I stared up at the up at the crack running across the top of the cream coloured wall. It looked like it was closer to creeping into the ceiling. Maybe next month will be the month when I finally do something about it? I felt a knot of uneasiness twist in my belly. It lurched around like a small animal, before settling down in the corner of my stomach. I kneaded my lower abs, staring at the ceiling. Laying on my bed, staring at my ceiling would not make anything better. I pushed myself up to sitting, reaching for my phone. Swiping my way to a new text message, I typed, "Great party last night. Did you have fun? Can we meet today and talk?"

I went through my wardrobe in search of an outfit as I waited for my phone to buzz, slowly picking out a pair of leggings and a long top. The air was slowly getting warmer and the days longer, but there was still cold winds. I furrowed my brows, looking at the weather app on my phone. No new messages. I pulled out my leather jacket, it'll probably be cold in the wind today. I stared down at my phone, still no reply.

I poured the steaming coffee into a thermos, my secret weapon on outdoor shoots like today. I knew the boys in Amazing Eight well and anything before noon was like the crack of dawn for them. I smiled to myself as I thought of the shoot planned for today.

"Morning," Matthew greeted me sleepily as he walked into the kitchen.

"Morning," I replied, screwing the top of the thermos on tightly.

"Working on a Sunday?" he raised an eyebrow at me before turning his attention to pouring himself a cup of coffee.

"Yeah, I have a shoot with Amazing Eight." 

I placed the thermos and some plastic mugs into my bag, turning my attention to the two camera batteries there were plugged in a charging.

"That's great. I'm happy for you," he took a sip of coffee before continuing, "You've been really focused on your work lately. I think that's a good thing." He smiled at me and added, "I didn't even know you were seeing someone new."

I looked back at him and smiled lightly. That's because I'm not seeing anyone.

"You have been around and focused on your work, so I would say that you are doing well with balancing your work with the rest of your life." 

He looked happy as if I had achieved something important. The reason why I have been focused on work is because I'm not in a relationship, so it's not like I've had that to distract me. I pulled the charger out of the wall and placed the batteries into my handbag.

"I've got to go. But I'll see you later."

Closing the front door behind me, I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. Finally. I pulled it out and swiped through to the new message.

"Hi. The party was great. I can't today, my parents expect me to attend some meetings at the court. How about tomorrow?"

I stared down at Taylor's message, hesitating for a moment before replying back.

"Sure tomorrow."

My feet were briskly walking me towards the location of the shoot, Bunhill Fields were just shy of half an hour away and to be honest I needed the time to clear my head. Why is Taylor's absence bothering me so much? He's fulfilling his role as an heir, his family's protection is keeping Aaron away. I bit my lip, pulling my handbag higher up on my shoulder before crossing the street. The sweet scent from the bakery nearly tempted me to stop, but I managed to keep my head down and moving down the street. Why hasn't Aaron tried to attack me again... Didn't Lucas say I was still in danger... The thought sent a cold shiver up my throat. If Taylor's not around to give me answers about the matches.... Maybe I should... I pulled out my phone again, swiping through to my messages.

"Hi. I have a photo shoot today. I was thinking maybe I should just tell you where it is to save you time on stalking?"

A small smile twitched at the corners of my mouth as I pressed send. Someone is going to tell me more about these matches. If I have to threaten to suck all the magic out of Lucas, he'll tell me.

~*~

James lent against the iron fence surrounding the small graveyard as I held up the camera to him, clicking through the photos on the monitor.

"Looks great," he smiled.

"Thanks. I'm happy with the outcome. I just need to touch up the photos when I get home," I replied, feeling relieved that the shoot had gone so well.

"So how's everything with you?" he shot me a telling look.

"Things are good," I replied automatically.

"How's those distractions. Finding a way to get rid of them?" the tone in his voice was equal measures gentle and probing.

I started to pack away my camera, my mind flashing back to our last conversation, which felt like a million years ago.

"Sort of..." I started

"But?" he raised his eyebrows to underline the question.

"Once I fix of one part of my life, I feel like something new has cropped up."

He gave my shoulder a gentle squeeze, "It's like that sometimes."

"Yeah," I agreed. "I went to see Josh. He had left some things behind, so I went to hand them back."

"Oh really," James replied, looking over at the other two guys, who were packing away the guitars.

I picked up my handbag from the floor, looking over at him.

"He mentioned that he's back doing things with his band?"

James couldn't hold back from scoffing. I knew that Josh had been spinning me some bullshit when I saw him, but seeing James' reaction confirmed it. If he had been back pursuing music James would have known about it. The music community in east London is not that big.

"You probably already know what I am going to tell you?"

I nodded at his question, letting the subject fall to the floor like a lead balloon. As I was racking my mind for something else, anything else to talk about I could feel the familiar swell of magic creep towards me.

