Page 99 of Hero of Havoc

“How sweet of you, but I’m always under his skin, and that’s never going to change,” she vows as Sax’s hands flex at his sides.

The vision of his fist darting toward her face plays in my mind, threatening to make me laugh, but it’s quickly interrupted by another thought, one that involves her magic and what she would do to him if he even tried.

“Spit it out then,” I state, attempting to sound indifferent, but she pays me no mind as she takes another drag of her cigarette.

“Here I am, trying to plot out the safety of my future, all while you’re living in some kind of fantasy land, filled with hope, wisdom, and fond memories.”

“Get to the point,” Baron grunts, seemingly despising her stories more than I do.

Inching closer, I sense the brothers wavering over whether to block me from her path or not, but I eliminate them from the equation as I meet her in the middle. I hate standing toe to toe with her; she has a way of making me feel like I’m two-feet tall, her presence bigger than her actual height.

“Who is your hero, Theodore?” she breathes, the tightening in my chest unbearable as I blink at her.

“My father,” I answer with ease; it’s not even a question, and she knows it.

So why ask?

“Ah, little Theodore Lupus is besotted with his father, Jeremiah Lupus, the great and mighty warrior lost to the war between kingdoms.” It’s almost a song on her tongue, lilted with amusement, and it makes my stomach turn.

“Let’s go,” Baron murmurs, but I’m lured into her trap, tangled in her web, and there’s no escaping, no matter how much I want to run.

“Do you want to know the truth?” she asks, and Sax scoffs.

“Truth? From you? Do you even know what that word means?”

She bares her teeth, sending panic through my body, but to my surprise, she doesn’t respond. Instead, her attention remains firmly on me. “Maybe you’re not ready for the truth. Who am I kidding? You’re never going to be ready for the truth.”

I’m anchored to the spot, legs tied and arms bound by her poisonous words.

She’s going to shatter me into a million pieces, I can already feel it, but she wants me to beg for it, to demand it, to plead with her to ruin me. Despite my awareness, it is impossible to shield myself from the impending doom.

“Try me,” I say, my pulse swirling in my ears as my heart threatens to beat right out of my chest.

She stumbles back a step, eyes wide in disbelief as her cigarette falls to the ground.

Confused, I glance behind me, double-checking where Baron and Sax are, when the latter clears his throat.

“Your eyes, Teddy.”

I rear back. “Orange,” I mutter, rubbing at my lids as if that will make it go away, but he shakes his head.

“Blue.”

My eyebrows furrow in confusion when my mother’s voice cuts through the air.

“Your father wasn’t the hero; he was the villain.”

I freeze at her words, slowly turning my gaze back to her.

Her chest heaves as she leans against the brick wall behind her, hand plastered against her throat as she snarls. “How dare you use your magic on me,” she fires, twisting her hand in the air, ready to attack.

“Stop,” I grumble, my spine stiffening when she freezes, hand poised mid-air as she blinks at me.

What the hell is going on?

I never one-up my mother with my magic; she has the ability to twist the air between us before I can even get anything to stick. Now it’s suddenly happening without trying?

Something is off.