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“You do! Darius and Tobias made sure you did. You don’t need to do that anymore, you owe the fucking bastard nothing!” Kalen snarls. It is probably the only time we ever truly argue.
“Leave it, I’ll handle it.” I tell him, pocketing my phone. Kalen growls but knows I’m done with this conversation.
“You run off for him again, and I’m telling Darius and Tobias.” he snaps.
Kalen rubs his fingers over his infinity mark, trying to gauge where Aleera is. I clench my teeth, annoyed that my father would be stupid enough to message me in the morning, he knows I’m with my mates until the first break. However, Kalen’s bizarre emotions hitting me make me look at him. He brushes his fingers over the infinity mark trying to gauge her location. My mark buzzes but nothing from her.
“She blocked us?” Kalen says, stunned. We should be able to find her instantly with one touch. But when he rubs his thumb over it, all we get is a cold feeling running up my arm as he brushes her name etched into his skin.
My brows furrow, and I look at Kalen. Kalen is the only one that could hide from the bond. He could manipulate us by tampering with his or our auras, which is precisely how he managed to kill himself repeatedly. He would numb the bond like he didn't exist, hide his soul from us.
Controlling auras came in handy but was also a nuisance for us over the years when he would go missing. Because, with it, he manipulated our thoughts and emotional patterns. He is able to make us feel a certain way to stop us from becoming suspicious of his actions or words. He could force us to trust him even when we shouldn't.
Keepers usually harness their mate's magic, so it makes me wonder if she’s blocking us without knowing it. We search the entire castle grounds for hours. I even canceled two of my classes. Then suddenly, we get the first flicker of emotion back from her. It moves us toward Tobias' classroom.
Moving toward the door of Tobias’ class, I stick my head in the doorway. Aleera is sitting at a desk in the back of the room, a pen in her hand, nibbling on the end as she concentrates. Tobias watches her curiously as he sits at his desk. Walking in, Kalen goes toward her while I make my way to Tobias.
“Care to explain what the fuck happened?” Tobias hisses in a hushed voice.
“Darius, who else? How long has she been here?” I ask him.
“About an hour. She hasn't said a word,” Tobias says. “I didn't even know she was in here until I finished casting.”
That’s the thing about casting. It traps and locks in nearly all of your senses, tricking you into believing what you are seeing and forcing you to feel in that moment.
Tobias glances at her. “That is why I didn't notice her sitting at the back until the cast dropped. She should be in Darius' class.” he tells me.
“She portaled?” I ask, and he shrugs, glancing at her and biting his lip. I look over at Kalen, who is whispering something to her as he steals her pen from her, scribbling something on the page she is working on. Her brows furrow as he explains something to her about wayward casts. I go to walk off when Tobias grabs my arm. “What happened between you and Kalen this morning?”
“Nothing. Why?” I ask him.
“Remember who you’re talking to, Lye, this will be your only chance to tell me.” Tobias warns.
“Nothing to tell you,” I tell him, jerking my arm from his grasp.
“Well, for your sake you better hope not,” Tobias tells me and I swallow guiltily while he watches me with that knowing gaze of his.
“I have a class to teach, so either sit in or get out,” Tobias says, looking frustrated, and I’m not sure who he’s angrier at. Me or Darius. I glance around to see the demons waiting for Tobias to continue. I wander to the back, pulling a chair out on her other side. I sit down in it heavily, and my hand goes to her knee under the table.
“Are you okay?” I whisper to her.
“Never better,” she says, watching as Tobias teaches, and I lean back in my chair and peek over at Kalen, who gives her a strange look but says nothing as he leans back.
“Did she say anything to you about where she went?” I mouth to him, and he shakes his head, dropping his hand on the back of her chair and fiddling with her hair while she takes notes
“Aleera?” Tobias calls to her, and her head snaps up to look at him. He waves for her to come to the front of the class, and I sit up straighter, wanting to see what he will get her to do. Especially since this is an advanced class. She isn’t even supposed to take this class.
Her bond flips giddily inside her as she moves closer to him when she suddenly stamps it down, ignoring the excitement of her bond, denying it. Tobias gives her a questioning look before his eyes move to us at the back of the room.
Turning, I glance at Kalen, I can tell by the look on his face that he is observing her aura. Kalen tilts his head to the side and leans forward curiously, watching her. I slide into Aleera's seat next to him.
“What is it?” I whisper, and I see Tobias glance in our direction, so I know he is listening. I can also feel Tobias’ worry about why she is acting so strange, almost indifferent, like nothing happened.
“She forced her bond back,” he whispers, and I look at her, noticing how Tobias' jaw clenches and his eyes flicker. Great! Whatever is going on with her, we have Darius to thank. Just when I thought we were getting somewhere. Now we were back to square one. Darius had some fucking answering to do.
Tobias turns his attention back to her. He asks her to hold out her hand, and a devious smile plays on his lips. She looks up at him curiously with bright eyes, excitement filling her at the prospect of using her magic. Having been deprived for so long, to her it felt freeing that she didn't have to hide what she was. At least not here, well, until Darius walks into the room.
She looks over her shoulder at him, and her eyes flicker strangely, turning glassy before she swallows and turns her attention back to Tobias. Her embarrassment zaps through the bond fleetingly, then it turns to anger. She stamps it down, blocking us back out once again.
