Post Tenebras Lux

Libera a Malo

Aelin took a step away from Marvolo and looked at him in complete disgust.

"That will never happen. I will never be yours." She said coldly.

Marvolo let out a chuckle. "You won't have a choice in the matter, darling."

She felt Sebastian's grasp on one of her arms. She wasn't sure how long he would be able to listen to Marvolo's twisted fantasies before he took action. If she was being completely honest with herself, she was surprised that Sebastian had let Marvolo go on this long.

Marvolo must have noticed Sebastian's hold on her. "I see you're still smitten with her, Sallow..."

Before Sebastian or Aelin could respond, Evangeline interjected. "Smitten? Hardly. Sebastian is with me now."

Marvolo glanced in Evangeline's direction with a smirk. "He may be with you now...But his heart has always belonged to Miss Malfoy here. I knew it the first time I saw them together at our annual holiday party all those years ago."

He looked back at Aelin and Sebastian, his smirk developing into something more sinister. "I will very much enjoy watching his heart break when I take the woman he loves from him."

Aelin felt Sebastian's grip on her tighten. "You won't be laying a fucking hand on her, Marvolo."

Sebastian spoke with such malice in his voice. She couldn't remember the last time she had heard him sound so angry. She took a step away so she could glance at him.

His eyes -the eyes she had gotten lost in more times that she could count- had darkened from their normal amber–brown to almost black. She was always very good at telling when he was angry, and he was most definitely fuming at the moment.

Marvolo glanced at him with a look of genuine interest. "What lengths would you go to to save her, Sallow?"

Aelin froze. She knew Marvolo was trying to provoke Sebastian. He wanted to make Sebastian do something he would regret; like using the dark arts again. It would be much easier to take her all for himself if Sebastian was rotting away in Azkaban.

Azkaban.

A shiver ran up her spine. She couldn't let Sebastian be subjected to the horrors of Azkaban. Not after she experienced them herself. Not after everything he had already been through.

She placed her hand on his bicep gently. "Seb...Don't listen to him. He's trying to fire you up."

Sebastian looked back at her and his expression softened. Some of the darkness faded from his eyes. "I know, love. But I won't let him hurt you."

Love.

Did he just call me 'love'?

Aelin's jaw dropped a bit and she looked at him with widened eyes. Sebastian looked back at Marvolo like he didn't realize what he had just said to her at all.

"You really want to know how far I would go in order to save her?" Sebastian took a step in Marvolo's direction. "I would kill anyone who tries to lay a hand on her. Without a second thought. I don't care if it lands me in Azkaban. Her safety is all that matters."

Anne called out for him, seemingly unsure of what Sebastian was planning to do to Marvolo. "Sebbie..."

Ominis just put a hand on Anne's shoulder to stop her from going after her brother.

"But Ominis...what if he-"

Before Ominis could argue, and before anyone else could even attempt to intervene, Marvolo took action.