XLIII ||| Spilling the Tea || Oliver-Sean pov

["You can hear me?"]

"We heard you very clearly," River mocked.

"Seems like you match your bond's attitude," Rio scoffed.

"How can we hear you?" Felix gasped dumbfounded.

["You can hear me!"] Why does he sound scared? ["Crone's above if Hel learns this she'll want to mutilate me and cut off my wings just to see if they will grow back, just because I accidentally made you able to hear me."] Wait, he's scared of my mate? ["She's so going to beat me up!"]

Everyone seemed to find it funny because they all burst out with laughter, "Goddesses above, even the Wolpertinger is scared of her!" Yumi chuckled. "And he can read her mind."

Jack glared at her, ["I have a name and it's Jack, seraphim!"] And he glared at her in the same way Hel does.

"Jack," I called held him in my arms and he turned all his eyes to me, "How did Hel find this place? Why didn't you let me touch her? And more importantly, what is happening to her?" I gulped, concerned.

["I like you, Oliver. Can I call you Oli?"] He does?

I think I'm blushing, "Of course."

And I think he's smiling, ["Hel's mind is in another plan, Oli!"]

What? "What do you mean?"

["She's frozen. Something bad might happen if you or any of these kids touch her. I can't let anything bad happen to you, or to Felix,"] he side glared the others. ["And though messing with the others are very tempting, I also can't. Hel may be bloody stubborn, but there's a possibility of her needing you all. You can die later though."]

Felix turned pale, "Crone's above, don't say shit like that, Jack."

["Oh, sorry, Felix. I'm honest. I think when I bonded to Hel, all of her honesty kind of passed to me. But really, don't touch her. I don't know what is happening, but she needs to do this."]

I clenched my jaw, "What is she doing?"

["I think she connected her mind with the gargoyle's."]

Everyone gasped, "Are you telling us, she wasn't joking when she said that about gargoyles in class?" Ivar choked.

"Does that mean that thing is alive?" Dora's eyes widened.

["Yes. She didn't lie at all, but you're too stupid and don't listen. That's why she got so mad. And yes, it's alive, but it's mind is frozen in a very, very, very ancient time,"] what?

"Isn't that dangerous?" I frowned.

["It would be, to any of you. Not Hel though, she's more special than all of you together,"] he grinned mischievously. ["That's why I chose her the second my eyes landed on her. Believe me, she's an endless fountain of power, and she doesn't even understand that quite well. She's also the type to be in denial,"] he gave me a look. ["Like she's in denial with your mating bond. Even though she knew she would find her mate in her."]

Getting to the ground again, I let go of him. "Explain, please."

Sigh, ["I swear I'll kill you all myself, if you tell her I told you any of this. I'm telling it because of you, Oli. If she hears of this, she will one hundred percent torture me as she's been threatening to do every time I mock her and joke about the stuff she's trying to ignore."]

"Like our bond."

A nod, ["Yes. I can't help pushing her buttons."]

Felix came closer, "How did she knew?"

"What did she knew?" Rio added.

["When she met her mom's spirit in their lair in the Himalayas, the same day she began getting the tattoos, and five days before she headed here, she told her that she would meet her mate in here. That it would be an essential part of her journey,"] I like the sound of that. ["But Hel being Hel, she didn't want any of it, because she knows the danger all too well."]

"What danger?" Henrihk asked.

"Meredith," Felix hissed, making all of us tense up.

Jack nodded, ["Meredith has some horrifying history with Hel, and it left a lot of traumas in her. She lost everything she had. She has no desire of engaging with anyone, loving anyone, caring about anyone, because she knows she'll care too much, and if Meredith knows it, she'll do everything to destroy and break whatever is it that she loves. She'll explore any weak spot she sees on her, all to prove her point."]

I felt my heart clench, "She's afraid that she'll love me and will put me in danger? Like Meredith would come after me to kill me because I'm her mate? Is that it?"

