Chapter 268: The Beast is Angry

Zeke walked toward the Boneyard with Theo, or rather, he’d simply been walking around school with no actual destination in mind. Beside him was Theo, staring at him, while he was doing everything in his power not to look at her.

Because she was staring. She was staring with those eyes of hers.

Amber was a wonderful colour, a beautiful heaven-sent colour that could never look more beautiful on anyone else. But those same eyes were now looking like something that could start haunting him in his dreams all over again.

He could feel those eyes burning into the side of his face as though she were peeling away every layer of his skin, digging straight through bone and muscle until there was nowhere left for his secrets to hide.

Don’t look at her.

He kept his eyes ahead, but the silence was unbearable. Every few seconds, he would feel her gaze shift over him again, studying his face, his shoulders, even the way he walked.

She was practically eating through his soul with those damn eyes, and Zeke was beginning to sweat.

He had fought monsters like Alcaeus, killed demons and stood against Alphas before.

Yet somehow, walking beside the woman he loved while she silently stared at him was terrifying.

He knew exactly what she wanted, and he couldn’t tell her. At least, not now.

-Zev, where are you?!- ℴ

-What’s wrong?!-

—Just tell me where you are!—

Just then, Sylas stepped into the corridor from the other end of the walk.

The moment Zeke saw him, a look of relief came over his face.

Sylas saw them approaching and stopped, wondering why the hell Zeke looked so scared and why Theodora had hellfire in her eyes.

— What is going on?— Sylas asked Zeke again, telepathically.

"I was just looking for you!" Zeke grinned as he got to his brother, throwing an arm around his neck.

Sylas stared at Zeke suspiciously.

What had he done to incur her wrath?

"This is where I was bringing you," He continued, sounding more and more suspicious.

"What? You said you were going to the Boneyard," Theo said.

"And you wanted to know about what I said, right?" Zeke then patted his brother’s chest once, "This guy here knows about it a lot more than I do. He will tell you all about the trial and what to expect,"

Sylas’s eyes widened, and he instantly shot a look at Zeke, — You told her?—

— It was a slip of the tongue!—

Theo stared at both of them.

She didn’t know why they kept looking at each other like that, but she just knew something was going on between them.

*Sera, what do you think?* Theo asked.

*It’s either they’ve discovered a way to communicate using their eyes, or...they are communicating through telepathy,*

"So," Zeke looked at Sylas expectantly, *I’ll leave the rest to you, ok?*

And then, he was off like he was being chased.

Theo watched him with a glare till he was out of sight, then her eyes slowly moved and then stopped at the older man standing in front of her.

The moment those eyes of hers fell on Sylas, he could feel his demon squealing in fear inside of him. His shadows withdrew and huddled together, shivering inside of him.

"Looks like I’m gonna get my answer from you," Her voice sounded like metal against metal, and then she took a step closer to him.

Sylas instinctively stepped back too, trying to keep his expression neutral even though the fear was making it to the surface.

Theo took another step, and Sylas stepped back, "What trial was Zeke talking about?"

Sylas cleared his throat, and quickly looked away from her.

It didn’t help.

"And who does this trial await? How many people know of this trial? Who is responsible for this trial? Who is undoing this trial?"

With every question, she took another step, and another, and another, till she had Sylas backed up against a wall like a prey caged in completely.

"I—" Sylas cleared his throat again, "I’m not supposed to...tell you,"

"And who gave you instructions not to tell me?" She was literally staring something worse than death into his eyes right now, "Because if I remember clearly, you and Zeke answer to no one,"

"We just...," He pressed his back even harder against the stone wall as she leaned closer to his face, peeling and wrecking his bones with her eyes, "There’s a lot of things that have happened in these six months that have passed,"

"Now, it sounds like I have so much to catch up on. Good thing you’re here to tell me every. Single. Thing!!" She enunciated every last word, because there was no going back for either of them.

"But—" Sylas cleared this throat again, inching her head higher as hers began to catch up with his.

She slammed her palm against the wall, right next to his ear, "But what, Professor?" She seethed, grinding her teeth, "Let me guess. You don’t wanna overwhelm my ’fragile’ soul? Is that right?"

His shadows shrank even more, and his wolf tucked its tail under itself and curled into a shivering ball, occasionally peeking out to see if she had finally relented.

"That...is correct," Sylas swallowed.

"You two just get out of your goddamn mind!!" She suddenly burst, her claws sinking into the fortified walls of the school, "You don’t wanna overwhelm me? You know how tired I am hearing those same words over and over again?! Why’d you think I came back to Gravemont, huh?! I didn’t come here so you could keep things from me! You’re going to tell me every single thing that has been happening, whether you think it’s safe for me, or you think it’s not!" Her voice had transformed into her wolf’s, and Seraphina was inside her, also shivering at this point.

She never knew Theo could be this terrifying.

Zeke was standing by a corner, frightened to his toes.

"And if you do not tell me everything..." Theo drawled, and Sylas almost squirmed.

Almost.

"You’re gonna find out that there’s a beast out there more dangerous than demons, and I’m her!!"

He finally squirmed, and began nodding at her.

Theo’s eyes snapped toward the corner Zeke was hiding in, "That includes you, you little worm!!"