The digital clock read eight-thirty. The clothes were a perfect fit and the material was wonderful. No wonder I once heard Kaamini say that once people tried clothes from this brand, they would never choose another.

I left the room to see Alhena and Tejat on the couch and Sahara dozing off on Tejat's lap. Monisha winced and glared at the IV as if it was the bane of her existence.

"What happened?" I asked.

Sahara stirred, and Tejat hushed her, and she fell right back to her sleep.

Alhena grinned at Monisha. "The nurse came in to give her a dose of antibiotic. This drug stings a little."

"A little?" Monisha hissed. "I want to pull my vein out."

I smiled. "How long must she be here?"

Alhena said, "They will give the last dose tonight. After that, Monisha is free to go. But Prakriti... I am not sure. The doctors do not know why she is not awake. The wounds... as much as they look frightening, they are superficial. No artery or anything was broken. The chief doctor who came this morning suspects that... that she is rejecting her mate bond subconsciously and hence, she is not awake."

"And Anita is there with her?" I asked.

Alhena nodded. "She won't allow anyone inside."

"Even you?"

"I can enter," Alhena said. "But I would intrude. It's not my place to advise them. Anita made a mistake, and this is the price she paid. She regrets after she has gone too far."

They had removed the ECG electrode from Monisha's body. Just a saline drip was going on.

"That witch... Lillian," Monisha started. "And Jair told me that Anita had 'claimed' Kriti."

Alhena winced. "Not completely claimed. Prakriti does not have her mate's mark. It's... more like a bold statement. Saying that I have my intentions on her as my mate and I am wooing her."

"She does not have any rights," Monisha whispered. "Anita lost it when she broke her heart."

Alhena looked at the couple, one who was sleeping peacefully and the other stroking her hair tenderly. "Perhaps that's why Prakriti has not woken up. Still, it's a bond between them."

Monisha nodded and was lost in her thoughts.

"Well then, Alhena, can you tell me where the canteen is?" I asked. "I need coffee."

"I'll come with you?" she asked.

I shook my head. "I can manage. Both of you are here. If anything happens, I think you will rush in immediately."

"You're right. The canteen is on the second floor."

I left the room and Alhena went back to scrolling her phone and Tejat closed his eyes as if he too was resting.

Whistling, I walked down the corridor. I had been on the VIP floor, where it was quiet. Only two rooms were occupied, one by Moni and the other by Kriti.

I wanted to enter Kriti's room to check how she was doing, but I held myself back. Anita was sitting next to Kriti, holding her hand, and watching her. She did not say anything, but her eyes told me everything. Why had she pushed Kriti away in the first place? And why want her now? I would talk to them, but only when Kriti was awake. It would do no good to talk to Anita alone.

When I came to the common floors, I realised how famous this hospital was. There were simply too many people on this floor and from the elevator I just took, I knew I was currently on the eighth floor and this was just the seventh floor. I did not need to think about the ground floor which had the emergency department.

The canteen was on the second floor and just as the elevator door was about to close; I saw someone familiar. Very familiar.

Blinking, I rushed out. He took a turn and disappeared. Pushing past others, I saw him entering a room.

Who was he and why was he familiar?

My head began to hurt again. Would I collapse again? What would be the excuse now? I sat on the chair outside the room and held my head in my hands.

Then it came crashing to me. What happened that day, before I was out for four days. How I had effortlessly killed Magycs as if they were level one monsters against a player in level hundred.

That had been me. I felt those Magyc were cute when they tried to kill me. That Aaruhi, that strongest witch Dharv told me, was killed in seconds. I had painted that office in blood and Gem had taken care of it.

Even when Gem told me that I had taken a group of Magycs on myself, I had thought that that the most I would have beaten them up. Never did I realise that I had killed them, erasing them from this world.

But I remembered this Sparsh, a male witch born after so long. Chandra forgave him. I frowned. This Chandra... was she Surva's daughter?

When that pressure in my head subsided and my vision cleared, I knocked on the door through which Sparsh entered.

