Chapter 520 - SHOULD WE LEAVE NOW?

"Oh, is this the shifter that you have been waiting for?" the man released Hope's arm immediately as Ethan pulled the girl to stand beside him, out from the circle of dancing people.

"You better back off!" Ethan growled and glowered at him. He pulled Hope to his back as he sent the man away only by his glare.

"Wow, easy shifter," he said mockingly, raising both of his hands in the air, giving a surrender-like gesture, yet there was no trace of fear in his brown eyes. "Or should I call you a rogue? You smell like one." He shrugged his shoulder before disappeared among the crowd with his laugh echoed along the loud music.

Afterward, there were only the two of them, standing out of the circle, Ethan grabbed Hope's wrist and dragged her away from the crowded people.

"What are you doing here?!" He hissed viciously at the girl in front of him.

They were standing beside a hotdog stall under a pine tree, away from the crowd and the stage—where the torch was lit up.

Hope grimaced upon realizing that Ethan could look scary too.

Ethan narrowed his eyes with suspicion, as he talked to her in low voice, but enough for Hope to hear the clear distress behind it. "You're here to meet that woman, right?" He guessed it correctly.

Hope's silence was a solid answer for Ethan's question.

Bamboozled, the boy widened his eyes in disbelieve as he talked with high pitch voice. "I thought we agreed that the woman was only talking nonsense! You said it yourself!" he said exasperatedly. From afar he could see his twin was approaching them, apparently managed to find their secluded location.

"Well, I changed my mind," Hope mumbled, feeling slightly guilty because she had run away from them.

"Listen—"

But, Ethan cut her off. "No, you listen to me and stop making trouble for yourself. We will go back home now."

"No!" Hope shook her head disagreeing. "I can't go back now." She forced to free her hand from his grip. Ethan's grip was very tight, she felt like her wrist snapped into two.

"So, do you think all that woman said is true?" Ethan crossed his arms, he stood still with emotionless expression. "Oh, Hope! You know better not to trust a witch! They are wicked creature! And you are being deceived!"

"I was raised by a witch," Hope dropped that fact firmly.

Despite the fact that witches were the most cunningof all creatures, but Hope couldn't ignore the fact that she was raised by one. She was fully aware of Serefina's cunningness, but to put it in a bad term, somehow, Hope couldn't accept it. Instead, she was rather slightly offended whenever someone badmouthing her. Even though that wasn't what Ethan's true intention at all.

"Serefina is different case," Ethan retorted.

However, before their bickering could go further, Ian had approached them, slightly panting. "Hope! Damn girl! Don't ever do that again!" he was out breath. "We had been running for twenty minutes without stopping, looking for you!"

"I'm sorry about that, but I am not going back with you guys!" Hope crossed her arms, stubbornness was written all over her face. She had decided what she truly wanted, and had done so much efforts to escape from their house.

And she would stay there until she met the witch or, at least, until this festival ended. So far she had seen, nothing seemed dangerous enough for her to get hurt from. The man from earlier, actually, didn't hurt her.

Probably, Kace and Serefina were exaggerating the real situation. Knowing Kace, he was most likely would do something like that.

The thing is, Hope was too nervous and anxious, desperately wanted to know what was happening to Kace and Lana. Thus, if she was given a chance to know their condition and situation now, she was more than willing to take the risk.

"You are being unreasonable!" Ian glared at the girl before his eyes and stood beside his twin, at this time, both of them really looked exactly the same, as if there was a mirror in front of one of them.

"My vision," Hope's voice softened, she hated to argue with Ian and Ethan, especially Ethan, since he was being too soft to her all the time. "I had a vision previously about Kace! There must be something about it, and I'm sure of it! Besides, looking at the current situation,that both of them are still missing—don't you think it was some kind of a sign?"

"What kind of sign do you think it is? That Kace and Lana are in danger?" said Ethan bluntly. "You should stop this, you will not help them at all by creating such a ruckus like this!"

"Go home with us and wait for them to return, that's all you can do Hope. That's all you can do to help this situation." Ian added. Though he was slightly concernabout Lana and Kace, and also realized that Hope probably was right; after all they were mate and they shared a special bond between them.

However, Ian didn't want to take the blame from encouraging Hope for doing this.

"No!" Hope rejected the idea immediately, her expression harden because of their words. She knew, compared to them, her chance to help was near zero, but to hear it brutallybeing said directly by them, was still annoying.

"Who said she couldn't help?"

All of a sudden the woman that Hope had been waiting for appeared behind the twins, she walked comfortably with a can of coke and a hotdog in her hands, munching happily. Her attitude was different from the last time Hope had seen her. Now, she looked more casual and laid- back.

"I won't ask her to come with me if she couldn't help me," she said, while walking straight towards Hope and stood beside her.

"Where were you? I have been looking all over for you!" said Hope with irritation.

"I'm sorry, I thought you will not come. You seemed very determined when you rejected me."

"Well, I changed my mind," Hope murmured.

"So, should we leave now?" that woman took the last bite.