[HAWI]
"Are you sure we should even be in this place? Do you know how expensive this place is?" Nik asked Malaika when they finally made it to the gate of the ash hotel.
Just like Ruru earlier, Nik was in shock. It was obvious that this hotel was something out of his reach, something that not even his magic could do shit in here. Clearly, he knew that from the shock on his face, but then had he tried to confirm it though?
Was he stupid enough to try and cast a spell here?
"Aren't you tired? This isn't the time for questioning. But to answer your question, this hotel is surrounded by magic, which means that no magic can work here save for mine, Hawi's, and the young Greyson's since she's mated to Hawi.
"Does that answer your question?" Malika asked and Nik stared blankly. It was almost like he was thinking so hard. He had never thought this would be possible but then the list of things he hadn't known were growing by the day.
"The young Greyson has magic?" Nik asked and Malika smirked at him.
She knew what he was thinking and honestly, she wouldn't say shit about that. Because tonight, she wanted to get some sleep like normal people instead of worrying about protecting everyone. Or maybe she would be doing her job but she indeed had to rest first, right?
"Yeah. Hawi unlocked her magic when they mated. Come along," Malika said when the gates opened. The moment they walked onto the compound; Nik could feel his magic be rendered useless.
It was like he was in some trap. He wanted to freak out, but then Malika had promised a truce and while Malika was the kind of woman who killed first and answered questions later, she was one who always kept her word, so this was not going to be an exception, right?
"This palace is pretty," Nik said, stating the obvious as they walked into the hotel.
Everyone knew the ASH hotels but no one really knew what the initials stood for. Which was also why when Nik asked, Malika wasn't surprised. Over the years the chain hotel had never revealed the full initials.
She knew that things wouldn't be easy from the morning and she could just hope that it was all so quick because if they caused more trouble on this side the humans would be suspicious and it would be a lot of unnecessary work for her.
***
Morning did come by so fast, but even then Malika wasn't bothered to be an early riser, so even when the door to her chanbers were being banged, she didn't bother. Instead, she kept sleeping, muting them out... until she had a defeated whimper.
That was the only thing that got her out of bed so fast that she almost ran into the wall on her way to the door. There was no way that she was sharing a whimper, right? Surely there was nothing wrong this time, yeah?
"What... You... Why the fuck would you wake me up," Malika whined as she stared at Rukiya's blank bored face.
It was almost like she wanted to explain to Rukiya the importance of good sleep, but the closer she looked at Ruru's face, the more she saw tear streaks. How that shit should have never happened so this made Malika curious.
"Where is Hawi?" Malika asked and Ruru shushed her as she pushed the protector back into the hotel room. It was almost like she didn't want anyone to hear them. But even then what the hell could have prompted her to act like this?
"What happened?" Malika asked once they were back in her room and the alpha had locked the door.
Rukiya Greyson looked scared and that worried Malika.
She wanted to think that Hawi had hurt her but Awuor Hawi would die first before intentionally hurting Rukiya Greyson. She loved the woman too much. It was sometimes sickening to watch, but theirs was the kind of love that couldn't be reduced like this.
"I think someone is trying to channel my magic. I feel like my energy is draining fast. I woke up with tears on my face and beside Hawi, which had never happened before. Hawi is fast asleep, but we both know she never sleeps.
"It's just a matter of time before she comes to check on me. Please tell me I'm being paranoid," Ruru said as she looked at Malika with hopeful eyes and the protector sighed.