Sebastian rears back as if I’ve slapped him. His green eyes flare wide.Finally. I want to pat myself on the damn back. It turns out he does still have emotions.
‘What’s wrong?’ I taunt with a small tilt to my head. ‘Don’t tell me you forgot about him? Forgot how he died and how his body was burn t byyourheadmas—’
Sebastian rushes at me so fast I barely have time to blink before his body crashes roughly against mine. My yelp is smothered when his hand clamps over my mouth; it’s so large it covers the entire lower half of my face. My back hits the tree, hard. I growl against his palm in pain.
‘Shut your starsdamn mouth,’ he hisses down at me then cranes his neck to look around. I glare up at him. Rough bark digs into my back through my jacket. I try to shift my weight, but it’s no use, he only pushes me further back into the tree, using the sheer size of his body against mine.
Stars, he’s just so … big. Everywhere. From his shoulders to his arms, even his chest is sculpted and firm as I practically nose breathe into it. Which, unfortunately, affords me the ability to inhale the rich, smoky scent emanating off his skin and clothes. It’s achingly familiar, and I hate it. It would be easier if he smelled different, looked different – felt different. But he doesn’t. The body that’s pressed to mine feels the same, and for a long-winded moment, my own body starts to react as if it remembers him. We’re so close, close enough I can see the muscle flickering in his clenched jaw. The foliage above our heads casts shadows across his face, making his cheekbones appear sharply defined, more so than usual.
A moment later his head slowly turns my way as he finishes scanning the area. Our eyes lock. My heart thumps within my chest at a galloping speed as I feel his hot breath tickle my nose and cheeks, warming the exposed skin.
Resentment, disappointment, betrayal, sadness. A myriad of emotions wash over me like a tidal wave as I gaze up into his swirling green eyes that, behind his mask of indifference, hold something else beneath them. Something I finally recognise.
No.
I breathe heavily against his palm.
No! What the fuck am I doing?
I can’t do this. It isn’t fair to be pressed so close to him after all this time, when he’s not who I remember. Not who I thought I’d find within this academy. The urge to run itches against my skin, irritating me to no end. I let instinct take over and I bite into the fleshy part of his palm.
‘Ah, fuck!’ Sebastian yanks his hand back, leaping away from me to shake it out. When he looks back to glare in my direction, there’s a dangerous glint in his eyes.
‘Do that to me again,’ I threaten, ‘and I swear next time I’ll make it bleed.’
‘Is that supposed to be a threat? Or a promise?’
‘Stars! He’d be ashamed of you if he could see you right now,’ I snap. Lukas would lose his shit if he knew the way Sebastian has treated me.
I look for a flicker of emotion, but he offers nothing. In fact, my words only seem to darken his glare – not hurt him like I wanted, butencouragehim.
‘Is that so?’ He huffs a short laugh that makes my blood run cold. ‘What aboutyou, Little Traitor?’ His eyes narrow and, paired with the slight tilt of his head, he looks every bit the predator that I’m sure he’s used to being in a room. His gaze is penetrating as he takes calculated steps toward me. Fallen twigs snap beneath his boots until we’re toe to toe once again.
I swallow.
‘You’re rather quick to condemn me in his eyes, but what do you think he’d say if he discovered hisdarlingsister was rejected by his own unit. Or worse,allof the units.’
‘He wouldn’t care,’ I protest with a shake of my head.
‘You sure about that? Just think about it,’ he continues.
I don’t want to.
‘Your brother excelled at everything, but you know that. Right? I mean your parents sure knew it; they weresoproud of him.’
There’s no point trying to hide the way his words hit home; I couldn’t if I tried. It’s a soft spot and he knows it, which is just plain cruel. He’s witnessed the favouritism that often happened when Lukas and I were put in a room together – it’s no secret that my parents had a preferred child. Even now they’d probably prefer him over me.
My fists clench at my sides. My breathing turns heavy.
‘I wonder what they would think, too,’ he taunts and starts to walk around me like I’m his prey and he’s stalking me, ‘if they found out you’re not only magicless, but also unitless.’ He tsks. ‘What a shame.’
My body is vibrating with anger.
I gasp as he stops pacing and snatches out to pinch my chin between his thumb and index finger. He tilts my head back, our faces mere inches apart.
Every drop of blood in my body hums as he lowers his face to my ear and whispers. ‘I think thatyouare the one he’d be ashamed of, and that he’d tell you to leave and never come back.’
Leave.
