I’d pictured the devil realm as a dreary, miserable city filled with gangs and violence, but what he described sounded provincial and rural. It was a place of quiet living, apart from extreme tenets regarding strength and personhood.
His voice calmed the panic in my chest.
He talked about how being with Corvus and Scorpius had saved him.
How Corvus secretly had a soft side you would never believe unless you saw him in his home. How Scorpius could make pain feel greater than pleasure ever could.
My stomach flipped, and a whimper escaped my lips.
Orion changed topics, and he talked about the euphoric feeling of unleashing his powers with his mates. He said it felt divine but also like torment because their mating bond wasn’t complete.
There was a painful knot in his chest that wound tighter when they unleashed their abilities. When they lost all awareness, it felt wrong, like they were being punished for not having their fourth.
I listened intently.
What he described was so foreign I couldn’t even imagine it. To have so much power that it felt like euphoria—it sounded like a fairy tale.
Then Orion randomly asked softly, “What’s with Luka?”
I frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Uh.” He cleared his throat. “Why’s he always so quiet? I’ve noticed that he seems—intense.”
The tone of his voice was weird, and I couldn’t place it.
“John’s hinted that he’s been through a lot,” I said. “He’s a very protective, intense guy.” I smiled. “But he’s secretly a softie.” I thought about all the times he’d helped me during training, and we hadn’t even known each other.
Orion was silent.
“Why do you ask?”
He cleared his throat. “Just wondering. I’ve noticed him watching me sometimes, and I was wondering if that was something he usually does?”
His words startled me. “No, it’s not—he usually only looks at me and John. Sometimes I don’t think he knows other people exist.”
Orion made a noise in the back of his throat. “Interesting.”
I smiled to myself. “He also has wicked-cool tattoos and a piercing somewhere you’d never expect.”
“Really?” Orion asked, the interest clear in his voice.
Grinning, I launched into a detailed account of every fine-line tattoo that covered Luka’s chest.
As I talked, the ice on my toes didn’t seem like such a big deal.
After a while of objectifying Luka, I asked more questions about Orion’s childhood, and he launched into a captivating tale of survival.
Yet again I drifted off to sleep, but this time in the shower to the sound of an enchanting voice.
The nightmares stayed away.
I dreamed of grassy pastures, rolling hills, cherry blossoms floating on a warm summer breeze, and Orion smiling as he talked to me.
Chapter 14
Aran
PARTY
