10. Chapter 10

The shadows moved under the crack of my door and up to my lock. It made the softest clicking noise as Cassius unlocked it. I pretended to be sleeping when he opened the door. The night had passed without dreams or visits from Cassius just as he warned me. Even in the silence of the room, his footsteps weren"t heard. If I had been sleeping, I wouldn't have noticed he walked close to my bed.

"Good morning."

Sighing, I opened my eyes and met his golden eyes as they stared down at me. Without another word, he turned away from me and sat in the small chair near the corner watching me like I was in trouble.

"My door was locked for a reason."

"You think locking your door will keep me out?" He leaned forward so his elbows rested on his knees. "I can reach you no matter where you try to hide from me."

His smile was wicked as he moved his hand to release shadows towards me. The dark cloud skimmed over the floor and up my bed covering my body. If he was trying to scare me, it wouldn't work. The shadows were warm as they twisted up my leg and thigh. He didn't stop there. The shadows kept moving upward over my torso before wrapping around my neck and wrists. Cassius had pinned me to the bed without effort.

"If you"re trying to scare me, it"s not working."

He stalked towards me and sat on the edge of the bed staring at me. There was something in his eyes I hadn't seen before. The coldness of the room had me shivering as my shirt rode up.

"You look quite nice like this, Thea." He gazed over my face before his eyes slowly traced every part of me. Cassius's golden eyes swirled with blackness as his gaze lowered until he had seen every inch of me. I could practically feel the trail his eyes made over me. My breath caught in my lungs as our eyes collided. Cassius's jaw was tense as he watched me. What was he thinking about? Did he like what he saw or not?

"Cass-" I stared, but he seemed to pull out of whatever trance he was in.

"Where were you yesterday?" He clipped.

That's what this invasion of privacy was about?

"Why does it matter?"

"No one saw you after your little outburst in the garden. A few rumors were going around. One was that you left the trials to go back home, and the other was you were meeting a man in town. So, since you came back, I assume it is the latter."

I couldn't focus on what he was saying after he called the garden incident an outburst from me. My eyes burned with anger, and I knew the moment he saw them change color from my magic. He sucked in a deep breath before an impressed smile curled his lips.

"You"re lucky I didn't have an actual outburst after you let that woman speak to me that way. So, if you think that was an outburst you are very mistaken."

"From what I've seen you do, I thought you were able to handle a bad attitude on your own," he smirked at me. "Unless you wanted me to save you, Thea? Do you want to be the damsel in distress?"

"You are the last fae I would ask to save me."

Something close to a frown tilted his lips before he put up his indifference towards me.

I glared with as much hostility as I could. "I went to the forest to blow off some steam after your friend was rude."

Looking over at me again his eyes slowly traced over my pinned body.

"Alone?"

"I'm done answering your ridiculous questions. Did you sneak into the living quarters of the other participants and pin them to the bed?"

He gave me a big genuine smile that caught me off guard and my anger simmered slightly. He was too handsome for someone I had no business liking and he was also a complete prick.

"Were you jealous, Thea?"

I scoffed.

"You are so full of yourself."

"Admit to me that you didn"t like that woman talking to me or touching me and I"ll let you go."

"Fuck you." I seethed. He would never know how much the sight of her and him pissed me off.

His face softened as he watched me. Why was he looking at me like that? I wanted to look away from him, but he watched me like he…cared. Why did it feel like we had done this before? He lifted his hand and brushed the hair off my forehead softly.

"How long are you going to pretend that you hate me?" Sitting on the edge of the bed his hand reached for my wrist, tracing a pattern I couldn't see.

"Why did you come in here?" I whispered.

His face turned hard the moment the question slipped past my lips. He tensed as he stared at me. There was a war going on behind his eyes, but I didn't understand why.

"I shouldn"t have come," he sighed, conflicted. He rose to his feet and departed with his shadows. A shiver ran through me as his shadows dissolved into nothingness.

"Cassius…"

"It'd be best to interact as little as possible. After all, you hate me so it should be easy for you."

Before I could form a response, he walked out of my room. I stared at the door for a long moment thinking he would come back in, but he didn't. Something deep in my chest had twisted at the tone of his voice, but I ignored it.

When I got to the dining hall the men were already eating. Before I went to sit down, I considered asking Cassius why he was acting so damn weird toward me. So instead of sitting with Nev, I headed straight for Cassius. His golden eyes watched my every step towards him before they swept across the rest of the room.

"I want to know why -"

"How many times do I have to tell you, Thea, I don't want or need you warming my bed? Stay the fuck away from me." His voice boomed in the quiet space.

