24 Chapter 24

"Okay, this page is talking about what they were like as a child." I was about to continue when Noor interjected into the conversation.

"Love, I don't mean to sound rash… But, as much as this information is nice and all, can we just skip to the part that tells us how to defeat this monster?" I huffed.

"I guess we can, but reading all of this might be valuable later on. Maybe there is something in his past that we can use to catch him off guard." She looked up, throwing what I said around in her head.

"You're right. I'm just impatient. I feel like a clock is running out of time on us defeating this guy." Hannah and Naiomi brought over bowls of some sort of pasta to all of us.

"Thank god! I am starving!" Nina said loudly, then dug into her food like she hadn't eaten in years.

"Umm… Hello…." Nina looked up at me with a mouthful of pasta and some sauce on her face. She gave me a questioning look. "First off, wipe your face; I haven't seen you this messy since you decided to fall asleep into the rice and beans when you were five. Secondly, stop eating like a slob." I paused as she gulped down her food and wiped her face. "Now, tell Hannah and Naiomi thank you." I gestured over to the mated pair sitting across from her.

"Umm… Thank you. It's very delicious." Nina thanked them in a timid voice. She proceeded to eat her food but like a civilized being this time.

"Let's take a break from translating and just relax while we are eating. I don't want to talk about the puppeteer guy while we eat, okay?" Noor reluctantly nodded her head, agreeing to my terms and conditions. I looked around at everyone else, and they nodded their heads as well.

"Amazing. So, Nina, what have all of you been up to since I've been gone?" She looked up at me and was about to talk with a mouthful of food before I gave her a look. She immediately stopped and swallowed her bite of food before continuing.

"Honestly, not that much has changed since you left, besides us moving into that new house." She looked over to Noor now. "I'm sure I have you to thank for that. So, thank you for taking care of not only my sister but the rest of us." Noor waved her off.

"It's no big deal. I'd do anything for your sister and her family. You all are now my family as well." This made me smile big. I'm so happy to hear her say that.

"So, where are you really living?" I looked over at Noor, not knowing if this was something I could answer.

"Another dimension or world, so to say. It's not on Earth; we can leave it at that." She hummed.

"Can I go back with you two?" Again I looked at Noor. I was kind of pleading with my eyes that Nina could come with us. Noor sighed.

"Yes, you can come with us. Only for a little bit, though, okay?" Nina squealed out in happiness. I gave Noor's hand a thankful squeeze and flashed her a big smile.

"So, tell me how you two met?" I scoffed and rolled my eyes. "Oh, this should be a great story." Nina pushed her empty bowl aside and looked at me with her full attention.

"So these two random-ass people showed up at our house, right? Their names are Zelda and Jasper; you'll meet them later. Anyways, they showed up and said that I was claimed and was to go with them to the person who claimed me." I looked over at Noor. "Don't understand how you even knew I was your mate. We've never met before." Before Noor could answer, I turned back to Nina. "Going on… So I'm basically forced to transport to her world; you feel like shit the first time doing it, so be prepared. I'm then put in this weird advanced vehicle that hovers low to the ground and goes hella fast. We get to this fucking huge castle/palace, and my door opens abruptly, making me fall face-first into the ground. Jasper is a dick, just FYI." I rolled my eyes and huffed, remembering that moment and him. "I got up and dusted myself and looked over to find Noor. She didn't say much, just had me follow her into this throne room, she asked for this old-looking man to come over to her, and at first, I thought he was the one that was my supposed soulmate. I shut it down quickly, saying no way was I going to be with him, etc.…. Etc…." I pointed my thumb over in Noor's direction. "And that's when Noor flipped me on the ground and put her heel to my throat and told me I was her soulmate, not the old dude. I was intimidated and extremely relieved at the same time." Nina was dying from laughter, and Hannah had wide eyes.

"That is one hell of a story, sis. That's crazy. I couldn't even imagine being ripped away from our family like you were. So, Noor, back to what my sister was saying, how did you know my sister was your soulmate if you two had never met before?"Everyone's eyes snapped to look at Noor, and I caught Rowan smirking out of the corner of my eye.

"Well… We actually had met before. You don't know who your soulmate is until you meet them." I looked at her, kind of shocked.

"When did we meet?" Rowan let out a stifled laugh. I looked over at her.

"Wait, do you know how we met?" She nodded her head yes.

"Oh yeah. I was there." Noor shot her a look, then looked back at me.

"Do you remember the night you went out with your friends, maybe a week before Zelda and Jasper showed up on your doorstep?" I thought really hard and then all of a sudden I remembered.

"Yes, I remember that. It was a crazy night, a complete blur, to be honest. I was so wasted." I cringed at remembering how sick I was the next morning.

"Well, we actually met at that club. I went to the bar to get Rowan and myself more drinks, and I found the two of you…. Dancing very closely with each other." She looked over at Rowan, who was breaking out into fits of laughter. "If she weren't my sister and anyone else, I would have hurt them severely for dancing with you. I walked over and immediately broke you two apart. Rowan started to argue with me but stopped once I said you were my soulmate." She cleared her throat. "You, however, were a whole different story. First, you cussed me out a little bit and said that I wasn't your woman, so I didn't get to tell you who to and not to dance with. Then you threw up on my feet." I covered my face and cringed.

