CHAPTER 31: BLACK AND GOLDEN MASK

It was easy to ignore everyone before, but with Zeke here, the stares were beginning to get overwhelming.

He was yet to move from his position, and even though he didn’t say or do anything, his presence made it hard for her to enjoy the food. She glanced up at Liam, wondering what could be going through his mind.

They finished eating and stood up to leave when Zeke also straightened and stood up with them.

She blinked at him, "Why are you following me?"

He tilted his head lazily, his eyes dark, "Who says I am?"

"You literally just got up the same second I did,"

"Maybe I’m done eating,"

"You didn’t even have food."

He smirked this time. "Maybe I was full of you,"

She almost growled at him and started walking toward the exit like he hadn’t just dropped a line that nearly stopped her pulse. Liam remained quiet, simply watching and studying the whole thing.

The moment they reached the Boneyard doors, they opened, and Eric stepped in.

Her heart lurched.

He stopped dead when she did, then his gaze shifted to the bad boy standing behind her, then back to her face again. The anger that flashed across his face was sharp and immediate.

"Eric, wait..." she reached out to touch him but he didn’t want to listen.

He brushed past, his shoulder knocking lightly into hers. The scent of his fury burned in the air as he walked away without a word.

She turned after him, her voice cracking just a little, "Eric, please, just listen..., it’s not what you think,"

He didn’t slow down and nor did he look back. It broke her heart even more, and her fist tightened from fury knowing the cause of her problems was standing right behind her.

They walked out of the boneyard, and she wanted Zeke to stop following her, so she grabbed Liam’s arm and led them in the direction of the library.

She knew guys like Zeke wouldn’t care for a library and it would be the last place they would be. But to her utmost surprise, he walked in alongside them and grabbed a book from one of the shelves.

Even Liam was taken aback, watching as Zeke leaned back on a seat and opened the book.

Then, Theo leaned in to whisper, "Should we leave now?"

"What if he follows us?"

Just then, she heard footsteps, lots of them coming from outside. It sounded like a bunch of students heading to another class, so she grabbed Liam’s hand and led him outside.

Quickly, they both slipped into the flow of the students. She stood between two taller students, and Liam stood in front of her, next to a shorter guy.

She turned around, half expecting to see Zeke standing there, but there was no sign of him until they left the vicinity and separated from the students.

In a few minutes, they had arrived at their own class.

"Thank Goodness he didn’t follow us," She sighed.

"It’s not us he’s following, it’s you," Liam pointed out.

"Yeah, and it’s hella annoying," She answered, but a part of her didn’t agree. Zeke’s presence, as dark and suffocating as it can be, usually felt... anchoring to her.

He always sets off her heart whenever she sees him, and touching him is even worse. Even right now, her heart was racing fast.

"Is there anything going on between you and him?"

Theo stopped walking and frowned, "What do you mean?"

"Like... If you ask me, he seems kind of protective of you, but not in the usual way,"

Protective of her? Oh hell no. She shook her head frantically, "There’s nothing that brat wants to protect. He just uses people for his own benefit, that’s all. The only reason he kept following me around was to annoy me, that’s just the kind of asshole he is,"

"Hm," was all Liam said.

She didn’t care if he didn’t believe her. She knew that was the truth about the matter.

After class, she and Liam were headed back to their dorms when she felt that eerie presence again, that someone was following them through the shadows.

It made her stop, and her demeanour changed.

"What’s wrong?" Liam queried.

"Nothing, you go ahead. I have some business to attend to,"

He tilted his head, "And I can’t come?"

She smirked, "This one is a bit more... personal,"

He took two steps back, "Fine. I’ll back off,"

"Catch you later, Liam,"

"Tell me about it when we meet up again,"

Once he was gone, she turned around and employed her senses in the direction of the feeling. It was a building far down, and she began walking up to the place.

As she approached, she heard faint and hurried footsteps moving from the building.

The person was moving!

Theodora burst into a run, chasing the person in the shadows. She plunged into the empty building and saw a shadow moving right outside.

"Stop!" She yelled after him and sprinted even harder.

The Shadow ran up a flight of stairs and she followed. So far, the person had blended so perfectly well with the shadows that she couldn’t even tell what he was wearing or anything about his appearance.

He was good.

She increased her speed, adding wolf’s speed to quickly catch up to him. If he happened to be one of her father or Cain’s spies who had figured out she wasn’t Thaddeus, then she wouldn’t let him walk out of this building so easily.

But as she increased her pace, he also moved faster. He burst open a door to his right and arrived at the top of the building, where he wouldn’t be able to escape.

It was already a little dark outside, and just as she thought he was finally cornered, she burst out through the door too, only to discover that he was gone.

No presence. No scent. Nothing.

But at least, she had finally seen something about him when she had increased her pace. He had turned back for a moment, and she had seen his face.

Or at least, what was covering his face.

It was a mask. A black and Golden mask.

The same one she had sighted for a moment at the Crimson Den.