Page 211 of The Monster and the Masochist

Ryan’s eyes darkened, and he nodded. “Yeah. He’s pretty pissed with you.”

Fuck.

“Alright… I’ll go find him,” I muttered, and Ryan sighed.

“Make it right, Theo. That man means everything to me.”

“I know. I will,” I said before slinking off to find Callum.

Fuck.

Callum had a short trigger, but he was usually quick to bounce back, too. The fact that he was still pissed with me meant I’d really fucked up.

Ugh.

Why was I such a fucking mess?

Cal was in the garden, exactly where Ryan said I would find him. He didn’t seem upset. He was laughing with Iris, looking like a happy little shadow demon crouched in his usual all-black attire amongst a bright patch of lilies.

My hope that Ryan had been wrong and Cal was over our altercation fled my mind as his gaze fell on me.

The smile dropped right off his face, and Iris glanced up, pursing her lips as I arrived.

“I’ll go put on some tea,” she said quietly, billowing away to head inside, as if her witchy senses told her that we needed a minute alone.

She paused as she passed me, gently touching a hand to my arm.

“I am glad to see the darkness in your aura has lifted.”

“Uhm… Thanks, Mom.” She gave me a soft smile and stood on her toes to kiss my cheek.

“Your brother was waiting for his dark angel to come… but it seems you were waiting for your monster.” I cocked my head to the side, baffled by the fact that she seemed to know about the voice in Cassandra’s head, but she didn’t elaborate. She just drifted back to the house, running her fingers over the soft petals of the lilies that lined the garden path as she went.

Once she was gone, I cleared my throat awkwardly and gave Cal a head nod.

“Hey,” I said gruffly, jamming my fists into my pockets as Cal got to his feet.

He glared at me, slipping his own hands into the pockets of another ridiculous hoodie. This one said: Certified slut for gingers.

If he weren’t so mad at me, I would have laughed.

“What do you want?” he snapped, and I flinched, not used to him being so cold to me. Cal and I had become really close. I would consider him one of my best friends, and the way I had treated him the night before wasn’t okay. I’d been a complete asshole.

“I came to apologize,” I said honestly, letting him see how sincere I was.

“For what?” he challenged me, and I sighed.

“I’m sorry for antagonizing you like that. I was trying to pick a fight with you, and I know you’ve been trying to avoid violence. That wasn’t fucking cool, man. I feel like shit about it.”

He glowered at me, his brown eyes dark with anger.

“I’m less pissed about that and more pissed that you threatened Ryan. If you ever threaten my fiancé like that again, I will fucking kill you. I don’t give a fuck if you’re his sister. Consider this your one and only warning. Do you understand?”

My eyebrows raised in surprise. A death threat from Callum Walker was never made idly. If he said he was going to kill me, I believed him.

Instead of feeling threatened and afraid, a burst of warmth erupted in my chest.

Ryan had spent his whole life being bullied and ostracized by people. For him to have someone love him so much that they would literally kill for him made me so fucking happy for him. Call me fucked up but… I thought that was beautiful. Ryan deserved to have someone love him that much.