Hannah sighs. "I shouldn't have told you."

"No, you really shouldn't have." Reid answers her angry glare with a playful wink.

The telltale stomps of Kane's heavy footsteps seem to echo in the small space. "What the hell are you two doing back here for so long?"

Hannah peeks meekly past Reid, who shifts so his back is flush with the bookshelf and he's no longer blocking the small space. Kane takes up most of the area between the two shelves with his wide shoulders. He's pissed.

She tries to take control quickly, keenly aware of Reid's mischievous grin and what that means. "Oh, um, reading."

"Reading?" Kane says it carefully, as if it were spoken in a foreign language. His green eyes narrow in disbelief, darting between her and Reid as if their faces would give away the truth if glared at hard enough. "Reid, I told you to check on her."

Reid laughs at Kane's glare. "I did, and we weren't reading. She's lying."

"What the hell?" Hannah gasps. "You traitor!" Her fingers twitch with the impulse to give Reid a good smack on the arm. He's only saved from her wrath because he's still nursing fading bruises.

Kane growls, "If you're trying to get out of doing work again, I'm going to kick your ass. You too, Hannah."

Hannah snorts.

"We..." Reid holds her gaze, amusement dancing behind his blue eyes, before he turns to Kane and says calmly, "We were kissing." Reid smiles smugly as if he's happy with his lie when Hannah is so humiliated she could melt into the floor and become one with the wood planks.

"What?" Kane says with an audible crack of shock in his voice. He takes in Hannah's state, her mussed hair, and the tin strap of her dress that's fallen down her shoulder, which she never bothered fixing. She fixes it now, but it's too late, and the quickness only makes her look guiltier.

Reid flutters his lashes at Kane sweetly. "Does it bother you?"

"No," Kane grumbles. The dark t-shirt he's wearing makes the green of his eyes brighter, and when they flash for a fleeting moment with magic, it would be impossible to miss even when he tapers it down instantly.

Reid tilts his head, his blue eyes regarding Kane's form and lingering on his clenched fist. Hannah can't help but see the intensity of the act as unnervingly predatory. It shudders her all the same.

After a tense moment of strange silence, Reid laughs sharply. "I was just kidding! Hannah was reading. I was bothering her."

Hannah looks at Reid, confused. She has a pang of true surprise fluttering in her chest. She's been ready for him to tell Kane she'd been on the floor, acting strangely, as Reid put it. Why didn't he give her away?

Kane crosses his arms over his chest, but he looks less intimidating when he flattens his palms and conceals them beneath his biceps. It's a weird gesture. "Fuckin'..." He swallows, and his voice is hoarse. "Stop it and go do something useful."

Hannah's not sure what they're talking about anymore. She remains silent, feeling as if she missed something important. Reid drapes an arm over her shoulder. He has the lingering smell of incense sticking to his clothing and the nice scent of citrusy soap clinging to his skin. It's not hard to lean into Reid's touch.

"You've gotten so protective over Hannah after only a week. She's like our sister now, huh? That's so sweet."

Kane looks stricken. "No..."

"No?" Hannah says with a dramatic gasp. "I've always thought of you as my long-lost brother."

Reid bursts into laughter, the sound so close to her ear that she can hear the breathless infliction of his voice. It makes her smile widely.

Kane's shoulders slump. "You know, don't you?"

"Know what?" Reid croons. His arm slips from Hannah's shoulders as he slowly nears Kane, despite the very angry glare he's receiving and the damning lack of a reply. "Kenneth. I'm your best friend. Aren't I? Why didn't you tell me you kissed Hannah?"

Kane snorts. "We're not teenagers anymore, you weirdo."

"I'd tell you!" Reid reaches Kane, and Hannah catches a glimpse of Reid's profile as he slides flush into the space left between Kane's shoulder and the bookcase, as if Reid's debating going to the front of the store but chooses to linger closely. He's not smiling, not in the slightest; an angry look Hannah's not familiar with is gracing his bruised face.

Kane blinks at her, and she gives him a small smile that has her heart hastening. He inhales with clear exasperation, looks at the ceiling, and says, softer than she thought he was capable, "I never asked you to tell me about that shit."

"But, I do..." Reid says with a slight tip to his chin as Kane pins him with a fiery glare. He smiles crookedly. "Because we're friends."

Kane growls, "God. Don't start this; just shut up about it.

"No. I don't think I will." Reid doesn't back down as Kane slowly turns with a dangerous look and fully faces him, his taller stature looming in the small space. Reid moves closer with a foolish grin.

Hannah is beginning to feel as if she's intruding; neither of them is paying much attention to her. She averts her gaze to the books lining the shelf at her eye level and runs her finger along the soft leather of a grey tome's spine.

Kane's angry voice even shivers her with residual trepidation: "I don't care that you're limping. So don't push me."

"You always say that but never actually follow through."

Hannah looks up sharply. She takes in the pair's closeness, Reid smiling up at a glaring Kane with blue eyes alight, and it's as if he really, really wants to be punched because his hand is fisted in the front of Kane's shirt.

