Chapter Twelve

A couple of hours later some of my colleagues arrived. The sun was setting, so I knew it was time for the party to get started. "Thanks, Dad. For lending me this place." I silently mumbled. I took a deep breath and let the first guest in. And after that, I told Kai to greet them while I focused on setting up the food.

It wasn't until the CEO of the company, Ms. Monifa, arrived that everyone began their chatter and flashed their fake smiles at her. I was surprised to even see Staci, my manager grinning at me when she walked in. Monifa was a very beautiful woman from Africa, and I wasn't sure which country she came from. I did know that her skin care products were what made her successful, as well as her intuition. I admired her, but I felt inadequate compared to her status.

Honestly, she looked like a goddess. And Staci Chance was stuck to her side the entire time, sucking up to her. Kai greeted them both with a smile, and I watched Staci shake his hand for a little bit longer than I would've liked, but I discarded to thought.

"Casey!" Staci sashayed over to me with Monifa. "You look gorgeous in that dress!" She flashed her pearly whites at me and pulled me in for a hug.

"Thank you for hosting this season." Monifa shook my hand and smiled softly at me. "I love the place, it's big and full of light. I'm very amused by the pictures of your family on the wall."

"Oh!" I blushed. "You... you saw the pictures?"

"Yes! It reminds me of back home. My family used to enjoy activities together like this." She pointed at a picture of a younger me and Jackie at the beach. We were eating ice cream together, and her face was full of cream. "I'm sure you worked very hard to put this together for your whole team. I appreciate your efforts plenty."

Monifa seemed more genuine than more than half of my colleagues here, especially Staci. I liked that.

"Do you need any help in here?" Staci fluttered her eyes at me innocently. "I wanna make sure nothing gets burnt while you multitask."

"No, thank you, Staci. It's all good. I've got this." I took out the casserole I made from the oven and placed it on the countertops. Staci knew exactly what she was doing. She was gonna use every opportunity to make me look bad so she could snitch about the coffee I didn't get for her the other day.

"Alright then. Oh, Monifa! Let me introduce you to one of our new hires. He just signed a contract with us a week ago." Staci lead the CEO over to the living room where everyone was. I placed my mittens on the counter and poured myself a glass of wine. Then I went into one of the hallways and brought the glass to my lips.

"Why are you hiding here?"

I spat the wine back into the glass and started coughing. Kai took it from my hands and massaged my shoulder as I wheezed.

"Geez! Give a warning next time!" I coughed again. "I need a break. I'm stressed." I fanned my face and glanced at the group of people past the kitchen. "My manager is pushing my buttons."

"Pushing your buttons?" He tilted his head.

"She's annoying me." I rolled my eyes. "Give me my wine back."

Kai shifted his eyes to Staci. He watched as she cackled with the others and sneered. Then he put my glass up to his mouth and gulped all of the content down. "Do not worry your mind over that woman. I will take care of her." Kai handed me the empty glass back.

"What do you mean?" I raised a brow at him while he unbuttoned the first two buttons of his shirt. Then he took off his jacket and handed it to me. "Excuse me! What are you doing?"

"You told me to entertain the guests, yes?"

"I did," Why did I have this scary feeling creeping up my chest while looking at him?

"Then allow me to do my task. And you focus on yours." He poked me and smirked. Kai loosened his hair bow and rolled up his sleeves. Before he could walk away, I sent him a glare.

"She's married!"

"That will not stop me." He waved me off and continued. I watched him walk over to her and butt into Staci and another colleague's conversation. Then he took her by the hand and placed his lips on it, and the glass in my hand chipped.

I felt an immeasurable amount of rage fill my blood watching him, and I wasn't sure why. A few of the other females surrounded him as he spoke and I knew that he probably had them hooked by his poetic words.

I decided to ignore the anger in my heart and served everyone a piece of my casserole as well as the cheesecake I bought from the grocery store, and very quickly came the time for everyone to leave.

"Thank you for coming!" I waved at Monifa as she hopped in her car. Staci and Kai were still talking so I cleared my throat to interrupt the lovebirds. I didn't like that Staci was enjoying Kai's company a little too much.

"It's getting late and it looks like it's going to rain Mrs. Chance, so I think you should get ready to head on home." I fake grinned at her. "Thanks for coming."

"Thank you for hosting." She shot a bashful eye at Kai. "You're a fine young man, Mr?"

"Kai." Kai bowed his head respectfully. "And you are a lady of many talents. I enjoyed speaking with you. Please enjoy your travels safely."

Staci giggled and I could see her hide her blush in her scarf. "Take care." She got in her car and left. Kai waved at her as she pulled out of my father's driveway.

"Alright, lover boy, help me clean up, and let's go back home."

"I thought you told me that you would not request me to do anything else after tonight."

"You know, I could always pack up and leave you out here." I huffed and turned on my heel.

"Why do threats leave your lips to tease me?"He pulled my arm to stop me from walking back inside the house. "Are you... irritated?"

"I'm tired." I lied and yanked my arm out of his grasp. Kai jogged after me as I entered my father's home and began tidying up the place. I knew that everyone would be back in a few days, so I wanted to make sure my father wouldn't have any complaints.

I packed up the rest of the leftovers into my car, and fortunately, we were finished by the time the storm started. It was late, and I could feel the sleep coming. I wanted nothing more than to hop in my bed and drift away into a nice dream.

