Chapter 4 – Orion
ORION
The swamp air holds moisture that dampens my skin, and the mucky water hides creatures of a sort that I don’t typically deal with.
But my hand is steady as I steer us through it all, looking for the fork in the river.
For so long I’d felt lost, wondering if I was crazy for thinking my brother wasn’t really dead, at least not in the traditional sense.
I’d spent far too long with his body, which never changed the way dead bodies do, and I told myself the “twin connection” that was begging me to listen wasn’t there, but the nagging feeling wouldn’t go away.
The Elites of the gargoyle community had promised me that if I killed enough monsters, if I did as I was told, they would eventually give me the information about how to reach the Underworld.
But slowly, I realized that they were never really going to give me what I need.
That they were hoping to keep me busy long enough that with time I would forget all about what I want.
And when I realized the truth, I’d flown around aimlessly, for how long I don’t know.
I’d come across Blaise and picked a fight with him, knowing that phoenixes are our natural enemies.
He’d fought ruthlessly, but I hadn’t. My sword had been easily knocked away, and I’d bowed down and told him to take my head.
I was ready to be done.
I was ready to be with my brother.
But Blaise seemed to realize this wasn’t a fight, it was an execution, and he refused.
We fought again until, standing on that cliff, the rain pouring around us, I’d just begged him to kill me.
My tears had been concealed by the storm, and he’d asked me why.
Why I wanted to die. Again, I’d bowed my head, but I’d told him over the storm that raged.
He had made me a deal. If I allowed him to join my sad and lonely Brotherhood, he would stop at nothing to help me to save my brother.
We had clasped hands that day, then worked together to try to kill enough beasts to get the information from the gargoyles.
I owe him everything, including my life.
And yet, a tiny part of me worries that as we get closer to our suicide mission, he might change his mind.
The fact that he still hasn’t wavered...
it makes that something inside of me...that love that is akin to what I feel for my twin brother, even stronger.
“We’re going to find him,” Blaise says.
I look at him and realize he’s watching me. “I know.”
His eyes glow gold for the briefest moment before they turn dark one more, and then he looks back over at the swamp, his back rigid. I smile, despite the dark hole of misery I seem unable to climb out of. This place is Blaise’s nightmare, but damn if he isn’t trying his hardest to hide it.
He lifts a hand and points ahead. “The fork!”
I nod and slow the boat, easing it in the direction the man had told us.
“What if he was lying?”
I had considered that. “Most men tell the truth when they’re faced with death.” I don’t say that I know that firsthand, because he had been there for my soul-destroying confessions.
“I guess we just prepare ourselves for anything.” Then he grins at me. “Although I doubt there would be anything worse than the actual monstrous woman we’re trying to find.”
“Probably not.”
He looks back ahead and inches to the side of the boat. I’m studying the water. It’s getting harder to tell the areas that are too low for us to get the boat through. If we’re not careful, we could get stuck out here.
I mean, we could fly away, but then we might not find the woman. And right now, that’s what I need more than anything else.
“What do you know of her?”
Blaise is quiet for so long that I think he might not have heard me over the roar of the engine before he speaks.
“She’s a dangerous monster. Gargoyles have hunted her unsuccessfully for years.
And that if you get too close to her, she’ll kill you.
Usually, she has a number of beasts that hunt the areas around her swamp.
And she tends to move from place to place. ”
“Yes.” I’d heard the same.
“Orion.” He clears his throat. “Are you going in here as a gargoyle or a--?”
“Not a gargoyle.”
My mind slips back to the days before my brother’s death.
We rarely hunted monsters unless tasked with it.
Most of our time was spent creating a beautiful community in the sanctuary and searching out gargoyles who hadn’t awakened.
We’d try to get them to shed their stone form and join us, before too much time passed and they weren’t able to awaken anymore.
We enjoyed what we did. We laughed. We joked.
We spent time together staring up at the stars and talking about how one day we would find a mate, have a beautiful child, and be one happy family.
We had lost three brothers over hundreds of years of fighting to defend our master’s lands until finally awaking the last time to find our master and our lands gone, then going to the sanctuary and starting a new life.
It was just him and I. All the time. Until the day. The day everything changed.
“I never enjoyed the hunt,” I admit. “I enjoyed spending time with my brother. I enjoyed being free...and having hope. If I never kill another monster again, I won’t care.”
“I hope she asks questions first and shoots after,” he says.
I don’t say it, but I agree.
“Maybe…” He hesitates, then continues. “Maybe I should go first and smooth things over.”
Every muscle in my body tightens. Blaise is important to me.
Like a little brother. In the time we’d spent together, he’d worked to repair my soul, and I’d worked to keep him safe, even if I didn’t tell him that.
He prides himself on being a warrior, but his body is still more fragile than my stone form.
It worries me. And the thought of sending him alone to face a monstrous swamp beast.. .well, it makes me sick.
“I can do it, Orion,” he says, one of his brows raised.
“Stop that,” I mumble. I hate when he seems to read my mind. “We’re spending way too much time together.”
“I can handle a little mon--” He stops mid-sentence and gives a very umanly shriek as he leaps from one side of the boat to the other. I glance into the water and see a massive alligator right next to our boat.
I laugh.
“Those things are like prehistoric monsters!” he shouts back at me.
I laugh harder. Blaise is a brave fucker, but his fear of creatures he deems “creepy prehistoric animals” is hilarious. I have no idea how a man lives as long as he has and still fears things like them.
My gaze meets his, and I realize he’s smiling. “It’s nice to see you happy,” he says, then turns around.
Something inside of me aches. No, I’m not happy. How can I be happy when my brother is trapped in the Underworld? My thoughts move to the day of his accident, and then I jerk my thoughts away. If I think about that right now, I’ll completely lose my focus, and we can’t afford that.
“There!” he says.
I stiffen and follow the direction he’s pointing and see a wooden shack on platforms above the swampy water.
Instantly, I cut the engine, and we drift until we get to the deck outside the house.
Blaise ties the boat to it, and then we’re both staring at the strange house.
Candles flicker behind curtains, but we can’t see anything inside.
Blaise climbs out of the boat.
“Wait,” I say. My heart’s racing. I’m so close to finding out how to reach Andros, but I won’t trade one brother for another. “I can go with you.”
Blaise locks eyes with me. “We don’t want to fight if we don’t have to. You might be some stone giant, but I’ve got skills too, including people skills.”
“Blaise…”
“I’ll be careful. Promise.”
Then he turns and walks around the house to where the door must be. My heart hammers. Blaise is six-foot-seven and a controlled kind of muscular. He has also lived nearly as long as I have, and knows damn well how to use the sword on his belt. I’m being protective. He can handle himself.
So why do I feel like I just sent him off to his death?