Chapter 87: _Who Gets The Girl?
Azrael’s POV
*****
12:30 AM, Female Dormitory building.
He was there.
The exact minute Lysandra summoned that woman wearing her mother’s face, he had appeared on Atlas’ balcony, hiding in the shadows and watching everything.
From beginning to end.
Staying hidden was nigh impossible—especially when he felt who that woman truly was. Or rather WHAT she truly was.
His master. The High one. That was merely a projection of her magic.
Ancient. Cold. Above everything else, including the old magic Atlas called upon when trying to bind her.
Realising this made Azrael think something dreadful. For Celeste especially.
Was the High One accelerating her plans without him? Pulling strings with other parties to reach whatever true goals she had?
Suddenly, Miss Benedicta’s case didn’t seem all that mysterious or confusing. It felt like a deliberate test. Set up for him and possibly Celeste too.
Every bloody thing in this academy felt like a test.
"Reaching out to the High One isn’t an option now," he whispered to himself, the shadows rippling as he appeared in his destination. "All I can do now is continue my mission."
But for how long? How much longer would he continue following the directives of—
—What is he doing?!
This was grounds for blasphemy and heresy.
Letting out a breath, his eyes scanned his surroundings. Bathed in the waning moonlight above.
Celeste’s balcony.
After everyone left Atlas’ suite, he tracked Celeste and Silas. They were on their way to her suite, sticking close to each other and unsuspecting of a foreign presence.
Soon, a click echoed from the front door within the room. It opened, Celeste stepping into the darkness slowly. "It’s really late." She whispered, glancing back at the tall figure behind her.
Silas.
The latter smiled, an expression so bright that even Azrael could see it all the way here.
"I wish I could sleep here with you." He whispered, head inching close to Celeste’s face. "Watch over you. Just for tonight."
Jealousy was such a fleeting and mundane emotion that Azrael looked down on. What was the point of feeling jealous when you have the power to take almost anything?
Alas, here he was. Lurking. Seething. Burying his impulses with each tender look Silas gave his mate. Already imagining a hundred ways to dismember him.
Even the bond thrummed, sending her emotions to him with an intensity that made him grunt to himself. "I shouldn’t have come here."
As if hearing him, Celeste’s eyes wandered to the balcony. "I..." She hesitated. "Silas, Willow is literally sleeping in here. You know you can’t be here."
Ah, Willow.
At the mention of Celeste’s wolf friend, Azrael peered through the darkness, gaze scanning across every inch of the bedroom.
There lay Willow, body curled and almost still, while her breathing was light. She had her back facing Celeste and Silas, seemingly undisturbed by their antics.
And apparently, his as well.
"Come back to my suite then," Silas was like a stubborn fly. "Pardon my concern, love. I just don’t feel okay with the idea of you being alone after everything that woman said to us. About you being a... Child of chaos?"
Azrael’s brows furrowed. ’Could my reason for being here be similar?’
Right now he felt like compelling Willow and Silas to leave and then tasting Celeste again. He craved her in ways no human language could express.
And still he couldn’t have her.
Torture at its finest.
"Silas, chill." Celeste giggled, a sound that felt forced. She placed a hand on Silas’s cheek, pecking his forehead. "I’m fine. Don’t I look fine? That woman was probably some crazy cult fanatic out to scare us."
Hmph.
She clearly didn’t believe those words.
"Celeste," Silas shook his head. "I have a feeling whoever she is, she’s also linked to Miss Benedicta’s murder and her children’s disappearance. Perhaps even those notes Azrael got too."
Well, well, well.
At least the Beta shared similar thought patterns with him.
"It’s still too early to say," Celeste whispered, neck spinning to Willow and briefly to the balcony. "Literally. I’m sure we’ll have a lot of new problems to handle in the morning."
With a final brush of his cheek, she shoved him gently out of the room. "Now why don’t you... Go get some rest? Hmm?"
Although reluctant, Silas FINALLY left, leaving Celeste standing behind the closed door. She breathed out, equal parts relieved, amused and exhausted.
"Is it me or is it kind of chilly?" She rubbed her arms after a few minutes, weaving to the balcony door. "This door’s even open a bit. Gods, Willow..."
Azrael stood still, the shadows thickening to mask his presence. She got to the French doors, shutting them gently after sticking her neck out for a breath.
Watching her turn her back on him felt like a slap in the face.
He was no longer needed here. That’s if he ever was to begin with.
Air left him, slow and restrained as he slipped off the balcony, landing at the edge of the dormitory building.
However, no sooner had he straightened than approaching footsteps from the building’s entrance made him freeze. He kept himself in the shadows, angling his head in that direction.
Silas.
"Yes, Dean." The young man spoke into his phone with a casual look in his eyes. "I... Understand. From now on I’ll make sure to keep a close eye on Celeste."
Those words made Azrael’s frown deepen.
Word about Luther and Atlas being assigned to be Celeste’s bodyguards or whatever had gotten to him. It always struck him as suspicious... But now?
Another Hale brother being added to the equation?
"A sweet recipe for disaster." He thought out loud as Silas pocketed his phone, stepping down the steps.
The Beta progressed to the male dormitory building a bit far north, his eyes squinted like he was calculating. In the air, the smell of another wolf lingered.
Luther.
Now that Lysandra was revealed to have cast a love spell on him, he might prove relentless in his chase for Celeste. And her trust.
Two brothers. One mate. And then there’s him... Watching and waiting until his directive or impulses shift.
’Who gets the girl in the end then?’ he asked himself. ’And who breaks trying?’
