"I thought we had a deal." Beast's voice came low and threatening.

Calliope's smile faltered and suddenly her expression wasn't as pleasant. "Our deal still stands, Lust. My sisters and I would like to discuss something else."

"What deal?" I asked. Beast spared not a glance at me; I watched as his back visibly tensed, muscle by muscle. He kept his eyes pinned on the Muses as if they were here to attack.

Confusion zapped between me and the crowd of the Sins and Virtues like electricity. I had an urge to seek out the Ophidians—their knowledge and ancient way of speaking had become comfortable to me.

They'd know what to do. They'd know what the Muses were talking about.

I pushed at my mind—pushed and pushed until my skin grew warm. The Unholy beings had a way of communicating, a way I'd discovered on my first day here.

Silsela.

My own voice echoed in my head, bouncing around against my skull.

Nadine.

Urania, the Muse of astrology stepped forward. I no longer found her gown beautiful—now it was menacing: an engulf of the night, with a few glittering specks of starlight struggling in the darkness. "We come bearing a message from the Seraphics."

The air stilled in my lungs.

Polyhymnia raised her chin, her hood dropping from her face. She was supposed to be the Muse of Sacred Poetry.

There was nothing sacred about what she said next.

I felt my Vessel curl and lurch at my ribcage as she spoke. Her voice had changed into the voice of the Seraphics—that unnatural tone: neither man nor woman, neither angry nor amused. "The girl has only a week remaining to train her Vessel."

The disgust in the Seraphic's message was obvious—even the plain, smooth beauty of Polyhymnia's face couldn't hide it. The voice was everywhere: it was in my ears, it was in every fibre of my being, the ugly rhythms echoing through my bones. "On the fifth day of this week, we shall come to test her. If she should pass, we shall revisit her power on the seventh day."

They didn't say what would happen if I didn't pass. It was a warning—a silent, deadly warning.

The Muse of Tragedy slipped toward me, her feet kissing the floor gracefully with each step. "You do not need me to tell you what will happen if you fail to control your urges, Pandora." As if to make a point, she tucked her tragedy mask over her face. The metal curved backward as small beads of moisture slipped down from the mask's eyes.

Tears.

A growl rumbled through Beast's chest and his grip on my waist tightened.

The Ophidian's green skin came as a shock as they walked into the hall. Silsela's eyes traced over my face worriedly.

"There's no need for such warnings," Nadine boomed, louder than the Seraphic's message. "But thank you for your kindness, anyway." There was nothing kind about the serpentine's voice but at that moment I wanted to hug her. Hug someone. Hug anyone.

"Yes," Sloth said. "I'll show you the way out."

The Muses left just as they came. Suddenly and silently.

Patience ran out of the door, her icy white hair flowing behind her. Wrath shot Beast a glare and there was so much in that one look.

Anger. Rage. Disappointment.

Nadine and Silsela watched everything unravel carefully.

Sloth returned, his broad shoulders hunched over with exhaustion. "We better get started, then. I'm training you next." It took me a moment to realise he was talking to me. "I'll wait for you in your room."

The Ophidians led the rest of the Sins and Virtues out. The silence between the Unholy beings was almost painful.

It took me another moment to realise that I was still pressed up against Beast. When I dared to look up at him again, his golden gaze was already lowered to mine.

Anger filled my veins as the memory of last night crashed into my mind.

In one harsh move, I snapped free of his hold. "I don't need your protection."

His jaw ticked, the sharp slants of his cheekbones hardening. "You don't need protection," he said lowly. "I was protecting them."

My breath hitched in my throat as he dragged the tips of his fingers softly down my neck. He adjusted the white scarf draped over the mark he'd left last night.

"You bit me." He turned to walk away but I was quick to grab his wrist. "You had no right to kick me out the way you did, Beast," I said to his back.

He turned back around, his eyes darkening with an emotion I couldn't pinpoint.

"You have no right to treat me like you do. You used me for your own means, your brought me here without telling me about my Vessel, you—"

Beast's arm snaked around my waist and he pulled me into him again, the hard heat of his chest pressed up against mine. "I—"

"No. Do you have any idea how hard it is?" The sentences were shooting out of me; the dark spirals and curls of my Vessel crept down my arm.

"Pandora."

I ignored him. "You ignore me whenever you please. And then you—"

He brushed my cheek with his thumb. "Listen to me."

I shook my head, careful to leave my hands limp by my side. It was one thing being annoyed with Beast—it was another thing to hurt him. And I hated that I couldn't do it—hated that I couldn't even think of doing it.

Because there was another feeling in my chest; something as different to hate as ice was to fire.

"No, you listen..." My voice died out in my throat as he placed a light finger over my lips.

"I'm sorry."

I blinked. "What?"

He looked as though he was going to disappear into that golden waft of smoke—as if he was going to slip through my fingers like sand. I could almost feel his emotions rippling off his skin: the trouble, the pain, the helplessness.

"What's wrong?" I whispered.

"I wish I could—," he cut himself off, his eyebrows weighing into a frown.

"Wish you could what?"

His lips crashed into mine, a frenzy of lust and something darker. He planted lingering kisses along my jaw, murmuring apologies with each caress. A soft moan escaped my lips as he traced his nose along the curve of my neck, inhaling deeply.

"Pandora," he said against my skin. "I—"

We both froze at the same time. His lips had grazed that mark on my neck, that scar where his teeth had sunken into my skin.

He pulled away abruptly, leaving the cold to seep into me. "You should go."

"What? Beast—"

"Go," he ordered. "Leave."

•••

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Thoughts?

I've been so lazy recently and for some reason, I can't bring myself to format these last two chapters like the rest of them.

The sun here in the UK is FINALLY making an appearance but the heat is also killing me *cries*

Next chapter comes out on Saturday!

Love,
Laila.