“Seth, rein him in before I knock you the fuck out,” I warn, taking another step back. Seth looks like he struggles for a moment before the red energy around him disappears and his red eyes reappear.
“I understand, and I will wait. The words are not needed to be spoken,” Seth says into the silence. He effortlessly jumps over the sofa with one hand and lands in front of me. Gently he leans closer and presses a kiss to my forehead. “I never truly left you, because I could not. I was always there, even when you did not see me.”
“And somehow I was always alone,” I whisper back. “I was lonely.” I clear my throat and step away from him. Regret shines in his eyes, but he knows better than to say anything. “Mossy, we are leaving.”
Mossy’s little head appears over the counter, his face dirty with chocolate and peanut butter. “Okay!”
A few seconds later, Mossy jumps off the counter with a hand full of food and lands in my arms. “You shall carry me today.”
Seth laughs with me as I turn back to him. “See you around, Seth.”
“You always will,” he replies. My confused heart pitter-patters away in my chest as I head to the door and let myself out into a corridor with a lift at the end of it. There are several other doors, and I figure this must be the guest accommodation part of the castle. I’m halfway down the corridor when a door opens and Finn steps out. He looks confused to see me here, and I’m even more confused when Catherine steps out of the room after him. As usual, she has nothing but skin-tight leather pants and a small crop top on that literally shows everything.
Burning anger fills my chest, and I have the urge to smack her in her makeup-filled face.
“Thank you, Torfinn,” she suggestively sighs and places her hand on his upper arm. She follows Finn’s gaze to me, a smirk appearing on her bright red lips. “Oh Daesyn! What are you doing up here?”
“I could ask the same of you,” I counter, but her eyes drop to Mossy in my arms.
“What is that?” she asks.
“A monkey from Earth,” I quickly reply, turning my eyes up to Finn. I was angry at him before, but now? I’m furious. I hate that I’m jealous, and it’s a pointless jealousy as Finn is not mine and he likely never could be. I can’t be possessive over him. Get a grip, Dae. “We have to go. Have a good night, you two.”
Storming down the corridor, I hear Catherine’s fake laugh behind me and Finn’s deep voice as he replies to her, but I can’t make out what they said. Either way, I’m so done with guys. All they bring is trouble.
Chapter 20
“God damn dress feels like it’s trying to crush my ribs,” I whisper to Poppy as we wait for our drinks at the bar. Poppy looks like a pink princess tonight in a pretty two-piece dress, and her black hair is down tonight, like mine, and curly in waves. My own dress is a dark blue corset at the top and made of silk as is the blue skirt that flows from my waist down to the floor. Not only is this thing uncomfortable as hell, I keep sliding off seats when I sit down as it’s so silky. I want to burn it.
“You look beautiful though,” Poppy gently says. “Even with a bruise on your cheek.”
I glower at her, not wanting to be reminded of the training yesterday. It’s been two months since we came to the academy now, and the other students in our group are getting better, and faster, at what they do. So when I fought Catherine, my new sworn enemy for reasons I don’t want to think about, she had been tracking my usual movements and managed to land a hit that nearly knocked me out. I broke her arm after it though, so I feel a little better. Her screams were funny.
Until Finn picked her up like a doll and carried her to the healers.
“Who is this ball for anyway? Everyone is either reapers or humans,” I reply, eyeing the ballroom full of people. This second ball is much like the first, and I am yet to see the queen anywhere or Seb for that matter. Maybe the balls aren’t so much for them but for us. Either way, it seems like a hell of a lot of effort for everyone to just stand around and chat. Doesn’t anyone have a phone in this realm?
“I don’t know any more than you do on the subject of who this ball belongs to,” she replies. “But the magic in here isn’t all reaper. There is—”
“My people’s magic as well,” a man comments, stopping at our side. I turn to look at him, surprised to see he is much taller than we are. Towering at over six foot, the man has extremely pale skin, and he is extremely doll-like in his masculine beauty. With long black hair and narrow blue eyes, he stands out in the crowds of people. His hair hides most of his ears, but the tips stick out, giving me a slight clue who his race is. “My name is Cornaith Daegwyn, and I am the high leader of the elven race.”
“Elves?” Poppy gasps, her hand letting go of her glass of wine. Cornaith swoops down and catches it mid-air before straightening up.
“Yes, my lady. Here.” He offers her the wine glasses, and her eyes are wide, like a deer caught in headlights.
“I wasn’t aware elves even existed anymore,” I say, somewhat justifying Poppy’s reaction. “My name is Daesyn, and this is Persephone, but we call her Poppy.”
“It is a high honour to meet you two beautiful ladies.” Cornaith bows his head and keeps eye contact with Poppy. “I am sorry if I scared you.”
“Shocked, not scared,” she blurts out and takes a deep breath before she speaks again. She holds her hand out. “Nice to meet you.”
“I am sorry, I will not touch you. See, an elf’s power lies in touch,” he explains, and she lowers her hand.
“I did not know,” she replies. “What happens when you touch someone then?”
“I can see their future, be it good or bad. To see the future is to see their soul and put into place a series of unchangeable events,” he softly explains to us. “I can do much more, but that is the power I wish to not use on you.”
Spotting Seb in the corner of the room, I use him as a way of escaping this conversation. “I see a friend I need to speak to. Excuse me.”
“Daesyn Heartlocke,” Cornaith says my name, and I pause, turning around. I never told him my last name, so how does he know it? “I do hope you win this academy.”
Something about the way he says it makes me think he is lying. I give him a tight smile before turning away and dodging people until I get to Seb. His eyes are slowly running down my dress, and whatever he sees, he clearly likes.
I try to ignore how he looks like a snack I wanna
“Get me out of here, please,” I ask him. He sighs and leans up off the wall. Without a word, he offers me his hand.
I take it without a second thought, and he leads me to a door behind an archway. The door leads to a small corridor with nothing but wooden walls at the side and no other door. I’m surprised when we get to the end and Seb pushes the wooden wall, and it turns. The floor actually moves in a circle, and we step off in the other room as it keeps on spinning until a grey stone wall that matches this room returns.
“Showing me another secret, Seb?” I question.
“It has occurred to me that hiding secrets from you is like stopping the wind from blowing in a storm,” he replies. I chuckle as I take a good look at the new room we are in.
The throne room, and it is every bit as impressive as the stories of it indicate. A thousand, if not more, giant swords are standing up in the room, and the floor is one large foggy mirror. The fog moves like smoke inside the mirror, and it’s creepy to look at. At the top of the enormous room are thousands of tiny light spheres floating around, bumping into each other, and they are all shining white. The tips of the swords press into the mirrored floor, and the mirror reflects the lights above. There is a path right in the centre of the room that looks like a runway of blood, but it’s just a red rug that leads to the throne at the end. The throne itself is just a simple high back chair with thick red fabric and gold-lined edges. The chair’s arms are two scythes, and the curves of the blades make the armrests. Right behind the throne is a star made of millions, if not more, diamonds of every colour. The diamonds catch the light, and it seems like it is glowing with its own magic.
“Impressed?” Seb asks, sounding curious.