The chattering in the room stopped and my cheeks burned with intense embarrassment. What the fuck was his problem? His face was cold with indifference. I glanced over my shoulder to see all the men staring at me as Cassius humiliated me. This guy was such a fucking asshole. When I turned back to him, he seemed to wait for a reaction, but I couldn"t think of anything to say.

There was a hint of surprise on his smug face when I just nodded softly and turned to sit next to Nev and some blonde-haired guy I hadn't noticed before. Cassius gave me a smug smile before he left the cafeteria. Ignoring the stares and whispers, I started to eat my food, even though what just happened left me nauseous. My mind swarmed at the way he had treated me. It was like he was trying to piss me off.

"Everyone was worried about you after no one saw you yesterday," Nev said to break the tension. "This is my friend, Haden."

"It's nice to meet you, Thea." Haden stood and gave me a polite bow. The gesture of bowing was odd, but it was better than gawking at me.

"It's nice to meet you as well. A friend of Nev is a friend of mine." I smiled at him. Cassius had returned and stood near the wall by the main doors of the dining hall watching me. It was easy to pretend I didn't notice him as I focused on Nev and Haden telling stories from home.

"We should ask her," Haden whispered. Nev's eyes widened.

"Ask me what?"

Nev glanced up at me nervously, and I wondered if I was really that scary to make him act this way.

"We were thinking that maybe the three of us could form an alliance?" He looked around before leaning closer. "Everyone else is forming them and we heard a few wanting to ask you." That was a surprise. Most of the men seemed to stay clear of me.

"We don't even know what the trials will be. How can we form an alliance?" I asked as I ate my food.

"Well, it's more for if we can help the other out, we will," Haden said. "Of course, when it comes down to it, it's each of us on our own. What would it hurt to help each other out if we can?"

"What place did you finish in the last trial?" I asked.

"Seventh."

Top ten. Maybe it would be good to have a little reassurance during the trials. If we could work together to finish the trials faster, it would only work in my favor.

"Ok, sure." I shrugged.

Haden's face beamed brightly at me before standing up and leaning across the table to hug me tightly. I gave him a small pat on the back as Nev laughed. Cassius turned and walked out of the dining hall as I sat back down.

Nev, Haden, and I spent longer in the dining hall than anyone, and we speculated what the next trial could be. They had ideas from being dropped in a body of water to being locked away in the darkness. It was all foolish ideas to me. The uncertainty of what the next challenge would entail consumed me, but I was certain that their assumptions would be far off. Whatever awaited us would undoubtedly be something none of us could have anticipated. The king would make sure of that.

"I heard we get to use our magic in one of the trials." Haden smiled. "That's what past contestants said."

This news didn't make me happy. Sybil had said fire magic was unheard of and it would probably lead to them knowing I had elite magic.

"That would be helpful," Nev agreed.

"What magic do you have, Thea?" Haden"s expectant stare pierced through me. Something in the way he watched me told me to conceal my abilities.

"Healing," I lied. Haden's jaw tensed as if he wanted a different answer. I wondered what he had expected me to say when his friendly smile came back. I must just be paranoid.

"What magic do you have?" I asked.

He set his hand on the table and frost moved across the surface. Interesting. Shifting my attention to Nev when he smiled before his eyes shifted to a bright blue. The lights in the dining room shone so bright I had to close my eyes. Light magic.

My eyes shifted around wondering what kind of magic everyone else held. It was likely that some didn't have any magic at all.

"I wonder when the next trial will be?" I sighed with impatience. "You would think that it would move quickly."

"The king just likes to keep us guessing," Nev sighed bored.

"Well, I'm going to town," Haden said as he stood up from the table. "You guys are welcome to come if you want."

We got up and followed him into the hallway. Cassius stood with a group of other guards. He didn't look up at me or give me an ounce of attention. When we passed them, I could feel his eyes on me, but I didn't bother looking back. When we got to town Nev and Haden led me to their favorite places. They had grown up in the Kingdom of Kizar and visited the Crimson Kingdom often with their families.

The town was quieter today. Not as many fae lined the streets. It was peaceful as the sun shined brightly on us as we wandered the streets.

"Why did Crimson let other Kingdoms join, but not Cerithia? Why not just have Crimson fae participate?" I asked.

"Well, I can only assume that if Crimson wants the final task to be completed they need to allow other Kingdoms to participate because there are very skilled fae from the other Kingdoms. Only taking Crimson fae would be a disservice, as they may not have the fae needed to complete the task," Nev explained with a shrug.

