17 Yishume nesikhombisa

Still Riley's POV

"Well, that was slightly eventful," Zain said. I rolled my eyes at the unnecessary commentary.

We were still standing in the scorched eye of the forest with an orisha wrapped in literal flames. This was not the time for snarky commentary.

"Nix-Nikola?" I asked cautiously. I was treading lightly – the last thing I needed was to provoke her further. This situation was really bad, but I knew it could escalate even further. Nix's eyes were glued to the brunette behind me. It pained me to admit it, but that ghost was the only thing keeping Nix from blowing up further. I wonder if her so-called girlfriend had ever seen her in this state before; judging from her calm, albeit concerned, expression, she had.

"Nik?" the ghost's called out beside me. It wasn't enough that she had the face as delicate as an Erica blossom, her voice was soothing as well. Bitch.

That caught Nikola's attention. The blazing girl looked down at the pendant and then met her eyes. I suppose this was the cue that the ghost was looking for because she approached Nikola slowly. Once she reached Nix, the flamed had died down and the embracing pair we enwrapped by a cloak of smoke.

Nix was completely bare aside from her fire retardant underwear and chest binder. Yerri! I allowed myself to take in her soot-covered muscles and the womanly curves. If only the phantom wasn't blocking my view, I would be able to appreciate the beauty she had become.

I was taken out of from lust-filled trance by an elbow to my side.

"Stop drooling, princess," Quaahir said. I glared at him. Zain looked bored out of their mind. The sound of soft sobs refocused most of our attention.

"Will you stop mak' in light. We are still in potential enemy territory," Desaley remarked. He was right. This was not the time for ogling or jokes. I felt slightly guilty because I realised that I was completely disregarding that Nix had just lost someone she considered a brother. So much for being there for her.

"What are you doing here, Riley?" the Orisha asked me.

I met her darkened brown eyes. Her pet was still coiled around her arm like a parasite, so I only rolled my eyes before replying.

"To help you obviously," I said. I was trying my best to not free her from the pest's grip.

"Well, you're not helping. You're in the way … as always. So please do me a favour and go home where I don't have to worry about you," she said.

"Saley, please take your princess home," she instructed the warrior. He clenched his jaw – guess he wasn't fond of strangers ordering him around.

"I'm not going anywhere without you!" I said firmly. She only sighed, closing her eyes and pinching the bridge of her nose.

"You still don't get it, do you?" she said bitterly. I clenched my jaw. I knew where this was going.

"This," she said motioning around her.

"This!" she said with more fire in her voice, bringing the ghost's pendant a breath away from my face.

"All of this is your fault!" She finally screamed. Her phantom girlfriend was trying to hold her back, but it was useless.

"I wouldn't need to be here if not for you! I wouldn't have to follow you around like a guard dog or put my family's life in danger if not for YOU! Samuel wouldn't be in danger – possibly DEAD if not for you!" There was no stopping her now.

The ghost wasn't by her side anymore. Everyone else disappeared in the haze her furious words caused. I couldn't move anywhere either – somehow, I had walked myself backwards until I was against a tree truck. I was trapped by the arms of an enraged Orisha looking at me as if I was the personification of everything evil in the universe. Despite wanting nothing more than to cry, I tensed my jaw and allowed her to continue.

"First you let my brother get killed! He was your king and you let him die for YOU! Wasn't that enough for you? That's what you always wanted right? Me all to yourself. But one brother wasn't enough – you had to cost me another one too! Who's next? Melissa? Quaahir? What else do you want from me?" she was screaming at me and it made my throat tight. I could barely breathe or down out the sound of my heart beating in my ears.

I looked down but she got closer to me, grabbing my jaw in her hand and forcing me to meet her black eyes. "He DIED! For YOU! Sam is gone because I was protecting YOU! You took everything from me!"

"he didn't…," I sobbed out.

This caused her to glare at me. At least she wasn't shouting anymore. I couldn't pretend to be strong anymore. Everything I had ever done was to keep the girl in front of me from leaving me –from hating me. I failed at both.

"He didn't … save me," I mumbled out, still crying.

"What the hell are you on about?" she growled. I never wanted her to find out like this. I was trying to protect her in the only way I knew how. "What are you on about, Riley?"

"Maleek… Your brother. He didn't die saving me," I said.

She clenched her jaw, glaring at me.

"He would never save me. He hated me. My dad. He blamed us for everything that happened to your family," I said. She moved away from me, stepping away from the me and allowing me enough space to inhale deeply.

"He found out about us. He felt threatened and it was too much for him…" I whispered the last part. She looked up at me. No flames in her eyes. Her now brown eyes were clouded in doubt and confusion.

"What. Are. You. Trying. To. Say. Riley," she breathed out each syllable slowly. Her fist was clenching and unclenching repeatedly.

"He jumped," I finally said. She just stared at me. For a long while. Then she started laughing. It wasn't menacing but it was devoid of any joy. She looked completely distraught.

"Nik," the ghost interrupted. She tried to touch Nikola, but the older girl refused her comfort.

"He would NEVER leave me willingly. You're lying!" she screamed into my face.

I just looked at her. Silently. She knew I wasn't lying – not anymore. She knew the truth; she just didn't want to admit it to herself.

Maleek had always been jealous of Nix and my bond when we were growing up. The only thing he had was that he would be king one day. As soon as he was of age. But when heard that my father wanted to unite with Nikola, he knew that even that would be taken from him. Everyone would choose us as their new rulers over a kid without an army. An Orisha and the lioness of Mpande – no one would refuse our rule. He was the weak heir and I knew that ate at him.

Knysna is no place for the weak.

"My brother wouldn't leave me," she said. It sounded more like a plea than anything else. I walked towards her and touched her slowly. She looked at me with tears in her gorgeous brown eyes. Despite the heart-breaking reality of the moment I couldn't help but feel relieved. The weight of the lie was finally off my shoulders and for the first time in over SEVEN years, the girl I loved wasn't looking at me with hatred in her eyes. I was crying at this point, but I couldn't help it. It was finally over. I had my Nix back. My heart was bursting at the thought.

I moved to hug her but she stopped me, holding my wrist in a firm grip.

"Don't," she said. I was confused.

"I want to hear the truth – the whole truth," she said. I nodded dumbly. That was fair. I just wanted this to be over.

"First, we are going to find Samuel and I am going to rip whoever hurt my brother to fucking pieces and feed it to the pride," she seethed. Fair enough.

"Just a warning, I'm not up for the group meal," Zain interrupted. We all looked at them and they shrugged.

"What? Do you know how much fat is on a human body – Bear or not," they said with a disgusted expression. Typical Meru.

Quaahir was the first to giggle, fully breaking the tension and walking up to his friend. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and said, "Let's get your brother home, sparky."

This earned the first genuine smile from the Orisha. A small one but it was a start. I had to watch a disgusting kiss between Nix and her pet before we go finally get our joint mission to save her "brother". The sooner we got him home, the sooner I could tell Nikola the whole truth. One step closer to getting her away from that phantom coiled around her heart.