8. ~Orpheus~

8

~Orpheus~

“Say that again.”

I looked up from the magical map I had levitating before me, the one we’d used to track my father’s last known location to that cathedral where he’d been taken by Constantine’s acolytes.

I was inputting markers of his contacts that I was privy to. Once my father’s current Commander, Cassius, arrived at Electi Academy in a couple of days, I’d then have more information to input. Unfortunately, he hadn’t been able to come sooner, as he was dealing with the uproar that had occurred in the Dark Fae Realm due to their King being taken. Once I had his intel, I’d take them one-by-one until I discovered who the fuck had betrayed my father and led the acolytes right to him. He cloaked himself whenever he left the DFR, so they couldn’t have performed a tracking spell to locate him at that cathedral. I was the only one who had the ability to do that through our blood bond as father and son.

Whoever was responsible obviously had a link to the acolytes that I was then planning to use to locate their big boss in Constantine and my father by extension. Alena would be back here by then, so I’d also be able to use her blood to break through the ward that her mother had erected around Electi Academy that was keeping us trapped here. For our safety , was the party line. But I didn’t doubt that it was also to force us to stand down and stay out of the fight.

Talon handed me his phone. “Here. Check it out for yourself. Seeing is believing sometimes, right?”

“In this case, yes. Xavier ending things with Alena isn’t exactly an easy truth to digest.”

I took his phone and stepped back from the map, then scanned the text message conversation that had gone on between him and Alena.

Alena: Coming back tomorrow. Miss you guys.

Talon: We miss you too, firecracker. How’s X? Haven’t heard anything from him directly. It’s just been your updates filling us in.

Alena: Nothing new to report since me telling you about Professor Wilhelm showing up. I’ve been kept away.

Talon: Kept away? Like, by your mom or something? Elliot wouldn’t do that sort of thing. No offense.

I looked out at Tal. “No offense?”

He shrugged. “Fine. Lots of offense toward Abigail.”

I shook my head, then continued reading.

Alena: No, by him.

Talon: What? No way. X can’t stay away from you at the best of times. He’s fucking addicted to you, firecracker.

Alena: Apparently he can. He ended things.

Talon: What? He broke up with you?

Alena: Sure did.

I looked at the timestamp and there was a few minutes’ worth of a pause.

He’d obviously been so stunned that, for once in his life, he hadn’t known what to say.

Talon: I’m sorry. So sorry, Alena. We’ll fix it. We’ll fix him.

Alena: I’m not sure he wants to be. He seems… resigned.

Talon: Like, depressed?

Alena: Maybe even worse than that. He kept calling himself a monster, a demon, all of that. Kept talking about how he can’t handle it.

Talon: He was like this three years ago when he came to the Academy shortly after he was turned.

Alena: This time it’s different, though, because he doesn’t have his magic.

Talon: I still can’t wrap my head around Constantine being able to do that to him. Especially with Elliot’s safeguard tattoo thingy that he gave to X.

Alena: He used black magic to do it. The tattoo isn’t even there anymore. And, I guess, with him being Xavier’s sire, it also played a part in him being able to do something like that to him.

Talon: Shit, this whole thing is so wrong and fucked-up.

Alena: It absolutely is. And I’ve been ordered to keep out of all of it.

Talon: We’ll change that soon. Once you get back here. Once Ore’s grounding is done.

Alena: Orpheus Hart is grounded?

Talon: Wings-wise.

Alena: Wow.

Talon: Well, he’s also confined to his chambers, so maybe a bit of the other meaning thrown in there too actually.

Alena: What? Why? What happened?

Talon: I’ll leave it to him to tell you the details, but let’s just say that he crossed paths with Isabella and it didn’t exactly end well. For her.

I looked out at Tal. “Really? You told her about my punishment?”

“Only vaguely. She wants to know what’s going on with us. This is her missing us, Ore. It’s a good thing.”

“If that’s so then why hasn’t she messaged me with any of this?”

“She said she didn’t want to cause you any undue stress while you’re recovering from the attack.”

Hmm. No, it seemed like more than that.

“Well, I’m recovered now, so this protection of hers can cease.”

“And you can show her that in person when she gets here later this morning. Only a few hours to go now.”

I handed his phone back to him.

“Xavier is in trouble.”

“I know and it sounds worse than when we first met him.”

“Without his magic, all bets are off.”

“Well, his dad is there and so is Professor Wilhelm who’s helping him master control over the demon now he’s a pure vampire with no magic to keep those urges in check.”

“It’s not gonna help.”

“Why not?”

“Because all of that means X avoiding his greatest fear of losing control to the vampire. He needs to lose it. In a safe environment against someone who can survive it. He needs to lose it and experience that it’s not the end of the world if he does.”

“That’s majorly dangerous.”

I lifted a shoulder. “Part and parcel of being a vampire.”

“Something he needs to accept instead of continuing to avoid,” Tal realized aloud.

