“You mean, fragile? I have noticed how you all are with him. What sort of medication is he on?” Tobias nodded and chewed his lip.
“You being here will either be good for him or destroy him.”
I noticed he ignored my question about his medication. “I won’t hurt him. I couldn’t even if I wanted to.”
“Do you want to?” Tobias growled, taking a step toward me. I shook my head, taking a step back.
“No, I didn’t mean it like that. I have no magic that can hurt him, but I wouldn’t even if I did.”
Tobias watched me for a second. “You wouldn’t hurt him,” he muttered and nodded before looking back at the mirror again. “But would you leave again?”
Was that a trick question?As if I would stay if given the opportunity to leave. Who would want this for life? I didn’t answer, knowing he could tell if I lied anyway.
“You can shower, and don’t be late for class,” he said, walking out. I quickly raced over and locked the door.
I had the quickest shower in history before putting on some jeans and a shirt that I’d found sitting on the end of my bed. Yet no shoes. I cursed as I ripped the brush through my hair, hoping I didn’t have to do anything outdoors today. When I was done, I made my way downstairs to the mess hall. As I walked in, the chatter stopped instantly. All eyes turned to me, and I swallowed before dropping my head. I made my way to the line, but they refused to serve me, instead making me help myself.
Filling my plate, I looked for an empty spot. The only free table was next to the toilet at the back. I walked over and sat down with a sigh, eating my food and trying to ignore their gazes watching me. I was on edge, and the room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Thankfully though, the bell rang, and I waited for everyone to leave before following out after them. I was hoping to follow them to class, but they all went off in different directions. All this had me wandering aimlessly, trying to figure out where to go when I ran into Lycus in one of the halls.This place was a maze.
“Why aren’t you in class?” he snapped at me.
“I don’t know where to go.”
“Did you bother to ask?”
Why would I after Zac’s warm greeting?I shook my head, and he growled. Lycus walked over to me and grabbed my arm.
“You’re lucky Darius isn’t back yet. He would fucking lose it if he found out you ditched again.”
“I wasn’t ditching. I don’t know where to go,” I snapped, ripping my arm from his grip.
Lycus growled, watching me for a second. “Fine, find your class yourself,” he said, walking off.
“Can’t you show me?” I asked him, but he ignored me and kept walking. I had no idea which part of the castle or what floor I was on, but all doors were shut when the siren went off. Men flooded the halls barging past, and few called me a traitor, making me scrunch my face up in confusion. I tried to ask a few if they knew what class I had next when I saw Zac at the end of one of the corridors. I quickly turned to race down the next flight of steps.
Chapter 20
“Aleera!” he called, andmy blood ran cold. I raced down the steps, quickly disappearing among the other demons.
As I got to the bottom of the steps, someone shoved me, and I hit the ground. I looked to see who it was, but there were too many men to pinpoint which one. I cried out when another stomped on my fingers.
“There she is,” I heard Zac’s voice just before a fireball rushed toward me. I shrieked, barely managing to move, and it evaporated as it hit the ground where I was.
“Let’s see how pretty she is without all that hair,” Zac’s voice said, making me look up the steps. Zac smiled, and his eyes burned with evil as he played with another fireball, bouncing it in his hand. I took off running down the corridor. I didn’t stop running until I ended up in a hall on my own. I had no idea if he was still intending to burn my hair off when I stopped to try and catch my breath.
“I think she went this way,” I heard Deacon’s voice. I cursed and started trying doors, finding most of them to be rooms set up with bunks. Besides, I figured it wouldn’t be a good idea to hide in one of their rooms. I could hear the screech of their shoesas they ran toward me before I burst through another door and quickly shut it.
Looking around, I found it was a classroom. I could hear them opening and closing doors in the corridor and looked around for somewhere to hide before spotting a jar of pens and noticing some scissors. I grabbed them before darting under the desk.
If I get out of this, the hair is going. I was going to chop it off. My heart stopped when I heard the door open. I clutched the scissors in my hand as I heard footsteps walk toward the desk. The chair got dragged out, and my eyes met with Tobias’s. He went to no doubt curse me out when Zac’s voice reached my ears, and I jumped, bumping my head on the top of the desk.
Tobias growled and sat down just as the door burst open. I froze, holding my breath.
“What?” Tobias snapped, pushing his chair in and caging me in with his legs.
“Shit… Sorry, sir,” I heard the door creak, like Zac was about to leave before it stopped. “Have you seen the traitor bitch?”
My heart skipped a beat at Zac’s words.