The door opened, and the boy just stared at me. He was about to shut the door close, but I held my hand and forced it open. I tried to smile kindly at him, but I knew how I must look like.

He took a few steps back and tried to hide the patient with his thin body. "W-what are you doing here?"

Next to the patient was another male. He had a Mohawk with a scar on the left side of his face from his ear lobule to the corner of his eye. And his eyes were menacing, like a wolf staring at a tiny herbivore that wandered into its territory.

Something told me that this guy was a shifter. Not a werewolf, but a shifter. I sensed the same raw power that I felt with Miguel before. I had seen a few werewolves in that house, but there was a subtle difference between shifters and werewolves. And this one before me was definitely a shifter.

But the patient, I could not tell. I felt a vague connection with him, but I could not point where that connection began. He was young, yet I sensed a caged beast. His hazel eyes flashed and it was sharper than a new blade. And his grey hair covered his forehead.

I looked at Sparsh. "I am sorry for what happened that day."

He blinked at me. "Are you for real?"

"Yes," I said. "That day... I don't know what happened to me, okay?"

He blinked. "You found out that I was a witch. And you were a human one second and the next, you killed everyone. What are you?"

I cleared my throat. "I wish I knew."

The one on the bed frowned. "She... she is Summer Tribe's next Zayin?"

Sparsh sighed. "Not the next Zayin. The rumours were all over. How the current Zayin killed her elder sister to take the title? Yeah, that elder sister's granddaughter is her."

The guy with Mohawk said, "That makes her the next Zayin."

Sparsh winced. "Yeah... it's not that easy, Talon. Zayin Priscilla has a younger brother and he has two children. Lucy Lynch is currently being trained to be the next Zayin."

Talon then frowned. "Why are we being friendly to her?"

Sparsh blinked. "Exactly. Why am I friendly to you?"

I said, "Should you not know that?"

He nodded seriously and then told his friends. "Perhaps I am afraid of being beaten by her."

Talon smirked. "With Lupus here... you're afraid that she will kill you?"

Was it the other boy's name? But before Lupus or I could say anything, Sparsh shook his head. "You have no idea, Talon. I saw her kill Dharv in one move. Aaruhi was nothing in front of her. And my curses... it never worked on her."

"I have a feeling that you are putting me on a high pedestal," I commented, but they ignored me.

"Your curse did not work on her?" Talon asked and looked at me for a long time. "Who are you?"

I threw my hands up. "I am just a human-"

"You don't need to lie," Sparsh said dryly. "You're a witch."

I smiled at him. "It's complicated."

"Then uncomplicate it," he snapped. "Look, for whatever you are here, you are in the wrong place-"

"Am I?" I asked. "Whatever reason you were there that day, it was not to harm me."

Sparsh blinked and shared a look with that shifter. "You're wrong. You killed my boyfriend-"

"Cut the crap," I said, taking a seat I was not offered. "As much as Chandra was the reason I spared you, that was not the only reason. Chandra never teaches witches personally, and yet here you are."

I was bluffing. From what memories had returned, I knew that Chandra had taught him personally. That was all I knew. From that and from the information Gem gave me, I tried to piece a story befitting me.

I did not have to be here. Whatever happened to this guy was not my problem. Expect, he was the one of the three who was alive after that day and if I wanted some information, it would be better to look for the guy in front of me than of the two people whom I did not know where they were.

"And you said you were not a witch," he said.

I shrugged. "I am not. Not a witch yet."

"Yet," Lupus muttered. "That's reassuring."

Sparsh slumped on the chair tiredly. "What do you want?"

"Who sent you that day?" I asked.

"Zayin Priscilla," he said. "We told you that day."

"Zayin Priscilla knows that I am alive for twenty-eight years," I said. "And she had never bothered about it. She is the reason why my magic is suppressed. Why would she want to kill me now?"

Sparsh's jaw fell open. "S-she knew you were alive all this time?"

I nodded. "Yes. She does. She... she just never expected me to know my heritage and come here. That's all."

