Troubles

　　Irena's POV

　　I snapped the letter and sent it

　　to Magnus immediately. Five minutes after receiving it, he called me.

　　"What the fuck Irena? What the fuck is that fucked up letter?" He thundered furiously immediately after I answered the call.

　　"I don't even know what to think about it, at first I thought it was nothing to be bothered about but now this?" I asked rhetorically.

　　" What do you mean by at first?" Magnus sounded confused. " Has this happened before?" His tone was that of worry now.

　　" I don't think it's something to be worried about," I said, trying to dismiss the talk.

　　" Irena, if someone had threatened you before, then it isn't something that we should not be worried about. Now tell me, has this happened before?" Magnus had that serious no-nonsense, the one where you know that he wouldn't take no for an answer.

　　I sighed, "back in Russia, Pompeii tried to threaten me," I didn't have to give up the details do I? The summary was that he threatened me, or as I said, tried to because I didn't take him seriously then and I couldn't take this seriously too.

　　"He tried to threaten you, how? What did he say? How the fuck did he have the guts to? You're not answering me properly Irena," Magnus sounded impatient and a little annoyed, and annoying my closest friend is not what I plan to do.

　　"He said some shit about me being unable to run away from my shadow and the darkness coming, something of that sort," I thought some more, " yeah, he also said something about me- okay I remember the exact words he used now, he said: you feel strong in his absence, but you can never run away from his shadow, the night will always come," it sounded cringy to me then and it's even worse now.

　　"Did he get that line straight out of star wars or something?" Magnus asked, he sounded like he was fighting the urge to laugh. I would laugh if I was in his shoes.

　　"I think he also said the moonless might will come, darker than black and it would swallow me first,"

　　"he threatened your life," Magnus stated conclusively.

　　" He didn't. No one can threaten me and succeed. This has fi be a dumb joke and if it's not, it'll be bad for the person behind it all because I will go all out fishing the person out and he or she or they would have hell to pay," I stated solemnly.

　　" How the fu- they've been following you, Alexey, I mean how the hell do they know about Alexey's country house? Is Alexey involved in all this? You can't trust anyone Alexey," he sounded worried and I found it funny and unnecessary because I wasn't worried at all.

　　"Yes, I agree that they have been following me one way or another, and I know well more than anyone that I shouldn't trust anyone in this situation, but I am very sure that Alexey has nothing to do with this,"

　　Magnus hummed, " you should be careful, would you want the council to know about this?"

　　" No, not in any way. And from Pompeii's action, it is safe to say that the council is part of this nonsense. It might not be all the members of the council, but some of them are involved one way or another, "

　　" What are you going to do? I mean those you care about are under threat,"

　　" There's nothing I can do than to sit and watch and be careful. I need to find Fabian Ruiz, I feel like I'm some way, be us connected to whatever is going on," I replied thoughtfully. Heck, he might be the one threatening my life and the life of those I care about.

　　"Alright, be careful. I am worried for you since you refused to be worried, as usual." He sighed, probably tired of my nonchalance towards certain things.

　　"I will mom," I laughed lightly.

　　"So why how has the evening slash night gone?" Magnus asked teasingly.

　　I chuckled, "it was fine, " I smiled involuntarily.

　　"You sound like you're smiling, did you have fun?" He asked, he sounded like he was smiling too.

　　"Yeah, I did," I was grinning like a fool.

　　"Urgh," he groaned. "I hate that I have to ask you about these things before you tell me, how the fuck did it go?"

　　I laughed. " If I tell you now, there'll be no juicy details to give later, is that what you want? Would you prefer that I tell you about it now or wait till I come back and tell you about everything as they happened?"

　　He groaned again, " I have been made to choose. Alright, alright, you can tell me when you get back,"

　　I smirked, " I thought you would say that. You are a smart man,"

　　He snorted, "fuck you, Irena,"

　　" No,"

　　" Oh please, goodnight and be very careful. Whatever happened tonight is not something to disregard and you know this. Have fun and come back, let's think of a way to handle it," he still sounded worried as he warned me cautiously.

　　" I will. And after this, I don't think I'll see Alexey anymore because I don't want to put him in danger," I tried to hide the sadness in my voice to no avail.

　　" Yes, that's true. You sound sad about that though,"

　　I scoffed and raised my eyebrows, "I'm not sad about it, it's just sexual attraction between us, I can't have anything more than that with him, his character knows no good,"

　　" Stop deceiving yourself Irena, you have feelings for this man, it's more than sexual attraction,"

　　" It's not Magnus, we're only sexually attracted to each other. That man has zero respect for girls, I can't allow myself to feel anything more than that for him, and I'm pretty sure he feels the same about me. And even if he does feel more than that, it's all on him and not my problem because I can't have anything more than this with him," I feel like I'm being too defensive.

　　" Alright, if you say so. But one question, apart from the time you complained about him being rude to you, has he ever acted like that to you?" He questioned. Sometimes Magnus gets annoyed with his analyzing questions.

　　I rolled my eyes, "well in a few ways yes, but not as much as he used to,"

　　"Alright, good to know,"

　　I hummed, having nothing to say in reply.

　　" Well, in the end, you should do whatever makes you happy and you know what makes you happy. You always have my support," he sounded defeated, but I didn't care, I was telling the truth about the way I feel.

　　" Thank you, Magnus." No matter what, Magnus is a supportive friend and has always been a supportive friend.

　　"You're always welcome love, good night. "

　　"Good night,"

　　I placed my phone next to the lamp on the bed table and sighed. There are so many things going on in my life and a relationship would complicate it even more. And besides, as I had said several times, if I would want to be in a relationship, it would not be with Alexey.

　　This whole thing will be over tomorrow and the next day, I'll go back to my life and probably never talk to him again. I didn't want to put his life in danger.

　　I sighed, trying to suppress the sad feeling that came with the thought of never doing anything with Alexey anymore; not having one of the best conversations I've ever had, no longer having him giving me one of the best sexual experiences I've ever had or always staring at me and making me smile or laugh against my will or even making me happy without doing anything, driving me crazy without touching me.

　　I'll get used to it though, it isn't the first time that I've had to deal with something like this, and I guess it wouldn't be the last.

　　I'll just enjoy and live the moment and when it is over, I'll smile at the memories.