"But if that were true, then why not Cerithia?" I asked again.

"Crimson and Cerithia have been enemies for the nearly three hundred years I've been alive and I'm sure much longer than that," Haden responded. "They hate each other. I think the final task will have us doing something to Cerithia."

"Makes sense I guess."

When the sun started setting, we dipped into a small cafe for dinner instead of going back to the dining hall. The cafe was quaint with dim lighting and old wooden furniture. We took a small table by the window. It was empty except for two other couples in the cafe with us, but they were too deep in their conversations to notice us.

Once dinner was in front of us, Haden turned his attention to me. That uneasy feeling came back. A sense of running away invaded me, but he wasn't talking to me or saying anything. Why wasn't Nev noticing this awkwardness?

Nev seemed oblivious as he was joyously eating his food without a care. My eyes shifted back to Haden. He was still staring at me, but before I could say anything he turned away. I started considering if it would be smart to back out of the alliance with him. Dinner was silent, but Nev didn't bring up the silence like he wasn"t there to witness the awkwardness.

"It's amazing, isn't it?" Haden smiled.

"What?"

Haden"s eyes shifted to Nev for a short moment. Something told me to not give him a reaction because that is what he wanted from me.

"The food."

He was toying with me. Nev still didn't say anything until Haden stood up. Nev smiled at me like he usually did. Something odd was going on. All I knew was I wanted to get away from Haden.

A fae with gray hair approached our table and gave me a welcome distraction. "Dinner is on us. Go out there and kick some ass in the trials." We all thanked him as we stood. When we stepped out of the cafe it was eerily dark and quiet. The Wisp had appeared close by me, but she was dark red this time. She floated between me and the guys. They had started talking, but I was too uneasy to pay attention to what it was about. My heart beat wildly with apprehension and the overwhelming desire to leave Haden"s presence as we got back to the castle.

"I'll see you later." I was desperate to say my goodbyes and be away from Haden.

"Don't be ridiculous," Haden said with a smile. "I'll walk you to your room." The Wisp exploded into a powerful red flame between us. She didn't like him either.

"That's not necessary," I said as nicely as I could muster but started backing away from the two of them and edging towards my room.

"Haden's right. You should have him walk you to your room. There are some dangerous fae here, Thea."

I wanted to tell him that I thought Haden was a dangerous fae, but that wasn't possible. Nothing was going to change their minds, so I hurried past them without another word. The hallway was dark and silent as we moved quickly. When I got to my door, I turned to him standing too close. I took a step backward.

"Thanks. Goodnight," I said weakly before turning to open my door.

He grabbed my arm before I could manage it, though.

"I'm glad you decided to form an alliance with us."

"Let go of me," I said, struggling to wrench my arm free.

"I'm not the enemy here, Thea. You can trust me." His expression said otherwise. "You do trust me, right?"

"Haden, you"re hurting me. Let go." His smile only grew more wicked the more I struggled against him. Frost moved over the sleeve of my cloak. I noted the Wisp shift from red to dark green as fear gripped my chest.

"Is there a problem?" Cassius stood ten feet away in the shadows. I hadn't heard him and apparently, neither had Haden. His frost disappeared as he plastered a friendly smile onto his face.

"Just saying goodnight after hanging out with my girl."

"She's not your girl," he snapped back.

"Or yours apparently." Haden glared as some unspoken conversation passed between them.

Cassius shifted his eyes to me before focusing on Haden again, his mouth in a hard-pressed line. Haden lifted his hands in a sign of defeat and stepped away from me.

"I'll see you tomorrow, friend," Haden said, a hint of malice to his voice. Before he made it a few steps away, Cassius hissed his name, causing him to halt. He and Cassius stared each other down.

"If you touch Thea like that again, I"ll rip the arms from your body."

His possessiveness had me holding my breath. Haden glared at me from behind Cassius. "Somebody sure is possessive over something that doesn"t belong to them." Cassius"s jaw clenched at Haden"s jab, but he didn"t respond. When Haden"s footsteps disappeared, Cassius fumed at me.

"You shouldn"t be alone with men. First, you had Nev in your room alone, and now Haden."

"Haden was right. You do sound possessive." I crossed my arms over my chest. He didn"t respond. "You should probably leave since you"re a man and I"m alone with you."

His eyes darkened. "I don"t count. You never have to worry about your safety with me. None of these men can be trusted with you, so stop being alone with them. If you need something, you come to me, Little Viper. I"m the one you trust."