“Exactly, baby bird.”

My phone buzzed and I pulled it from the inside pocket of my silver and black embellished blazer.

I took in the text there, only just suppressing a growl.

Cornwell: Got a lead on Saryan’s contacts. Now you owe me two. Ready to commence payment, pretty prince?

“What’s wrong?” Tal asked, pulling me from the message that was making my blood boil.

Ever since he’d confronted Cornwell and called him out, Cornwell had taken on a nasty edge, our interactions becoming unpleasant.

“Just one of my leads going nowhere,” I lied.

“Sorry, brother.”

“No worries. There are many more.”

I stared down at my phone, hesitating.

Fuck. I didn’t do that, I didn’t fucking hesitate.

This entire situation was fast trying my patience.

It really didn’t help that I’d been pulled from my classes and that I wouldn’t be allowed back into any of the ones concerning combat or advanced magic-wielding for another week. Until I’d calmed down , according to the dean.

Orpheus: My chambers. Ten minutes.

I pocketed my phone, then returned to my map, telling Talon, “Do you mind giving me some space to work on this? I need absolute silence.”

He frowned. “You’ve been working on it for hours. I thought you were talking about taking a break?”

“Change of plans.”

“How come?”

Jeez, ever since he’d found out about me and Callum Cornwell, he’d been a suspicious shit about everything to do with me. Normally he’d trust in me and would rarely call me on anything. But all that had shifted now. It really wasn’t the best time for it, not with certain things I was working in the background.

As if I would just sit back while my father was being held captive.

As if I would entrust his return to anyone else, least of all Abigail Rose and Exemplar.

And as fucking if I would allow Constantine’s attack to go unpunished.

“I need to keep busy non-stop until I’m allowed to resume classes, so I don’t do something dangerous.”

“Stupid, you mean?”

“Never stupid, always carefully calculated.”

“Fine. I don’t want you doing any of that shit, so I’ll head out. Besides, I need to catch up on some readings.”

“See you soon.”

“The second Alena gets back today, we’ll meet back here? I would say her room, but you’re confined here.”

“Sounds good. Bring those marshmallows she likes, her favorite drink.”

“Great idea! I’ll set it up.” He started talking to himself then about other things he wanted to prepare for her homecoming. Fortunately it led him out the door as he was buried deep in thought. Good , it had worked.

I stepped back from the map and shoved my hand through my hair, trying to get a handle on everything, not least of all was the guilt that was infecting me at keeping this Cornwell thing from him, from them all.

Motherfuck, it was for the best. This way I took the full weight of it, and it didn’t touch the three of them.

Cornwell walked through the Academy-erected ward barring my way out of my chambers.

Well, I had the means to break through it at any time, unbeknownst to them.

Cornwell shot a look down the hallway, ensuring no one had seen him walking in, then he shut the door behind him and sauntered in like he owned the place.

Like he owned me.

Fool.

He believed what I’d allowed him to believe.

Let people enjoy their perceptions.

Until it was time to tear them to pieces.

Just like this fucker had come to deserve through pushing it far too much with me.

He took in my map that I’d left up as I stood in front of my balcony doors that led out to my garden, my arms folded across my chest.

“Very impressive,” he said, studying it. “So detailed.”

“Do you have it?” I demanded tersely.

He frowned at me. “I see being caged has put you in a foul mood. Or having to pretend to be caged.”

“Best not to push it then.”

“Push it? I should be pushing it a great deal further. You really set things back by losing your temper like that and getting caught. Now Obsidian is delayed and basically put on ice until the faculty stops watching you like a hawk and believes you’re fine again.”

Yes, strange, wasn’t it?

And not like me at all either.

Perception.

“Evidently, I didn’t react well to Constantine’s attack.”

“No, you don’t react well to failure at all, do you?” he said, softening a little as he closed the distance between us, making me tense. “It’s served us well thus far, until this little hiccup.”

He reached out to touch me, but I snatched his wrist. “The intel, Callum.”

He grunted and eased himself free, then shoved his hands into the pockets of his gray dress pants, pushing his matching suit jacket back in the process and putting his white shirt straining across all that muscle on display all the more so. He wasn’t wearing a tie for once, his shirt open at the collar and indicating a more relaxed state. Or, more likely, coming prepared to toy with me.

“My assets have obtained confirmation that one of the contacts that your father reached out to while here in the human realm was Clive Worcestershire. He’s a university—”

“Researcher. I’m well aware. I already have that information.”

“Then it appears you just owe me one now then.”

I glared out at him. “You knew it was useless intel.”

“I may have known that Clive was an infamous contact of your father’s, yes.”

“So you just used it as an excuse to come to me while I’m relegated to my chambers?”

“Can you blame me? We were interrupted last time, much to my utter dissatisfaction.”

I snagged his arm, spun him around, and shoved him up against the wall, my arm to his throat. “This isn’t a game! This is my father’s life! ”

I could feel my eyes flaming with my power at my outburst.

