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Making a point to be happy about seeing him seemed to fluster the grouchy hybrid, because his cheeks darkened when he finally made it to me.
“I have the tome you were asking about,” he said. At my confusion, he sighed. “From when you asked my brother and me about mate bonds?”
“Oh! Thank you! I’ll take it.”
The reminder of how unhinged I’d been feeling made my face warm. Even knowing that Barimuz had been making me respond to him with whatever magic Archdemons used, it was mortifying to think I had all but outed myself as a horny mess.
Except, when I went to take the book from him, Atlan cringed and held it out of reach. Seeing him look so distressed any other time would have made me laugh, but considering my embarrassment, I struggled not to be irritated.
“Definitely not. This book has been around longer than either of us has been alive, so we’re going to take it inside and look through it—gently—together.”
That seemed reasonable, eating away the seeds of frustration that had been planted in me.
The two of us headed up the hill together. I waved to Auren when we passed, who was glaring at some trees near Neo’s house intently enough for me to debate asking him what was wrong. He returned the gesture, though, and so we carried on.
I already knew that most people gave the twins a wide berth, but watching people cross the street as we headed up the path was almost offensive, and I wasn’t even the one they were hurrying away from.
It didn’t appear to bother Atlan, though; he took it all in with his usual impassive stare as he trudged up the hill without complaint. For some reason, that just made it worse to see, because it meant that he’d simply accepted everyone’s nervousness as if it were unavoidable.
Atlan glanced at me. “You’re staring awfully hard, Aria.”
“I’m just trying to see what’s so scary about you,” I answered honestly. I didn’t avert my gaze.
He smirked. “You mean besides the fact I turn into an eldritch horror and eat our enemies?”
I hadn’t realized that they’d beeneatingthe unfortunate Paras they’d taken out during the only fight I’d ever seen them in. When I said as much, horrified, he laughed.
“It’s not my favorite way of disposing of enemies, but it is effective. Kiran enjoys it more than I do—says it reminds him of a perfectly cooked steak.”
The thought made me queasy. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t tell me that.”
“What? You’ve never wondered what people taste like?”
“No!”
We both laughed at the absurdity of the conversation, and it was only then that I thought about Sariel. Even though we hadn’t had the discussion about studying up on the bonds more, I knew he would want to be present for any wisdom Atlan and his book of secrets might have.
Our bond had been quiet ever since I’d gotten him out of Hell, like it was finally content and we could have some space without experiencing each other’s emotional flare-ups at the drop of a hat. It was uncomfortable at first, since we’d spent so long feeling every drop of emotion the other was having, but I’d gotten used to it.
The real issue now was when wedidfeel something that the bond decided to share, it was hard to tell where I ended and Sariel began—and vice versa, according to him.
Wanna learn about bonds?I tugged at Sariel, and he responded eagerly.
Where are you?
That openness from him always made me smile. I giggled when Atlan huffed and rolled his eyes at my beaming expression.
Once I told him to meet me at our house, I opened the front door for Atlan, and the man wandered in, glancing at the empty space with a frown. I didn’t know what he saw that was so distasteful until he finally spoke up in his usual blunt fashion.
“You know you can decorate, right? These little studio apartments aren’t meant to stay empty. Build a life for yourself, kid.”
I could feel my cheeks heating again.
With that brusque wisdom imparted to me, he made himself comfortable on the floor and placed the book down in front of him. “Should I assume we’re waiting on your mate?”
I nodded, and he hummed in acknowledgment before curiously flipping through some of the first pages. It was good that he was willing to help us, considering I couldn’t read the scribbled words… or maybe he’d anticipated this issue and decided to have mercy on us without justsayinghe was going to help us out. That seemed very in-line with his character.
Sariel arrived shortly after I settled across from Atlan, staring at the words on the page as if they would provide me some insight. The other hybrid didn’t seem to mind, just glancing up at me before continuing his reading.
