“Hang on, Clara Orion, as in his sister?” Seth balked, moving to my side as we walked out of the cave. Darius clutched Orion to his chest, staring at him like he had a thousand words to say to his friend.
“It’s a long story,” I said wearily.
“Yeah and I’m waiting to hear it,” Seth said sharply.
“Not now.” I looked to him and he frowned, reaching out as if to touch me then thinking better of it.
“Alright,” he grunted. “Are you…okay?”
“I’ll be okay when he’s okay,” I said, turning to look at Orion again. Snowflakes collected in his hair and those that landed on his cheeks melted with the heat of his flesh. The sight soothed every screaming nerve ending inside me.
Darius glanced over at me with a frown, something twisting in his gaze. I realised my mistake, pressing my lips together as he surveyed me in the dark. I could barely see any more of him than his shadowed silhouette, but I could feel his scrutiny. I couldn’t hide my feelings for Orion, not right now, not when I was still rattled to my core. So I remained quiet, and I was thankful when Darius did too.
“Seth,” Darius growled, stopping as the snow fluttered down over us. “You need to go. We’ll talk about this later.”
“You’re sure you don’t need any help?” Seth asked, looking to me then Orion like he gave a damn. And I guessed he must have or he wouldn’t have still been standing there. I was too exhausted to know what to do with that thought. Seth Capella had saved his life. He’d done all he could, come to my aid when I needed help. And that was confronting in so many ways, I couldn’t handle it right now.
“No. I’ll take him home,” Darius said firmly.
Seth nodded, frowning before heading away down the beach, the storm swallowing him in seconds.
“Where’s Tory?” I asked, wondering if his absence had anything to do with hers too.
“Dunno,” he grunted, placing Orion down on the ground and shedding his sweatpants. “Are you coming with us or going back to your House?”
“I’m coming,” I said without a second’s hesitation.
“I can take it from-”
“I said, I’m coming,” I snarled and Phoenix fire flashed at the edges of my eyes.
He nodded mutely, turning away from me and leaping forward, his enormous Dragon form tearing out of his body and landing in front of me.
He gently scooped Orion into one of his taloned feet, his reptilian eyes fixing on me. I could have sworn they were less gold than usual, ringed with darkness.
I shed my coat and pulled my shirt off, revealing my halter-neck sports bra beneath it. I let my Phoenix wings free and a fiery blaze spread out either side of me as they extended. I picked up Darius’s sweatpants to take with me, figuring he’d probably appreciate them at the other end of this flight. My stomach soared as I launched myself into the sky, following the golden dragon tail which was twisting away from me into the battering snow storm.
I urged fire into my veins to chase away the freezing air and raced beneath Darius, soaring through the thick clouds. I pressed my hands to Orion, letting the fire in my blood seep into him too. Nothing felt as good as the heat of his skin against mine. He’d come so close to death, my mind was still in shock knowing he was still here with me now.
We sailed through the maelstrom, racing across campus and it wasn’t long before we landed in the woods close to Asteroid Place.
Darius placed Orion on the ground a moment before he shifted and I withdrew my wings, plunging us into darkness. I tossed Darius his sweatpants and when he had them on, he lifted Orion into his arms again and moved toward the gate. I kept close to him, wondering what the hell would happen if a professor found us here like this, covered in blood with an unconscious teacher, sneaking into their private residence.
I took Orion’s hand as we reached the gate, pressing his palm to it to unlock it with his magical signature. We crept forward past the pool, heading down the alley between Orion and Washer’s chalets. I touched his hand to the door again and Darius arranged him over one shoulder so he could hold his own hand against it too.
“He’s got a bunch of magical locks on this door,” he muttered in explanation, his brows pulling together in concentration.
A moment later, the door swung inwards and we hurried inside.
I shut it behind us and breathed a sigh of relief as warmth swept over me, following Darius through to Orion’s bedroom where he laid him on the bed.
I immediately crawled onto it, moving to his side and taking his hand. Darius stood watching us, just a shadow in the dark, but I couldn’t conceal my feelings for Orion. They were too raw, my heart too exposed.
“You care about him,” he stated, his voice horribly empty.
“Yes,” I said powerfully, defiantly. Because he was Orion’s friend and I didn’t care if he knew right now. He had to accept it one day anyway, because I was never going to stop loving him.
“And he cares about you?” His voice still had that strangely hollow quality to it I didn’t understand.
I wasn’t going to answer for Orion, so I just stayed quiet. But maybe that was answer enough. “Where were you tonight, Darius?” I asked, my tone sharp. “What was more important than helping your friend?”
“I have to go replenish my magic so I can heal him some more,” he said, completely ignoring my question. “I’ll be back in a few hours.” He headed to the window, pushing it open and jumping out of it without another word.
I scowled after him in fury, unable to believe he wouldn’t even give me an explanation for abandoning Orion tonight. I moved to shut the window then hurried to the bathroom, fetching towels before getting a jug of hot water from the kitchen.
I couldn’t stand to see Orion looking half dead, covered in blood. So I sat beside him, washing it away as best I could, trying to erase the pain that had nearly split me in two. But I had a feeling that some part of this night would always be with me, scarred on the inside of my chest. I’d almost lost him to the shadows, to his sister. And now Seth was entangled in this too. He wouldn’t let it lie, he’d want an explanation.
I set a fire burning behind me, twisting and dancing in the air as it worked to restore my magic. I’d never felt so powerless as I had when Clara had hurt him. And it terrified me that her shadows could suppress my Order like that, taking charge of the shadows in me and keeping my Phoenix subdued.
I tried to chase away the awful fears as I tugged the remains of Orion’s shirt off and washed away the stains on his arms, his stomach, his mouth. His breathing was soft but his brow was pinched like he was entangled in a nightmare. So when I was done, I curled up beside him, resting my head on his chest and humming a nameless tune, just something to let him know that I was here. And I wasn’t going anywhere, even if every star in the sky decided to fall down and burn the world tonight.
It was almost three in the morning and I was exhausted from a night of partying, but for some reason I just couldn’t settle myself enough to try and sleep. Every time I dozed off, it almost felt like something was prodding me awake again, like the damn stars didn’t want to let me settle.
My brain was working on overdrive and my power was running low enough to be distracting. What I really wanted was Tory Vega, and every time I tried to turn my mind away from that idea, it just spun right back around to her like her name was being whispered in my ear or something. But if I just woke her up in the middle of the night, I was fairly sure she’d put me in the dog house for a week. Not that I was even sure things were back on with us anyway. She hadn’t outright rejected the idea at Christmas, but she’d hardly put a date in her diary either. She had said to ask again in the new year though and technically it was the new year…