Magic in the Bindings

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Theo was practically stalking the hallways now. He kept feeling something that sent his emotions into haywire. Why was he so irritated? Why, in the Goddess' name, was his chest so tight?

“Because he's near.”

Theo stopped dead in his tracks. The Solstice would officially start when the sun sets today, and they'd celebrate tonight so they can spend time with their families tomorrow or go mate hunting. But his Soulmate seemed to be here early.

“No.” Theo thought to himself. “It's just nerves.”

Nerves because of the intruder. He could sense it better than his own aura. That dull dud that ached in the atmosphere like a bullet wound.

There's a Human in the library.

Theo didn't stop again. Instead he strode proudly, and seemingly scary, throughout his home and downstairs. Any servants that crossed him hurriedly darted out of his path. He looked especially furious today, in a bottled-up way.

But then again that was almost normal. Being the heir to the Corvinus throne, he had many responsibilities to take care of. Many responsibilities that Melinda would ruin, Sylvie would deny, or Emeldia would take care of herself. It was almost like a he had three mothers, but then no mother at all. That kind of pressure can lead to some minor...anger issues. But he was the heir, so he wasn't allowed to show anything so childish.

…Though he did anyway, like all the time.

Theo could feel his gaze burn into the library door. The smell of an unmarked, uninvited Human seemed to seep into the walls.

An unmarked Human usually means an unwanted Human was in the house. When the staff are employed, they're given a collar with the Corvinus insignia in the center jewel. It works as a seal that masks the Human essence from a Magical's senses. The employees just assumed that it was apart of the basic uniform, but this Human obviously wasn't wearing one.

The large door whipped open with a furious kick. A boy with dark hair dropped the book he was skimming through with a visible jump. Theo still wasn't sure why he was so angry, but he wouldn't hesitate to take it out on this i***t.

"Out." It felt like a snarl on his lips, but Adrian thought he had actually growled at him.

"W-What?" Adrian has never met Melinda's brother before. She's showed him pictures on her phone, but he was only irritated in those pictures. Right now, his presence was domineering, or just plain dominating. Adrian's never feared someone before, but he did now.

"Get-" Theo jabbed a finger towards the door. "Out."

Adrian didn't argue. Though, he knew if had said something about Melinda things might've gone differently. Little did he realize, Theo was so furious that he probably would've just punched him in the face. Nevertheless, Adrian hurriedly left the room without another word.

When the Human was gone, Theo collapsed onto one of the couches. He hated this feeling. This helpless feeling. Fate was working its claws into him and there was nothing he could do about it, except pray to the Goddess that she would have mercy on him.

After a while of just lying there, he could feel his anger slowly calm itself. Everything bundled back up inside of him, back into its rightful place. It wasn’t a healthy practice to shove everything to the back of his mind, but at least now he could face a crowd without having an internal mental breakdown.

There was a knock, and Theo turned over to see one of the staff standing by the door. "Sir, Milady requests your presence."

A gunshot boomed in Theo's mind. "Oh my-Auntie." He suddenly remembered what his Aunt had gone to speak with his Mother about, and his blood ran cold with the knowledge of it.

"…Dismissed."

The servant bowed before leaving the room. After several minutes of contemplation, Theo followed him out. His leg's felt a little numb, but that's about all he could think about. He was so out of it that barely anything registered with him at all.

"Oh-there you are!" Emeldia's smile was sickeningly sweet as her son entered the room, but Theo's Aunt only managed a nod. "Ariana was just telling me about her vision."

Theo's heartbeat was in his ears.

"I like the way she made it sound." Emeldia went on with her fantasy as she clearly didn't notice her son's distress. "An evening hour, wine..."

He swallowed so hard it hurt.

"Black hair and strong silver eyes..."

“For Goddess' sake woman, just get on with it.” Theo begged in the safety of his own mind.

Finally, Emeldia's eyes softened from her excitement. "She sounds like a very pretty girl."

Theo almost fell over.

