“I’m full, thank you,” he responded politely.
“Would you come and sit with me? I don’t like eating alone,” I insisted, and I pointed to the chair beside me. “Can you hear that? It is the chair calling you. ‘Please, my Lord, come and sit on me’,” I imitated the squeaky voice of a pleading child.
“Since the chair insists, then I can keep you some company,” he smiled broadly, entertained by the act.
“You’re not going to kill me, right?” I took a large bite out of my sandwich, without taking my gaze out of his face.
“Not right now.”
He tilted his head back and burst out laughing when I almost choke on my food.
“Don’t worry, I’m not going to kill you. You may be pesky, but I kind of like you. You are not that bad.”
“You are not bad yourself either,” I returned the compliment and, having finished my food, I pushed the plate away.
“You are an excellent cook. I do not even know how to boil an egg. I might keep you; I need a chef. However, I hate it when you barge in my mind.” I sucked on my teeth, hoping that it would help me show off how badass I was. I was not. And he knew it.
“I solemnly swear not to barge in your mind again unless it is an emergency,” he nodded smiling.
“A life or death situation”. I frowned to make sure he understood how serious I was on that.
“Unless it’s a life or death situation,” he said and crossed his fingers. “However, I expect that my gift will expire soon. You need to learn how to block other people from entering into your mind.”
“Are there many of them?” I asked surprised.
“More than you would expect. But only a few have the special skill you have.”
“Time hopping?”
His fingertips slid on the scratched surface of the table before he answered. “The guy that was killed at the lakeshore and the one that I exterminated were both Time Hoppers.”
With an eyebrow raised, I looked at him baffled not knowing whether he was serious, or he was playing with me.
He put his hand in his pocket. “As I told you, those men were Time Hoppers__”
“And you’re a Time Hoppers slayer,” I interrupted him.
“No, I’m not after Time Hoppers. Not all Time Hoppers are dangerous. However, those men were members of a secret cult I’ve been investigating for a while. They were all wearing the same ring. A golden ring with a red stone. It is the symbol of their cult and their device for time manipulation.” He placed the golden rings with the red gem on the table.
“They’re beautiful,” I said.
“They’re dangerous,” he disputed. “But that’s all I know about them. I’m sure there’s more to find out.”
“How can you be sure that the guy last night was after me?”
“Because I had been following him for hours. I had seen him monitoring the crime scene, and I saw him following you.”
“Why would he follow me?”
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “What I do know is that the guy who bullied you in the classroom yesterday was a Time Hopper too. His name was Griffin and I had been monitoring him for a while.”
“Oh, I see.” I did not, actually. I had so many questions to ask. “That dagger of yours, what exactly is it?”
“It’s a family relic. It’s been in my family for centuries.”
“Quite a badass weapon,” I said.
“I’ve done some good work with it,” he bragged. “Now, here is the thing. I must go to the Academy. You will stay here. I will talk to Merlin about what happened yesterday, and I will reassure him that you are safer here than in the classroom. When I get back, we’ll decide what our next step will be.”
“Our next step? Regarding what?”
“Our partnership, of course. Don’t you want to become a Star Time Hopper?”
Of course, I wanted that. But he knew that before I even answered his question.
CHAPTER 10
*
I squeaked and struggled against his grip. A small cry came out of my mouth, as Arthur tighten his grip on my neck. The bastard smiled cunningly. With the press of his thumb, my muscles started shaking, forcing me to sink to my knees. Still smirking, he leaned forward, and hissed in my ear, “I’ve got you, little girl.”
We shared an intense glance before he released his grip. I would have crumbled to the ground if I had not used my hands as a shield to prevent a crash. I swore a blue strike when my shoulder bounced off the ground.
“Pottymouth,” he said as he gave me his hand and helped me stand up and steady myself when I swayed.
Self-defense training was one of the classes that I would have with Arthur. He brought me the news when he got back to his underground apartment. Merlin had agreed that I should stay out of the spotlight for a while and had accepted Arthur’s offer to train me on time manipulation and self-defense.
We had been training in an inner yard linked to his living room, that looked like a cave decorated with plants and a small fountain of water. I was in my Academy uniform, with the black-purple skirt and the black shirt. I had my hair twisted into two twin buns on the top of my head. Arthur insisted that I should not change into a sports attire, as he wanted to make sure that I would be able to defend myself even if I were in high heels. In fact, he requested that I wore high heels during our next lesson. I wondered if his request was made for training purposes, or he just liked kinky.
Before we started practicing, I sneaked into the bathroom to add some extra mascara and lip gloss using the makeup I found in one of the drawers. “Apparently, these are not Arthur’s,” I thought and laughed out loud.
I
