1.26

They slept that night, and Evander was the first one awake. He slipped out of his bed and quietly made his way out of the room, trying to start his broom without waking anyone. He knew they were going to blame him if something worse happened. Thorn, however, saw him sneaking out and followed him.

Evander still struggled to make his broom fly silently when Thorn, standing by a tree, said, "What are you doing?"

Evander looked shocked and responded, "Why should I tell you?"

Thorn walked closer and said, "You're awake early."

"So are you," Evander retorted.

Thorn pressed on, "Why are you up so early?"

Evander shot back, "I can ask you the same question."

"Just answer the question," Thorn insisted.

Evander, feeling cornered, snapped, "Leave me alone for once!"

Thorn walked even closer and said, "Listen, I don't know what you're planning, but if you hurt my friends, you're dead, Frost."

Evander pushed Thorn away and walked off, mounting his broom and flying off. He soared through the air, feeling a mix of frustration and determination. The thought of being stuck in the human world made him nearly nauseous. He knew they needed to return to the wizard world as quickly as possible.

As he flew, he began to formulate a plan. After some time, he returned to Felix's mom's house. The others were already eating breakfast. Felix's mom looked up and asked, "Evander, do you want to eat something?"

Evander shook his head, thinking to himself, *I never eat human food.*

After breakfast, everyone gathered to discuss the plan to return to the wizard world. Athena said, "We need to gather the right materials to fix the cloak."

Felix looked torn and said, "Guys, I don't want to leave my mom."

Rowan said, "That's understandable, but are you not going back to the wizard world anymore then? You're our best mate; you can't leave us."

Evander scoffed, "Stay in the human world, we don't need half-wizards, half-humans."

Thorn glared at him and said, "At least Felix has a heart and not an ice-cold one with no emotions."

Evander retorted, "Emotions are bad for us. If you show them, there's a chance to get broken because of that."

Felix then said, "Well, I want to be at Shadowcrest Academy still, but I also want to spend time with my mom."

Evander scoffed and said, "So weak."

Athena, fed up with Evander, snapped, "Just because your parents didn't love you doesn't mean every parent is like that, asshole!"

Evander was speechless at first, then he chuckled bitterly and said, "'Love.' Frosts don't know about love. You were right, but also wrong, since it's been that way for generations in my family." He then stood up and walked away. He saw Felix's mom cooking something. She saw him and smiled, asking, "Do you want to eat something?"

Evander was actually a little hungry but remembered the Frost family rule: never eat food from humans. He shook his head and left. He slept a little on the couch outside and then, when he woke up slightly, he saw a lady next to him. He said, "What do you want, Calista?"

Calista replied, "The human world, seriously?"

Evander rolled his eyes and said, "You won't let me go to Shadowcrest."

Calista said, "Of course not. You know what they are planning, and you can't die yet."

Evander asked, "Then why did I have to take these losers?"

Calista said, "You didn't have to. It was just a coincidence. Also, better in the human world than dead."

Evander muttered, "It's not fun here either. It's weird here..."

Calista said, "Be grateful I didn't let your dad kill you."

Evander sighed, "Yeah, thank you for that."

Calista said, "No problem. Don't worry about it." Then he heard an annoying voice, and Calista said, "Well, I guess I have to go," and she faded away.

Flate sat next to Evander and asked, "Are you alright?"

Evander looked away and said, "Yes, I am alright. I am not that weak."

Flate said, "Mate, I didn't mean to—"

Evander stood up abruptly, saying, "Yeah, sure," and walked away.

Flate sighed and whispered, "Athena, what have you done now?"

Evander tried to bury a potion just as Thorn walked in. Evander quickly hid the potion.

Thorn said, "You know what Athena said to you wasn't what she really meant, right?"

Evander nodded and forced a smile, "Yeah, thanks for the reminder."

Thorn eyed him suspiciously, "Hey, wait. You never smile. Are you up to something?"

Evander replied, "Uh, no. Why should I be?"

Thorn pressed, "What are you hiding there?"

Evander, trying to remain calm, said, "I'm not hiding anything."

Thorn tried to take the potion, but Evander resisted. When Thorn finally got hold of it, Evander started to panic and stammered, "Well, this is... this is, uh... this is—"

Thorn's eyes widened as he realized, "You tried to put yourself to sleep?"

Evander said, "Well, I—erm, how do I explain this?" He was visibly nervous. "Well, it's for, uh… okay! I tried to put myself to sleep. What does it matter anyway? I am such an asshole, right?"

Thorn, looking concerned, said, "It can have many side effects!"

Evander screamed, "Why do you even care!?" He crossed his arms over his chest defensively. 

Rowan, who was in the other room, heard the commotion. Evander continued, "Why do you even care if I did that or not?"

Thorn replied, "You could have died!"

Athena, standing next to Rowan, whispered, "They look like a couple."

Rowan gave Athena a weird look and said, "You know they are not, right?"

Athena nodded, "Yes, I know, but they still look like it."

Evander screamed, "You are just overreacting!"

Thorn shouted back, "Oh, now I am the one overreacting!?"

Rowan whispered to Athena, "Yeah, I get what you mean, but they know we are next to their rooms, right?"

Athena shrugged, "I don't know."

Rowan looked at Athena and asked, "Why did you say that about Evander?"

Athena crossed her arms around her stomach and said, "He deserved it."