“What?!” He mentally screamed. He glared at his Aunt when his Mother wasn't looking. She shrugged innocently as if to say 'Sorry', or 'Whoops, I forgot.'

For a second, Theo wanted to slug her too. She was supposed to be telling his Mother the truth! Not chit-chatting around the most important part!

"Ah, I can't wait until tonight." Emeldia gilded around the room in a daze. Her precious son was finally finding his true love. It won't be long now before one of the Council members pass away. And when they see Theodore, powerful, intelligent, and newly mated, they'll have to accept him. They'll just have to. She could squeal with glee. She couldn't wait till he sat by her side on the Magical Council. It was everything they’ve been working for.

Ariana on the other hand felt extremely sick. She tried to tell her sister the truth, but she was never could talk to her. Emeldia kept moving on to trivial things: "What does she look like?", "Did you recognize her? What family does she belong too?", "Is she as cute as we dreamed?".

Ariana stared at the floor as her nephew glared at her. She was most utterly defeated.

Suddenly, Melinda in all her oddly peppy glory, strode into the room. "Ooo, what's going on in here? I can't remember the last time Theodore glared like that."

Theo's emotional slate was wiped clean when the annoyance of his sister hit. "It was just last week, when you turned one of the servants into a frog." He reminded her.

Melinda laughed. "Oh yeah, good times. But no-" She threw her arms around his neck for a lazy hug, but Theo didn’t even flinch. "It's different this time. It seems...colder."

"Yes, our Theo is quite the ice king, isn't he?" His mother pinched his cheeks, but Theo didn't avoid her teasing this time. He just stared at his sister as something clicked

"Why was there a Human in the Library?"

A tinge of nervousness blossomed in Melinda, or at the very least her voice. "Well the staff clean everything-"

"An unmarked, Human."

All eyes turned to Melinda as she struggled to come up with a good excuse. "Oh, him? That was just one of my boyfriend's. I told him to wait there while I grabbed my stuff. I was gonna try something new on him-"

Emeldia gasped, but she wasn't really surprised. She was more upset that she’d try something on today of all days. "Melinda! You know you're not supposed to be practicing magic on the public!"

Even in the Magical world there are rules and causing a commotion with the Humans is definitely against one of them. Though, Theo could write an essay about all the horrible things Melinda has done to Humans. Like right now, she was supposed to be grounded because she charmed a boy into burning down his family's shop for her.

It'd be different if the incident can be contained, after all Humans are considered to be nothing but soulless vermin to the Magical community.

"Mom, it was just a charm." Melinda released her brother to cross her arms. "I wanted him to buy me some stuff." Emeldia rolled her eyes, which was something she rarely did. She never really approved of playing with Humans like her daughter and others do, but it wasn't technically breaking any laws, as long as Melinda didn't reveal herself as a Witch.

"Fine, fine." Emeldia slapped her face a bit. She couldn't deal with her daughter's intentions today. It's almost time for the guests to arrive; she had to finish preparing. "Ariana, could you come help me pick tonight's menu?" Ari nodded and followed her sister out of the room.

Melinda was about to leave too, when Theodore caught her by the arm. "Where's the other one?" He was talking so low that she almost didn't hear him. But she did hear him, and she smiled. Melinda knew right from the very moment that Theo brought it up that he had seen her with the boys out back, but she had nothing to hide.

"Oh I don't know; he could be anywhere by now." She shrugged off her brother's grip. Her smile was always the thing that brought boys in. It was clean, with perfect teeth and plump lips, but there was something off about it. As if the greatest evil secret was hiding behind her tongue. Melinda giggled. "I marked him while he wasn't looking. You'll never find him now."

Theo's eyes hardened into green diamonds. "Watch me."

"How? You can't sense him while he has the charm!" Melinda shouted as she watched her brother go. That was…strange. Normally, he'd slyly accept her challenge because he had nothing better to do, or at least he would lecture her about causing Mother problems. This obviously angered reaction was different. Maybe all this 'special night' and 'Soulmate' stuff really was getting to him.

The thought made Melinda's grin morph from wide to Cheshire. “Good.”