The Four Protectors

Twenty Seven

1st Person POV

I'd been having a relatively peaceful sleep when I was woken up at 6 in the morning for room inspection. After that, I decided sleep was a lost cause. I got breakfast before meeting up with the boys to speak to Rafia Hamilton directly about going on patrol.

She hadn't been happy but she'd conceded.

Our patrol group consisted of the five of us, alongside a pair of siblings. The older girl's name was Talia, a shapeshifter with a slight ego problem that immediately put me off. The only one that went out their way to at least try and be kind to her was Azriel.

The younger girl's name was Maia, and she was far more timid and shy compared to her sister. She was about two years younger than me, spoke only when spoken too, but was a fairly good shapeshifter for her age. She stuck to my side like glue, clearly feeling intimidated around the boys.

We'd been assigned to patrol near Hunter's Bar. We'd split off into smaller groups, and I'd ended up with Maia. Cassius and Raphael were about a block away on one side, Desmond, Azriel and Talia on the other side. None of us had been particularly pleased to split up but we could never cover the large area if we didn't.

I kicked a pebble into a puddle, walking around aimlessly, bored out of my mind. We'd only been on patrol for three nights but I still felt restless, useless even as I kept a lookout. It was a good thing nobody had attacked us but somehow it didn't feel like it.

It felt like they were heightening the anticipation, the fear, without even trying.

"So Maia. What do you do in your spare time," I asked.

We hadn't spoke in almost an hour and she looked up from her phone, startled. She wasn't the most alert lookout by far. Still, she was brave for coming out here and I had to admire that.

"Oh nothing much. Listening to you music, reading books, the usual sort of thing," she chirped.

"Right," I said.

The conversation ceased but there was a lingering tension in the air. I looked at Maia with narrowed eyes. The petite blonde was biting her nails as her eyes flitted around.

She was clearly hiding something.

"You look more nervous than you usually do tonight. You okay," I pressed.

She nodded rapidly, too vigorously, to be believable. I raised an eyebrow, adopting a more intimidating posture as I leaned against the alley wall with my hands crossed over my chest. She swallowed nervously, refusing to meet my gaze.

"Maia do you know something," I asked gently.

The girl looked ready to run at any second.

"Maia there are many people's lives at stake," I added.

Still the girl remained tightlipped. I took a step forward and her eyes widened in fear. I hadn't realized I'd cut that imposing of a figure.

I raised my hands in a gesture of surrender.

"I'm not going to force the information out of you but I can tell you that you'll feel better if you get it off your chest. Talk to me," I pleaded.

Slowly, her gaze met mine.

"My friend dragged me to this party yesterday, after we finished patrol. It was off campus, so I didn't tell anyone, because I didn't want to get into trouble for not obeying the lockdown," she said slowly.