"The deal is for just the three of you." She arches an eyebrow and crosses her arms. "We have never allowed someone outside our own people to live here, so no additional visitors are welcomed."
What is she getting at? Is she assuming that we would want to bring more people here? "I understand that. The point is to get away."
"Just want to make sure the offer was clear." She glances at each one of us, and her eyes land back on me.
"That would be the point of leaving our old world behind." Charlie squints and taps his foot.
"Well, I just wanted to bring it up again since you had someone show up tonight." She stares at me as if she's watching my every move.
"That someone was definitely not invited by us.” Dax steps closer to me; his jaw tense.
Shit, how does she know that? We were all alone at that point.
"Okay, but who was he? Why was he here?" Her lavender eyes glow, and the room fills with light.
What the hell is going on? "Are you following me?" This isn't cool. I refused to be watched here like I am back home.
"No, I'm not following you, but I do have to keep an eye on you." She crosses her arm and her eyes fade out once again.
"That makes no sense." How is that even possible? Is she watching us somehow? "You'd have to be following me then."
"No, that's not true." She motions around us and lifts her hands. "The water told me about the man and the woman he brought with him."
How is she connected to the water? That shouldn’t be possible from what I’ve learned. The more I learn here, the more confusing it is.
"He is not a friend but rather someone who is threatening her." Dax gazes off and purses his lips. "So, it's a good thing I was there so we had more people than them."
"Yeah, that demon is nothing but a freaking nuisance to us." Charlie's tone is low, and he clenches his fist.
"A demon?" Ria stills for a moment, and the corner of her eyes wrinkle.
Having a demon around is never a good thing. "Yes, he wants to know when I'll be getting the last artifact." Might as well tell her the truth. Maybe that will buy me some points with her. "He's been after me to get all the artifacts from the very beginning."
Her breathing picks up, and she takes a step toward me. "You can't take the Water Artifact. We won't allow it."
Does she believe repeating that mantra over and over will make it come true? I got it the first time. "I have no intentions of taking it..."
"Good." Ria cuts me off before I can finish.
What the hell? She didn't even let me finish. "Like I was trying to say; I don't plan on taking it if we can make this work." The damn amulet better not let me combust, or we'll have problems.
Charlie and Dax move in closer each time Ria's temper flares.
"What does that mean?" Ria stomps her foot, and her forehead wrinkles.
"As long as this amulet works and I don't implode, I won't take the artifact." Does she really need me to spell it out? And here I felt like I was dense most of the time. "However, if I begin to implode and think that I'm going to cause havoc on the world all around me, then I can't keep that promise."
"But you have to." Her hands shake, and she points at the amulet. "You took that from me."
"As you said earlier, it's about the millions." For once, I know what's right and wrong. It may have taken me a while to get here, but I'm finally here. "If I realize that I can save millions by making a better decision, then that's what I'm going to do."
Ria glares at Charlie and Dax. "Do something about this right now. You all agreed to my terms."
"Do you think I can tell her what to do?" Dax snorts and raises both hands. "She can control three of the elements. I don't have a chance, so I'm just going to stay aligned with her."
"And I love her." Charlie puts a hand on my back and rubs his thumb over my shirt. "So I will stand and support her."
"But the artifact belongs to us." She marches over to me and gets in my face. "I won't allow you to take it."
She won't allow me? I want to burst out laughing right now. "Well, then it's a good thing I don't plan on asking your permission if it comes to that."
She flinches back as if I slapped her. "You..." She runs her fingers through her hair and pulls. "I don't know who you think you are, but you better watch your back." She shoves past me and marches out the door.
Great, I've made a new frenemy.
13
The next couple of days seem to fly by. It's crazy how well we're acclimating here. After Ria cooled off the other night, she returned and seemed to be in better spirits.
I'm not sure why, but there has been no other mention of the artifact or Earth. She's not home very often, but I'm not sure if it's because of us or if that's her norm.
Dax has even taken to blending in here in a way. He doesn't go very far from me, but he has managed to make a few friends of his own and get little tidbits of information from here and there.
Ugh, I'm not even sure what to wear. I've gotten a few new pieces of clothing from Ria, but it still seems too weird to dress like them. All the women tend to wear longer dresses which is so not my style. I grab an emerald green dress from the closet and slip it on.
"Hey,