James furrowed his brows, looking at Lucas approaching us in a tailored grey suit and a polite wave.

"Why is that guy waving at us?"

"He's my friend," I admitted, feeling like I had to force the words out of my mouth.

James chuckled, "I was not expecting you to say that."

"We all make mistakes," I replied jokingly.

"Hello there," Lucas greeted us.

James gave him a light nod of the head as greeting.

I turned to James and gave him a quick hug, "So I'll send you the photos later?"

"Sure. Always good to see you Cara," he smiled warmly.

"Bye," I waved the guys, who seemed more interested in the guitars they were playing with than anything else.

As we walked away from the band and the graveyard, Lucas stayed silent.

"If I didn't know better I would have asked you if you were dating," equal measures of playfulness and arrogance in his voice, as his lips turned up in a smile.

I shot him a black look and was about to snap back when he continued, "But after spending time at court lately, it's clear that Taylor is your suitor."

I didn't know what part to confront first, the word 'suitor', the fact that he assumed I was seeing Taylor or the fact that everyone at court thought we were a couple. I opened my mouth and shut it again, focusing on putting one foot in front of the other.

"You know they had to explain your surprise entrance somehow," he added.

"Taylor's just trying to help me out, especially as the only reason why the royal court knows about me is because of your psycho fiancé," I countered, feeling the need to defend Taylor.

"Yes, that was rather unfortunate," Lucas agreed, not getting bated into an argument.

We crossed the street and headed towards the alleyway, the shortcut which would take us to my flat the quickest.

"So I assume I'm just walking you home?"

"Yes, I have to send off..." My words cut off as my body froze in the wave of magic that rolled towards me.

"What is it?" Lucas had caught the look of fear in my eyes instantly.

"Someone's coming," I whispered.

Lucas hand closed around my wrist, forcing me to move forward. My legs felt like they had been frozen for a minute but now they were flowing forwards on their own, following Lucas down the narrow alleyway. He stopped in front of a small space between two buildings.

"Get in there," he pushed me towards the space, a small sliver of air between the brick buildings.

"Why?" I felt dazed as the waves of magic rolled towards me. I stepped into the space and before I even had a chance to say anything else, Lucas had pushed a large dumpster in front of my face, covering me from view from the alleyway.

"Whatever happens, don't come out," he hissed over his shoulder, stepping out into the middle of the alleyway.

"But I could help," I hissed back.

"It's safer for both of us if no warlock's link us together," he hissed back.

I stayed silent, hunching down behind the dumpster and trying my best to conceal myself as the magic increased in strength with each wave that crashed through my body.

I held my breath as I could hear the footsteps approach, running down the alleyway echoing against the brick walls. Time felt like it had been frozen, my hands tingled as I spotted a glimpse of the ice blue flickers of magic swirling around in Lucas open palm from a small crack between the dumpster and the wall.

"Mathlow," a man's voice billowed out triumphantly.

I clenched hand across my mouth, as I recognised the voice. It was the silver haired man, the first one of Aaron's men that had come after me.

"I see Aaron can't even do his own heir killing?" Lucas observed coolly.

"You should really have thought of something better for your last words," a second voice cut off.

I felt disoriented of where the voice was coming from, it sounded far away and not close to the direction of the silver haired man. Pain suddenly welled through my body and I had to muster all my strength to stay silent. I hunched down lower, trying to see out from underneath the dumpster. I could see Lucas' feet surrounded by a ring of dancing red flames. The pain intensified in my body as the flames rose around Lucas.

"Is that all you've got?" Lucas pushed out as nonchalantly as he could manage through the pain.

"Oh, he still have some fight left in him," the silver haired man chuckled. I could sense the magic swirling around in a circle in his hand, begging to be released. I wanted to shout to Lucas, to warn him about the second assault of magic coming his way. I felt the power of the magic in the metal ball as it flew through the air, bracing myself for its impact.

As the circle broke open on the ground, its pull of power brought Lucas down to his knees with a blood-curdling scream. In horror I saw, how his hands were moving as in slow motion towards the ground, flames of red magic pulling him down. He wasn't prepared for the circles. He didn't anticipate that amount of power in one attack. I held my breath and tried to catch a glimpse of his face through the low crack between the dumpster and the ground. I could barely make out his body through the wall of red flames surrounding him. A coldness unlike anything I had ever felt before spread through my body, as I realised it. They had come to kill him. Aaron wants to eliminate him before the matches...

Author's Note: Hello lovelies. Thank you for being so patient. Now that we're in 2017 - I'll be trying my hardest to go back to regular updates. I hope you liked this chapter, if you did please take the time to vote and maybe leave me a comment to predict what will happen next :) I'll see you call next Thursday <3