Order of Shadows | Sebastian Sallow Love Story

Chapter Ten

With each word, Sebastian's eyes darkened until they were like obsidian. His anger made his irises appear as two burning pieces of coal and for the first time Séraphine was afraid of getting burned.

He began to stalk towards her in the same manner she imaged the Beast of Gévaudan did in the late 18th century when it terrorized every inhabitant in South-central France. The Muggle king himself, King Louis XV, had sent out a royal letter asking the Minister for assistance tracking down the foul beast only for it to be a Loup-Garou, or werewolf.

Sebastian grabbed her face in his large hand, making her look up at him. "Careful, Séraphine."

"Or what?" She snarled, thinking about the fact that Sebastian had betrayed the both of them, "Was I wrong?"

His lip curled, a similar rage making his shoulders rigid. "No, as always, you're annoyingly right. I cannot bear to lose anyone else. Not my sister, not Ominis, and certainly not you. So while you judge me because of how 'desperate' and 'selfish' I am to save my sister, understand that if it had been you that night, I..."

"You what?" She glared at him, "Would have given up already? Would have sent me a box of chocolate frogs and said 'Hope you don't croak before you turn 50'?"

Irritation flashed in his eyes and she suddenly felt his the tip of his wand under her neck, "Silencio. Now can I get a few words in without you being a complete smart arse?"

Séraphine mouthed, "Va te faire encluer!"

Now a half smirk toyed on his lips, "You told me to fuck off, didn't you?" She nodded and felt his thumb slide across her bottom lip, "Séraphine if it had been you that night, I would have burned the highlands looking for the Dark Wizard who did this to you months ago. Don't mistake me saying that I'm not ready to burn the highlands now for my sister, but it's because I believe in you--that you can find a cure that I haven't. Yes, I may have made a mistake showing the Undercroft to Catherine, but in doing so she asked me for help getting into the Restricted Section tomorrow night because she needs a certain book. She's trying to become stronger and control her magic. If it turns out she's powerful, then perhaps she could cure Anne."

The French Ravenclaw squinted at him, pointing to her throat. The bloody imbécile needed to undo the spell he'd cast or else she was going to cast the explosive charm on him. His eyes flickered down to her throat, muttering the incantation to undo the silencing charm.

Immediately she went off on him, "If you trusted me as much as you say you do, it still doesn't explain why it had to be the Undercroft."

"She saw how angry you both were which validated I'd shown her something important." Sebastian reflected, his eyes still stuck on her throat. His voice was deeper now, at least it sounded that way in the deafening silence that followed. The torches were no longer affected by their rage, but weren't back to normal. They'd dimmed along with the pervading tone which surrounded them. "I thought you didn't recognize me."

Séraphine was caught off guard. "Quoi?"

He raised an eyebrow, placing the pad of his thumb this time on her bottom lip, dragging it down slightly. "You said you didn't recognize me earlier... Yet your pulse is racing. Your cheeks are flushed. And you haven't smacked my hand away from your face this entire time. You say you don't recognize me, but darling your body does."

A mixture of embarrassment and shame washed through her. She smacked his hand away, but he merely smirked at her. "Don't change the subject."

"What else is there to discuss?"