As Theo drove us home, a heavy tension hung between us. Lucy's voice kept echoing in my head and it was starting to rile me up. I stared at Theo who was staring straight ahead with his lips set in a firm line. I placed my hand on his jean clad thigh and let out a sigh.
"You're upset" I said, breaking the silence.
He still didn't say anything.
"I'm sorry for not telling you about what happened at Karla's house" I said, gazing at him. He let out a sigh, his grip on the steering wheel, tightening. I feared that he would rip off the steering wheel.
"Theo-".
His stoic expression faltered.
"I'm not mad at you"
Those were the first group of words that he uttered since we left Lucy's apartment.
"But-why do you look so upset?" I asked. He gave me a knowing look and looked away. It was then I understood why he was upset. I knew Theo well enough to be able to read his thoughts by merely looking into his golden eyes.
"You are blaming yourself" I said, staring at him wide eyed.
"Theo, what happened at Karla's house isn't your fault" I said. He shook his head, his silky hair falling over his left eye.
"I insisted that you go to Karla's birthday party. What would've happened if Liam didn't show up? You would've gotten seriously hurt or worse--" he said, his voice cracking at the end of his statement.
My heart sank.
"But I'm safe now" I said.
He bit his lower lip.
"Theo, please don't do this to yourself. We have to concentrate on more pressing issues. We have to figure out who the silver beast is. Here's what will make us feel better, why not teach me a few moves that I can defend myself with?" He raised a brow, the corner of his lips, slightly curved upwards.
"Are you serious about that?" He asked.
"Yes, Theo. I am"
He parked the car in front of the house and gave me a kiss. He unbuckled my seat belt and stepped out of the car with me. Theo opened the door and stepped aside for me to walk in first. He followed suit and shut the door behind us. Then, I noticed the figure lying on the couch, asleep.
It was Luke. His hair was falling over his face, messily. "Since when does he take naps?" I said, smiling. When Theo didn't reply, I turned to look at him. He wasn't smiling, he looked worried.
"He does. He takes naps but something is wrong with him" Theo said and moved closer to the couch.
"Luke?" He said. Luke slowly opened his eyes. His eyes were bloodshot and the silver of his pupils was dull. Too dull. He brushed his hair away from his face and gave us a weak smile.
"You're back" he said and I nodded. "Are you okay?" Theo asked, his hand still lingering on Luke's shoulder. "I'm fine. Why are you asking me that?" Luke asked, arching one fair brow. Theo let go of Luke's shoulder and went towards the fridge. He was acting really strange, I was starting to get really worried. He grabbed a tumbler and without hesitance, crushed it with his hands. He released it from his grip, sending it crashing to the ground.
"Theo!" I gasped as the glass shattered noisily on the floor with a loud crash. Luke winced, holding his hands to his ears firmly. His face was etched with pain. "Luke, take your hands off your ears" Theo said, ignoring the bleeding cuts on his hand.
"W-what?" Luke gasped, eyes wide.
"Just do it" Theo hissed and Luke let go off his pointed ears. His ears were bleeding. "Oh my God-Luke, your ear" I gasped. "Luke, how weak are you feeling?" Theo asked. "I-"
"Answer me, dammit!" Theo snapped. What the hell was happening?
"On a scale of 1-10, how bad is it?" Theo asked. "An 8?" Luke mumbled. Theo heaved a sigh, running a hand through his hair. "Where did you go?".
"I-I was with Amyra for a while....then I left. I don't remember much after that" Theo tugged at his hair, his frustration growing.
"Theo, what's going on?" I asked, placing a hand on his biceps. "Luke met the silver beast but he doesn't remember. The silver beast is sucking his life force. She's not going to kill him yet. She'll need Luke to complete her transformation" Theo said.
"Think, Luke. Who did you see after you saw Amyra?"Luke dropped his gaze, his eyes glazing over.
"She was quite tall with short blonde hair.... that's all I-" Luke's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he slumped forward.
Theo was quick enough to break his fall. My gaze met Theo's tortured ones. Things weren't looking well for Luke.
....
"Alba, thank you for coming. How is he?" Theo said to the familiar white haired woman who was a healer. The white haired woman had stunning multicolored eyes that glowed ceaselessly and she was one of those people who looked very much younger than their actual age. Even though she looked to be only twenty, I knew she was centuries old.
There's just something about her eyes that screams the fact that she's really old. Like really really old. I'd met Alba twice before now.
The first time was when Theo had been suffering a grave injury which had been inflicted on him by a dragon blade. He had come so close to dying and Alba had used the soulmate bond to help Theo recover.
The second time I'd seen her was the day Theo had died after being stabbed in the chest with the dragon blade by his uncle.
Although Theo had managed to take his villainous uncle down with him, it had been painful for me to watch Theo die. Not even Alba could have done anything about it. Now at this point, Luke wasn't looking too good and Alba was worried. She placed a hand on Luke's forehead.
"He's really weak, Theo. He'll need to take things easy for a while. If the silver beast gets a hold of him again, there's no telling how much more she'll be draining from him"
Theo sighed, his eyes fixated on Luke's unconscious figure.
"Whatever you do, do not let him out of your sight" Theo nodded and held Luke's hand. Alba turned to face me and patted my cheek.
"Be strong for him" she whispered. Initially, I thought she meant Theo or Luke. But then, she said something that stunned me.