"Please tell me I didn't really throw up on you." I peeked through my fingers to look at Noor.

"Yes, love. You really did." Rowan and Nina are both laughing now, and I feel embarrassed.

"I am so sorry I did that. Ella was feeding me tequila shots the whole time we were there, and her Leilani and I pre-gamed with half a bottle of tequila before that." Noor smiled at me.

"No need to be sorry. I got to carry you to the bathroom and clean you up. I didn't really pay too much attention to anything besides you. I was more focused on finally finding you and being that close to you." Nina awed at this.

"That's so cute." She looked at me. "Not you; you were a hot mess." She laughed after that with Rowan, and I just glared at both of them.

"Well, I wish I would have remembered the first time I met you, and I definitely wish I wouldn't have thrown up on you." She leaned over and kissed the side of my head.

"If going through all that was the only way I got to meet you, I would do it over a million times. Nothing will compare to the first time I looked into your eyes." She looked into my eyes intensely. I could feel the love pulse from her heart directly to me.

"I love you," I said with a smile.

"I love you too." She returned my smile. At that moment, it felt like it was just us but that soon melted away by someone clearing their voice.

"Okay, guys, time to reel it in. Too much lovey-dovey shit going on right now." I laughed a little at Nina.

"Just wait till you meet your person, then you'll understand." She sighed out, and a flash of sadness briefly passed through her eyes.

"Can humans even meet their soulmates if they are another human?" She questioned not to anyone in particular.

"Yes, humans can. It's just a little harder for them to tell." Nina sighed out after Noor's comment.

"So, how will I know?" I looked at Noor, and she shrugged her shoulders a bit.

"I can actually help you with that, okay? I'll make you a crystal necklace that will glow when you meet them." Nina's eyes grew wide at Hannah's comment.

"You can do that?" Hannah nodded her head with an amused smile.

"Yeah. I am a witch; I can pretty much do anything." Hannah said this in a little bit of a cocky tone.

"That would be amazing. Thank you so much!" She clapped her hands excitedly. "When will you do it?" Hannah stood up and walked over to her bag, and pulled out a smaller bag that looked like it was made out of velvet. She brought it over to Nina. "Pick out a crystal you want, and I'll make you the necklace right now." Nina opened the bag and gently pulled it out, and placed each crystal onto the table. She looked between all of them before finally deciding on one.

"I want this one." Hannah smiled.

"Good choice. Rose quartz definitely radiates a lot of love." Nina smiled at this and put the crystals gently into the small velvet-looking bag. Hannah brought them back over to her purse. Next, she brought out a necklace with a place on it that looked like it was specifically to hold crystals. She mumbled a few things under her breath, and soon the crystal started glowing. Once the glowing stopped, she brought it over to Nina.

"Here you go. I hope you get to find them soon. It's an amazing feeling." Hannah smiled and looked over to Naiomi when she said this. They both have definitely come a long way. I'm happy for them. Naiomi isn't such an insufferable bitch after all.

We were all brought out of the moment when we all heard a crash and some screams coming from outside the doorway. I looked over to Noor in a panic.

"Something doesn't feel right," I said in a whisper. My stomach was churning. We all jumped once the doors to the room flew open.

"Everyone needs to get out now! We are under attack by these weird-looking shadow beings." We all sprung out of our chairs.

"Grab the book!" I picked up the book and started racing towards the door. I was just behind Noor when I felt something tripped me. I crashed to the ground with a painful grunt. I turned over, and what I saw left me speechless.

"I'm sorry, my little one. I can't stop what I'm about to do." Within a blink of an eye, my dad was rushing towards me. I wanted to lift up my hand and shoot him with whatever blinding light came out of my hands, but I was afraid that it would kill him for good. I didn't want to ruin the chance of possibly setting him free and saving him. My dad hesitated for a second, and that's when I looked around me to see everyone behind me ready to take my dad down.

"Noor, don't." She looked at me like I was crazy. "That's my dad," I said in a sad voice. Nina gasped out once she realized I was right. You could still tell it was him even though he was starting to look more like a shadow. His voice, though, was the dead giveaway.

"He isn't in control, Lareina. It doesn't matter if you're his daughter or not; he won't hesitate to kill you or anyone you love for that matter." My dad started to rush towards us again, and I put up my hand, aiming it towards his foot. The light shot out, and he soon fell to the ground in pain. We all took that moment to make a run for it.

"Get her. She has the book!" I heard my father's voice shout out from behind me. I took this moment and tore out the last few pages that we hadn't gotten to yet. I stuffed them into my pocket and threw the book behind me.

"What the hell are you doing?" Rowan shouted at me like I was crazy. She turned to head back for the book, but Noor and I grabbed onto her dragging her out of the building. We hurried into the SUV and took off.

"What the fuck were you thinking, Lareina! That was our only way of finding out how to stop them!" I took a deep breath as I held up the pages.

"Don't worry. I ripped out the ones we haven't read yet." Rowan let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank god." She leaned back into her seat, catching her own breath.

"Where are we going?" Noor looked at me through the rearview mirror. She only said one word.

"Home."