He frowned. "No, Zayin Priscilla was the one who gave the order. She wanted you to die. She even wanted to hire the best assassin, but he did not take the order. Hence, Samantha, my Zayin's sister took the order."

"Why wait for twenty-eight years then?" I whispered to myself.

She could have made a move when I was a weak human suffering in that household. She could have killed me as a baby. Hasseleh had said something to change her mind then. What changed hers now?

Talon frowned. "Is it because she wants to give the title?"

"Give the title?" I asked. "What do you mean by that?"

Sparsh's eyes widened and plopped on the chair next to Lupus. "Before the Royal family was assassinated two years ago, the Monarch would choose the next leader of the Great and Lesser tribes. And now that the Monarch is no longer there, the next in line is being chosen by the Elder council in the community. Zayin Priscilla wants to name Lucy as her heir and give her the title by the end of this year. This is the rumour circulating in Summer Tribe."

"What has this to do with me?" I asked.

Sparsh gave me a pitying look. "As much as you don't want to admit it, you are Ihitha Nayak's granddaughter and you have claim to that title more than Lucy does. And there are people in the tribe who still think that you should be the next Zayin. One Elder, Elder Varin sent a group to retrieve you back after he learnt that Ihitha's descendants were not all dead. That group never returned and after that... Zayin Priscilla gave the order to kill you."

"I threaten her interest?" I asked.

Sparsh shrugged. "I guess so. If not, why would she send people to kill you after so long? She had already suppressed your magic to the point where even I believed that you were a mere human when I first met you. She could have just allowed you to remain a human for the rest of your life."

I looked at him and then at the other two males. "Are you from Summer Tribe?"

Spash's indifference cracked. "By Moon's Realm! No! I do not belong to that Tribe."

Talon said, "I am a rogue. I don't have a pack. I certainly don't belong in Tribe."

Lupus coughed lightly. "I am a sponsored fighter. I... I can't belong anywhere."

"Who sponsors you?" I asked. I had never met a fighter.

"Anyone can," he said. "You can talk to my manager and you too can be my sponsor. But currently, my major sponsor is Torre."

I looked at Sparsh again. "Which tribe do you belong in?"

He gave me a long look. "Does not matter."

"Why not?" I pressed.

"Because-"

"Sparsh?" Talon interrupted. "I think you have an opportunity to wreck Summer Tribe. Why don't you take it?"

Sparsh frowned for a minute and then looked at me. "Her?"

"Wreck?" I asked. "I don't like the sound of that..."

The guys ignored me again. Talon said, "You hate Zayin Priscilla, she hates Zayin Priscilla. Everyone hates Zayin Priscilla. Everyone can plan to wreck her idea. Take her to the council and Elder Varin will fight back."

"Back up!" I held my hands up. "No. No, no, no, no. You will not use me as your pawn. I just came here to make sure that it was Priscilla who sent that group after me. That's all."

"And if she did?" Talon asked.

"I would kill her," I said, looking into his eyes. I was not a killer. Life was precious to me. Especially after I tried to jump down that bridge and Gem saved me. But the thing was... I had killed. I had killed that group of people without a hint of remorse. I could justify by saying that I was doing that to protect myself, but to who was I going to lie? I could have knocked them out cold and saved myself. No, that day, I wanted their blood to cover the blood they had split. I wanted their life. And after knowing that Ranji had killed my parents, I was torn. And I wanted her life too. I had killed before. What difference was this going to make? "What else?"

Talon frowned. "And how are you going to achieve that?"

I shrugged. "I guess, I have to find a powerful witch to remove the seal I have on my body. And then, Gem told me he would help me."

"Gem?" Sparsh asked. "The owner of Light?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Gem. Him."

"Castor's Light?" Talon gasped and his eyes shone.

I shook my head. Did they not know? "Gem's Light. Castor works for him. He is a shareholder... they all work together."

Talon's jaws dropped. "There were some rumours about Castor's boss. That he is a Warrior?"

Lupus sat up straight and looked at me earnestly. Why was this boy so... pure? I wanted to mess up his hair.