The moment I pulled out of my father's driveway was the moment the rain pelted against my windshield as if they were pebbles. It seemed that this Spring we've been getting a lot of thunderstorms. I turned on my high beams and wipers and slowly eased my foot on the gas.

"It's raining so hard I can barely see anything." I turned my wheel and drove onto a bridge that lead back to the city.

Kai was unusually quiet. A few times I would glance over at him and I noticed that his shoulders were stiff and raised. "Are you okay?"

"Stop your Parrottle." He commanded and sat up.

"What?"

"Stop!" He commanded again and I slammed my foot on the brakes. My body flung forward and he extended his arm out to steady me. I had a seatbelt on, but I put too much pressure on the gas. That's why gravity almost threw me into the steering wheel.

"What was that for—" I shrieked and Kai slapped his hand over my mouth.

"Silence!" He placed his free index finger to his lips and studied the area. I didn't understand why he was bossing me around or why he put his filthy hands on my face, but all my questions left my mind when lightning struck in front of us and turned off all the street lights.

Then suddenly, there was a shadowy figure in front of us. Kai and I watched as the figure slowly morphed into the form of a man. "We need to go."

"Kai—"

"Go!" He shouted. I put my foot on the gas and the car sped forward and into the figure. I felt a piece of my heart burn when I realized that I probably hit another person with my car.

Another strike of lightning appeared in front of us, along with another figure and I squealed and turned my wheel. The car spun out and hit the rail of the bridge. "What is happening!?" I screeched.

"Stay here." Kai opened the passenger door and left. I poked my head out the window and squinted my eyes to watch him.

"Kai! Don't leave me here!" I opened my door and stepped out of my car. "Where are you going!?"

"Stay there, Phoenix!" He shouted angrily. "Don't move!" Kai continued walking over to the figures and stopped directly in front of them. I couldn't hear or see them clearly, so a bunch of thoughts were going through my mind.

I saw someone raise their arm, then I heard a loud grunt. Kai's body flew back and landed a few feet in front of me. His face was scratched and I saw his shirt was torn.

"Kai!"

He sat up quickly. Before I could get near him, a larger man appeared in the fog and grabbed Kai by his neck. The man was unnaturally large and he had the ugliest scowl I'd ever seen. The man was muscular and wide in stature, with a balding head.

He roared in Kai's face.

"Kai!" I gasped when the man slammed Kai to the ground. Kai grunted as the monstrous-looking man repeated the action again and again. At this rate, Kai wouldn't survive long. I went back to my car and grabbed the taser my father had given me. I raised the setting to its highest level and jogged over to the vicious man.

However, the moment I aimed the taser at him, the ground beneath my feet began to shake. Not only the ground but the entire bridge. I heard a loud snap and then thundering noise. And the road began to crack and split open. The Bridge was going to collapse.

I pressed the button on my taser and the prongs shot out and hit the large man. He started to snarl and I quickly grabbed Kai by his arm and dragged him over to my car.

"Please don't be dead! Please!" I felt panic in my veins. My heart was racing and my dress was drenched from the cold water hitting my skin. I stopped when the ground behind me began to crack. "Kai! You have to get up!" I threw myself over him and shook his shoulders. "I can't drag you there myself! Get up!"

His eyes were still closed, and I was starting to lose hope. I was going to die with this stranger. "Kai... please!" I shook him again as the bridge began to tilt. "Please! Please!" I wanted to save myself, but I knew I would feel horrible if I left him here. I started to cry. And believe me, it was a very ugly cry.

"It's okay," Kai murmured and grabbed my hand. His eyes were still shut, but he was smiling.

"It's not okay! We are going to die! I don't want to die! Get up!" I grabbed his arms and draped them over my shoulders. However, the moment I stood up, the bridge caved in, and I felt myself lose control of my surroundings as I plummeted below. I screamed and felt my vision fading as gravity whipped me toward my death below.

And then I felt warmth engulf me. Strong arms wrapped around my back and I felt myself get hoisted back into the air. I felt hands push the back of my head into a familiar chest. I felt that whoever grabbed me was Kai, and I instinctively wrapped my arms around his shoulders tightly.

I felt a gush of wind and my saw hair scrunchy fly away. My platted hair unraveled and my hair was whipping in my face like I was on a roller coaster. I screamed into the chest and stopped when I felt a tap on my shoulder.

Then I looked up and saw Kai staring at me with glowing blue eyes. For some reason, the way he was looking at me made me have this recognizable feeling.

My thoughts were flooded with an unlocked story. I saw a short boy with long black hair, dressed in a hospital gown. And the word "Phoenix" rang in my ear a couple of times.

The boy smiled and kissed the back of my hand, and then my memory faded. I remembered who Kai was. "Kai!" I gasped. "You! You're! How are you—!?" I looked around and realized that we were in the air, way above the collapsed bridge. We were flying! I pulled myself closer to him once I found a new fear. I hated heights.

"I told you, I am of dragon descent." He mumbled into my ear.

"You can fly!?"

"It appears so, doesn't it?"

"I'm going to be sick." I gripped his shoulders tighter. I felt something knock into him, and my body slipped from his hold. I was falling again, and this time, I could see where I was going. My body flipped over, and I saw Kai in the sky battling with whatever attacked him.

Kai extended his arms and a surge of blue fire shot out of his palms, sending the shadow plummeting as well. Then I saw him reaching for my hand. I could no longer scream. He caught me bridal style and held me tight.

"You..." I coughed. "You do have fire powers!"

"We can discuss these details later, Phoenix."