Page 83 of Interion

Zion was like a mother dragon brooding over an egg, and every few minutes I'd hear his footsteps in the hallway. But it wasn't the footsteps that gave away what he was doing. What made my eyes roll with each patrol was the fact that he wasn't containing his power—he'd simply let his aura loose throughout the house, and the weight of it became unbearably oppressive for anyone within a hundred-meter radius. Since I was his partner, it didn't affect me negatively, but I felt all that energy in my bones. It was strange and uncomfortable, but this was a peculiarity of fae males, a way of marking their territory.

If Zion were a dog, he'd probably be pissing all over the house.

The power was something alive, pulsing through the walls and echoing in every physical atom. I spent the whole afternoon mentally cataloging how this could cause a large-scale tragedy; power like this would be lethal in the wrong hands. I didn't even know how he managed to contain all of it—I'd never experienced such strength.

That whole display only proved how right Ambrose was. Fae males went absolutely crazy during periods, and I couldn't believe he actually thought that scandalous show of force was necessary.

Clearing my mind to stop dwelling on how unnecessary it all was, I grabbed my phone once more. I couldn't stop checking it for a response from Breno. He hadn't responded to the message I'd sent earlier, so I sent another one. Actually, I sent twenty messages and waited, waited, waited, but no response came. Now I feared our friendship wasn't just on hold—maybe it had been permanently severed. May the gods help me if that happened. I couldn't lose Breno like this.

At 10 p.m., tired of reading and with my stomach growling, I ordered food, since Zion wouldn't eat anything I made. I opened the door and looked down the hallway, confirming he wasn't there, but I felt the pulsing power coming from the stairs, so I shouted in that direction:

“Zion, a delivery guy will be here soon. Can you please dial back this insane parade so you don't scare him?”

In response, the air felt less heavy, but it was still monstrous.

“Less, Zion!” I exclaimed, exasperated. “This isn't a contest to show off your territorial alpha potential. It won't hurt your ego to keep your aura at normal levels.”

I heard a hoarse laugh from downstairs, and soon the power was muffled almost completely. I still felt his presence, but now it was within acceptable limits.

“Thank you!” I shouted down the hallway, and no response came.

I closed the door and went to the bathroom to change the pad. It needed to be changed every hour because fae menstrual flow was nothing like a human's. We lose half of all the blood circulating in our bodies in less than twenty-four hours, and my healing power couldn't ease it since it was a natural cycle for my body. A bit scary, but I was already prepared. Despite still being at the beginning, I already felt my body growing heavier and sleepier.

The doorbell rang and I heard Zion answer the door. I watched the street through the glass wall, and in less than two minutes saw the poor human speed off on his motorcycle. I rolled my eyes. Of course Zion would scare the delivery guy. Then, as soon as I heard the door close, I went downstairs. Zion was separating the pizzas and glanced at me sideways.

“I thought you'd keep hiding in your room,” he said, placing slices on plates.

“No. I care about the hallway floor—one more hour of your patrols and it would've worn through,” I replied, stealing a tomato from his plate while checking my phone again.

“What's so interesting on that thing? If I got a dune for every time you looked at it, I wouldn't be able to carry them all in my pockets.”

He was trying to seem relaxed, but I noticed the concern in his eyes. And that only proved he was indeed spying on me with the shadows.

“I'm waiting for a message from Breno. He's furious with me.”

I felt Zion's posture shift, as if he were instinctively bracing for an argument at the sound of my friend's name.

“Why?”

“Because Adele told him about the bond.” On second thought, another question came to mind. “How does she know? Did you tell her anything?”

Zion frowned, glancing at me sideways.

“Ivanov must have found that information when he investigated your mind and probably told Adele.”

I felt hatred corroding my insides.

“Isn't that illegal? He shouldn't be rummaging through my mind whenever he feels like it—that's my privacy!”

Zion laughed, but this time it was a dry, ironic laugh that sent a shiver up my spine.

“There's no such thing as privacy when it comes to psychics.”

It seemed like he wasn't just talking about Ivanov. I was dying to ask about that statement, but I didn't want to ruin our evening, so I pushed the thoughts aside while he separated the pizza slices with a knife.

Zion didn't need to hold a knife to be threatening. Every angle of his body already broadcast that, along with his terrifying aura of power. Despite his size, I'd never considered him a threat, and it was strange that I actually enjoyed confronting him—with most other people, I was just afraid of getting into trouble. In that moment, I realized I felt comfortable with him, even though he was the biggest pain in the ass and there were worlds of difference between us. I knew what he did, knew about his work and responsibilities, but I simply couldn't hate him, and that left me even more confused about him. Maybe it was just my emotional neediness—obviously, someone who grew up alone would cling to any scrap of affection—or it could be some effect of the bond. But in that moment, I felt good and didn't want to ruin it, even if it was just a truce.

Even if it was just a lie.