"How's the water?" I asked.
Bel flashed one of his dimpled smiles at me. "Warm, but watch out for the unicorns."
Luke rolled his eyes, but he also turned his feet my way. "He already chased them off. Is that green?"
I could feel my cheeks flushing, but I nodded. "Yeah. It's not the right shade, but it was the best I could find."
"Huh," Bel said, following Luke over to examine the flowers. "Why's there no yellow?"
"Because you just picked it," I explained. "I didn't know you were going to be yellow, but I know of a couple shrubs that are close. Big ones."
Bel lifted a brow. "Real big?"
"Well, for a garden they are." I quickly looked at Luke before this got out of hand. "Um, I thought I could put them on either side of the door to frame it?"
"Sounds perfect," Luke assured me. "And I like what you're doing. Not bad for a guy who's never seen flowers before."
"Yeah, I - " A stab of pain cut my sentence short.
I yelped, my head whipped around, and I saw the green flower pulling back from my hand. A small cut was proof that the thing had just bit me. I should've known better than to take my attention off the plants, but I'd been distracted. Luke and Bel had that effect on me.
But jerking my arm back sent both of them into motion. Bel surged between me and the flowerbed. Luke pulled me out of the way, dropping to his knees to check my hand.
"It's ok!" I told them, hating that they both thought I was so weak that I couldn't even handle a flower bite. "I just got too close. Not the first time."
"Fucking hate this world," Luke grumbled as he took my hand, lifting it up to inspect the injury.
"Did it scare you, Ronwe?" Bel asked.
"I'm not that pathetic," I mumbled.
Bel nodded. "It scared me. Is he ok, Luke?"
"It's just a little bite," I insisted.
Bel pointed at the flowers. "Is it poison? Tyrnigg is a hard world, and we are not ready to lose you, little genius." Then Bel cocked his head, his eyes roaming over the flowerbed. "Why are there no lavender ones?"
Luke answered for me. "Because Ron's still trying to figure out what it means to be in a Legion. He's spent his life doing for others, but having no one include him."
"Needs lots of lavender," Bel said as he reached down to clasp my shoulder. "Because you belong with us, Ronwe." And he dropped to squat before me. "We did not bring you into our legion because you are Sia's friend. We wanted you because you know things. Because you are brave and brilliant. We all agree that we should've seen you sooner, but we weren't on Daemin enough, and always felt so busy. We are glad that Sia made us aware of so many things that were right before our eyes. Put a lot of lavender in the flowerbeds?"
I nodded at him. "When I get the yellow ones, ok?"
"Good. Now have Luke heal your hand. I'm going to make sure the Muse isn't naked."
Pushing himself back up, Bel headed for the front door, leaving Luke and me sitting on the grass alone. As Luke's pale green hand traced the outermost edge of my injury, I could feel the aether working. The skin was healing fast, and the sting of the bite had faded to almost nothing.
"Stop," I begged, catching his hand in mine. "It's just a little flower bite."
"From my flowers," Luke grumbled.
"Sia's got me too," I assured him. "It's just because they're stressed from being moved. That is not some kind of omen, ok?"
Luke leaned a little closer, shifting onto his knees. "Don't make fun of me for caring."
"I'm not," I breathed, leaning away when he kept moving closer, until I was on my back with his gorgeous green body leaning over me.
Unable to help myself, I reached up to run my palm across the soft fabric of his fairy shirt. In this body, Luke looked wonderfully wicked. The best word to describe him was pretty, but in a dangerous sort of way. His features were still his, and so different from all the strong, brutish demons I'd ever seen - and I liked it.
"I saw you looking at me," he said before dropping to steal a quick kiss. "Were you jealous?"
He sounded almost thrilled with the idea, and yet worried about it at the same time. Naturally, I shook my head. "No, I was nervous."
"About me spending time with Bel?"
My automatic response was to groan because he just didn't understand. "Yes and no. Yes, because it's so natural. You belong in this legion - it's clear to anyone who looks - and I don't have that yet. No, I'm not nervous that you'll leave me. This is your legion, I just feel like I'm still figuring things out."
Luke's eyes searched my face desperately. "What are you hinting at?"
"You called him, 'hun.'"
"When?" Luke asked.
"When you healed Sia's leg in Hell. The day she kissed you. You called Bel 'hun' without thinking about it. You were stressed and distracted, which is when we say things we mean but are trying to hide. I just... I want you to know I'm ok with that."
"No," Luke breathed as he dropped to lie beside me. "Bel and I aren't like that."
"You used to be," I reminded him, keeping my tone gentle and encouraging.
Luke turned on his side to see my face. "Not really. Bel and I both burn hot. We rage, we do things, and then we regret it. We'd just started to figure out that we didn't hate each other when I wounded him and he was drained. Now, we're trying to start again as friends. It's complicated, but I'm not sleeping with him, and I have no interest in doing so."
But underneath his words was something else. Something he clearly wasn't saying. "But you are interested in sleeping with someone else," I guessed. "So which one today? Sia?"
Luke sighed. "Aren't you supposed to be ignoring that?"
I rolled over to press my face against his chest, using his arm as my pillow. "No. I'm supposed to be happy for you and help you make this happen. The problem is that no matter how many steps she takes forward, convinced she has this figured out, she really doesn't. She's going to make a complete mess of it, and you need to be prepared for that."
"I've been careful with her," he assured me.
"Careful won't help," I explained to him. "You'll have to push her. She's trying, Luke, but she just can't believe that being in a legion is as easy as we say."
He reached up to push back my purple hair, swiping the fringe on my brow. "I'm not either, which is why I can't be with her. You know that."
"No, I don't know that. Nick says it's ok, so why are you still resisting?" I asked.
"Because Nick isn't holding me to my promise, but I am. I…" He ducked his head, shaking it slowly. "I made a promise, and I just feel like I have to keep it."
"You're an angel," I reminded him. "The most beautiful and powerful creature in five worlds. You can have anything or anyone you want."
"Not Sia." He shook his head. "Definitely not here. I... Ron, I can't."
"Then is it Sam?" I pressed, letting him out of that as easily as I could.