Chapter 36: The Stolen Bracelet
A shadow shot forward, aiming straight at the blond man’s chest. But as though he had already prepared for a sneak attack from him, he met it with a burst of his own light. Their destructive powers collided in the air.
Just the pressure of their powers alone made the wind blow as if a bomb had exploded.
However, neither man cared about that.
The shadow that Nykos released crackled with lightning, looking like a hand with sharp claws about to rip his face. But before it could even touch the man, it stopped right before him.
No, it slowed down. Like it had been caught in stacked frames of motion until it started to tremble before collapsing entirely into dust.
Aisha’s eyes squinted at what was happening in front of her.
"Cute trick," Nykos said.
"It wasn’t a trick." The man waved the remaining specks of that shadow hand. "A warning."
Somewhere in the distance, an alarm rang through. It was the first toll signaling that the border gates were prepared to close. Any citizen without a pass would be barred from coming in and out of the city.
A brief hesitation flashed across Nykos’s eyes.
It would be hard for him and his subordinates to hide once the border gates closed.
His terminal buzzed just in time. He glanced at it once and saw a message from Amar, telling him to hurry.
Glancing at the man and Aisha, he sighed.
He guessed this was it for tonight.
He let his body melt into the shadows, sliding along the wall. A second later, he reappeared directly behind Aisha.
Brushing his fingers lightly against her cheek before she could pull away, he told her, "We’ll meet again. Without interruptions, next time."
The blond man’s hand shot out, grabbing her the instant he reappeared and before Nykos could touch her, while his other hand moved to strike—
But Nykos vanished into the darkness of the night.
Silence instantly overtook the chaos in the alley.
Aisha exhaled the breath she had been holding. She had an inkling this was far from over. Not after Nykos said he wanted to meet her again. She was sure he’d find his way to see her.
But she didn’t have the luxury of worrying about that now.
She had other things to be concerned with. For example, Daisy was still waiting for her at home.
Hearing the man shift behind her, Aisha thanked him and bid him farewell. "Thank you for stopping him. I’ll get going now."
She turned to leave, but before she could go out of the alley, the man’s voice stopped her.
"You can’t go."
Aisha continued walking as if she hadn’t heard him.
"You need to come with me."
***
The rental shuttle flew in the air quickly.
In a few minutes, she arrived in front of the villa.
She stepped out and was about to go inside, but she turned around instead.
"I’ve arrived home. There’s no need for you to follow me anymore, right?"
The man nodded.
Earlier, he insisted that she come with him. Aisha had no doubt he had a lot of questions he wanted to ask her. But she didn’t have time to deal with him right now.
Aisha considered arguing that she had nothing to do with Nykos, but decided against it.
In the end, she entered her rental shuttle and made way toward her family villa. But not alone.
Aisha glanced at him one last time before walking toward the villa.
When she first stepped into the villa, she immediately saw several people in the living room.
Her mother was sitting on the couch with a stern, disapproving gaze. Beside her, Irene was curled with the rim of her eyes red, still spilling tears. And standing protectively in front of her was Aisha’s younger brother, Theon. His face was tight with restrained anger.
The moment he spotted Aisha, he snapped, "Where were you?"
Aisha looked at him with a calm gaze that contrasted his stormy expression.
"Irene’s been crying for hours because of you, and you’re coming home just now?" he continued.
Aisha arched her brow. "I didn’t know my sister missed me so much. We only just saw each other earlier."
Under everyone’s gaze, she walked forward.
"Aisha," Theon reached out to stop her.
Aisha glanced at the arm blocking her, but didn’t force it away. Instead, she curled a finger at Irene.
"Come here."
Erika stared at her. "Aisha—"
Theon continued blocking her way and said, "You don’t have to listen to her, Irene."
Irene stared at Aisha for a long moment. Her eyes were gleaming with tears. Hearing them being so protective of her, it gave her intense satisfaction. She got up from the sofa and walked toward Aisha.
"Sister, I don’t know why you’re doing this to me. I haven’t done anything." Irene said, her voice quivering as if she was scared. "If it’s about the prince... I’ll talk to him. Just don’t hit—"
But the rest of her words got stuck in her throat.
Aisha simply held her face in her palms in a gentle and affectionate touch between sisters. Then, she rubbed her thumbs on Irene’s cheeks where tears were flowing.
Aisha appeared completely relaxed, contrary to what everyone feared. She spoke softly, "There, there. You don’t need to cry. When have I ever hit you?"
In her memories, there was never a time when she had hit Irene. But from the way Irene had just spoken, it made it look like she had done it before.
Irene’s eyes widened in shock. "Sister..."
Aisha didn’t stop rubbing her skin until it turned red. "You’re already an adult yet you cry a lot. Makes me wonder if you’re made of tears or what. But Irene, it’s bad if you make our parents worry whenever you cry, don’t you think?"
Theon rushed to their side. "You’re the one who made her cry most of the time. Even now... You... Just give her bracelet back!"
"What do you mean give her bracelet back?" Aisha appeared surprised at the news, looking almost clueless. She turned to Irene and asked her, "What bracelet?"
"It’s... It’s the one mother gave me this morning. You... they said it was you who stole it," Irene forced the words out, lowering her head as if she couldn’t bring herself to accuse her older sister.
Aisha glanced at her silently. This girl really knew how to act. If she were active back when the entertainment industry still existed, she’d be running for the best actress award.
But one person alone can’t dance a tango.
"I stole your bracelet?" Aisha repeated.