In the Shadow of Love // Sebastian Sallow and Ominis Gaunt

Chapter 53 - Saving Anne

I woke the next morning to an owl sat on top of me, giving me a hard peck to wake me up.

"Ow! What was that for?!" I complained as I sat up.

I saw the letter attached and to their leg and took it from them, noticing the tidy scrawl on the front addressed to me.

Lily,

Please meet me in the undercroft as soon as you receive this.

S.S

I sighed. Time to face him. Hopefully he would have calmed down now.

I changed and combed my hair, deciding to leave it loose.

I hurried to the undercroft, conscious that classes would start in an hour.

When I entered, Sebastian was sat on a crate and jumped down when he saw me. I noticed his tie hanging loose and his sleeves on his shirt were rolled up, making my breath hitch slightly.

"Hi." He said nervously.

"Hey." I replied.

I watched him as he wrung his hands together, frowning, he seemed to be having an internal battle with himself.

"Where were you yesterday evening?!" He burst out. I rose an eyebrow.

"Studying." I lied.

"I checked the library and you definitely weren't there!"

"I wasn't studying in the library." I didn't meet his eye, worried he would see through my lie.

"Were you with Andrew?!" He demanded.

"What?! No of course not, why would you think that?!" I asked and noticed him sigh in relief.

"It's just, I saw how close you were in charms the other day and realised what a fool I've been and the way I've behaved. Imelda lectured me and I guess it made me realise."

"Oh." I didn't know what else to say.

"I tried to find you yesterday to apologise about how I've behaved but I couldn't find you anywhere and Imelda was being secretive. I just worried."

"Sebastian, you don't need to worry. I was fine." I assured him.

"I am sorry for how I spoke to you and getting angry. You were only trying to help."

"I understand why you got angry, Sebastian. You don't need to apologise after everything you went through."

Sebastian smiled at me and I smiled back.

"So, did you mean what you said the other day? Do you think you can save her?" He asked but I could see the doubt on his face.

"Yes. I believe I can." I stated.

"Do you think it's worth speaking to Anne about it?"

"Uh, yeah sure." I muttered, unable to admit that I had already spoken to her.

"We can look into it later."

"Yeah anyway, I'm going to go get some breakfast."

"Oh I'll come with you!" He said as he came to my side, still smiling softly.

As we were entering the hall, Ominis was just leaving but stopped as we neared.

"Lily, is that you?" He asked.

"Yes." I stated rather bluntly.

"We were looking for you last night, are you ok?" He asked.

"Fine."