Kael's nightmare really shook him to the core, he had never had a nightmare like that before, or seen a creature that terrifying in his dreams. He rubbed the sweat off his face, his chest rising and falling. The nightmare left a chill he couldn't shake.
He couldn't grasp why he would have such a vivid nightmare on a day that happens to be the day he turned 18.
He sat up and stretched, trying to gather his thoughts, but before he could even reach for his shirt, a loud bang rattled the dorm door. It flew open and slammed against the wall with a thud.
"You absolute bastard!" Elira stormed in, her face flushed with anger, her eyes blazing.
Kael blinked, stunned. It was the first time she'd ever stepped foot into his space. She didn't wait for him to speak.
"How dare you say yes? To my father? To marry me?" she snapped.
"Good morning, Elira," Kael greeted, his tone soft.
"To hell with your greeting," she yelled at him, "Answer the question." Kael leaned back on his palms, watching her with mild amusement.
"You came all the way to my dorm just to yell at me? At this early hour? I didn't know you missed me this much, Elira. Couldn't sleep, huh?"
Her face reddened even more. "You wish! I couldn't sleep because I was too busy imagining how I would strangle you!"
Kael rose from the bed slowly, bare-chested, his black trousers hanging low on his hips. He moved toward her with calmness.
"Look," he said, voice low, teasing, "if this is your way of telling me you want to break the engagement, you're going about it the wrong way. You look like a jealous lover barging into demand answers."
"You're insufferable!" she hissed, "You irritate me." Kael grabbed a bottle of water on his table.
"Take this," he said, "It'll calm your nerves." She shoved it away with force, and it hit the ground with a thud, rolling under Kael's bed.
"I want you to tell my dad that you've changed your mind about the marriage," she ordered.
Kael chuckled, "Why the hell would I do that?" he asked.
"Because I'm asking you to," she responded, fingers pointing at him.
"You don't deserve my allegiance, Elira," he taunted.
She raised her hand to slap him but tripped on the rug. Kael caught her just in time, his arms wrapped around her waist. Their faces were mere inches apart. Her breath hitched. Kael's eyes dropped to her lips.
"You're not very good at attacking people," he murmured, leaning in slowly. Their lips were almost touching when Elira suddenly bit down hard on his lower lip.
"Ouch!" Kael winced, stumbling back. Elira pushed out of his grasp, her face pink, and sprinted out the door.
Kael touched his bleeding lip and chuckled. "So close," he whispered. "Not a bad way to start my eighteenth birthday."
He watched her as she sprinted towards the mansion. "She's endowed for real," he said to him, smirking.
Then, without wasting any more time, he took a quick shower and changed into black jeans and a leather jacket.
Kael slipped out of Belmondi's mansion through a side gate, keeping his head low and his hood up.
He didn't want to be seen leaving, he would come up with a lie later but now, he had to leave like a ghost.
He walked from one street to the other, taking secret routes that made it impossible for him to be spotted in the open.
The morning air was cool, and the city boomed with cars and trains. He made his way to the Sky Tower, his secret place for thinking. It was one of the highest buildings in the city. Although few knew he was the new owner of the place. He made it that way to keep a low profile and hide his wealth.
He climbed through the numerous stairs, a routine he was already used to. As soon as he got to the top, he absentmindedly touched his lips. It had stopped bleeding, no wound. The bite mark was gone. No pain. No blood. It was as though it had never happened. He frowned, inspecting his reflection in a broken piece of mirror by the tower's railing. His lip was perfectly healed. The bite should've left a welt, at the very least.
Strange. It wasn't the first weird thing. The leopard, the old man, the nightmare, the Hollow. He needed answers, answers about himself and answers about the Hallow.
The Hallow was the major thing on his mind, he needed to know if the treasures there were worth it or just a rumour to stir the hearts of greedy mafias to abandon their empire.
Kael reached into his coat and pulled out a sleek, black phone, not the one he used around Belmondi, but his real one. The encrypted line.
He dialed a line and the voice answered after two rings. "Boss."
"I want you to pick me up at the Sky Tower. I need a secure ride. We're going to the archives."
"Yes, boss. I'll be there in ten minutes," the person on the other end of the phone responded. Kael slipped the phone back into his coat and turned toward the stairwell, ready to go down.
That's when he saw something that caught his attention. Among the crowd of early workers and joggers in the streets below, one person stood out.
A man in a short, black shirt. Something about the way the man moved caught his attention.
"I have seen this face before," Kael muttered under his breath. Suddenly, he froze, his eyes widening. He remembered the face and the exact place where he had seen him. That was the exact same face he saw when the leopard that attacked him changed into a human. He didn't hesitate. He ran for the stairs, taking them two at a time, ignoring the aching in his knees.
He had to catch up. He had to know who that man was, and how he was able to turn into a leopard and cheat death.