Watched by Warlocks by Hannah Heat Page A

her arms from the sides, trying to warm herself. A voice from behind her spoke in the darkness.
     
    “Hi Elsa.” Theo was standing in the shadows of the alley, waiting for her. She started to scream, but he cupped his massive hand over her mouth. “Listen, I'm not trying to hurt you. It wasn't me last night who lit the town on fire.” Then he let her go for a second. Elsa's mind told her not to trust him, but her heart said otherwise.
     
    “Then who was it?” she asked.
     
    “My brother.”
     
    “Theo,” she said, taking a breath, ready for the big fight, right there in the alley. “Tell me what you want. Who are you? Why are you here? I know it wasn't just to save Lili. You did that for another reason. Now tell me what it is,” Elsa said. She was fed up with beating around the bush.
     
    “OK, but not here. Please come with me. I have a lot to tell you,” he said. He looked down the alley when a few hushed voices whispered in the darkness. “We aren't safe here. They want me dead, I know that.”
     
    “Yes, the crowd is mad. But my village is not violent. We do not want to kill anyone,” Elsa said, correcting him. “But they do want some answers. And so do I.”
     
    “No my brother wants me dead.”
     
    “What is going on?”
     
    “I can explain somewhere else, but we have to move, ok? Do you not trust me?” Theo asked her. She crossed her arms, thinking that if he admitted to using Lili, maybe he would tell her that he had been playing with her as well. “No,” he said, reading her thoughts, “I do love you. I loved you from the moment I laid eyes on you.” Elsa's heart burst into a million pieces of joy, and her tears from the night before transformed themselves into diamonds. She was elated beyond words. “But you have trust me. Where can we go?” he asked Elsa. She grabbed his hands with no hesitation.
     
    “My place,” she said, as they jogged down the opposite end of the alley, past Freja Stein's house, to Elsa's lonely little palace.
     
     
     

CHAPTER 13
     
    What happened next defies explanation, for Elsa trespassed into secret areas of her heart she never before dared to tread. Her identity fundamentally changed the moment she stepped through the threshold of her home. Theo's weakness and frailty seemed more pronounced than ever, second only to the softness and heartbreak emanating in vibes from his soul. Had it not been for this keen perception on Elsa's part, she'd never really given Theo the time of day. Something told her to listen and that he was a safe confidant, although he lacked any remote chance of being romantically involved with her.
     
    “Are you okay?” she asked him, as he sat down on the bed, taking off his shirt, revealing a sculpted mass of muscle, a beautiful torso delicate and wide.
     
    “Yes, I'm fine. I just had a rough night of sleep. There's…something I'd like to share with you if you don't mind,” he said.
     
    “Honestly, I have no reason to trust you. You said you loved me, but that doesn't mean much given that past two days,” Elsa said.
     
    “Madam I wouldn't push this if it weren't so important. There's something I need to tell you.”
     
    “Why did you play me last night? Do you dance with other girls as well?”
     
    “No.”
     
    “Then why are you here? What do you want from me?” she asked him, red-faced.
     
    “My brother was after me, and I figured the first place he would think to find me, was at Lili's house. I didn't want to put her in danger, Elsa. I come from the Forbidden Forest. But there's a reason no one escapes. Because it will only let you go if it wants you free. I just want a normal life. I want to be a person again. But the Forest wants me back. My brother, Dorien, wants me back.”
     
    “Dorien, the beast that destroyed half our town last night?”
     
    “Yes, but he was looking for me. He knew I was getting close to being free forever. Because...I saw you,” Theo said, blushing, the first hint of