["It's a real fear, Oli. That's what she did to Hel's mom. She killed her in front of her,"] he growled. ["Hel was 7. She was a child. A baby girl who lost everything and had to find something to hold onto for her to be able to survive. To not lose her mind, because that's precisely what the Dragon Queen wanted."]

"Because she's scared!" Felix exclaimed.

["She's scared of what Hel can do. Of what she could do to her and to everyone else. There was a vampire with future foresight that was killed on the same crypts she locked and tortured Hel for centuries. All because he had a vision of her fall. And Hel was in the center of it, but she was not alone. She was able to talk to him when she was in stasis, in the coffin, because her mind was awake the whole time, and he gave her hope!"]

["I'm sorry that she may act all extreme and hot and cold, but it's all she knows, kids,"] for the first time, he sat down on the ground, tired. ["You have no idea what's like being connected to this child's mind. The only person who showed her some care was Cosmos, and in his own ways. He wasn't able to stop Meredith every time she came for her on these last 10 years, but he made so the rest of the time was good."]

["This kid,"] he looked up to where she was still frozen, ["doesn't know anything but pain. The little love she was given, lasted seven years. But what is seven in a life of two thousand and fifty-seven? Her mind and ways may be a bit wicked, but she has the best of the intentions. Her heart is all broken, but it's a big one, and she has a weak spot for the wounded. That's why she allowed Felix to get close, even though she didn't want!"]

Felix blushed, "Don't expose me like that, Jack."

["But it's the truth, kid. She never met so many people, you know? That's why she has bad socializing skill and she's crude and all painfully honesty. Seven years with her mom, two thousand and forty with Meredith, ten with Cosmos, five days with Abellona who was her mom's friend and made the tattoos on her, some hours with Hanna, two days with me. That is her relationship historic. She may look all tough, but she can be terribly innocent about many things."]

I licked my lips, "I could tell."

Jack flashed me a grin, ["She goes along with the flow. If you fight, she will fight. If you mess with her, she'll mess with you back. If you flirt with her, she'll flirt back. If you're kind, she'll be kind. If you're a bitch, she'll be a bitch. That's her way of pretending not to be such a novice on everything. 7 years on a cave in the Himalayas, twenty centuries is a crypt, three days in a plane, and now here. That's all the places she knows. She's different from all of you, her view of the world was through books."]

["Meredith did all she did to her, for many reasons, but the main one remains. She is terrified of what Hel is, and that I cannot tell you. In fact, she's not even hiding,"] he chuckled. ["It's just that you are really that clueless about her kind. She's just waiting for you to tell. Until now three people know. Two knew when they looked at her, since her looks all scream what she is if you know where to look, and the other is Felix."]

["She just thinks it would be too boring to just tell you. Hel wants the exciting feeling of being discovered. The sooner you find out, the soon she might be able to open up to you. Want a tip? Annoy the hell out of her. She may say she doesn't, curse, and threaten your life, but she enjoys it a lot. Stay on her toes and doesn't let her go. She won't be able to keep her blank face for long."]

["Wait, you're all against Meredith, right? Goddesses above, if she hears that I told an enemy this, she really will skin me alive. And believe me, she has the guts to do that!"] I couldn't help laughing.

"You should have made that question before spilling the tea, Jack, but yes, we all despise Meredith to the core. Don't worry!" I exclaimed.

He let out a sigh of relief, ["Then keep this all between us. Act as if I hadn't told you shite. She'll need all the support she can get,"] he looked at her, still frozen. ["Though she's taking care of part of the problem right now. She's the only one who can. And this definitely can't leave here, if Meredith hears of what Hel can actually do, she will never let go off her alive. Until we get the crown, only the we'll be able to go to war."]

"Crown? What crown?" Priya frowned.

"What can she do that scares Meredith so much?" Rio asked, and he was serious for a change.

["We don't know,"] he chuckled.