𝙃𝙀𝘼𝙍𝙏𝙇𝙀𝙎𝙎 | mattheo riddle

45 | loyalty and trust

Mattheo, Layla, Theodore and Dylan remained at the base, trying to pass time until they have to leave for their next mission. The masquerade ball. But until then, Mattheo ordered them to train, as hard as they can, so they're prepared for any fight that breaks out.

"Lopez. Come here." Riddle says, and with a sigh, she approaches him.

"Back to a surname only basis I see." She scoffs.

"That's correct." He says and holds her wrist, pulling her so she's standing in front of him, facing the target ahead of them.

"What are you doing?"

"I want you to practice throwing knives." He says and she turns to look at him but he instantly turns back around. "No distractions."

"You're not a distraction to me Riddle."

"Clearly I am."

"I think not." She scoffs, rolling her eyes. "Okay, this should be easy. Pass me some knives."

"No."

"What do you mean no?"

"I want you to conjure up knives with your magic and aim for the target. It'll be a good skill if you practice doing it at a fast pace. One knife after the other." He explains and she raises a brow.

"Knives aren't my thing Riddle. They're yours."

"And now, they'll be yours too. Go on. Try one throw."

She takes a deep breath, trying to concentrate but it's hard when Mattheo's standing directly behind her.

Okay, maybe he is a distraction.

She focuses on the target, and the energy in her hand, before conjuring up a rather large knife and instantly throwing it directly at bullseye.

"Oh my god! I did it!" She exclaims in celebration.

"Okay okay. Well done." Mattheo says. "Now you just got to work on throwing multiple knives at once, one after the other. Quickly though. So you don't give your opponent a single chance for defence."

"Right."

"But first." He says. "We're both going to be wearing these."

Mattheo walks over to Liam's work area, grabbing hold of a pair of rings. He brings it to Layla and she looks down at them confused.

"This is for you." He says, taking hold of her hand and placing the ring on her ring finger, doing the same with his ring and putting it on his ring finger.

"What the fuck Mattheo? What... what is this?" She asks, looking up at him extremely confused.

"First off." He pauses, taking a step closer to Layla and holding her cheek in his hand. "It's to say you're mine."

"What?" She asks, her eyes open wide, extremely puzzled as to what's going on right now.

"This ring tells all the other bitches out there that you work for me, and only me. You got that?"

"I mean... I guess so."

"I can't give you the dark mark Layla. I know you won't accept it, so I had to think of another way to claim that you belong to me. Do you understand?" He says lowly, stroking my cheek with his thumb.

"Riddle... I belong to no one. Especially not to you. But I am loyal to you, because I know what you stand for and I want to fight for that cause. You know exactly why." Layla replies, taking a deep breath. "I'll accept this ring as a loyalty ring. A promise not to betray you. You've gained my trust Mattheo. Now don't you dare lose it."

"I won't. Don't worry princess." He smirks, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. "But there is also one other use for these rings." He states.

"Liam built in a whole body shield, so when someone attacks, they can't hurt you because the shield blocks them from doing so. It depends on how many hits you take. The more hits you take, the weaker your shield will get and it will eventually disappear so you have to be careful. It's there to protect you."

"Oh my god." Layla gasps in shock. "Wait, so the ring activates this shield? How?"

"You just twist the ring like this, and then the shield will be activated." He explains, turning the ring on his finger slightly and suddenly, a transparent, tinted blue shield appears around his body and then disappears again. "Now try hit me. Hit me with one of your knives."

Layla twists her ring, and her shield is activated. She smiles excitedly and takes a few steps back, before conjuring up a knife a throwing it directly at him. He catches it with one hand instantly, his reflexes quick and sharp.

"You're going easy on me Lopez. Come on, try harder." He taunts her, his malicious grin plastered on his face.

Layla cracks her neck, and suddenly conjures multiple knives out of her hand, throwing them at Mattheo at a fast pace. He dodges most of them, but takes a few hits, his shield successfully defending him.

Layla gets frustrated and she uses her magic to send him flying back against the target boards.

"Bullseye." She says, and Mattheo stares her down with an evil glare.

"Fuck you Layla Lopez."

With that, he gets up immediately, pulling knives out of his belt and striking them towards Layla. She dodges almost all of them, until Mattheo takes his wand out.

"I'd like to see you try." Layla scoffs, and she runs up towards him, as he throws a spell at her, knocking her back slightly before she sends one straight back at him.

As he falls to the ground, hes swipes Layla off her feet, kicking both of her legs until she falls on top of him. But in an instant, Mattheo pushes her off of him, switching sides so now he has the dominance as he hovers above her.

He pulls out a knife and holds it to her throat.

"And with that, you're dead." He chuckles, a smirk across his face.

"You're wrong." She says, smiling as she looks down at the dagger she holds against his abdomen. "You'd be bleeding out before you could even touch me."

Mattheo rolls his tongue across the inside of his cheek and raises his brows.

"You're quick." He says, gazing into her eyes which makes her even more nervous than the close proximity between their bodies.

"I also have my magic to an advantage, so I guess it's not a fair fight." She shrugs.

"Your magic is no match for me." He laughs. "I could beat you any day. If I actually tried." He says, as he stands up off of the ground, holding out his hand to help Layla up.

Out of breath and tired, she takes his hand and as he's pulling her up off the ground, he suddenly lets go, sending he falling back down and banging her head.

"Whoops."

"Ow you absolute idiot!" She exclaims, kicking his legs and swiping him off his feet so he falls back down in an instant.

"Karma's a bitch." She laughs and they both lie beside each other, staring at the bright lights on the ceiling.

"Good game." He says, holding out his fist, as Layla gives him a fist bump.

"Good game." She says with a smile, taking a deep breath.

I can't cope anymore. This man-