Chapter 102 THE NEW DUKE.
SERAPHINA’S POINT OF VIEW.
A FEW DAYS AFTER THE FUNERAL.
I stared at my phone with my lips between my teeth, my skin flush with nervousness as my finger hovered over Theo’s contact information. He hadn’t been to school ever since that day, and everyone had been brimming with the news of his father’s death. The horsemen weren’t at school either, so I couldn’t even ask anyone anything about his whereabouts.
I was guessing that they had gone to show him some support at this time. The last time I’d seen Phillp Kingswell, he’d made my blood run cold with his dark eyes. They were almost soulless, like there was no thought behind them. I noticed the way his eyes ran over my body, like he was…fascinated at the sight.
But not in a good way, it felt like he regarded me as a specimen to be split open and used for an experiment. I hated that.
Ever since then, I’ve had to fight nightmares and found myself waking up in the middle of the night with a shudder.
I hadn’t spoken to Theo ever since either. It wasn’t like I didn’t want to….it’s just….I had a hunch that he was involved in Phillip’s death. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the way he pushed me away from the school parkway that other day was the last time I’d seen Phillip.
I noticed the way Theo looked at his father. His entire body that day was taut with nerves; it felt like he would snap at any moment if anyone aside from me touched him. His eyes never once strayed from those of his father, and at the same time, it felt like he was very alert, like nothing in the world would make him move from where he’d stood in front of me in a protective stance.
I swallowed hard and hit the call button before praying to the heavens that he didn’t think I was avoiding him.
I wasn’t….I really wasn’t.
As a matter of fact, I think something’s wrong with me for wanting to still see him even though I felt that he might have killed his own father.
The phone rang a couple of times without anyone answering it on the other end, adding to my guilt.
What if he really thought I was avoiding him? What if he hates me now?
“Come on, Theo. Pick up.” I whispered before hitting the call button again. I bit my lip even harder and chewed on the inside of my cheeks with each ring of the phone. There was still no answer.
But before I could call again, someone spoke from behind the library table where I sat.
“Sera.”
It was his voice…….No, I must be hallucinating because I missed him so much.
“Stop dreaming, Seraphina.” I scoffed, fighting the subtle prickling in my eyes.
“You really think I’ll haunt you without at least touching you, baby?” The voice said again from behind me, forcing me to turn around immediately.
My eyes widened at the sight before me. It was him!
He looked like he’d been through… nothing. His hair was perfectly styled, his clothes were immaculate, adorned to the T like he wasn’t in a mourning phase of his life.
“Theo.” I breathed out in disbelief, my bones feeling light at the sight of him. “Is it really you? Or is my mind fucking with me?”
“You want to see if it’s really me?” He asked, and I nodded my head eagerly.
He smiled in that same way I’d come to love, the familiar twinkle in his eyes as he stretched his arms out for me. “Come here, baby.”
My tears rolled freely as I ran over to him and crashed my body into his.
“I missed you.” He groaned into my hair as he wrapped his arms tighter around me, taking in a long drag of my scent. “Fuck, I missed you.”
“I missed you, too.” I croaked around him, my words muffled by how much I buried my face in his chest.
“Really?” He asked, lifting me so I could wrap my legs around his waist.
“Yes.”
“Good.”
“But Theo.” I croaked, pulling away from him slightly. He didn’t let me even get far, because his arms tightened around me instantly. “What the hell happened? Your father…”
“Deserved what he got.” He said, his voice hard as his eyes hooded over with something that looked like hate.
“What happened? Why do you say that?”
“You saw how he looked at you the other day?”
“Yeah, it was so creepy,” I said, unable to help the shudder that went through me.
“I’m gonna tell you something I’ve never told anyone aside from the guys, but you must promise to keep it to yourself, baby.” He said, not once breaking eye contact with me.
“I promise.”
From that moment on, the words that left his lips left me utterly wrecked and ruined. My eyes widened with each word, as tears rolled down my cheeks for him, his mother, and his sister. I couldn’t believe that he had to deal with such a monster… and for such a long time.
He always looks so put together, so complete….that I don’t think anyone would have thought, or even seen, that he’d been dealing with something so horrifying.
“Oh, Theo. I’m so sorry.” I sobbed in his arms. “I can’t believe you’ve had to live with such a monster, and for so long. Wait…is that why you never take off your shirt when we….”
“Yes, baby.” He said, and I sobbed even harder.
He was hiding his scars from me. It was no wonder that he was always so put together among the horsemen. They all looked great, but Theo…he had a different look, and he never let anyone see his body.
“But you know what? I’m so proud of you because you survived that man, and look at you now, you’re alive, you’re strong, and you’re ready to write your own story.” I said, smiling sadly
He looked at me with unsure eyes as he said, “You’re not scared of me?”
“No, why on earth would I be scared?”
“Because I killed my own father, Sera.” He whispered. “I might not have done it myself, but I stood by and watched as it happened. You should be scared, or at least, have run from me.”
“I’ll never do that,” I said, grabbing onto his hands, as I kissed them softly. “We’re in this together, I swear it. You’ll never have to carry this alone, and I promise you, we’re gonna work on this so you can finally be free of whatever nightmares that man may have left behind.”
He doesn’t say anything after that; he just pulls me closer to him in a deep hug and buries his face into my neck.
I rub on his back softly, not saying a word as I let him sob quietly against me. Together, we cry for the little Theo, and for present Theo, because he lost a childhood he should have had, but at the same time, I made a promise to myself.
That Theo would never feel alone, not as long as I was alive.