He stared out at me, the bastard grinning. “It appears you need a great deal of relief.”

A bolt of his amber fire slammed into my chest and propelled me across the room onto my bed.

As I hit with a jarring impact, he was there, climbing on top of me and caging me in.

“Don’t posture. We both know you won’t hurt me. Our relationship is mutually beneficial.” He leaned down and nipped at my earlobe. “Don’t allow your hotheaded friend to upset that perfect balance, or poison what we share.”

“What we share sexually is superficial. Casual. The rest is business.”

His eyes narrowed. “Superficial?”

“That’s right.”

He reached down between us and squeezed my cock, making me jolt. “Is this raging hard-on you have just superficial then? Look how hard you got just by being in my presence.”

“It’s an involuntary physical reaction to going without for days on end.”

“No,” he ground out fiercely. “It’s more than that. I’ve spent years on you, getting past that stoicism and working on making you mine.”

With a flick of his magic, he had my pants open, and then he was sliding his hand inside and feeling up my cock. “This belongs to me.” He shoved his other hand under my white tee and raked his nails down my pecs, making me hiss. “You belong to me, Dark Prince.”

“Stop. We’re not doing this. It’s done.”

“Never.”

“You’ve become too attached.” In a creepy fucking way that was growing worse with each passing day. “I belong to no one.”

A snarl escaped him and I went to call my magic before he could retaliate in whatever manner he was about to, but a surge of familiar power startled me and pulled me up short.

“I wouldn’t say to no one,” a sexy voice sounded next.

Cornwell stilled for a moment in shock.

A blast of golden magic slammed into him, tearing him from me.

I watched him skid across the floor and smack into a shelf over by the window covered with heavy curtains.

As he was reeling from that, I sat up to see Alena standing there, a single palm aflame with her power, and Talon right behind her.

“Miss Rose,” Cornwell uttered breathlessly, struggling to his feet and failing to keep his composure, looking as rattled as fuck. “Welcome back.”

“Back early,” Talon spat.

“Yes, well, it’s rude to interrupt a liaison.”

“A liaison that Orpheus clearly didn’t want to have,” she bit back, her palm still noticeably aflame.

“He just needed to relax into it. Sometimes it takes some effort.”

“Not with me, it doesn’t. Not with us.”

“Well, our relationship is different,” he told her snidely.

“No. Your relationship is over.”

I couldn’t get a word out.

For once, I could barely process what was happening.

I wasn’t used to someone defending me in such an outright way, to this extent, to being willing to actually fight for me in a literal sense especially. Because of how I was, I was usually defending myself and my harsh decisions, having to justify things to people, because most couldn’t handle how ruthlessly I operated.

Cornwell shoved his hands into his pants pockets and regarded her in disbelief. “Over?” He scoffed. “I think not.”

“Right, Talon told me all about the sordid crap going on here. You think you have something to hold over Orpheus’ head. The whole Obsidian thing.” Her eyes narrowed. “But you don’t.”

He laughed. “Of course I do.”

She cocked her hip and slapped her free hand to it, over the top of her sexy denim shorts. Combined with her black embroidered leather bralette and the tan kimono with the multicolored sleeves hanging off her shoulders, and not to mention the thigh-high boots, it was all a sexy-as-fuck display that was working me up like nothing else in spite of the current circumstances.

“Go on. Try to tell me about it.”

“Excuse me?”

“What is Obsidian, Professor?” she demanded impatiently.

“ Obsidian is a—it’s—the thing is, it’s—” His eyes went wide. “What did you do?”

“I was multitasking when I hit you with my magic. Getting you off my love and also spelling you at the same time. When I was a kid, I used to hide around my house and it often led to me overhearing things that I shouldn’t. Confidential things my mother couldn’t risk me, as a clueless child, imparting to anyone else. So she used this spell on me. It prevents you from discussing anything to do with the subject matter in question. In any way, either through speaking or writing, nothing at all.”

Magnificent.

“You little—”

“Get out,” she seethed at him. “This is done.”

“The hell it is. I’ll find a way. I’m not walking away from the Dark Prince.”

In a flash, she was lunging at him and slamming him against my dresser, the thing rocking violently at the impact.

She had a golden noose around his throat in the very next second, and she tugged roughly, jerking him to her as she growled, “You come near him again in this manner and you won’t like the consequences. This is your first and only warning.”

“What do you think you’re—”

“I. Will. Melt. You.”

His eyes went wide, real fear there as he saw the darkness in hers coming through loud and clear and without reservation. “Orpheus Hart is mine. ”

She released him roughly. “Now get the hell out.”

He stared at her incredulous, looked at me regrettably, then scrambled out of the room, avoiding Talon who was grinning.

The door slammed shut and Alena spun and locked it with her magic.

Then she turned back to me, a smirk spreading over her face. “Hey, honey. I’m home.”