Bloodbound to the Witch Heir: Claimed By Four

Celeste’s POV

*****

"So," Atlas stood by the door when Silas let them in, sealing it telekinetically before casting alarm runes. "I suppose you two weren’t here for... Studying."

He turned, eyes landing inquisitively on Silas and me. As for Azrael, he stood close to a shelf of books, silent and arms folded.

I didn’t need a seer to realise he could already guess what happened here. And probably didn’t want to poke further.

"Are you here to interrogate us?" Silas rubbed his forehead with frustration. "This is an Alpha Heirs Haven. If the others find out I let two witches in—"

"Meaning they won’t mind our hybrid mate being here?" Atlas pushed, rubbing the rings on his fingers.

I could already feel the tension sparking between everyone so I raised a hand. "Can we... Can we just be quick? Please?"

Atlas’ lips were still parted, golden eyes glinting with something I couldn’t name. But eventually, he dropped his hands, taking in a deep breath.

"Forgive me, Celeste." He muttered, voice finally filled with what I couldn’t name earlier. Jealousy. "Anyway, remember Miss Benedicta? The academy’s administration officer."

"You mean the woman whose memorial we attended last night?" Silas’ sarcasm was cutting. "Yeah. Rings a bell. What about her?"

I stuck close to him, placing a hand on his back. Not to calm him—he never needed that. But to ground myself.

Yet as I did, it felt like I lit a match and flung it into an oil tank. An oil tank, swimming with three men who stared at me in intense ways most women would probably fold under.

Including me. A fucking drink would be great right now.

"Her body was dropped in Azrael’s suite," Atlas continued, expression grim. "No signs of forceful entry. No signs of anyone even being there... By the stars, there weren’t any signs of magic as well."

Just the mention of Miss Benedicta flung my mind back to that fateful night when Azrael and I saw her body. The blood-soaked shirt. Her fear-filled eyes.

And those bite marks. On her neck, precise and clean despite the gory mess it left behind.

Now they’re trying to tell us her body was back?

"Wait..." Silas was the first to break the silence after Atlas’s revelation. "Why Azrael’s room though? That seems oddly targeted. Why not Celeste’s suite?"

Pausing, he tilted his head at Azrael. The latter didn’t flinch, merely raising his chin a few centimetres while staring beneath those glasses.

"... Did you," Silas pressed, "perhaps have some insane enemies from your last school who would want to pull such a prank on you?"

His voice was chill. He clearly didn’t mean that in an accusatory way.

Yet somehow it felt like it.

"Trust me, Beta Silas," Azrael’s lips curved with the ghost of a smile. "I don’t keep enemies. At least, not after I’ve discovered them."

He, too, was calm. But those words felt like a blade hidden under bubble wraps.

Harmless on the surface—yet shaped like a threat.

I swallowed while Silas pressed on. "So you’re saying nothing like this happened at your last academy? Speaking of which, I never heard anything about where you transferred from." He smiled. "Was it somewhere within this country or outside?" 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Azrael remained unfazed as he answered. "Is the location of my last school why we’re gathered?"

"I’m just saying—"

"Guys!" I snapped, rubbing a hand down my face. "I think everyone’s missing a big picture in this. In all of it."

Turning to Atlas—after briefly scanning past Azrael—I urged. "Is there anything you noticed on the body? Anything at all other than those bite marks?"

Before he could speak, Azrael took two steps forward. "A note," he drew out a white paper, flipping both sides for all to see. "It’s blank now but when I saw it... There was one word. Written in blood."

That was already ominous as fuck.

"What word?" Silas queried, tone ripe with suspicion.

Silence.

Neither Azrael nor Atlas said a word for a few seconds, the latter staring at Azrael with expectation.

I couldn’t help doing the same, cold sweat already trickling down my forehead and palms. Why was my life suddenly feeling like the beginning of a poorly planned horror movie?

"Confess," Azrael finally let the word out. "The note said I should confess. Then the word vanished like it was never there."

Oh—

"Confess?" Silas repeated, brows furrowed. "Was that directed to you? What did you—"

"Nothing." Azrael cut before he could finish. "I haven’t done anything and I’m just as clueless as the rest of you."

When he said that last part, I could’ve sworn he had his eyes on me. I could feel it, not to mention his head was facing me. Almost as if he wanted to see my reaction to the whole thing.

"The body is still in his bathroom," Atlas cleared his throat, arms behind his back. "I placed a series of spells to cloak its smell."

"And what exactly would that do for us?" Silas sounded sceptical. "This clearly sounds like a job for the school’s investigation team. If I recall correctly, they said Miss Benedicta’s death would be looked into—"

"No offence, Silas," I mumbled, tapping an index finger on the desk behind us. "But how has that turned out so far?"

Whatever was happening in this academy was beyond any of us. Beyond possibly the Dean himself. That’s why he assigned people to monitor my every—

—Wait a minute.

"Atlas?" I called, voice shaking a bit. "The other people Dean Thorne said would watch me from a distance... What if they’re listening to us right now?"

He arched a brow, eyes glowing with amusement. "Impossible. Even if they were, the runes on that door should alert me if anyone gets too close."

... How comforting.

"I think Celeste was right earlier," Silas remarked, glancing at me. He kept his eyes on mine for a beat too long before rubbing his chin. "There’s a big picture here. The mate bonds. Miss Benedicta’s death. The attack at the memorial. And now this..."

He let all that sink in, sweeping his gaze past all our faces. "This might be bigger than someone playing a prank on Azrael. This killer and whatever is happening in this academy... It’s a threat to us all."

My chest tightened for one reason alone.

If someone wanted Azrael to "confess"...

What did they want from me?