5. ~Talon~

5

~Talon~

It had been really strange going to my classes without Alena and Xavier around.

I mean, sure, Alena had moved into the advanced classes, but I would still always see her down the corridors and all four of us would meet for lunch.

At least I still had Orpheus with me.

We were about to have lunch in our spot deep in the woods this time, instead of in the quad, because we wanted to talk about this whole Constantine shit without being overheard.

Or so I thought, until I made it to the clearing and pulled up short at the crowds of students gathered around.

Around him.

He was standing on a rock holding court.

From what I could gather, he was right at the tail end of the speech he’d clearly been giving. He was rousing the troops, telling them to be ready, that Obsidian had given them the means to feel out their abilities and enjoy freedom and now they needed to put that to good use and stand with us.

Shit.

Applause and cheers erupted, and then they started to disburse, some staying a little while to talk to him.

Once they took off, everyone heading back to their business, classes, the cafeteria, or whatever, I approached Ore.

He jumped off the rock and stumbled, needing to slap his hand to the picnic table to steady himself.

“You should still be resting. A couple more days, Ore. No emphatic, energy-bleeding speeches, no jumping about,” I chastised as I reached him.

He smiled and wrapped his arm around me. “Gotcha. Ready to eat, baby bird?”

I shrugged out of his hold and stepped into his path. “I’m serious.”

“I have been resting and I’m done with it. There’s no more time.”

“Time?”

“Constantine could return any day.”

“And if he does, he’ll be stopped by Abigail’s ward.”

“Not good enough,” he growled.

“I call bullshit.”

“Excuse me?”

“I know you too well to believe this is about defense. It’s offense all the way. You want a second go at it. You want revenge.”

“I want him gone.”

“It’s more than that. You’re raging that he came at us, that he put you down, that he hurt us, that he took your father. You can’t stand the indignity of it. You can’t stand that he bested you.”

He shoved a hand through his thick, white and black hair. “You know what? You’re right. I can’t stand it. But I can fix it.”

“With an army of Academy students?”

“They’re primed. They’re in control of their full abilities thanks to me and Obsidian and they want in on this fight too. In fact, a lot of them expressed their regret to me that they’d been trapped inside during the battle, and how much they’d wanted to help.”

“Fuck, brother, we said we were gonna focus on running down leads on your father.”

“And we are. His army commander is coming here. But once we get a viable lead, what does that lead us to? Battle, Talon.” He rolled his eyes. “I thought I’d taught you by now how to think several moves ahead.”

I gave him a withering look. “I am. And while we’re at it, how about you not anticipating Callum Cornwell’s bullshit? Where was your many-moves-ahead thing then?”

“He got attached. He’s known for being a stoic bastard like me.”

“The power of your big cock twisted him all up, huh?”

“I know the feeling,” a familiar voice spoke. “Unfortunately,” they added, bitterly.

We turned to see Isabella sauntering up to us.

For once she was alone, without her vamp and faery girls who usually hung off her every word. Kind of like supernatural mean girls, college-style.

“Nice speech,” she told Orpheus.

“What do you want?” I demanded.

“Want?” she responded, playing with the short hem of her lavender sundress.

“You don’t give out compliments. Not for free, anyway.”

“Let me guess,” Orpheus spoke. “You overheard what we were discussing concerning Professor Cornwell, so now you’re here to use that as some sort of blackmail.” His eyes darkened in that scary way. “I’d caution you to be very careful in going that route. I don’t respond well to that.”

He had responded well to Cornwell’s blackmail, though.

Was I bitter?

Yeah, maybe a little.

And maybe me driving it home to Orpheus just how much of a fucked-up deal it was, wasn’t just about the situation itself, but also the fact that I was hurt that he’d been fucking somebody else. Once in a while and without emotion, yeah, but still.

We hadn’t said we were exclusive when it had just been me and him and we hadn’t acted that way either, but a big part of me had always hoped it would come one day, once he was ready. Then Alena had come along and we’d operated as a foursome where that was concerned and he’d still been doing that with that creepy professor? Yeah, it fucking well bothered me.

“Getting it on with the hottest professor here is your business. I don’t want him to be reported or reprimanded because I need him to pass my Matter Manipulation class. He’s a supporter of my progress and a great teacher too. So, no, I don’t care about any of that.” She smiled slyly. “Although, I wonder if Alena will?”

“There it is,” I grunted.

“No blackmail. Relax, Bird Boy.”

I hissed and started forward, but Ore threw his arm out, holding me back.

Given that he was still in recovery and shouldn’t be exerting himself, I moved back pretty much right away so as not to put any strain on him.

It wasn’t easy, though, not with this toxic bitch getting under my skin and making the mistake of pissing me off.

“Get to it, Isabella, or get gone,” Orpheus commanded.

She folded her arms across her chest, unfortunately settling in. “The war you’re advocating against Constantine isn’t the way to go. Not when there’s a much simpler and far less bloodier solution.”

“And what might that be?”

“Rumors have been swirling around since the attack. One in particular is more than even that and it was from one of Gregor’s daughters who is a sophomore here. You know, the King of the Light Fae?”

Orpheus rolled his eyes. “I’m familiar.”

“She’s second in line to the throne and she takes that role very seriously. She wouldn’t have bad intel, let alone spread falsities around.” She shifted her weight. “That intel is that Constantine Vale wants Alena.”

“So what?” I bit back.

“ So , instead of launching a massive attack with all the students you’ve been priming through Obsidian all these years, we just give him what he wants and send him packing and disappearing back out of our lives.”

“He’s a psychopathic bastard. Do you have any fucking idea what he’d do to her?”

