked to argue.

I brought him to a stop just past the door and he released my wrist.

"What's going on? I mean I'm grateful that you got me out of that boring class but," I started.

"It's about Desmond and Cassius," he said.

"What happened," I asked in alarm.

For once, Azriel looked at a loss for words. A thousand dreadful scenarios went through my head and my panic levels shot through the roof. Azriel looked pale, his skin beaded with sweat as he finally replied.

"They were arrested for the murder of Roy Parkinson. They're in jail waiting trial," he said slowly.

"What? How? They left him alive. Cassius said he left him alive," I argued.

I needed to lie down.

"I know but whoever did murder Roy did it cleanly so the last fingerprints in the room and on the body, and even security footage point to Desmond and Cassius. He was murdered just twenty minutes after they left apparently and the guards only found the body in the morning," Azriel explained.

"Oh god. How long before they go to court," I asked.

"I don't know. All I know is that we need to find the real killer. Fast," Azriel said.

We walked into the cafeteria trying to look as inconspicuous as possible. Given that we'd gone on a mission with two possible murders, we obviously drew attention anyway. A red-haired girl openly glared at us while not so subtly throwing a hand over her little brother.

I kept my hand in Azriel's so I didn't do something stupid like punch the girl.

"Over there, third table from the back," Azriel whispered.

A group of people sat there with security guard uniforms on. One of them, a blonde woman with a scar across her cheek raised an eyebrow as we approached. She didn't stop us from sitting at the table though.

An awkward silence ensued as Azriel and I waged a silent war on who should start the conversation.

"We know why you two are here," a young man said abruptly.

Well that made this discussion a lot easier. Before I could reply, Azriel reached under the table and squeezed my hand. He then turned to the man with a coy smile.

Oh my god I was going to see Azriel flirting first hand.

"I know you've probably already explained everything you saw during the murder to the principal and the police. It would mean a lot to me, to us however if you could just recount what you saw one more time," he started.

He then put on his most charming smile and the young man's eyes literally seemed to glaze over.

"Surely you have something interesting to share," Azriel trailed off.