Page 110 of Bound to Three Fae Beasts

The three of us didn’t go back to the great hall, instead fleeing to the Alegro room. By the time we reached it, Freta sobbed openly. Silas remained pale and shaking.

I didn’t know what to do. I thought I might throw up, but my body seemed too numb to react even in that way. The way Lotmas had watched as the boy screamed in pain sent chills over my arms. I’d always thought he had a sadistic streak, but this? This was something else entirely. Thatcher wasn’t any better. He’d ignored the boy’s pleading and let Lotmas torture him before ending it.

“It was so horrible,” Freta sobbed. “So horrible. How could anyone…?”

I stiffly got to my feet and grabbed a sleeping draught from our store of potions. “Drink this.”

Freta glanced at the draught and nodded. She drank the whole thing and leaned back into Silas, continuing to sob. I could only hope that being unconscious would somehow let her process what happened. She was soon asleep, curled into Silas’s arms.

“Do you need one, too?” I asked him. My voice sounded strange to my ears.

He shook his head. “I want to be awake when she wakes up. So she’s not alone.”

Our eyes met and a pang of panic went through me. If that student could be treated so cruelly, then was that the same sort of fate that waited for Silas? How many of us would be tortured like that if Lotmas got his way?

“Gareth and Seb gave Hilda a cleaner death,” he said. “Ask them for me, will you? If I’m going to die in the binding, ask them to do it. Make it clean and quick.”

“Silas—” I gasped, but he looked away as though the conversation was over.

A knock came on the door. I wanted to scream at whoever it was, but made myself answer. It was one of the low-ranked first-years. She looked at the floor as she said, “Lord Seb requests your presence in the Vespa room.”

I shook my head, but Silas spoke behind me. “Go. I’ll look after Freta.”

I couldn’t make myself look back at him. His voice was so brittle, I knew what he really wanted. For me to go so he could cry without witnesses. I felt the same thing. But I sucked in a deep breath, straightened my shoulders, and headed toward my mates.

Chapter 48 - Seb

I paced back and forth in the Vespa room, continually watching the door as I waited for Azriel to arrive. After hearing about the recent unbinding, I was more on edge than normal. Flora had been the one to tell us. Red and Savannah had been trailing after her as usual when she rushed up to me, trembling, her face a shade of white I’d only seen on corpses.

“There was an unbinding in the great hall,” she had told me. “Lotmas and Thatcher took him away. I just had to make sure you were okay.”

Worry immediately slithered in my gut, and I took hold of her shoulders, checking if she was also alright. She didn’t seem to be harmed. “Was anyone injured in the unbinding?”

Flora shook her head, then hesitated. “I saw that girl. Freta’s friend. She followed Lotmas and Thatcher, along with Freta and that boy they spend time with. They didn’t look like they were hurt. But they were following them.”

I ran my hand through my hair as I glanced at the clock. Flora had voluntarily left us, and I was grateful for that. She might be spiteful and full of pride, but she could also be understanding and kind. That was why this situation with her was so difficult. She had told me about seeing Azriel because she knew I’d be worried, and she left before I asked her to because she knew who I really wanted to be with.

It would be so much easier to burn that bridge if I didn’t know that good side of her.

“Seb, you sent the message,” Gareth said. He lounged on the floor, his hands tucked behind his head. “Azriel is going to make sure her friends are okay before she comes here.”

“You’re assuming Lotmas wouldn’t turn against her and the others if he caught them spying,” I grumbled.

Jasper sighed. “Lotmas wouldn’t care. There’s no rule against watching an execution. What we should be worried about is how this is going to change the structure of the school. Court Manilow has been unhappy with Quincy’s direction for some time. They might use it—"

“We have bigger things than that to worry about,” I spat out in agitation. I kicked Gareth’s leg. He rolled to his feet with enough speed I knew he hadn’t been truly relaxed. “Is it true that shape-thieves don’t cause the unbinding, or were you just trying to spare her feelings?”

Gareth’s expression took on an uncharacteristic seriousness. “I can’t say for certain, no. But I don’t see any logical way a shape-thief could do this. She’s skimmed your form dozens of times now. If that caused an unbinding, you’d be dead already. But it doesn’t matter. If people knew about her, they’d blame her regardless.”

“Right now, there’s no reason for anyone to suspect, is there?” Jasper asked pointedly. “Our bigger concern is the rumors about the three of us and her. It’s too close to the truth. We need to do better at keeping our relationship a secret.”

I turned to him, my agitation growing again. “That’s fine to say, but how? If we stop giving her our protection, everyone is going to target her again. If we don’t protect Freta and Silas, she’ll get herself hurt defending them. How can we put those rumors to rest and still continue protecting her?”

“I don’t know.” Jasper rubbed his forehead, groaning lightly. “Maybe I should volunteer to have the surgery early. Then they’ll stop suspecting that I’m breaking the laws.”

A hiss escaped me. “You have five years to fix your beast. And it won’t protect Azriel for you to be mutilated.”

“Quincy is getting more suspicious. The other high-born fae are no doubt sharing the rumors with their families. How long until my family shows up, demanding that I take a confession potion?” Jasper clenched his fists, the scars on his face seeming to grow deeper.