Chapter 8
Eight
Zellie
“No wonder you’ve been keeping this place to yourself.
” I take in Orion’s apartment, a building located higher on the same hill as mine.
It’s stunning—tranquil, well decorated, clean.
The space is dark, the walls painted a deep nebula blue, with furnishings and decor accenting the darkness in light shades of gold, lavender, as well as a moonlike white and gray.
Plush carpets of rippling silver emphasize the bolder furnishings.
The open layout is similar to mine, with the kitchen connecting to the living area, and the bath and bedroom located through a closed door. “It’s a sanctuary.”
“I’ve been very clear that I would take you here. I was only waiting for you to ask.” He approaches a bar cart to the side of the icebox. “Drink?”
“Sure, thanks.”
I sit on his sofa overlooking the city. His vantage point is much better than mine.
Silence hangs heavily in the air as he pours two glasses of deep red wine.
I thank him once more as he hands me the drink before sliding down to sit, his arm grazing mine.
I cradle the stemmed glass, taking in his side profile. “I want to know what happened.”
He swirls the liquid, his eyes tracing the movement. “It’ll only anger you further.”
“So be it.” He pins me with a look. While I appreciate his looking out for me, I know my limits. “I’m a big girl.”
“My sister was twenty-two when they first took an interest in her. She was working at the Cosmic Hall in a secretarial position. Portia was always radiant, and they saw her potential. She thrived under Pluto’s special attention, but I saw it for what it was—manipulation.
” He pauses, taking a deep gulp of the wine.
His anger—his disgust—pulsed around us. I didn’t dare move, waiting patiently for him to continue, despite the urge to reach out and touch him.
“Pluto whispered pretty promises of enhancing her air powers. Made her feel that she wasn’t enough.
Her magic was beautiful as it was; there was no need to change it. ”
Orion sighs, resting his head against the back of the sofa. “Even ten years later, this still gets me as fired up as if it were happening right now.”
“How old were you?”
“Twenty.”
I shake my head, taking a pull of the wine myself.
I didn’t think he would share the rest, but he carried on, “The notion of power is a perilous temptation. It’s like fire stolen from a star—divine, but scorches anyone who dares hold it too long.
Becoming more took root deep within her, spreading darkness and doubt, and covered her once-bright light.
That, combined with the continued pressure and courting,” he spits out the word, “from Pluto, and she agreed to let them experiment on her. Whatever they did to her not only changed her magic but also her personality inherently. They extinguished her light entirely. She left me behind without a second glance. I tried to reach her, but she made it clear I was less than deserving of her attention, her newfound status… of anything.”
The thought of Orion losing his family, of being completely alone—of feeling unworthy—shatters something within me. “Riri,” my voice breaks as tears freely fall.
“It’s okay, really. I’m used to being on my own.” Another swirl of his wine and then he looks at me, speaking directly to my soul, “But I don’t want to be anymore.”
I wipe my cheek before taking his hand in mine. “I’m not going to leave you.”
“Your anger scares me, Zellie. I’m afraid it might take you away from me, too.”
His words send a chill down my spine. “I’ll work on it, I promise. I’m still me.”
He gives me a sad smile, the moment raw and full of compassion for us. As he wipes a tear away, he replies, “That’s all I’ve ever wanted you to be.”
My soul sings, lighting up like a star, basking in the radiance of his words. To him, I have always been enough.
Orion walked me down the hill to my apartment before returning to his.
After my insistence, he agreed that I could walk the halls to my apartment myself.
Incredibly chivalrous of him, but I don’t need door-to-door service.
I’m lost in my thoughts, trying to make sense of Portia doing something so cold-hearted and cruel—especially to someone as kind and exceptional as Riri.
I round the curve of the hall, the orb lights lowly flickering this late in the evening.
My steps are cushioned by the greige carpeted floor, the hallway oddly reminding me of my unit on Lunara with its lack of color and character.
I almost didn’t see him—and wouldn’t have if he hadn’t moved—lurking in a shadowed corner.
I startle, jumping backwards and clutching my chest. “Stars above! What the fuck, Leo?”
His eyes are wide as he pushes off the wall. “I didn’t mean to scare you!”
“What else could you possibly accomplish hiding in the dark?”
“I figured it was a safer option than waiting in your apartment!”
“Safer for whom? You or me? Besides, it’s locked.”
“Hasn’t stopped me before.”
Still insufferable, I see. We stare at each other for one heartbeat, two.
This is not how I imagined our first conversation going.
Not that I thought about how any future conversation with Leo would go after I stabbed him.
“What do you want, Leo?” I press myself into the opposite wall, trying to create as much space as possible, and will my emotions to remain calm.
The last thing I want to do is expose my new powers to him.
“I need to apologize to you. This is killing me, Zellie.”
“You should have thought of that before, then.”
He grabs the back of his neck, pain filling his eyes. “I thought I was doing the right thing.”
“I’m sorry, what?” I scoff. “How could you possibly think that?”
Leo’s irritation flares as he speaks through gritted teeth. “They made me a deal. If I stopped you from winning… If I won, they wouldn’t harm you.” My chest constricts as a past conversation slams into me.
He cups his hand around the back of my neck, bringing our foreheads together. “There is no world where I can exist without you. If there is ever a point where it is your life or another’s, I will always choose yours.”
He was choosing my life. Leo had chosen me. And I fucking stabbed him.
I rub my forehead as a whirlwind of chaotic emotions storms through me. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I couldn’t. They made me promise—”
A scornful chuckle escapes me as I cut him off. Promising them was more important than being with me. “I trusted you, and you left me in the dark.”
“I know.”
I’m assuming this means that the Kosmos are still out to kill me since I did win.
What kind of plans do they have in store for Leo now?
Is he still working for them? He didn’t tell me what they were planning.
Leo didn’t tell me what Portia had proposed to him, or about any consequent meetings following the initial conversation.
He didn’t tell me when I held a knife to his throat—he was willing to die rather than tell me.
Or… was he prepared to die rather than face the Kosmos’ wrath?
Was he punished? My heart uncontrollably constricts at the thought.
I don’t have the emotional capacity to process the confusion building within me.
He cannot be trusted. “This changes nothing,” I hiss, trying to push the swift, rising feelings down.
“I know,” he responds softly. His eyes roam over my face rapidly as he adds, “Your eyes are glowing.”
Shit. “Keep that to yourself. I have to go.”
I rush down the hall without turning back, but not without the whisper of another “I’m sorry” haunting me as I open the door to hide within my apartment.