AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Pleasure burst through her as her orgasm crashed down on her like waves, dragging another moan from her lips. He kissed her then, but unlike their previous kisses, this one was slow and languid, sweet.
Arkimedes pulled away and met her gaze. In his expression, she found love, desire—and fear. He pressed his lips to hers again, a gentle caress that made her heart stutter. She never wanted to be apart from him again.
The thought sparked the fire in her veins once more, and as it rushed through her, she reached for the strings of his trousers, eager to be rid of them. She needed to touch him…
The chime pierced the solarium again, followed by a loud ringing sound that echoed through the room.
“What’s happening?” Nava blinked, dizzy as she tried to locate its source.
“Fuck,” Arkimedes growled, and he was off her in a matter of seconds. His head snapped from side to side as he searched for the origin of the noise. “Something’s triggered the alarm.”
The fire raging through Nava’s body died as if doused in water. He helped her up and hunted for his discarded shirt while she straightened her clothes.
“What does that mean?” Her mind raced as she looked around, half expecting to see a Crow bursting into the solarium at any moment. Had someone attempted to enter through the fountain? One of the king’s guards, perhaps?
“It means the Society now knows we are here. We have to go.”
13
ORION
The alarm rang louder inside the house. It morphed from a soft chime to a sound so high-pitched that it punctured Orion’s ears and brought the remnants of the headache he had been fighting for days.
They ran to the entrance hall and the winding stairs that led to the second floor. “We need to get Devon before we?—”
As if called by his words, his brother stumbled into the room from the other direction, clinging to the wall with trembling arms. His wide black eyes met Arkimedes’s, bulging from their sockets as he gasped for air.
“Devon?” Orion rushed to him. His fingers went numb when he caught Devon’s body just as he collapsed. He was cold as ice and soaked in a layer of perspiration that was seeping through his white shirt.
“I’m sorry, Arkimedes,” Devon rasped. Whatever softness his cheeks had held before was gone now. His skin sagged over every bone of his skull.
Nava hurried to them, the glow of her body illuminating the dark room, bringing warmth to the greenish-gray shades of Devon’s skin. “What’s happening to him?”
Devon closed his eyes, his weight sinking more heavily into Orion’s arms. “I wanted to get you the answers.” He grimaced in pain as his body rattled with shivers.
Unease crawled over Orion’s skin. “What did you do?” he demanded, fighting the need to shake his brother.
But he already knew the answer, even without an explanation. Devon had gone back to the archives and sought out the Vulcan once again. Orion pushed aside the anger that boiled within him and picked up his brother from the ground. Devon’s weight was considerable. Even with the Vulcan’s poison sucking the life out of him, he was still all thick bones and muscles.
Nava followed them into the parlor where Orion placed Devon onto the green velvet sofa. “What can we do to help him?”
The alarm bells were still ringing. They needed to leave. Orion turned to her and read the unspoken question in her eyes. Is he going to die?
Not today. Not if he had anything to say about it.
“We need to find a healing potion before we leave. It should keep him alive until we make it to the city.” Orion rose, making for the small infirmary down the hall. The likelihood of discovering a non-expired potion was slim, but Orion had seen people perish under the poison’s grip before. It was a fast and ugly death.
“I’ll get it,” Nava said, placing a trembling hand on his shoulder. “You stay with him. I know where the infirmary is.”
Before he could argue, she was already transferring away, disappearing past the archway toward the long, dark hall. She could get there and back faster than he ever could. But it was too dangerous. He doubted the Crows would arrive so quickly, but she shouldn’t be too far from him…
“I asked about the portal.” Devon grabbed Orion’s wrist, stopping him from dashing after Nava. His black hair stuck to the sharp angles of his pale face. “But I have been thinking about the children in the bakery a lot, and the thought sprang to mind.”
Devon had triggered the alarm when his allegiance had changed while he was holding the Vulcan. Arkimedes squeezed his brother’s shoulder.
The cold air enveloped Orion as he stepped out onto the porch after administering two healing potions. Nava awaited him in the front garden, both arms wrapped around her chest. She was wearing a Society ensemble today, with black pants tucked into tall leather boots—but the long dagger on her black belt was new.
Had he not allowed his nature cloud his mind while they were training, perhaps he could have stopped Devon from triggering the alarm and poisoning himself. He’d promised himself he wouldn’t let things go too far with her, and he’d truly intended to kiss her senseless and nothing more—well, and maybe tease her a bit. But her beauty, how she’d glowed with happiness, had weakened his resolve.