"Fucking..." Kane straightens to his full, towering height. "I will shut you up."

Reid laughs with an edge of nervousness. His smile remains. "Oh yeah? Try it."

"I will."

"All talk!"

It's impressive how quickly Kane has a hand on the back of Reid's head, forcing the other to bow. He walks them a few feet from the opening of the bookstacks. Kane has Reid in a headlock before the other can even fully let out the breathy laugh escaping his lips.

Reid's smile falters as Kane ruffles his hair with the sole intent of making the blonde locks a mess. And Reid tries to escape the grapple, albeit weakly, by grabbing at the forearm around his neck.

Hannah snorts a laugh, and her foot bumps the book she'd left on the floor. She dusts off the brown cover.

"I yield!" Reid's voice takes on a desperate edge. "Come on, Kenneth. Let go."

"You sure?" Kane jeers cruelly, "I'm giving you my full attention. Isn't that what you want so badly?"

Reid laughs, his body losing its tension. "The attention is nice."

Kane groans, "You're so fucking weird."

Hannah stuffs the fallen book back into the empty space it'd left on the bookshelf. It's so tightly packed that doing so nudges another out of place, and it teeters precariously on the edge. She moves to grab it, but her attention is diverted by the high-pitched, indignant noise Kane lets loose.

Reid's free, standing a ways away from the shelves with a victorious smirk. His face is red, and his hair is a mess. He's no longer being held by Kane; the latter is leaning heavily against the bookshelf while nursing a flushed face and an expression of pure, unadulterated shock.

The book falls to the floor with a loud thud.

"What happened?" Hannah asks with a small laugh.

Kane chokes, "He pinched me!"

Reid rocks back on his heels with a wide smile. "Ha! Didn't see that coming, huh?" He places his hands on his hips. "Kenneth, in your line of work, you should be ready for anything. Pathetic, really."

Hannah puts the pieces together quickly. Reid must have pinched Kane somewhere vulnerable. It's the only explanation for why Kane's expression darkens and he turns on Reid with all the fury of an angry grizzly.

Reid's eyes widen. "You can't kill me. Hannah's watching!" He tries to flee; even Reid values his life, but it's too late because, in mere moments, Kane has his biceps underneath Reid's armpits and his fingers laced against the back of Reid's head, completely immobilising him.

Yet, despite it all, Reid laughs and smiles. He seems concerningly delighted to be under the ire of Kane's bullying.

"I don't need to tell you shit," Kane says in an angry growl. The position must be painful because Reid's head tips forward, grimacing under the pressure of Kane's hands. "Stop being irritating."

"Okay," Reid says with a choked laugh.

Hannah tries halfheartedly, "Kane."

They ignore her and continue to bicker. She rolls her eyes and bends down to pick up the book that she'd let fall while watching the scuffle. It must have fallen on its spine because it's open to a random page.

"Oh shit," Hannah says aloud. She looks away from the open page and up at the pair with a burn of legitimate unease in her heart.

Kane blinks down at the page with pinched brows. His face is tipped to the side to evade Reid's frozen fingers, which had been either slapping at Kane's cheek or trying to poke at his mouth. "What the hell? How did you..."

Hannah shakes her head. "I didn't do anything."

Reid's staring down at the open book, and he's no longer smiling. Looking pale and shaken.

On the page. The very same symbol that they'd taken to calling death. But that's not what leaves her heart bounding against her chest achingly. It's the scrawled title on the handwritten parchment: resurrection.

The bathroom faucet gives a constant, rhythmic drip of water against the porcelain clawfoot tub. The outdated white tile, floral wallpaper, and thick white curtains covering the window in the corner have character. With her feet drawn beneath her and her back propped against the ivory vanity, the draftiness of the room becomes apparent. She shivers.

With a hand clutching the stone pendant at her neck, she whispers, "Val." Her voice echoes against the tile, but fortunately, the farmhouse has two bathrooms, and she's hidden herself upstairs, away from nosy ears and prying eyes.

Nothing. The drip of water is quickly becoming grating.

Hannah sits forward, shuffling on her knees, cold against her bare legs. She leans over the tub and tightens the faucet. The water stops after she wrenches the hot water lever. The pipes hidden in the walls creak and groan.

And there's a featherlight touch on her shoulder.

She gasps in startlement and twists her body on instinct to defend herself from the quiet threat. Her sock-covered feet slide against the smooth tile, and her back hits the porcelain of the tub hard. Taking in the familiar, disgusted expression looking down at her as if she were a bug under his shoe, her bounding heart hastens.

The necklace had fallen over her shirt, so she'd not felt the warmth. Now, as she clutches the stone pendant, it's a balm against her cold skin. Hannah uses the edge of the tub to stand. "Asshole! Are you trying to kill me?"