Then it clicked. "He did say that he was the Third Warrior, representing Chandra. Yeah, he said he was a warlock too."

The three stared at me. Should I not have said that? I blinked back at them.

"Did I tell something wrong?" I asked.

Talon gave me a weird look. "You have... the Third Warrior at your call and you want to find a powerful witch to remove your seal? Do you know how powerful he is?"

I licked my lips and gave them a smile. "That's the problem, you see. He can't remove my seal. Or anyone related to him for that matter. Why do you think I still have the seal? As for him being powerful, he never told me."

"Never?" Sparsh spluttered. "Of course, he would not. Others talk about him. How can he talk about himself?"

I leant forward, with my elbows on my thighs. "Tell me?"

"You really don't know?" Sparsh asked.

I nodded. "I don't. I really don't."

Sparsh scratched the back of his head. "Where to start?"

"Who are they?" I asked. "The Warriors?"

He sighed. "They are a legendary existence. An existence that you can only look up to. They are at the pinnacle of power. They are second to Monarch. Even the leaders of Greater and Lesser Tribes, Packs and Covens have to listen to them. They are the most powerful Shifters, Vampires and Magycs. And Third Warrior? There are only three others who can beat him in terms of his magic. The four are equally matched. They are tasked not only with protecting the Royal family but also... training the next hier. That's why the Monarchs have always been so powerful, they have been trained by the best."

"The best Magyc?" I asked in a hollow voice. Then what did he mean by the fact that he was a star? A Royal at that? Was he both?

Sparsh nodded, his eyes reverent. "Even Chandra told me that... if a fight were to break between herself and a Warrior, she would not know who would win."

Talon's eyes widened. "That powerful? Even compared to Chandra? What could be their origin?"

I was so tempted to say that he was a star, but I did not know if they would believe me.

Sparsh shrugged. "I have no idea. In fact, no one has any idea where the twelve are from. My father... he used to work for the Eighth Warrior before he was caught. Even then he did not know exactly of their origin. Or he knew but he never told me."

Something scratched my heart, and I was interested in the gossip. Could he know something?

Sparsh scrunched his face. "Only you will be interested in the gossip. You call the Third Warrior by his name! Do you have any idea what this means?"

"Not his name," Talon quipped. "Nickname."

Thank you, Talon. "I did ask... the Third Warrior if I should not be calling him by his name. But he told me not to."

Talon actioned various things with his hands, but I understood none of the gestures. Then he abandoned Lupus and came and sat next to me. "The Warriors... they are particular about their names. You cannot simply call them by their name. They have reached a status where they can be willful to not allow others to call them by their name. When the King was alive... I went to a ball as a date of Alpha Kozlov of North Pack. There I saw one Warrior. He was the only one present. Second Warrior. One female tried to get closer to him and... tried to call him by his name."

My heart raced.

"From that night," Talon said slowly. "She lost her ability to speak and her ability to shift. She... was stripped of her title and was thrown out of the capital."

And here I was calling the Third Warrior, Gem. I should be at least calling him by his full name, right?

You can call me baby, honey...

I snapped out of that trace. He would hate it if I called him the Third Warrior. So, should I call him that?

Lupus blinked. "Isn't that cruel?"

"When I was there, Lupus," Talon said. "At times I felt that even the Royal family cannot control them. They... the Second Warrior gave me the feeling that he might be above the Royal family."

I nodded. So, there were people who worshipped these Warriors on this continent. Damn. Would that not inflate Gem's ego? Or did he know about this and purposefully came to Asia in order to cut down his ego?

I rubbed my hands. "Anything else?"

The look both the witch and the shifter gave me was the same.

"What else?" Sparsh asked. "What more do you want to know about them?"

I grinned. "Anything."

"About Third Warrior specifically or others?"

I bit my lips. "Anything."

"I told you right," Sparsh said. "That they are at the pinnacle of power?"

I nodded.

"So," he said. "Many, I mean many have tried to enter the Royal by becoming their consort. Their spouse. They have never had a mate, you know? So, many assumed that they would never have a mate and there are a few who actually have killed their own mate to... to be with them."

