~YULIA
I took a quick glimpse at my phone and clicked the text message Issa had sent me.
He warned me about how suspicious Iris was and that only increased my anxiety. Although, I wondered why her sister Andrea had not told her anything about what was going on between me and Issa.
‘Tread carefully,’ Yara whispered in my mind.
I began to feel uneasy as I remembered that Lana was here and to everyone in this room, she was the most fragile.
Iris never stopped her intense glare on me as she sat rigidly. Her question caught me off guard. What was I to him? I was his freaking soul mate bitch! But she could not know that, at least for now.
“Look,” I began. “I do not know how family works where you come from, but we tell each other everything in this family, including if my uncle should settle down with a walking red flag of a woman like you,” I added a hint of sarcasm to throw her off.
“Yulia, that’s rude,” Lana whispered and poked my arm.
“Lana, she does not even think highly of you,” I said loud enough for Iris to hear.
Iris turned her head and looked over at Jamal. “What I can not truly understand is why you are here, detective,” she said. “It is not like you and Issa are best of friends,” She added, her gaze remaining as cold and fixated as ever.
This bitch really wanted answers.
“If Lycan Frostwood is not telling you anything about what business he and I have together, why do you think I would tell you anything?” Jamal replied.
“You are off to a really bad start if Issa is already keeping things from you before marriage,” I said. “And you said he is not at the office?” I asked with mockery.
“She looks like she wants to kill you, Yulia,” Lana said with fear in her eyes.
I was not afraid of Iris because I knew that she could not lay a hand on me in Issa’s house. If she did not respect me, at least she respected him enough to keep her cool.
“Yeah, she can join the club,” I said with a nonchalant shrug.
I was no longer interested in seeing her cold face. I turned to Lana and suggested we go upstairs to my room so we could have more privacy to talk.
“What about drinks and refreshment?” She asked.
“Let’s ransack the kitchen for snacks,” I said and stood up.
Lana did the same thing and together we headed for the kitchen but something about the way Jamal looked at me told me something was about to happen. Something bad.
Throughout our stale and intense-filled discussion, I had noticed that he was warily looking at Iris as she sat down. It was as if he knew something about her that Lana and I did not.
He was seated adjacent to her but he was not relaxed. Even Yara was on edge as I led Lana into the kitchen. Jamal was sitting as if he was waiting for something to happen.
“Wow, your kitchen is so huge!” Lana said with a child-like wonder in her face.
“Wait till you get a load of what is kept in the fridge,” I said with excitement.
I had really missed Lana. As crazy as my life was, she represented everything that was normal and safe.
We both packed chocolate bars into a glass bowl, I grabbed two big apple juice plastic bottles and that was it. Issa had fixed a television set that he never watched on the wall in my room.
“Okay, these should do for now,” I said. “I can not wait to tell you about my new school,” I added eagerly.
“Is it true they teach you magic?” Lana asked with a curiosity that almost made me laugh.
We were both walking through the living room, heading for the stairs when I saw Jamal lunge off his seat and jump towards me.
It all happened so fast that I had no time to even react.
Jamal crashed into me, knocking me out of the way. We both fell hard on the marbled floor with the glass bowl shattering to pieces as it made a loud impact on the floor.
Before I could get up, the sound of Lana choking and furiously gasping for air caught my attention. Her feet were dangling off the ground as Iris viciously gripped her by the throat effortlessly with one hand.
Lana fought and scratched at the vice grip on her neck as eyes bulged and her face turned purple from the lack of air. Jamal had pushed me out of the way because he thought Iris was aiming for me but Lana had been her intended target all along!
“Now,” Iris said in a terrifying calm tone as she held up a struggling and choking Lana. “You will tell me where Issa is and what exactly is going on or I will break your human friend’s neck.”
My heart sank and my entire body went cold as I slowly got up and began to move towards her.
“One more step, and she dies, Yulia!” She warned with a deadly stare.
I froze and my sunken heart began to pound so loud that it almost deafened me. I could feel life leaving Lana as her struggle began to lessen.
“Where is Issa?”
“I don’t fucking know!” I yelled desperately as I glared at her wide-eyed..
“One more wrong answer and I flick my wrist,” Iris threatened and I could see her tightening her grip as Lana began to lose consciousness.
I suddenly forgot how to breathe as tears started filling up my eyes. I had never felt so helpless in my entire life. I wanted to hurt Iris, I wanted to break her into pieces but I did not know how to begin.
but I could not think of a world without Lana. And that very thought alone was what brought that burning sensation to life within me. Yara began to dance violently within my core.
“No one has the fucking right to threaten my friend,” I stated firmly as I glared at her and I felt myself so close to the fucking edge of exploding.
“Fine, since you won’t talk then her death will be in your hands…” she whispered and sent me a malicious smile.
The minute I saw her wrist about to bend Lana’s neck to death, I let it out. All of my rage, everything that I was building up and it went at Iris.
“Let her go!” I screamed.
The force of light crackled with energy and burnt the air around me before it violently made a sickening impact on Iris. It knocked her clean off her feet and as she sailed through the air, her clothes caught ablaze.
She was burning as she crashed into the wall cracking it with her impact.
Lana lay on the ground unconscious and Jamal watched with shock etched on his face.
Did I just kill a Craven?