Chase found it hard to concentrate when June kept staring at him. It wasn't necessarily because she was staring at him, but merely because her eyes were so captivating. He understood why the demons sought out her eyes above everything else.

Of course, he would never tell June that he found it easy to drown in her gaze. The dignity he had built up over the years would shatter in an instant.

She was now reaching up on her tip toes to brush her fingers against Weathercrown petals, her lips bursting into a smile.

He didn't have the heart to tell her the razor thorns embedded deep within the flower's petals could cut through bone. But her touch was gentle enough for the flower to remain undisturbed, and soon she was wandering off to stare intently at a great oak tree.

Chase took the time to watch her. Often she would catch his eye, her smile would faulter and her usually pale cheeks would blossom the colour of roses. He once stopped himself from commenting about it. As arrogant as he was, Chase knew insecurities when he saw them.

It was only because all his had been beaten out of him by his father at a young age that he didn't have any.

June trailed her fingers against the oak's bark, rounding the giant trunk with a look of awe. He wondered if she could see the tiny designs sprawled in the tree bark, naturally engrained into the trunk from years of growth.

She paused, her fingers brushing the base of the tree. Chase could see the shock cross her face followed by a spark of curiosity. She leaned forwards, coming to a crouch. "There's names in the tree," she said, almost to herself.

Chase blinked from his vigorous staring and nodded from afar. "Yes. The tree recognises Soulchasers that live here."
Her brown eyebrows drew together, like she was deep in thought. She was searching for his name, he realised. Chase knew she wouldn't be able to find it. No one ever had been able to. Not that anyone ever truly looked.

Chase's name had been a beacon of uneasiness in The Aviary for years. He had been an outcasted child, left at the doorstep of the castle. A child who was abandoned by their parents was said to be a child worthy of only the unifolk world.

But Chase had proven them wrong. Even when no one offered to train him, or even look in his general direction for that matter, he'd slain the most demons for his age, competing with Dravens tallies. Although at the time, he wasn't allies with anyone, he earnt mutual respect.

That was until Lester laid eyes upon him. His bestfriend had allowed him to see being a Soulchaser wasn't just about battle.

Now he was one of the most sought after Soulchasers in The Aviary.

"Chase."
Chase blinked back into reality to see June still bent beside the tree, her lips thin. "Your name isn't here."

"I wasn't born into The Aviary," he answered as placidly as he could. "The tree doesn't acknowledge people who were not born on this ground." Chase wondered if she could tell he'd lied. But June was staring back at the tree, tracing strangers' names with the tip of her nails.

Chase asked himself why the girl in front of him was so trusting. He found that often unifolk were. It was one of their biggest weaknesses. Chase could've easily killed her if he had the intention. Hell, he had been so close to ending her life while she had struggled feebly in the Manor Maze. But there was something to her.

It wasn't just her unusual eyes, but just her name, her smile, her face. It was why Chase spared her a second chance. It was why he had followed her, why he saved her. There was something more to June.

He knew Lester could see it. That boy could see through anyone. Any lie, any hidden detail, his friend could pick up on it.

At first he got the sense Lee thought the girl was just that, a girl. But it was now clear to the pair, June was different. Even the peacocks could sense it.

Chase allowed himself to study her again. There was a stubborn jut to her jaw, a determined glint in her eye. He knew she would spend all day trying to find his name, a challenge surfacing.

Her eyes had been in his dreams. That smile was always in the back of his mind. Her blood always felt like it was under his fingernails.

He remembered what Lee had murmured to him while June lay on her bed for the first time, still ill from demon venom.

"Once she is trained, that girl will be our biggest ally or our biggest threat."

And Chase had believed him.

Because June should've died the night her neck had been slit open. Because June shouldn't' have been able to knock two fully grown men out in her poisoned state.

Because even from several metres away, Chase could see the faint outline of a perfect nought under her jawline.

A nought she had not yet seen.