Chapter 83 DANGER LOOMS
THEO’S POINT OF VIEW.
On the outside, I looked like the golden boy everyone at school thought I was. My uniform pressed perfectly, so it hugged my body perfectly as I walked the halls of Ravenscroft High, with my chin up and my signature smirk on my face. The girls walked past me, but not without sending a wink or a few seductive smiles my way.
It was easy to fake it, to pretend that everything was perfect, that the descendant of a long-reigning queen of England was as prim and proper as they expected.
But beneath it all, my skin burned with the scars and bruises from last night’s episode with my father. I was used to it, having to fake it so everyone would not know I put up a façade.
But today, it felt different, because I don’t know if I’d be able to hide it from a certain raven-haired beauty with her name engraved on my fucking skin. I had a feeling Lucien already knew, and probably Cassian, but they kept quiet until I was ready to speak about it.
They all looked at me like a part of the infamous Horsemen of this school, their eyes filled with a mix of admiration and envy. But they didn’t know…I was fucking rotten, the descendant of a scum like Phillip Kingswell.
At school, I used Vance, my uncle’s name, from my mother’s side. He was the only one who tried to rescue my mother and me from my father when I was much younger. On the day we were to escape in the middle of the night, his body was discovered in the remains of a horrible motor accident.
I suspected Phillip. The way he had a smirk on his face at the funeral, like he knew something the rest of us didn’t…it unsettled me. But I never said anything to my mother; it was better if some of her demons were at least concealed.
“Morning, Vance,” a junior boy from the rugby team greeted, all cheerful as he stared at me with fucking stars in his eyes. They all thought I was the easiest of the horsemen.
Lucien didn’t give a fuck about anyone other than Sloane, and everyone knew not to fuck with her. The bastard went berserk just a few weeks ago when he learned that some sorry sap dared to send his girl love letters by secretly placing them in her locker. Now, Sloane doesn’t even get to have a locker on the ground floor, because King Ravenscroft has moved it to his floor, as well as all of her classes.
It’s a hassle for the sorry teachers, though.
Cassian didn’t care about anything other than his books and Sierra, the new girl from Ireland.
Killian….well, Killian was a fucking psycho. No one knew what the hell it was that he fucking liked.
“Morning,” I returned smoothly, though my back throbbed from every step I took as the bandages rubbed against my clothes, creating friction.
They saw what they wanted to see: power. They didn’t notice how I kept my shoulders too straight, too rigid, because if I slouched, the bruises would make me hiss in pain, and bleed out. They didn’t notice that the knuckles on my right hand were raw, from digging into the floor to keep from wrapping around my father’s fucking throat.
The bell rang, shrill, reminding me once more that it was another day of pretending.
In less than a few hours, it was my favourite time of day; tutorial time. As I moved towards the lounge where Seraphina and I would meet, my eyes caught a figure hovering behind me. He wasn’t too close…but at the same time, he wasn’t far either. His posture was off, too, because the minute I stopped, he did as well, and when I moved, he did, mirroring my steps.
Fuck.
I was being tailed.
Father…it had to be him. I took a detour, flipping my phone out and shooting Seraphina a quick text.
‘I’ll be there soon. I just need to get something.’
I moved over to the elite café and acted like I wanted to get some snacks. I watched from the small mirror as the small man disguised as a janitor dropped his mop and pretended to clean up the area around him. I gritted my teeth in frustration at the thought of not being able to meet with Seraphina because of this fucker.
A thought popped into my mind as I shot Lucien a text.
‘I need a distraction. I think I’m being tailed.’
His reply was swift;
‘What’s in it for me?”
I groaned at that; the fucker always wanted something in return. I shut my eyes tightly for a moment, already regretting what I was about to do.
‘Whatever you want.’
I was too desperate to give a fuck.
Fuck you, Phillip Kingswell.
‘Bet.”
That was all he said, and next thing I knew, Lucien barged into the café, and like he knew where I needed him, he walked over to the fake janitor and grabbed him by the collar.
“What are you doing in the elite Café?”
I didn’t waste a moment more, I dashed out of there, taking our secret door hidden as a garden wall, and broke out into the back of the school. I raced over to where she would be waiting for me, a smile already pulling at my lips at the thought of seeing her again.
I walked into the lounge, and the back of her head greeted me. Today, her hair was pulled in a high ponytail, giving me the urge to tug on it, so I would relish in the sight of her wanting to bite my head off.
“You’re late.” She said at the sound of my footsteps, turning to me with the faintest pout on her lips.
“I was….delayed.” I chuckled and sat beside her. But I did it too abruptly, because the wounds on my back brushed against the couch, pulling an involuntary hiss from me.
She freezes at the sight, as a flicker of worry crosses her eyes. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah…just sustained an injury at Hockey practice,” I said, brushing it off. She buys it, thankfully, and drops the topic.
I barely register the time from there, because all I do is forget the rest of the world, my father, the trouble at home, and just bask in her essence, the way she makes me feel, the silence of my demons at the sight of her, the sound of her giggles.
And sadly, it comes to an end, as I march into my father’s mansion with the same tense shoulders from last night, as I try to put up a brave face, and not act like the bruises aren’t burning me.
“Theo.” His voice rang out, stopping me in my tracks.
I stopped, the urge to defy and walk away burning my mind, but I have to think about my mother, and sister, and I don’t think I can take any more of his beating… not right now.
“How was school?” He asks, and for some reason, my mind screams at me in warning. His body language is too familiar….it’s just as it was when Uncle Vance’s body was found, and at his funeral.
“It was okay,” I replied, my tone curt as I tried not to act suspicious.
“So….Seraphina.” He drawls, and instantly red covers my vision. He shouldn’t be saying her name….he should never even know she fucking exists. But instead, I stifle the urge to slice his tongue, and school my features instead.
“She’s just a tutor, Father,” I replied, clenching my hands inside my pockets as a protective urge flares in my chest.
“We’ll see about that. If she’s just a tutor, or a present you got for me. You know it’s been too long since I’ve had fun.”
My mind takes me to a dark place, a memory I thought I buried, but he just pulled it in with his words, and all of a sudden, I’m eleven again, fighting to save my mother, by ignoring how he kidnaps the girls in my school, so he could do horrible things to them, before killing them off.