The Fugitive - Chapter 140

For a singular second, Esme wondered if she had made the correct decision or if she had sealed a doomed fate by agreeing to another deal with this hybrid. Einar clasped his hands together, and he leaned back in his leather chair, looking incredibly happy with himself, a small smile tugging at his lips. His eyes shone for a moment, and Esme found she could not look away from those beautiful orbs of his. The light blue contrasted beautifully with the other eye of green and burnt orange; if he wasn’t so mysterious, Esme imagined he would have a line of admirers.

“That is what probably lures girls in.. his mysterious nature.. Kind of like the whole bad boy vibe girls go for..” Isana muttered nonchalantly, tutting.

“Excellent!” Einar grinned more broadly, and his eyes stopped glowing, making her wonder if he cast some sort of spell.

“Nyx!” Marcus grabbed her roughly by the arm and turned her to face him.

“Did you seriously just agree to this? He hasn’t told you anything about the job and is acting all..” He looked at Einar. “Weird. I thought you knew better than to agree to something without knowing the damn terms and conditions!”

There certainly wasn’t a contract between them, only a deal made from word of mouth. But Esme had a sneaky suspicion that Einar had resolved this with a spell, and she could not back down now. Where else could she take Brody? He was in a state that was too fragile to be around humans right now, and she was neither in the position to take care of him with so much happening going on in her life.

Esme’s brows rose at Marcus’ reaction, but she recomposed herself and placed her hand on top of his, removing his hold on her, tutting as she did so. “So far, Einar has been reliable,” She replied, moving her gaze away from her friend’s face and to Einar’s, who looked like ‘the cat that got the cream’. The saying was very apt for him.

“Nyx-”

Esme flicked a hardened gaze back at Marcus, and his lips sealed instantly. She turned back to Einar, taking each step slowly, her hands behind her back as she looked at him sweetly. “You see, I trust him to make the right decision when it concerns me.” She sat down on the side of the desk, leaning her hand back and tilting her head to the side with a sardonic smile. “Because our Einar here seems to know everything..”

Esme leaned towards him, one hand now going on the armrest, and the other gripped his chin by her thumb and index finger. “And if he knows me well..” Her fingernails grew into claws, the remaining fingers below his neck almost cutting into his skin. Einar swallowed, making his Adam’s apple bobble slightly. “He knows..” She leaned closer and let her eyes materialise into her wolf’s glowing amber hues. “What happens to those who betray me..” She searched his eyes; they were slightly wide but were not fearful like she hoped. “And I’m pretty certain.. Einar also knows who my mate is.. And we wouldn’t want to get on the bad side of him now either.”

Einar grinned, ignoring the slight scratch on his chin from the small facial movement. Esme pulled her claws back in, so she only held him in place by her thumb and finger still. “My dear.. I would not intentionally harm you-”

“You have a way with words and a certain charm about you, Einar.. But like a feral cat, people don’t seem to trust your hidden claws much.. Maybe you should work on that,” She suggested, interrupting his commentary and releasing his face.

“I will take that into consideration. Now, may I speak?” He asked, still rather confidently. It was strange for someone to act in such a way considering she’d just threatened him. But the only other person to be so confident was Gabriel, and he has good reason to.

So did that make Einar incredibly powerful? From the little details she picked up, she already knew that he wasn’t your average warlock. He creates spells without reciting the words and merely snaps his fingers or waves his hands instead.

Esme hopped off the desk, landing lightly on her bare feet and waved her hand nonchalantly before glancing at Marcus and Brody. She heard Einar click his fingers, and she turned her head to look at him. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, so what did he do?

Einar stood and smirked at her before he turned his back and started running his gloved finger across his books on the bookshelf. “There is nothing I do without reason, my dear Nyx.” His finger stopped on one of the black leatherbacks, and he looked at her playfully. “I have powers others can only dream of having.. but with these powers, as the cliché quote goes.. comes with great responsibility. However,” He pointed his finger up, smiling at her. “It is true.”

The warlock-shapeshifter clicked his fingers again, but like before, Esme didn’t see anything, not even sparks coming from his fingers. She frowned, then caught his arrogant smile before his eyes flicked behind her. Esme instantly turned around to find Marcus and Brody sitting on the couch staring into space, not moving.

“What did you do to them..” Esme trailed off as she watched the light from the window filter through, revealing the dust particles in the room; they weren’t moving. The clock on the bookcase was no longer ticking, and all the background noise from the Hub had quietened. She looked at Einar, annoyed by the amusement in his eyes, then marched towards the window, looking down at the floor below.

Nobody was moving. It was like the world around them had paused.

“Did you.. stop time?” She whispered in awe, spinning around to face him.

Einar smiled and turned back to the book his finger had stopped on and pulled it out before elegantly sitting down on the opposite couch to Marcus and Brody, his ankle over his knee, his arms spread wide with the book in his lap. “I have not quite mastered completely stopping time, but as you can see.. I am tremendously close.” He brought his thumb and index finger close together to prove his point.

Esme slowly walked towards him, her eyes flicking back to Marcus, who still sat there staring ahead. It was quite eery and unnatural. “Why did you stop time?” She asked while grabbing one of the chairs at the table and dragging it back to her spot in between Einar and the werewolves. She flipped it around and leaned her arms on its back as she sat down wide-legged.

“It is still running but at point zero zero zero zero.. I could go on.. But less than a second,” Einar announced. “And it was so I could speak to only you.. You trust me and the others do not, and I’d rather say what I have to say without any more interruptions.”

Esme didn’t know if that just made him more suspicious or not.

He brought his hand down to rest on top of the leather book, his eyes focused on it for a while before meeting Esme’s gaze. “I have the power of sight.. like your seers in the werewolf community, I can see parts of the future and also the past. But unlike seers, I can see more clearly and do not speak in riddles. Though like them, I can only guide whoever I see..”

“Telling people their future never ends well,” He murmured quietly to himself.

“I feel like you are speaking in riddles already..” Esme muttered, rubbing her temples before resting her arms on the back of the chair again, her chin on her arms. Einar gave her a look, and she sighed, “Go on..”

“Ha, I just wanted to boast about how powerful I was really.. stopping time, seeing the past and future.. among many other talents,” He winked, and she continued to stare at him unimpressed.

“You haven’t mastered time yet, so you should humble yourself more, Einar,” She replied with a tilt of the head.

Einar chuckled and tapped his fingers against the leather book as he became serious. “This request.. It will work in your favour in the end.. I know you will do what is right when the time comes.”