Valrus leans against the vanity and looks in the mirror. "Your lack of awareness is worrying." He has no reflection. Raising a finger, he pokes at the mirror, and it's chilling to see only herself where Valrus should be standing. The shake in his hand as he lays his full palm against the cold surface is even more unnerving.

Hannah swallows a lump in her throat. "Val?"

Body turning sharply, his silver eyes pin her, the intensity of his gaze causing her entire body to tense in anticipation of a fight. "Why are you calling for me? To help you bathe? I think even you can figure that out on your own."

"I found your spell."

Silence. The room grows colder. Her heart beats faster.

Then suddenly, Valrus is moving towards her and grasping her arms in a grip hard enough to hurt. "Where is it? Do you have it?"

Without waiting for her answer, Valrus begins looking her over. He must be really desperate because she's forced to squirm away from his touch as fingers delve into the pockets of her jean shorts. He lets her go.

Hannah puts some space between them, and Valrus's gaze hunts her tensely, clearly wanting to keep her within reach. "Calm down. It's right here."

With eyes on her back, she grabs her backpack from the floor by the door, unzips it, and riffles through its contents.

The book isn't even fully out before Valrus is hurrying over it and snatching it from her grasp. "Hey! You don't even know what page it is."

Valrus ignores her and begins pacing, flipping through the pages and skimming them with frankly inhuman speed. In less than a minute, the book falls to the page she'd seen in the shop.

The symbol of death

Hannah feels a pang of nervousness settle in her gut. She'd been so excited to finally find his damn spell that she hadn't thought it might not even be the one he was searching for. She clears her throat. "Resurrection. That's what you've been looking for, right?"

Not looking away from the page, Valrus murmurs, "Maybe."

"Maybe?"

Valrus looks at her then. For a fleeting second, his eyes look warmer and younger, and then there's coldness icing his silvery gaze once again. "This spell is for resurrection, yes, but it's dark magic."

Hannah's throat closes. She doesn't like the sound of that. "Dark magic?"

"Yes. Forbidden magic. It's not what you fear. Some dark magic is fine, but too much and you'll smear your soul." Valrus runs his finger over the page. Gaze lowering to skim the inky words. "It's meant to bring back someone dead. And I am not dead."

Hannah sighs heavily. "So it won't work?"

Valrus frowns at her. "No. No. It could..." He swallows. "But you'd need to sacrifice many for this symbol. And I don't think you have the stomach, do you?"

Hannah's anger surges. She grits, "I'm not killing anyone. I told you that already."

"Very moral of you," Valrus scoffs. He closes the book with a loud thud. "Well, this spell takes pain and suffering to invoke." He outstretches the tome for her. "If you change your mind, it's always an option.

Hannah takes the closed book with widening eyes. "Whoever's killing is trying to invoke this spell. For years. Why?"

Valrus slips into her space. His presence is overwhelming. "It takes many to be killed in its name, and if someone is already completing the steps needed..." Warm breath against her cheek. "They're doing our work for us."

It's despicable, the thought of using the innocents who've been brutalised for her own gain, but they're gone. There's no saving them, and she needs to use their deaths for this spell, or her life is forfeit.

"Okay," Hannah says, her lower back digging into the edge of the vanity. This close, she can see the specks of darker silver in Valrus's irises. "I'll find whoever it is and finish the spell." She tries to resist the twist in her stomach at the utter look of reverence Valrus gives her, eyes roaming her face, leaving ghosting caresses, but she can't ignore it, yearning for it. Her voice is breathy. "They've got to be close by now."

Valrus smiles darkly. "If they've been killing for years, then they will be."

Hannah could kiss him like she's tempted; his lips are so close, his body bowed towards her. "I'll do this—dark magic, whatever—I don't care, but answer me one thing."

Valrus touches her hair. "Ask me."

Hannah's lashes flutter as his blunt fingernails run over her scalp, behind her ear, and down the side of her neck. "What's Kane been protecting from?"

Valrus's fingers tangle in her hair. "I told you what happens if you give into dark magic. You'll smear your soul." He nips at her ear, and his tongue running down the side of her neck has her melting into his embrace.

"Not..." The tongue tracing her ear weakens her knees. She gasps faintly, "Not an answer."

Valrus laughs softly. "Come, Hannah. Do I really need to say it? Your mage has been protecting from evil."

Heart thudding, she pulls her head sharply away from him. She's caught between the vanity and his body. With a tip of his chin and a dark smile, she's lost in the confidence behind his eyes. Evil—he'd laugh at the moniker. He is laughing.

"Are you?" Her fingers gasp at the soft material of his shirt. She hasn't decided whether to push him away or pull him closer.

Valrus smiles wider. "Hm..." He leans closer, his wicked lips hovering near hers. "Am I?"

Hannah doesn't even need to mull it over. "Of course you are."

When she surges forward, kissing him ravenously, he returns her enthusiasm with his own. He shoves her against the vanity, holding her close, and as they fall into each other, nothing matters. If he really is evil, then she's worse for wanting him so badly.

And even worse, she doesn't care.