Dark Path to Heaven [Demon Romance]

Chapter 18

Chapter Music: "Veils of Starlight" by Brandon & Derek Fiechter

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing, really," still grinning, he took my hand and we started walking in the direction we had come from.

"Do you mean that he's anxious about how much you're telling me?" A part of me wished that wasn't only the case.

"Maybe. What do you care? You're not in love with him."

"I'm not."

Then I suppose these are the only answers I'll get so far. He'd said 'maybe', though. And he'd also said that Mr. Astar 'liked me as well'. I tried to stop the train of thought there so that I didn't end up considering having stronger feelings for him. If he liked me, that would only make me crave for him even more.

On no! Merihem hadn't told him anything about my feelings, right?!

"Vincent!" I exclaimed, suddenly, shocking myself. "You didn't tell him anything, did you?"

He grinned, "No. But I think he suspects it himself."

"How?"

But my question was meant to remain unanswered because we were now reaching a group of students. Apparently, we had left the parallel dimension and the class had already started. They were divided into groups of two and were fighting each other using daggers. Mr. Astar was standing aside and had his usual stern expression while he was overseeing their progress.

Once we were close enough, he spotted us and immediately glanced down at our hands which I had forgotten that were still joint together. As soon as I became aware of it, I let go of Vincent's hand. However, I couldn't help but notice the unfamiliarly annoyed expression that Mr. Astar had since he'd seen it. He might have had an impressive variety of such expressions in his possession, but that was something I had never seen by that moment. It looked like jealousy but I couldn't make such a strong assumption yet. I wasn't sure I even liked it if that was the case. Although present, jealousy was overrated. In a sense, it was nothing but a selfish feeling.

Vincent chuckled –probably satisfied at the reaction of his 'Master' who didn't look amused at all, though. Didn't he know that my friend was gay? Or perhaps he didn't know if Vincent had told me that.

Ugh. Why did I keep making such assumptions?!

"Took you long enough," arms crossed, he walked up to us, apparently ignoring the rest of the students who had now stopped training and were facing the three of us.

"Didn't you tell us to take our time?" I asked then, feeling the urge to justify myself.

"We're very sorry, Mr. Astar," said my friend, deliberately glancing at the rest of the students, as if he was asking him not to make a scene.

Mr. Astar only scoffed and turned to his class. He didn't seem to care in the least about any of them.

"Black magic now," he instructed and they started forming new pairs "Frederick, you'll practice with her," he added shooting me a glance and a blond guy approached us. Vincent reluctantly walked away to find a pair of his own. To be honest, I would prefer to practice with him, but then again it wasn't my choice to make.

"Why am I with her?" Frederick pouted. I knew I was still incompetent in this area but I couldn't stop myself from hating that idiotic disdain on his face when he referred to me. For someone who had chosen this specialization, he didn't seem intimidating either.

"Because you're weak," Mr. Astar said curtly and turned to me talking a small vial out of his coat pocket: "Now you drink this."

The liquid inside was thick and white. I might have been working with Mr. Hibbert for some time, but that didn't mean I was anywhere close to identifying what most of the different potions could do. In fact, I only knew about a handful of them.