Chapter 85: The mating bond

Chapter eighty five

Eloise

The only thing we've managed to uncover about the strange box we found in Aurelia's room was that it needed to be opened with a password.

What the password was, we didn't know.

The only two people who could have known were her and her late twin sister. The twins didn't exactly have any friends in the academy, they mostly kept to themselves, according to Raihn and Lidia.

And since the both of them were here before Aeron and I and spent longer times with the twins, we believed them. Which unfortunately means we were back to square zero.

“I have so many questions. We all do, obviously. I just feel like the answer is in the box. It's just sucks that we can't get it opened.” Raihn sighed.

Raihn, Aeron, Lidia, and I are sitting under a tree not far from the class buildings. Ironically, it was the worst place to sit down and discuss something so secretive, but more than half of the students population had left for the Yulemas festival.

The festival was tomorrow, but no one in our group had even mention it. We had been so focused on getting the box opened.

“And where is Tina? She said she was going to be here ten minutes ago.” Aeron groaned. He had been pacing since we gathered here and hadn't revealed the reason behind it.

It could be the box got him just as stressed as the rest of us or he was actually stressing about something else.

“She did say she's coming. There's nothing we can do except wait.” Lidia shrugged. “I'm just not sure what ‘third years activity’ got her to be so busy. I mean, everyone already left for the holiday. Even Professor Kai.”

When we showed Tina the box we took from Aurelia's room, she had flipped out on us. She insisted that it was wrong to sneak into her room and search it. It was disrespectful to the dead.

But when explained things from our perspective, including everything Aurelia said when we approached her, she had slowly caved. Or at least understood our side enough not to report us to authorities.

Right now though, I'm not entirely sure what's going on in her head.

“Do you guys think she's still mad?” I asked.

My friends exchanged glances and shrugged which was probably the most suitable response because none of us knew the answer.

“I think if she was still pissed, it would be because we took such a huge risk and almost got caught. Why do you think Professor Micah was in the hallway yesterday? Did he know we were there?” Raihn asked.

“Most likely.” Lidia nodded. “That's the only reason he could have been in the girls dormitory.”

Aeron groaned and crouched down. “Let's just hope he doesn't get suspicious. If Uncle gets a wind of what we're doing after he specifically asked us to lay low, it's going to be a bloodbath.”

The rest of us nodded simultaneously. I was not looking forward to that. The sound of dry leaves crunching filled the silence between us, but I didn't bother to turn to see who was coming. There was only one person who knew we were here.

“Tina, why are you so lat—” the last word got stuck in my mouth when I realized that Tina wasn't alone.

“What I want to know,” Byron started as he approached, “is why all of you thought it was a good idea to break into someone's room and steal something?”

I instantly felt the tension spiked in the air. Tina had her head lowered behind Byron. She was obviously tensed too. Why would she bring him here?

“We didn't steal anything, uncle.” Aeron muttered.

Byron turned his gaze on him and Aeron winced slightly. Byron's stern look is something I wouldn't want turned on me.

“So what do you call taking something without the person's permission, nephew?” He said, his head tilted sideways as if assessing the situation.

“Uhm…” Aeron trailed off. He glanced at us as if asking for help to get out of the situation.

“There wasn't really anyone we could ask permission from.” I responded and instantly regretted it as Byron turned his stern gaze on me.

He stared at me for what felt like hours when in reality was just a few seconds. I tried to hold his gaze for the first three seconds before looking down at my feet.

“What did you find?” He said finally.

It took me a second to realize he was asking about what we found in Aurelia's room. Raihn quickly handed him the strange wooden box that looked like a single brick.

Lidia glared at him, no doubt thinking about how fast he caved. Raihn simply shrugged and muttered something about not wanting to die young.

Whether Byron heard him or not, he didn't let on. He was busy examining the box.

“There's no lid. We think it's sealed with magic and could probably be opened with a spell or a password.” I supplied.

Byron nodded and put the box underneath his robe. He raised his head and looked straight at me.

“You're coming with me.” he said.

I would be lying if I said my heart didn't jump at those words. But I still managed to give a slight nod.

He turned around and began walking. I made a silent prayer to the goddess and took a step after him. But I was still close enough to hear Lidia say,

“Tina, what the fuck? Why would you bring him here?”

“He cornered me. What was I supposed to do?”

I didn't hear the rest of their argument as I went after Byron. I soon caught up with him and ended up walking side my side.

I wondered why he didn't just shadowshift us to wherever it is he wanted to go. I tried to think of anything he could have possibly wanted to discuss with me. Only one topic came to mind and I wasn't sure I was ready for that discussion yet. Especially not after everything that has happened in the past couple of days.

But on a second thought, maybe it's just better to have that conversation and get it out of the way. I wanted to know where he stood on the matter anyway.

Finally, we got to his personal study. The second the door clicked shut, my heart raced in my chest. I tried to keep calm but it was difficult to keep a straight face when I knew what was coming.

“I will be going to the Dragon Keep to prepare for tomorrow night's festival.” he started.

I simply nodded. I couldn't bring myself to say a word.

“We should probably talk about it before I leave.” He paused and scanned my face.

When I didn't give any reaction, he dropped the bombshell,

“The mating bond between us.”