"You told me to stay away, Cassius. Which is it? You can't have it both ways. Either you want me around or you don't want anything to do with me."

Cassius's golden eyes traced over my face and his lips pressed into a thin line. He turned quickly and disappeared down the darkened hallway without a response. I stood watching him trying to process his words. The incident in the dining hall replayed in my mind. Conflicting feelings of liking what he said and despising him warred inside of me. The Wisp danced around him as if she was happy to see him, and I wondered whose side she was really on.

For hours I lay in bed tossing and turning trying not to think about why he said what he did. Eventually, I tossed the covers off myself. I got up and immediately went to find Cassius. I would make him tell me exactly why he said what he did.

My eyes scanned the darkened hallway as I made my way down it. There were too many doors down here to know which one was his.

"Looking for something?" When I turned a guard was watching me closely.

I sighed heavily as the words left my mouth. "Where is Cassius's room?"

The guard smirked, and I rolled my eyes at his assumption. "Keep going straight. It's the third door on the right." I turned and moved quickly. My fist pounded on his door. When he didn't answer, I kept pounding without stopping. This asshole would wake his ass up and tell me what his problem was.

His door swung open violently. Confusion crossed his face when he saw it was me before a playful smile crossed his face. All thoughts evaporated when he raised his hands high on the door frame, gripping it, fully displaying his bare chest. It glistened from the shower he must have been in. Water dripped from his dark hair and down his tattooed chest. My eyes drifted lower to the towel wrapped snuggly on his narrowed hips.

"See something you like, Little Viper?"

"No." I seethed at him as my eyes snapped up to his.

"Liar." His smile widened. "If you wanted to see me naked all you had to do was ask." The horrified expression he saw on my face made him chuckle softly. My eyes tried to drift back down his chest to admire the tattoos, but my mind made me focus.

"Did you want to come in?" He raised his dark brow at me.

"Are you seriously flirting with me?"

"Depends." He cocked his head to the side as he watched me carefully. "Is it working?"

"What the fuck is your problem?"

Letting out a long breath, he finally answered after a long pause. "A lot actually, so be more specific, Thea." He stared at me and his eyes darkened as they drifted over the oversized shirt I was wearing before meeting my gaze.

"I want to know why you said all that shit in front of everyone? Then you stick up for me with Haden. Do you hate me or something?"

"Or something," he muttered so softly that I knew he didn't expect me to hear him as he turned his head away from me. He ran his hands over his face and my eyes watched all of his muscles ripple at the movement. "Do you really want the men here thinking that I'm feeding you information about the trials before they happen? Because that's what they think is happening. You spread your legs for me, and I will give you information. Saying that today was a good way to stop the rumors. You're welcome."

"Why would you care if they said that? We both know that's not true."

The muscles in his jaw clenched. Cassius was clearly trying to be careful with his words and it only made me more curious.

"Because maybe I don't want you to get unfair treatment from them. Maybe," he stepped towards me, "I don't want others thinking I slept with you. Maybe," another step, "I just like knowing I can get under your skin. Or maybe I'm giving you a real reason to hate me." I had to tilt my neck back to meet his eyes as he stood too close.

"There is a real reason to hate you."

"I"ve done nothing to you, Little Viper, so why do you look at me like you hate me so fucking much?"

"Because I do," I breathed.

"Liar." He leaned down so he could stare me in the eyes. "Is that what I should call you from now on? My Little Liar."

My heart pounded quickly at the way he stared at me. I did hate him, but I couldn't tell him about Exile. There was no way I could tell him he served my biggest enemy. His golden eyes swarmed with blackness as he waited for my answer.

"You're my enemy," I whispered. Black shadows swarmed behind him with an angry tension.

"Who filled your pretty head with these lies, my Little Liar?" Something flickered in his eyes before he sighed heavily. "You can keep trying to convince yourself and everyone else that you hate me, but no one believes that bullshit. Even you don't believe it."

"I'm not trying to convince anyone."

"Why are you here in the middle of the night if you don't care?" His captivating eyes pinned me to my spot. He was right, there was no reason good enough to be at his room in the middle of the night. "It's because you care what I think about you. That doesn't sound like something my enemy should care about."

My fists clenched as I held in my retort.

"I just wanted answers, but if this is the game you want to play, then I'll play it with you." Disappointment filled his eyes.

My heart was beating too rapidly to think of something to say. This was getting too dangerous, so I turned to leave. Cassius called out to me in the dark hallway making my feet pause.

"When you're ready to admit the truth, it will be on your knees begging for me. The longer you make me wait, the more begging I will demand from you."