“Hmm… let me see… use her, rough her up… nothing the three of you haven’t already been doing. The way she’s been smiling and bouncing around here, she clearly gets off on all of that anyway.”

Her sick and demented suggestion had me seething. “You fucking cunt.”

“You’re short-sighted and far too reactive and emotional.” She held her hand up toward me and looked to Ore. “Come on, Orpheus, that speech you made, rallying the troops, it was clearly you living up to your role as Heir to the Dark Fae Kingdom. That also involves making hard choices, in order to become worth of the title of King. This is one such choice. Plus, Alena is into all this darkness and depravity. If she wasn’t she wouldn’t be with the three of you and be loving it. Not to mention, you wouldn’t have become so drawn to her, so immersed in her. It was the darkness in her that pulled you to her, because that’s what you’re all about.”

“You don’t fucking know him, so stop pretending to. Just because you rode his cock—and badly, from what I’ve heard—doesn’t mean you have an insight into the real him.”

And I didn’t want Orpheus thinking that, his mind going there.

He was still recovering, and more susceptible to things like this. It was why, aside from when we’d been in different classes, I’d stayed right by his side, even sleeping in his room every night. All right, one of the main reasons. I’d also needed the comfort of being close to him, because I felt adrift through missing the closeness of the four of us with Alena and X gone right now.

“Don’t let her golden pussy cloud your judgment,” she pushed Ore.

“Like you’re not letting your jealously and hatred of Alena cloud yours?” I fired back.

If only it were more than metaphorical fire and actually my phoenix flames instead.

Ore’s eyes darkened even more so, until they went utterly black and he stepped forward with a heavy menacing air. “Do you really think handing over Alena will have him going quietly into the night never to be heard from again? Constantine Vale is an anarchist and a megalomaniac. He has a severe God complex. He won’t stop until he’s conquered every square inch of the supernatural world.”

“Orpheus, I—”

He cut her off harshly. “And let’s also set the record straight where Alena is concerned, shall we? She’s not our whore. She’s not our plaything. She’s one of us. How dare you come to me with this abhorrent suggestion? How dare you try to push me to accept what you want, your foolish notion?”

In the next second, his power sparked and he was choking her with it, making her gag. Her eyes went wide and she futilely clutched at her throat as he lifted her off the ground with a single finger’s worth of purple magic. “How dare you look my way, let alone engage with me? You are nothing. Get on your knees and beg for my forgiveness.” He shoved her brutally hard to her knees with his magic and she cried out as they scraped on the ground.

“Orpheus,” I called in warning.

He completely ignored me.

Actually, I wasn’t sure he’d actually even heard me.

“I… can’t… breathe.”

“That’s the idea,” he rumbled. “Now beg.”

Frantically clutching at her throat, she rasped, “I’m… sorry… please… please.”

When he still wasn’t satisfied and didn’t let up, I saw her try to get her shit together and call her magic.

I was about to intervene, but Ore was already a step ahead and his magic flared on his free hand. In the next second, he snapped the wrist of her offending hand. I shuddered as her awful shriek rang in the air.

“Orpheus!”

I swung my head at the sound of the voice to see Professor Marlowe rushing over.

Shit.

Orpheus reacted impressively fast and spun, his left palm aflame, while the other continued choking Isabella out. “Interference not warranted or appreciated.”

Marlowe conjured a luminous green shield. “This approach isn’t the way. It’s not how you’ll beat him.”

“It’s the only way.” He scoffed. “You’re just afraid of my power potential, that you’ll have another Saryan Hart on your hands.”

“Becoming him is not the way. Your father doesn’t want that.”

Ore faltered, his fire sputtering briefly.

“Why do you presume to know what my father wants?”

“Because he told me. Because I wasn’t cast out as Commander of the Dark Fae Army, nor did I quit. Because he sent me here, Orpheus. To keep an eye on you, to help ensure that you didn’t become like him, that you were taught and guided in another direction to that which he’d taken at your age.”

“That’s… some hardcore manipulation.”

“Not so great when it’s directed at you, is it?” I accidentally blurted out.

I was still sore about what he’d done to Alena.

Something she had no idea about.

But something that would no doubt come between us all. Secrets usually came out in the end. It was a fucked-up shit-tastic situation. All of it was, and I was so fucking sick of it.

Ore’s magic faltered again, at my words this time.

And then he growled and pulled it all back, releasing Isabella and dropping his palms.

“Get the fuck out of here,” he ordered her.

As she frantically rushed off, choking and cradling her hand, Marlowe called to her, “See the Healer immediately.”

She nodded, tears in her eyes, then disappeared through the trees.

Marlowe approached, Orpheus looking him over like he was seeing him for the first time. “Clearly we have a lot to talk about.”

“And we will, after you see the dean for what just transpired here. Attacking a fellow student is a reprimandable offense.”

Orpheus hissed at him and even then went so far as to threaten him as he flicked his palms down.

“Careful. Now is not the time to be turning allies into enemies, Your Highness .”

Shit, the guy was good.

And he clearly knew how Ore’s mind worked.

Then again, with him apparently watching for three years, that made sense.

“Fine,” Ore muttered.

And then he was just storming right off toward Dean Bronson’s office without another word.

My gut twisted as I watched him go.

“This isn’t like him,” I murmured.

Marlowe told me, “It’s Constantine. He got inside his head.”

“Then we’ve gotta find a way to make sure our voices are louder than that fucker’s.”

“We will,” he said.

With the conviction that accompanied his words, I almost believed it.

That we could pull Orpheus back from the edge.

That things that had been broken could be fixed.

That everything would actually be okay.