Chapter 7
Seven
Zellie
Under the water, I tug on the vulnerable cavity within my chest to move the water surrounding me.
Weightlessly, I float, admiring my serene surroundings as light breaks through, casting coral and pebbles aglow.
The water pulls me along as I calmly surrender, feeling at peace away from the turmoil in the city above.
Training my water magic has been my favorite, and I’ve found myself being called to the river in my free time to relax and practice outside of sessions.
I stretch my arms above me, my body twisting as I swim through the current, my iridescent waves cascading behind my head.
Time is meaningless. This is magical, and I—
Crashing into a solid object, my calm mental state dissolves. I break through the surface, sputtering water as I prepare to scold whoever dares interrupt me. Orion stands up to his waist in water, hands raised in a surrendering gesture. I growl, the surrounding water instantly heating.
“Stars, Zellie, calm down before you boil us both.”
“Calm down?” I seethe, pushing the temperature further. To my surprise, Orion makes no effort to move. Instead, his hazel eyes remain steadily locked on mine—filled with trust and promise.
“Okay, poor choice of words on my part.”
“You lied to me.”
“I never lied to you, Zi. I have a hard time talking about it.”
“Or you didn’t want me to know you had family ties with the fucking Kosmos.”
His eyes glow with anger, matching my energy.
“If I had ties to the ‘fucking Kosmos’, would I have spent my time aiding you to win a competition? Would I have spent my time working with the Children of the Constellation and you to develop a plan to take them down? Would I have risked my fucking life to stop them?”
The water instantly cools, regret icing over my heated blood. Orion’s voice is raw, guttural as he continues, “She fucking chose them over me, Zellie. I lost my only family. Do you understand what that feels like?”
“I’m sorry, Ri. I was wrong.” Closing the distance between us, I wrap my arms around his waist in a tight hug. “I didn’t think of it like that. My anger got the best of me.”
Orion doesn’t say anything, but he does pull me closer against him, which I take as a good sign. “I’m sorry,” I say again. “I didn’t know.”
“How would you? It was years ago, Zell. I have a hard time talking about it, and that’s on me for not sharing it with you earlier.”
I sigh, my anger dissolving into a much sadder feeling; empathy makes my chest constrict at the thought of Orion bearing this burden all alone. His arms squeeze me closer, my heart fluttering. “You’re getting better,” he murmurs into my hair, effectively changing the subject with his compliment.
“Inia is a good teacher.” Inia, who was Lenny’s sponsor, quickly agreed to take me on as a mentee. She had a soft spot for my friend and a swift, rising anger towards the Kosmos and their outdated games for ending his life all too quickly.
Orion’s hand finds my hipbone, his fingers gently brushing over the skin left exposed from my bathing suit.
His voice deepens. “Is my training not meeting your needs?” Heat pools between my thighs as I consider my unmet needs and the growing tension between us.
His fingers mindlessly caress my hip, inching closer towards my center.
“I like your training,” my voice comes out in a breathy whisper, all traces of anger long forgotten.
“I’d say we still have some areas to explore, wouldn’t you?
” This flirty, fun version of Orion is my favorite.
So easily, he helps me forget the troubles surrounding us.
Yet he has maintained firm boundaries, never crossing the line beyond light forehead kisses.
He’s giving me time to process everything, but internally, my soul screams to be taken by him. Stars, how I wish he would.
I place my hand on his chest, savoring the feel of the firm warmth beneath my palm. “As enticing as that is, I think we have other things to discuss first.”
“Such as?”
“Your sister. My plan.”
“Your plan? Do tell.” His hands slid from my hips to my elbows, refusing to break our connection.
I lean closer, speaking quietly. “You wouldn’t happen to know where this magical trove where the gemstones are kept, would you?”
“Why?”
I pull away, creating some distance between us. “That’s not an answer.”
“Yours isn’t an answer, either.”
“You first,” I insist.
“No. You first.”
“What are you, five?”
Orion’s nostrils flare, and I can practically see steam coming off of him. “No, I don’t know where it is.”
“Can you find out?”
“You’re not going to tell me, are you?”
“Not right now, no.” I give him my most charming smile.
His eyes rove over me, searching for answers he will not find. “For you? Anything.”
I refuse to tell him why. I never told him about the effect of the moonstone on Pluto.
Who is to say the other gemstones won’t react similarly to me, now?
It’s a gamble, but I’m willing to try any tool available to me.
I know that if I told him, he’d try to dissuade me, or worse, not look into the location of the trove.
This feels like the Games all over again, with me hoarding secrets like a cosmic dragon, wrapped around them in the dark silence between stars.