Chapter Thirty-Six
We stood outside my house, three or four steps apart, but it felt like eternity stretched between us.
We were entirely alone – Raven and Sofia had gone back inside to give us some privacy.
Not that I would’ve noticed them there. I was locked on to Orion before me.
His silver eyes were gleaming like two lone stars, and his dragon wings were tucked behind him.
He was wearing his favourite blue sweatshirt, and every inch of him looked perfect.
He had come back to Maple Falls.
That singular thought was running in circles around my mind, keeping me rooted in place. I didn’t bridge the gap between us – I didn’t need to. He did.
In two long strides, Orion was before me. He ran his gaze over my face like he was searching for something that had changed in me.
‘Did you cast the spell yet?’ he asked, quietly.
I shook my head, and the naked relief on his face made something spark inside me. ‘You’re supposed to be interviewing at Rose Glenn,’ I said, and I didn’t even try masking the hurt.
‘I got there, and I interviewed,’ Orion replied, shortly.
Like this was unimportant information. ‘Then I hung around with my father for a bit in the town, refusing to go back to the festival in case I found you celebrating with Silas. My father and I talked at some café – really talked. He agreed to try and be more supportive. I think he thought I wasn’t serious about how much I wanted this. ’
I was quiet for a moment; on the pavement, I could see people returning from the festival. The forest was still gold, the moon was still bright, but the allure was fading. The night was coming to a close.
‘So, you’re planning on moving if you get the teacher’s apprenticeship?’ I asked, chest aching.
Orion held on to my stare like I was the star he was following back home. ‘No. I couldn’t do it, Reverie. I was sitting in that café, finally hearing my father support my dream of being a teacher, and all I could think was that I was being an idiot.’
‘Orion Hawthorne calling himself an idiot?’ I asked, disbelievingly. ‘You sure you didn’t hit your head as you portalled back?’
‘I’m self-aware enough to know when I’m being dumb,’ Orion retorted, a small smile making his mouth tilt. ‘I could live all my dreams, but none of them would ever make me feel true happiness because you wouldn’t have been there.’
My heart was thundering in my chest; words clogged in my throat.
‘I knew it last summer. I knew it when I left for MAC. I knew it in the back of my mind, always,’ Orion continued, unrelentingly.
‘I knew it when I started helping you with Silas. I knew it with every step you took towards him that losing you was going to be the biggest mistake of my life. And I had already lost you twice in my life by my own hand, by my own stupidity. I am not going to do it a third time. I like you, Maya Reverie. A lot. We have never been just friends. We’ve always been destined to be soulmates. ’
‘I annoy you,’ I retorted, chin jutting out slightly and unable to resist the chance to challenge him. I knew why I thought we were meant to be, but did he? ‘We’re complete opposites. How do you know we’re soulmates?’
Orion stepped closer, uncaring of the nosy onlookers who were slowing their walk as they passed by my house, or the ones currently stood inside my house.
‘Because we’re perfectly fitted to one another, and together we’re literally capable of doing anything.
You like to act; I like to plan. You pushed me to follow my dreams and take more chances.
You get protective over me; the same way I get protective over you.
You get jealous over me; the same way I get jealous over you. ’
A flush climbed high on my cheeks. ‘When have I ever been jealous?’
Orion gave me a sardonic look. ‘You think kicking my seat while I was out with Celine at the cinema was, what? A sign of normal, unbothered behaviour?’
‘You were testing me?’ I asked, disbelievingly.
‘You were going on and on about how Silas was your soulmate. I had to see if I had a chance, even if it was tiny.’
‘But you left,’ I said, my voice quiet.
‘And I came back,’ Orion replied, stubbornly. ‘I will always come back. Understand this, Reverie – you’re not getting rid of me. I’ve been a part of your life since I was eight years old, and I intend to stay for as long as you’ll let me.’
My heart was loud in my chest, so loud that I was sure Orion could hear it. He stepped closer to me. ‘Tell me I’m right, Maya.’ Hearing my name from his mouth made my heartbeat tick up. ‘Tell me I’m not alone in feeling like this. Put me out of my agony.’
‘I would tell you you’re right,’ I whispered, unable to find the right words to give him even half of what he’d given me. ‘But I’m afraid of making your head bigger.’
His smile was blindingly bright, rivalling the moon above us. ‘Fine then. Don’t say the words; cast the spell. Prove us both right.’
‘But what if – what if it doesn’t work?’ I asked, frenzied. ‘What if someone else is my soulmate?’
‘It won’t fail,’ Orion said gently. ‘I know it.’
‘Orion –’
‘Spell me, Maya,’ Orion said, and this time, he said my name like it was something tender. Like he was cradling my heart in his hands and knew just how fragile it was. ‘Make one last risky decision tonight.’
I raised my fingertips to graze them against Orion’s chest. I had my eyes screwed tightly shut, like I could block everything out when this blew up in my face. I couldn’t bring myself to speak louder than a whisper, keeping this moment and this spell between us.
‘To pierce with love and bind my heart, Cupido please find your mark.’
I felt a sudden warmth erupt across the skin of my wrist, and, when my eyes snapped open, I was faced with the sight of a silver string connecting Orion’s wrist to mine.
I grazed the threads of the string with my fingertips, and it was stronger than I’d imagined, like a thick rope.
There were knots to unravel the two of us on either side, so if I wanted to pull it free I could. If he wanted to pull us free, he could.
‘Told you it would work,’ Orion said, and there was pure elation colouring his smile. His eyes glanced upwards. ‘And just in time too.’
I looked up to the sky, heat climbing my neck in anticipation of what was coming next.
True love’s kiss.
I took a breath before looking back down, and, this time, Orion wasn’t wearing any of his usual smiles. Not a smirk or a grimace either. His gaze glimmered with silver as he stepped closer to me, his warm palm sliding across my cheek.
‘You ready to end this, Maya?’ Orion asked, his thumb stroking my skin.
Chills ran down my spine, and my hand went to the sleeve of his sweater, clutching it tightly. I nodded once, too tangled up inside to speak.
‘Look at that: Maya Reverie, speechless,’ Orion said, a little smugness entering his gaze.
I rolled my eyes and rose to the challenge like always.
I stepped up to my tiptoes, just as he bent down to meet me halfway.
His lips pressed against mine, his breath becoming my own.
The rope around my wrist glowed brighter, and every part of my body was flooded with liquid warmth.
The scent of a campfire filled my lungs, and the sound of our heartbeats filled my ears.
In truth, I wasn’t thinking of the curse. I wasn’t thinking of anyone. I existed only in that moment with Orion.
When we broke apart, his hand rested against my jaw for a moment before he moved it so our fingers were entangled. A fluttery laugh left my lips as I took in the horns that had popped out of his curls, and the scales that had erupted on his neck.
‘Someone’s feeling a little out of control,’ I teased, entirely too delighted.
‘Cut me some slack,’ Orion said, and his body curved towards me, making me tilt my head to look up at him. ‘I just found my soulmate. It’s a big deal.’
I let my grin drop softly into a smile. ‘I like the sound of that.’
His gaze was burning into mine, and I wanted the moment to never end. So, of course, it had to be then that everything went haywire.
‘You are under arrest.’