"No thanks to me."
I tried to stand up and go to him, though my knees buckled after a few steps. Orion reached me in an instant. My uncooperating, heavy limbs managed to trip him up, and we ended up in a heap on the floor.
Orion managed to land under me, so I used the position to my advantage, appearing over him and placing my hand on his cheek. I forced him to look at me. “Don’t be too hard on yourself, man. I get it.”
"How?"
"I’m a fuck up too. Hurting people when you don’t want to? Been there. At some point, you just gotta give yourself a break."
Orion’s muscles gave him a ton of strength but he was good at this too, beating himself up. He seemed to lump himself in the same category as Lex, like he was just as bad, which I didn’t understand.
Lex was activelysearchingfor people with magic, not trying to avoid the temptation and doing everything he could to not harm others.If I can’t stop, then I can’t start.That was Orion’s philosophy. Lex didn’t care. I wasn’t even if sure if Lexcouldn’tcontrol his powers or just wasn’t interested intryingto control his powers. The bastard helped himself to anything he desired.
They weren’t the same at all.
Orion closed his eyes, unable to see more of the understanding in my own. I placed a kiss on his forehead and he shuddered. Finally, his hands moved to wrap around my back.
The united front we managed to form was the biggest weapon we had against Lex. We were a team capable of working together magically. A magical addiction that made it difficult for Orion to share energy with me sure made things more complicated. This was definitely a setback.
We’d figure something out. We had to. Neither of us came this far just to quit now.
If other demons like him in Hell found a way to handle these stronger powers, could he do that too? I didn’t think he’d be particularly receptive to that idea at the moment.
For now, I puzzled over all the things Orion had revealed. When we began picking ourselves up off the floor, I tried to fill in the missing pieces.
“Okay, so somebody gave you a taste of the powers available in Hell? Did you visit the place? Did Lex? How did you two even meet and both learn this secret knowledge?”
“We might need a drink first.” Orion stood first and offered me a hand up. I appreciated having his hand to ground me because everything he told me had been a doozy. What else was coming that required liquid courage?
Only Orion’s strong grip prevented me from falling back to the ground when a voice startled us both.
“Aww, this is so sweet.”
The voice came from the club’s entrance. Bad Mother strolled in, also not stopped by ordinary locks. He seemed super freaking amused to see us together like this.
“I hate to interrupt this touching moment, but it’s just too sad. He actually trusts you,” he marveled to Orion and laughed. “You even got him nice and weakened. Does he know the guy he’s after is your brother?"
~
Rob
Gotta hand it to the demon assassin, the guy had balls. Huge dragon-sized balls. First, he chucked flaming knives at me, then he strolled in here uninvited with wild accusations. The guy would try anything.
Orion and Lex being brothers? Yeah, sure. And I was part werewolf, but I looked terrible with overgrown sideburns, so that was why I’d never shifted.
While I scoffed at the demon’s outlandish accusation, Orion winced. He tensed, body going totally still as he waited for my reaction.
He looked… caught. Oh my God, it was true?
“Rob,” Orion whispered, reaching out.
I jumped away from him while my stomach caved in and I realized I was alone withtwounfamiliar demons that were possibly trying to kill me. The same demon my partner was hell bent on tracking down and ending, that was his brother? If that was true, did Orion really want to end Lex or was that just what he told me to gain my cooperation?
“Somebody tell me what the fuck is going on right now."
Bad Mother moved around the club, searching for something. He was chattier now that he wasn’t lurking and delivering cryptic warnings. “A demon from my ci-clan fled here and I tracked him to this area. It’s my job to bring him back where he belongs.”
"To hell?"
