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Ch. 12

I swallowed hard as I saw him standing there. Despite the tiredness that hung in his silvereyes, they still held a devilish flame that appeared indistinguishable.

"Checking me out are we now Violet?" He teased, slipping his hands into the pockets of his jeans as we began to walk closer.

"Yeah right, you wish." I tried to make my voice sound strong but mentally cursed myself when it broke at the end. He didn't seem fazed by what I said - he was a Prince after all and accustomed to women falling for him, which only seemed to fuel his already inflated ego.

"Doesn't seem convincing." That agonizing smirk of his got bigger when I didn't answer him. I averted my eyes as he walked in a circular motion around me like an animal stalking its prey. His eyes went black making him look even more dangerous than before.

"Why are you here?" I asked, my voice fading as I let my sentence hang. Eros stopped walking and looked at me with a shocked expression, but quickly covered it up.

"The guys and your uncle were worried since you've been gone for awhile." He paused. "So I started searching for you and viola. Here you are," he answered, but there seemed to be something else seemed to be on his mind he wasn't telling me.

"Oh."

Silence fell between us. Eros turned toward the ocean and closed his eyes. . I was shocked to see his face relaxed; he looked so different right now, so at ease and calm. It was another Eros and it was nice to see him in this blissful state.

"Do you have any siblings Eros?" Out of nowhere, that question popped in mind. Eros's eyes shot open as his face grew hard and as he nodded.

"Yeah, a brother." Was all he said. I could tell from his harsh tone and tensed form that he had said all he was willing to.

"How did you do in the test?" He asked quickly, moving away from the previous topic. Despite his efforts, it was clear from the way Eros chewed the inside of his lip he was anxious.

"I was pretty good. Aside from the scary looking person that I met, I think I passed all of the exams." I shuddered when I remembered the first room that I came across. The person that was in there was terrifying.

Eros raised his eyebrows in a look of astonishment. For a while he simply stared at my with his silvereyes until a small smile crept onto his face.

"Congrats." Was all he said before closing his eyes against the ocean breeze and we once again fell into silence.

Questions began running through my head. Why ? Why the sudden change of attitude? From the minute I stepped into this school, he had been all but rude to me- so why? The questions kept on repeating themselves in my head, growing louder and louder by the minute.

"Why?" My voice croaked as my eyes landed on his face. His eyes popped open and he raised a questioning eyebrow..

"What do you mean by that?" He replied. He didn't turn around, but kept on looking forward toward the sea. He was playing dumb; he knew what I was talking about.

"You know what I mean Eros." I replied, taking a few steps closer until I stood next to him. "Why the sudden attitude adjustment? One minute you seem to hate me, and the next..." my voice trailed off, I didn't even know myself how to describe how he was acting. It was just...different.

"I changed?" He turned to me, eyes narrowed in deep thought. Sighing, Eros shook his head which caused his shaggy hair to fall onto his eyes. "That's because-"He stopped abruptly, debating one whether to continue his sentence. Deciding against it, Eros looked away.

"Never mind."

With that, he turned his heels and walked away. I stared at the ground, trying to make sense of what he had said. The hesitance in his voice made it clear he didn't want me to know why he's acting strange. All the questions from before ran through my head as I began following after him We entered the school building and started walking up the stairs. The walk to my Uncle's office was silent, even after I had caught up with him; neither of us uttered a single word. Eros was tense, I could tell from the rigidness of his shoulders. As we got closer to my uncle's office , loud noises could be heard coming from within that transitioned into hushed voice when we approached.

Opening the door to the office, I was greeted with my uncle's worried face. When he saw me, he directly relaxed and took a deep breath.

"Where have you been?" He asked, words dripping with anger.

"I've been in the forest," I answered. My uncle sighed as he got out of his chair to stand next to me. I had been expecting him to yell at me, but was surprised when his finger softly touched my cheek. As I looked up in confusion to meet his eyes, I saw that were full of fatherly love.

"Don't ever do that again Violet, I was about to close the school grounds to look at you. You could have been kidnapped for all we know; you are a princess now, a target for many people." His hand fell and I nodded guiltily.

The worry in my uncle's eyes made me realize how panicked he must have been. Sliding my hands into my jean pockets, I felt my shoulders hunch with shame. As I meekly looked around the room, I saw Remus, Bryson, Claudia and Giovanni each sitting on different chairs wearing big smiles. Rather than a smile however, Giovanni wore a look of irritation.

All of a sudden, I heard a loud squeal erupt from Claudia's lips. She leaped across the towards me. Eyes bright with excitement and joy, Claudia planted a kiss on my left cheek. With her hands squeezing my shoulders zealously, I could only look at Claudia with amusement as she started rambling.

Was she okay?

Bryson must have noticed my expression and began explaining Claudia's behavior.

"Look here V," He stated pointing his finger in my direction, "There are two reasons why Claudia is acting this way." He stated. "One, she's drunk." He paused, checking his nails before continuing.

"Two, she turned les-"

Claudia's hand made contact with Bryson's mouth, making him howl in pain. I couldn't help it anymore and bursted into fits of laughter when I saw Bryson's face branded with Claudia's hand print. Remus and Eros joined in and surprisingly my uncle, who cracked a smile. All of us listened as Bryson and Claudia had a heated conversation.

"I'm what?" She demanded, putting her hands on her hips as she glared down at him with a furious expression. I put both of my hands on my face and shook my head, trying to control my laughter. Bryson looked like a deer caught in headlights while Claudia resembled a mother scolding her kid.

"You're the most amazing, incredible, lovely and wonderful girl I've ever known." Bryson shot a grin in Claudia's direction, making her smile.

"I know, right!" She turned to me and squealed yet again. "Violet, guess what?" She asked with a huge smile on her face.

"What?" I faked enthusiasm and waited for her to continue.

"You've passed –" Giovanni's hand landed on her mouth, stop her from what she was about to say.

"Her Uncle is going to explain that." He gave me a smile, which I was sure was fake but I let it slide.

I was definitely going to talk with Giovanni after we left my uncle's office. His bizarre behavior and feigned happiness set me on edge. I'm sure that he's annoyed by something I have done, but I can't spot it. Yesterday he was acting fine and I had no idea what could have happened to make him so moody.

"Violet," my uncle spoke, "To our surprise, you've managed to pass all the tests." My eyes widened as I listened to what he said. "Having all of the 4 elements belonging to one person is unheard of, that alone makes you special Violet. Tomorrow, you will meet your trainers and start practicing. You will take private self defense classes the day after tomorrow." He informed, smiling proudly."You may go now, but Eros, please stay." He said looking directly at Eros with a neutral face.

Everyone immediately got up to leave and reached the door before I could

"Eros, remember what I told you."

That was the last thing I heard as I had closed the door behind me. As I began the long walk back to my dorm, I couldn't help wondering... What did they talk about?