Iridescent

43| Downed Prey Is Not Cool

I felt Jaxton's grip loosening on mine and I held on with a squeeze. The squeeze was not a comforting squeeze, it was not a squeeze to say 'I'm here'. It held an urgency, a desperateness — it was saying 'Please, don't let me go'.

"Every one of us here had lost someone we loved," Robin was in front of us now. He put both of his hands on Jaxton's shoulder, moving his head to meet Jaxton's distanced eyes. "Don't lose another one to them again."

My heart began to ache. I gazed at Yoan's body on the floor, the puddles of red that splayed itself on the concrete floor... my hope was slipping.

If survival was the most important thing on my mind, I should give Jaxton a tug, beg him to listen to me, throw out arguments to say that it's not true — that I wanted none of this. Except nothing came out from my mouth.

The fingers wrapped around Jaxton's palm began to uncurl, the gap between our two palms began to grow... but as though suddenly awakened, Jaxton moved back, shrugging Robin's hands off his shoulder and wrapped an iron grip around my wrist.

We stepped into the cooler parts of darkness and I had to resist the urge to shriek at the sudden rising shadows. Their fast movements sent a whistle in the air, smacking Robin in the shoulders. Robin was thrown to the floor.

"Do you even know what they did? They hurt Vel. They were stalking her... and me! Do you really think they are doing the greater good?"

"Vel?" Robin began to look around uncertainly.

"Stop being stupid and come with us," Jaxton begged, "Please."

The gentleness in his grey eyes vanished. He slowly stood up, holding his chest with a hand, watching us like a stranger. He adjusted the rings on his fingers and grew quiet.

"Sounds like I have lost a brother."

"And a sister."

We turned to see Vel adjusting her gloves, her face cold, her words icy enough to prick blood. She also saw Yoan's body on the floor and her purple eyes moved away quickly. "I'm giving you one last chance, Robin. You leave this business behind or you'll have to deal with the rest of us."

"Vel-"

"Velvet," she retorted sharply. "I want an answer."

Robin's eyes moved from Vel to Jaxton and eventually landing on me. Before he even moved, I already knew what he was planning.

Jaxton and I moved apart. He attacked with his shadows and I attacked with ice. Robin's gravity pushed me to the side and he moved his free hand to divert my zapping frost to the side. Jaxton's shadows took him by surprise, cutting him by the waist. Jaxton unsheathed his dark blade and with two quick strides, he was launching at Robin with stealthy yet speedy precision.

I knew both boys didn't actually want to hurt each other so when Robin dodged out of the way, I could sense that a part of Jaxton had already expected it and he did not redirect the blade to Robin's weak spot again. Yet, even when Jaxton wanted to show mercy, Robin seemed to remember that he had a plan that was far more important than the Dawn siblings.

Robin enhanced the gravity on Jaxton's weapon and stuck it to the floor, booting Jaxton in the stomach. Jaxton's grip slipped from the handle, his sword clanked on the concrete as he flew a metre back. Vel leapt over Jaxton's body and soared toward Robin, tackling him to the floor.

She punched him hard in the centre of his nose first before Robin flipped her off him. I raised both arms, bringing up an ice platform. Vel stepped on an ice platform, tucked in her legs to flip in the air before she landed firmly on the floor next to me.