"Be strong for your unborn child. He will need your strength" she said and left. I was worried. Theo and I hadn't really gone that intimate, so I knew that I wasn't pregnant. But, I couldn't help but worry. Shortly after Alba had left, Luke awoke.
"What happened?" He asked, pushing himself to a sitting position with Theo's help. "You passed out, don't you remember?" I said. His eyes widened. "How are you feeling?" Theo asked.
"My head feels fuzzy. I don't understand. What the hell happened to me? What did the Afyrza do to me?"
"She took some of your life force, Luke. I'm so sorry I let this happen to you" Theo told him.
"No, no, Theo. This is definitely not your fault. I feel bad though. I am your guardian, I'm supposed to be taking care of you" Luke sighed.
"You've done so much for me already, Luke. You're a brother to me. You're my bestfriend. It's time for me to take care of you, Luke" Theo said and Luke smiled weakly. There was a knock on the door. I went to the door to open it. A worried Amyra stood there, her face pale. "Please tell me he's alright" she cried.
"He'll live. He's just really weak" I said and tears filled her sunset colored eyes. I led her to Luke's room and she rushed to his side, pressing a kiss to his forehead.
She started to talk to him using the faeries language. Then she started muttering an apology over and over again. He wrapped an arm around her and brought her close to himself.
I left them alone and went in search of Theo who'd left the room immediately Amyra had shown up. I found him in his room, staring outside the window, with his back rigid.
"Theo?" I said, placing a hand on his shoulder. He still didn't move."I thought we've gone over this, you should stop blaming yourself" I said.
"I'm not. The birds are trying to tell me something" He said and I raised a brow.
I moved closer to the window. Only then did I see the three beautiful birds, chirping. They were going in circles in the air.
"You can hear them?" I asked, awed. He nodded.
"I'm a faerie, Dev. Most fairies have the ability to communicate with certain animals. We are connected to nature"
The three small birds moved closer and flew through the window and perched on Theo's shoulders. Up close, the colors and smoothness of the feathers was a sight to behold. Theo suddenly frowned as the birds continued to chirp. I wanted to ask him what they were telling him but he seemed to be concentrating so hard on whatever they were telling him.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. The birds were chirping with a tone of urgency at this point. Theo looked confused. Immeadietly the door opened, they flew right out of the window, their wings flapping until they were out of sight.
Amyra stepped in, looking very unhappy. "I'm leaving now. I'll be back shortly" she said. Theo on the other hand, looked like he was pondering over something.
As soon as she left the room, his eyes widened. He moved out of the door with the speed of light. I cursed under my breath and rushed into the sitting room to only to find Theo cornering Amyra against the wall. She refused to look into his glowing eyes.
"Where have you taken him?" He growled. "I don't know what you're talking about!"
"Shut up! Don't give me that shit, you bitch! Where have you taken my best friend to?!" He growled, slamming his hand on the wall beside Amyra's head, making her flinch. I've never seen Theo so riled up and I was having a hard time figuring what was going on.
"Theo, what are you talking about? Luke is in his room" I said. He glared at Amyra.
"No, he's not"
I froze, my blood running cold. "I don't know what I did to deserve this hostility from you. I really don't know what you're talking about!" Amyra cried, angry tears filling her eyes.
Theo pinched the bridge of his nose, heavy tension building up in the sitting room. "Theo, are you sure about what you're saying? I mean, you do know that Amyra is Luke's mate right?"
Theo let out a bitter laughter."Do you think the silver beast cares about her mate?"Amyra's eyes widened by a fraction, her gaze meeting mine. For some strange reasons, I couldn't look away. All of a sudden, pain shot up through my body and my knees buckled. In a blur of movement, Amyra vanished into thin air and Theo caught me right before my body hit the ground. Through blurry vision, I gazed into Theo's eyes, my heart breaking into pieces when I saw the look in his eyes.
Fear.
He was afraid.
I gasped as white hot pain shot through my skull, my eyes rolling into the back of my head.
****
LUKE
I honestly have no idea why Amyra suddenly asked me to come to the park to wait for her. I'm really not a fan of surprises. She had acted really strange and there was something off about her but I couldn't pinpoint it. I turned to look behind me when I saw Amyra walking towards me with a smile on her face. She looked flustered and overly excited. "Are you okay?" I asked. She gave me a smile that didn't go past her lips and I found it odd, disturbing even. She held my hand and gazed into my eyes. Then, she leaned closer and kissed me. "Do you trust me?" She whispered when we pulled apart for air. I nodded and she grinned. There was no one in the park, just the both of us. What could possibly go wrong? "Close your eyes" she said in a sing-song voice.I hesitated and she pouted. "Come on, Luka" she said. I sighed and closed my eyes. All of a sudden, the air grew colder. My eyes popped open but Amyra was already standing in front of me, kissing me in a feverish manner. The heart stopping pain hit me next. I gasped, my eyes moving down to my torso where five sharp claws were embedded. I coughed up blood, my gaze meeting Amyra's. My heart sank when I saw the vicious smile on her face. Her eyes-They were blood red and her hair-It was silver. My knees buckled, pain shooting through my whole body. I couldn't breathe, she was squeezing something out of me. She was draining me. Tears filled my eyes, the pain in my heart greater than the pain that had consumed my body and was threatening to consume my soul. Amyra laughed. I couldn't breathe.
"It's you....It has- been you all along" I choked out.