5. ~Talon~

5

~Talon~

I looked up from the table where all my papers and pens were sprawled all over, and eyed Ore as he sat reading in an armchair a few feet away. “What do you think of the name Safe Haven?”

“I think that has nothing to do with your assignment for your Foundations of Spell Casting class,” he answered without tearing his eyes away from his book.

It was a heavy volume all about the history of Exemplar.

I didn’t know why he was reading it, he’d already passed the class at the Academy that was centered around it, one of Professor Wilhelm’s specialties. The guy who’d tried to help X and had then ended up saving his life. I’d actually run into him at Abigail’s memorial when I’d been looking for X. He’d seemed a little salty at being replaced as the guy trying to help X by first Orpheus and now that special Healer Elliot had set him up with. Fortunately, he'd had a lot to take his focus with all the shit happening throughout the supernatural world right now and him being a member of Exemplar.

“For my supernatural orphanage.”

He looked up then, giving me his full attention.

He always liked it when I talked about my future plans.

“That could work. Maybe Haven House too.”

“Ooh, I like that,” I said, hurriedly writing it down on the list I’d been making at the back of my notepad.

“Abigail’s memorial, Alena losing her mom, it’s had you thinking about losing your own parents, hasn’t it, baby bird?” he asked gently.

I nodded. “I was trying not to let it, but the memorial really brought it home to me. I didn’t bring it up sooner because I’ve been processing it.”

“I’m really glad there’s been processing.”

“Yeah, unlike before, right? Just all that rage and repression I had going on.”

He smiled out at me. “You’ve come a long way.”

“So have you.”

“Me?” he asked, sitting forward on the chair. “How so?”

“Well, I mean, beforehand you would’ve been razing the damn world to hunt down that fucker who hurt Alena and your father, who fucked with X. But here you are taking the calm and careful route, wanting to follow Exemplar rather than working against them.”

He frowned. “I wouldn’t say I’m following them.”

I held up my hand. “Ore, I meant it as a positive thing. You’ve calmed since everything that went down. It made you change your previous way of doing things. And I’ve gotta say, it’s taking away a shit-ton of my worry when it comes to you putting yourself in danger.” I smiled. “I never thought the day would come.”

“Huh,” he murmured, staring off into space for a moment, before returning to his read.

“Brushing up on your Exemplar know-how before you head in there to become one of them?” I asked.

“Looking back over past battles, the strategies they used and the outcomes of each.”

“Making sure their approach can mesh well with yours? It will now you’ve calmed down. Like I said, thank fuck for that.”

He merely nodded, but frowned down at his book.

I settled back into what I was doing and we fell into one of our comfortable silences for a while.

It wasn’t long before my concentration was interrupted by the thing that had been nagging at me lately with all the talk of death and all the loss lately.

I looked out at Ore again and asked, “What do you think would have happened if I’d been there the night my parents were set upon by Constantine?”

His head shot up.

It took a few moments, his reluctance to answer me clear, but then he said, “Based on the circumstances, the players involved, and the fact that you’d barely come into your power, you being there wouldn’t have made a difference to the fates they suffered. In fact, Constantine would have taken you that night.”

“What? No, I mean—”

He sighed and told me, “During the war, I found out from my father that Constantine had been trying to harness phoenix fire that night. His intent hadn’t been to murder your parents. But things didn’t go as planned. Your parents refused to help him, so he tried to harness it by force.”

His words were like a sucker punch. “Why didn’t you tell me this sooner?”

“I was waiting until things calmed down for us. I was actually planning to tell you in the next few days before Electi Academy re-opened.”

“And your father knew all this time?”

“Yes.”

“Him and his secrets.”

“I know and I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to continue in that vein, but I couldn’t risk telling you sooner when—”

“When I was unstable. Yeah, it’s okay, I get it. Thank you for telling me now, Ore.”

He nodded.

“So you really think he would have taken me?”

“I have no doubt. He wanted phoenix fire. Coming into contact with a baby phoenix so new to it all would have been an amazing in for him. He would have groomed you to become what he needed—his own personal phoenix weapon to unleash at his will.”

“I would have spent years in captivity and—”

“Can we not get any further into it?”

“Ore, what—”

He shot from the couch, raising his voice, really pained as he cried, “You would have been used and abused like Alena was! Ruined, all right? You never would have been the same again. He would have snuffed out the spark in you! Just like he did to her!”

“Ruined?” a voice came from the doorway and we both looked out to see Alena standing there with Xavier by her side.

Shit. They’d come in from their hunting training out back early.

Ore spun toward her, mouth agape.

X stepped forward, telling us, “We had to cut it short. We got a little worked up, lost focus.”

“Happens sometimes with a vampire hunt, right?” I responded, trying to veer off the other subject matter and somehow blow past what Alena had just clearly overheard.

“Sure does,” X said, working with me, and gesturing to the bulge in his jeans. He reached out to Alena. “May I request your pretty mouth on my very needy cock, beautiful?” he said, stroking her arm sensually over her leather jacket with all the tassels.

I chuckled at his phrasing and he grinned at me. “Like that, firebird?”

“Fuck, yeah.”

Our redirect didn’t work, though, and Alena pulled from X and strode into the room toward Ore.

“You told Constantine that I could never be ruined to you.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean—it just came out.”

“Things don’t just come out for you.”

“They do when I’m upset.”

“Upset?” she mused to herself.

Tension filled the room as she stared at him, while he stood there on tenterhooks, bracing himself for whatever she was about to fire back his way, for one hell of a fight that would no doubt pack an emotional punch given the awful subject matter.

But then she surprised us all as she fisted her hands in his tee, jerked him down to her with her angel strength, then crushed her mouth to his.

She kissed him hard, hungrily, almost violently, biting his lips, then thrusting her tongue down his throat.

She had him for a moment, his hands sliding up and down her body, grasping her ass in a fierce grip, before he managed to get a handle on it and yanked on her hair, ripping their mouths apart. “Alena, what—”

“No more upset. No more pain and grief and worry. I’ve had it and I’m sure you all have too.” She grasped his belt and rolled her hips, making him grunt as she worked his cock.

Jeez. The whole display was getting me hot—phoenix fire level hot.

“A break. Just us. Nothing else,” she told him.

“We can’t just ignore—”

“We can. At least for a little while.”

I saw Ore studying her, noting the desperation all over her to have this, how much she needed us right now.

He gave a nod and then he was shoving her jacket off her shoulders, baring her sexy white lace off-the-shoulder top beneath.

She turned her head toward X. “Bring that needy cock over here, sweet thing.” As he strode toward them, shrugging off his denim jacket as he went, Alena held out her hand toward me. “Come, angry bird.”

She didn’t need to tell me twice.

The heat in the room was already reaching fever pitch.

Plus, she was right. We could all use a break.

And the four of us being all over one another was exactly the kind of break I was down for.

What could be the harm in that?