My jaws dropped. That powerful?

"But they have never been with anybody," Sparsh said. "As I said, their existence itself is mysterious. So, as far as I know, none of them have a mate. Single, powerful people. They attract trouble."

I whistled. "But..." Aries clearly had Lyra. I patted my forehead. They were not mates. They were Soul-bounds.

"What?" Talon asked.

I shook my head. "Nothing. Nothing."

Sparsh then looked at me eagerly. "Can you... can you tell me about the Third Warrior?"

A silent air-conditioner blew gently around the room. The binds to the windows were drawn open partly and only the curious rays stepped inside the room. Few plants were there near the window and I did not know if they were ornamental or they were real. Three pairs of eyes stared at me. They were like die-hard fans and they were going to get details of their beloved idol. Great.

"What do you want to know?" I relented.

"How did you meet?" Talon asked.

"Who is he to you?" Lupus asked.

"Is he single?" Sparsh questioned at the same time as the other two.

I heard the phrase two peas in a pod. But here I saw three peas in a pod.

I thought back to when I first met Gem. It was not a great start. For us. For me. It had been a cold night and the rains had just stopped. The moon hid behind the thick clouds and none of the stars were out. The street lights flickered when I drove from that house to the bridge. I just did not know where I was going. To Sahara's house, to my other college friend's house, I did not know. I just drove. It was not even my scooter to begin with. It was Nathiya's.

I had finished my masters degree, and I got a great job in Delhi and I had to move. But that family had tried to get me married to Giri. Ranji was not at home and she had taken her daughter with her. It had been just Sheela, Malli and Hasseleh. They wanted me to get married to Giri no matter what.

At that point in my life, I had given up. I could see no future. I knew I could no longer stay there. In that family. And I knew that I no longer had the fight in me. Even for my graduation, it was Sahara's parents who were there for me. At that point, Sheela kept on telling me how much of a burden I had been and how much I should repay her.

But if I was truly her granddaughter, what should I repay? Why should I repay? If I had been a burden, she could have left me in an orphanage. I would have been comforted by the fact that I had no family. To see that I had a family and yet yearn for a family, hurt.

That night, I could no longer take it. I got a job and yet I had been forced to give it up. I was forced to marry a guy who just lusted after my body. And their words were louder in my ears than the voice of my reason. So, I just drove all around the city at night, knowing it was dangerous. Drove until the petrol was over. Then I parked the scooter and walked.

Walked until my legs would give out. That was how I ended up at the bridge. My intension was not to commit suicide, but when I stood there, I just wondered that if I died, would I be free? Would at least this be my choice?

I stared at the filthy water flowing below. It was just a thought and without another second to waste; I tried to swing my legs over to jump down. But before I did, bright lights blinded me, and the most handsome man I had ever laid my eyes on ran towards me.

At first, I had been confused. Why did he stop to save a stranger? But I saw his eyes. Filled with panic and pain that I blinked. Panic for me. For my choice. Like his world would collapse if I had fallen down that night.

From then, I knew that there was someone who would wait up all night until I texted I reached home. Someone who learnt all my preferences and ordered what I liked when we went to a hotel. Someone who waited outside each therapy session I had for one year. Someone who made me feel that I was worth living after all, made me find my confidence and live the way I wanted.

Gem had been there for me and I knew that he would be there for the years to come, until I say so.

That year, Gem was the reason I did not die. And now, he was the reason I was alive.

"I met him on a bridge," I said casually, snapping out of my revive. "And he gave me a job when I was at the lowest point of my life. I became his assistant and he is my boss. We are friends." I looked at Sparsh and tossed him a grin. "He is currently not single."

He sputtered. "What? He is a Warrior! He is not single?"

Surprise shone in Talon's eyes. "You're serious?"

I winked at them. "Of course. I want to date him. You think I will say that he is single?"

Sparsh snorted. "It's all in your head. Wishful thinking."

"Is it wishful if he wanted to kiss me and wanted to be with me?" I asked.

He gasped, and I chuckled.