Page 55 of The Soulmate Bakery

‘I will – after you.’

‘Hawthorne!’

‘Reverie,’ Orion said, a lazy drawl to his tone. ‘I promise you; this will not lead to your demise. Now, slide down. Please.’

I turned back to look at Raven and Sofia – both who had, very childishly, yelled not-it, when Orion took us to our destination. We were deep in the Firewood Forest, in a clearing where – once you moved the artfully placed leaves – you would find a circle in the ground. Turns out, the circle was actually a wooden cover. Orion lifted it to proudly display a black tunnel that he wanted me to go down. Because, obviously, he thought I’d lost my mind on the walk from the car to the clearing.

‘Here,’ he came closer to where I was standing, and slipped off his jacket. He held it around me and looked at me expectantly. ‘Put it on.’

‘Why?’ I asked, incredulously. There was no way I was going to wear that jacket. Never again.

‘Because I’ve charmed it with a protection spell,’ Orion said, simply. ‘So, you’ll be safe from whatever harm you think is down there.’

I looked at the garment, and my heart stuttered. I should’ve told Orion I was still wearing the pendant I’d enchanted. But I was also a little cold, and the jacket did look comforting. So, I slid my arms into its sleeves.

I looked up at Orion again, waiting for a snarky remark, but his expression had changed. Gone was the lazy smile and the teasing eyes; they were replaced by the dark slit in his silver eyes narrowing, the muscle in his jaw jumping ever so slightly. I felt warm from his look, his jacket; it was like I was standing next to a campfire. The sudden urge to reach out and touch those flames, to press my thumb against that muscle in his jaw –

‘So, Sofia and I are going to stay up here,’ Raven said, and the two of us jerked back so hard, it almost hurt my neck.

‘Why?’ I asked, trying not to sound flustered.

Sofia and Raven shared a look I couldn’t read, before Raven continued.

‘’Cause I’m not going down a dark hole, and my brother only has one jacket,’ Raven said, her voice brooking no argument.

Sofia nodded in agreement. ‘You two have fun.’

‘Fine,’ I grumbled, knowing if I kicked up too much of a fuss it would look like I was trying to avoid being alone with Orion.

There was a slight dip at the edge of the circle, as if many, many people had done this before. Reassuring, really. I looked up at Orion one last time. ‘I’ll come back as a ghost and haunt you if I die.’

Orion smiled softly. ‘Wouldn’t expect anything less, Reverie.’

And with that, he pushed me down the hole.

If anyone asks, I didn’t scream. Much. OK, I screamed a little. But sue me, it was dark and ridiculously bumpy. Until I reached the end. Then I was cushioned by soft sand, and my vision was hit with the glow of purple light.

Two seconds later, Orion was there. I turned to really inspect the scene before me. We were in a grotto – a massive grotto. There were two or three caves connected, making it difficult to see just how far the grotto went. There was a large pool of bluish water on one side and high, arching ceilings of rock with purple crystal stalactites hanging from them. It was stunning; so absolutely beautiful.

‘What is this place?’ I asked, my voice echoing slightly.

‘This is Mermaid’s Grotto,’ Orion explained, dusting off his jeans. I made sure my eyes didn’t rove over his arms, but it wasn’t easy. ‘Celine’s family’s place.’

I felt myself stiffen, and I refused to face him. ‘Ah, so she’s letting you use it for the party.’

‘Yes. This place stretches out as far as Golden Shell Beach through interconnected caves. So, there are lots of entrances and exits – most people come through the rock doorway from the beach, but I thought this was more fun for us,’ Orion continued, while my stomach twisted in knots. ‘Celine’s family owns this part, and she owed me, so I cashed it in.’

I made myself close my eyes, breathing in deeply before exhaling. I tried to force myself not to care about whatever favours Orion and the siren owed each other, but I couldn’t. I wanted desperately to know what had happened between them, but there was no way of asking without making it sound like I cared. When I felt slightly more in control of my emotions, I turned to face Orion.

‘This would be a great venue,’ I said, forcing a smile on to my mouth. ‘I should text Silas to let him know the location.’

Orion’s eyes darkened, and it shouldn’t have thrilled me, but it did. I’d always loved how expressive his eyes could be.

‘Right, let me just –’ I took out my phone, and quickly sent out a text. The response came back.

SILAS MOON

Sounds like a dream. Looking forward to setting up with you, M.