Truth- Shadow goddess seris(COMPLETE)

Chapter Twenty Seven

Classes were rough to say the least. Supernatural history went by slowly as more than one person stared at Aaron in shock. They were intimidated and looked to be scared of him. I could understand why, he was a very intense looking man. And that is not even considering his size. Some of the girls stared openly at him, batting their eyelashes at him. Others moved as far away as possible. 

 And that is pretty much how my entire day went. Until I got to Cassius’s class. When he saw me walk in with Aaron behind me his face grew into one of anger. I gave him a pleading look, basically begging him to somehow get this shifter off of my back. Him following me around all day was not doing me any favors. Ryker wouldn’t even come near me because of him, and that on its own made me mad. Ryker was my best friend. Then again, no one should be able to run him off if he was the friend I thought he was. 

“Aaron, you may leave.” Cassius said, pulling me to his side, his midnight eyes darkening with his anger and challenge. 

Aaron shook his head. “I can’t do that Professor.” His tone was stern, hard even as he spoke to Cassius. If he were talking to any other person his tone would have left no room for argument. But this was Cassius we were talking about, and he didn’t like being told no, or being challenged. 

“This is my class, and she is my bonded. You may leave.” Cassius’s grip on me tightened to the point of pain, but I clenched my teeth and endured it as these two burley men stared each other down.

Shuffling caught my attention, making me look over Cassius’s shoulder to the class. They were all wide eyed as they jumped from their desks and gathered in the back of the class. They were expecting some kind of fight I’m assuming.  And to be honest, so was I. They both had murder in their eyes as they stared each other down. Cassius’s eyes were black as night, while Aaron’s odd purple eyes were much darker than the lavender I saw on him earlier. These two were gearing up, readying themselves. 

“That’s enough.” I sighed, putting myself between them. “This is getting out of hand.” I turned to Aaron, putting my hands on my hips. “Why have you been following me all day? I don’t need a constant guardian. I am fully capable of taking care of myself.” 

“We have a rare connection.” He said, his voice rough and thick with emotion as he kept his eyes on Cassius. 

“What kind of connection?” I asked with a furrowed brow. 

“You didn’t feel it?” He asked, finally turning his eyes to me. 

“I felt something, I just don’t know what.” I admitted. 

“That was a Nexus. It is a link binding two bloodlines together.” He told me, eyes softening. 

“What does that mean?”

“It means our two bloodlines linked themselves together. If I were to guess, it will be because they wanted you to have a constant companion. Not like a lover or a friend. But more like a family bond.”

“Like brother and sister.” I stated. 

“Exactly.” Aaron beamed at me. 

Okay, well things just got a little more complicated. How was I supposed to deal with this? What exactly were our two families planning? And what did they know? Surely there had to be a reason they binded a minotaur to me and me to him. And even later down the line his children will be linked to mine and so on until one or both bloodlines die out. That seemed like they were going a bit overboard with my protection. If I was right the minotaur was one of the largest and strongest shifters there are. Their horns were sharp as knives and as hard as diamonds. Their pelts were impenetrable to most weapons. One weapon in particular could cut through them like butter, but it hasn’t been seen in centuries. Although that may be the case the minotaur race was all but extinct. Few have ever been seen. 

“Things just keep coming.” I huffed. “Aaron, I’ll be fine. I’m in class and Cassius is here. Look at the class, both of you.” I said motioning towards the class that was huddled up at the back of the room. “All the tension and anger between you two are making the air stifling. Please, just wait outside for me.” 

Aaron took another look at the class before turning to me and nodding. “I will see you when your class is over.” He tipped his head to me, glared at Cassius, then left. My shoulders slumped and I massaged my temples tiredly. 

“Are you alright?” Cassius asked, pulling me into his chest. I stiffened in surprise. He was showing me affection in front of his class. It both warmed my heart and frightened me. 

“I’m ok.” I finally said, winding my arms around his waist. His body was warm and firm against mine. His steady heartbeat under my ear helps calm the storm that threatened to rage beneath my skin. I wish I could just stand here and curl into him and hide from the world that expected so much from me. I wish I could hide from the responsibility that was thrown on my shoulders whether I wanted it or not. I just wanted to hide, period. Get away from everyone and everything. I wanted to throw aside everything, relieve myself of the constant threats on th Academy, the pissed looks from the heirs. It was all making my head swim and my emotions to go out of control. I was always on the verge of a panic attack. I was worried one wrong look, one wrong move and I would snap. And not that one of my supernatural sides had emerged, I didn’t want to know what that looked like. 

Then I remembered my Uncle’s words and what was taught to us in class. A witch does not have to emerge. A witch is born with access to her power. Which means I had untouched power within me that I had no clue what it was capable of. And that scared me more than anything else. Cassius gave me one last squeeze before kissing the top of my head. 

“Go sit down.” He said softly. “Your friends have been worried about you.” 

I looked over to where he motioned to and smiled. Ryker was sitting in our usual spot, his eyes sparkling in excitement as he looked at me. I stood on my tip toes and kissed Cassius on the cheek before making my way over to Ryker. I gave him a quick hug before sitting down beside him and facing Cassius. The man truly was beautiful, especially when he smiled. And I mean smiled, not smirked. His trademark smirk used to always get on my nerves. But now I just associate it with him. And I have come to realize that it was part of his mask. He didn’t want people to know how he was feeling, didn’t want people to know his pain. So he covered it with a cocky and confident demeanor. 

