Theron heard about the rumors the next day. And honestly, he had to admit that it was a good play, a nice angle to use. He hadn’t well and truly thought about it—something rare even for him.
He never really saw men and women as much different. He didn’t have much experience in the matter despite his mother trying to drill him with things since he was young.
On top of that, his first real world experience with the opposite sex had come from many of them trying to kill him. Other than the women in his family, he had never truly thought to treat the so-called fairer sex much differently at all.
The way he saw things, that was a recipe to get yourself killed.
The only woman he had somewhat treated differently—Sadie—had also ended up grabbing onto his greatest weakness before he even realized it.
She had reminded him so much of his little sister that he couldn’t help himself. But such a thing only made the way he viewed things even colder.
He was sure that before they died, Teagan and Soren never thought that it was Thessa that would take their lives. But now, buried six feet deep, it was far too late for them to regret that slip-up in judgment.
This was just the way of the world, but it seemed that there were too many people eager to ignore that judging by the looks he was getting on the way to class.
Looks filled with disdain, disgust… and most of all avoidance as though even those that might understand wouldn’t want to touch him with a ten-foot pole.
Before he even heard the rumors, he understood what it was. By the time he sat down in class, he had heard enough whispers.
A violent man.
A woman-beater.
A bundle of raging testosterone that didn’t know how to be kind to the fairer sex.
It was a label that was quite easy to stick on a man. If Theron had been any older, it would have likely been even worse.
After sitting down, Theron closed his eyes. He sensed Sawyer walk in, and he shut off all his senses.
If things were going like this, something would certainly be said to set him off. He didn’t want to hear it. If he did, a head would fly. And at that point, what realms of control he did have over the situation would be ruined.
So he didn’t hear what Sawyer said at all. He didn’t feel the looks of vitriol or the venom-laced words clearly backed by the fear of an unknown.
Sawyer knew that Kai had gone to see Theron. And now Kai was gone.
It could be that Kai had simply left after using him, but there was another possibility… a possibility that Theron had made him disappear.
It wasn’t a possibility that Sawyer was willing to accept, but his bodily responses didn’t care about his ego. The more fear he felt, the harsher his words became, the more overbearing the commotion he caused as though he was afraid others would hear.
He was truly a fool. He didn’t even realize that insulting Theron now was like spitting in the face of his own Thistle Clan. A true fool amongst fools.
And then Theron felt something touch him.
His eyes snapped forward, the words lingering in the air finally piercing to him.
“—Your mother would have been ashamed to have raised such a barbaric beast, and yet you don’t even dare to open your mouth and defend her. You sicken me—.”
Theron’s eyes opened and a murderous intent he had suppressed spread out in all directions.
Sawyer’s words caught in his throat as he stumbled back, but the death that Theron had been willing to grant just now was restrained when he recognized the palm on his forearm. R𝐚ＮÒ𐌱Ëṧ
He looked to his side.
“… Malaya?”
The Vermouth Clan Princess had been avoiding him for many days now. He didn’t really care, but the last thing he expected was to see her suddenly take a seat by his side.
Malaya grabbed onto Theron’s arm as though she was afraid he might pull away and make this situation even more embarrassing for her.
She didn’t say a word and sat there as ripe as a tomato, but Theron seemed to forget the words that had just entered his ears.
The red from Theron’s eyes receded and he sat there in silence.
After a long while, he looked away from Malaya’s blushing face, took her hand, and closed his eyes once more, shutting out the rest of the class.
Malaya’s head lowered, her ears practically emitting steam. But as time went on, she too calmed down.
“You… You must have killed him… you must have killed him…”
Sawyer fell to his ass, pointing at Theron as though he had lost his mind. But the smell of urine filling the air made the noses of many twitch.
All of a sudden, their attention was on Sawyer, their faces twisting with the same disgust and disdain.
Sawyer couldn’t even be bothered to deal with them, his incoherence growing worse and worse until he suddenly vanished.
It was unknown what power ripped him out of class, but what everyone did know was that Sawyer was never seen again.
Deep in the Thistle mansion, his soul lamp blinked out.
The Thistles had suffered far too much embarrassment that day to allow it to continue.
**
That afternoon, as the noise of rancor against Theron increased, he was unsurprisingly called into Dean Thistle’s office.
“Give me one very good reason why I shouldn’t kill you. Just one will suffice,” the Dean said calmly.
“Maybe because while you’re busy blaming a 14-year-old for you being out-maneuvered by the Nightingale Clan, he found your son’s killer.”
Theron threw the Verdant Bloomstone onto the desk.
“I’ve really grown tired of this back and forth. If you want to kill me, then just kill me. You’re a man who supposedly rose up to Patriarch ’on your own’, but you need me to think out every little detail for you?”