“How have you been?” Ryker leaned over and asked me. 

“Overwhelmed.” I admitted. “A lot has been thrown at me lately, and emerging as a reaper didn’t help things. Everything just seems to be spinning out of control and I can’t stop it.” 

“It will all calm down.” Ryker assured me, placing his hand over mine. 

My brows pulled together as I looked down at his hand over mine. It still felt warm and calming. His presence brings me a little calm in the storm around me. Ryker has been there since day one. He has stayed by me and supported me. He was sad though, and I wish I could help. But I sensed he was sad for reasons I couldn’t help. I think he wanted to bond with me. But I just didn’t see him that way. Yes he was a constant since I got here, but it just didn’t feel right. 

Not that Cassius and Phoenix felt right in the beginning. They felt wrong too, forbidden. And now they were mine. Damn that sounded weird even to me. Mine. Ha! They are not mine. They are not objects that can belong to someone. They are all their own person. They are my bonded, and people I cared deeply about. People I couldn’t stand the thought of being hurt. But unlike others where they would feel pain when thinking of losing someone they cared for, I felt anger. Anger so deep and so vast that should I fall into it, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to climb back out. I didn’t even want to know what I could do if that happened. 

Looking up to Cassius I saw he was looking over at me curiously. Questions were in his eyes and I didn’t understand why. I tilted my head to the side and furrowed my brow at him. What was going through his head? Why was he looking at me like that? I looked down at myself to check and see if there was anything wrong with my clothes, wiped a hand across my face just in case something was there. But there was nothing out of the ordinary about me right now. But the look he was giving me told me otherwise. 

“She had darkness too.” I heard his words drift through my mind, followed by images of how I looked when I killed that man. My breath froze in my throat as I looked at myself through Cassius’s eyes. I was made of darkness, my form rippling like smoke on a breeze as I plowed through the shifters that came to get him. But what scared me the most was the red eyes that shone brightly within my wispy form. It was off putting and terrifying. Did I really look like that?

“Rose?” Ryker questioned worriedly, gently shaking my shoulders. 

“Huh?” I shook my head and looked over to Ryker. His own red eyes stared back at me worriedly. 

“Are you alright?”

“Oh, yeah. I’m fine.” I waved him off nervously. 

“You sure?” He furrowed his brow. 

“I’m fine Ryker. Just tired and overwhelmed is all.” 

“If you say so.” He turned back to Cassius, his face still scrunched worriedly. 

I sighed, dropping my head into my hands. I needed to hide things better. Plaster on a mask like Cassius and Phoenix do. I didn’t want people to worry about me, I didn't want them to stress. I did that enough for everyone. There was no need for them to as well. So with a heavy sigh, I pushed everything down and locked it in a box at the back of my mind. I’d just deal with it later in private, I told myself. 

Aaron followed me to Phoenix’s class silently. I bet this would be the hardest class for him to endure, and I wondered how he would respond to Phoenix and I sparring. Surely he knows Phoenix wouldn’t actually hurt me, because I didn’t want him stepping in and getting hurt. Our sparring usually takes on a more aggressive form than others. With us being evenly matched, we both had to try harder to outdo one another. I knew it wasn’t a competition, but I was used to being on top, and I really wanted to stay there. 

Right as I went to open the door I heard Caleb call me. “Rose, wait up.” He sped to me using his vampire speed. It always amazed me how fast the vampires could move. 

“What’s wrong?” I asked, turning towards him. 

“Your uncle needs you.” His eyes were filled with fear, telling me something was very wrong. Or that whatever my uncle needed might not make me very happy. 

“Caleb? What is it?” I reached over and caressed the side of his face, pushing calmer emotions into him until I felt him relax. 

“He needs to tell you.” He responded, leaning into my hand. 

“Alright.” 

I followed Caleb down the hall, walking hand in hand. People looked at us oddly, some with disdain, some with smiles. So many people and so many different emotions were crowding in on me I felt like I was suffocating. Why was I feeling all of this? Usually I need physical contact to feel emotions. My hand tightened around Caleb’s as I ground my teeth together. This needed to stop, I need to get out of here. 

“Rose? Are you alright?” Caleb turned to me asking. 

“No.” I grit through my teeth. “I need to get out of here. Please.” 

Caleb nodded and swept me into his arms bridal style before shooting through the halls. A squeal of surprise fell from my lips as out surroundings passed us in a blur of color. Damn he was fast. I couldn’t make anything out, everything looked as if I was trying to see through someone else's glasses. When he finally came to a stop and sat me down, I had to steady myself. 

“What happened?” He cupped my face between his hands, kissing my forehead. 

“I don’t know. Just all of a sudden everyone’s emotions hit me at once. I could feel everything they felt and it was smothering me.” 

“Reaper’s can feel other people’s emotions, Rose.” He told me gently. 

“I know. But usually I need physical contact. This was instantaneous. Like anyone near me I could feel with no contact required.” 

“We’ll figure it out.” He told me taking my hand and leading me the rest of the way. My uncle was waiting for us outside my office along with Cassius and Phoenix. I swiftly unlocked the door and motioned everyone inside. 

“What’s going on?” I asked taking my seat, noticing that Aaron was already there waiting. 

“You’re all needed at the palace.”  My uncle said, and my heart leapt.