Chapter 114

I glance back at Anton and the rest of our little group as Orion tugs me away. Anton cocks his head to the side, his eyes moving to Orion’s arm around my waist. He raises an eyebrow at me.

I hesitate, glancing up at Orion, who gives me a steady shake of his head. “Leave them, Princess,” he says, his voice a low, throaty murmur. “Talk with me. Just for a minute.”

My stomach drops a bit at his tone but I comply with his wish, glancing back at Anton with a little shake of my head. He shrugs, letting me go, turning back to Faiza and Laila as the former throws back another drink and Laila continues chatting with her new best friend. Blythe stands slightly to the side at the bar, looking awkward and forlorn.

I sigh, looking up at Orion as we reach the little table and he seats me in the booth next to him, close enough for a very private chat. “Ragtag little group we’ve convened, isn’t it?”

“Oh, I’m not sure how much ‘we’ is in it, Juniper,” Orion murmurs, nodding to the bartender who comes over with a fresh beer for Orion and a glass of wine for me. I grin, looking over at Anton, knowing he sent the drinks. He winks at me and then turns to Laila, giving me my space.

“What do you mean?” I ask, a bit passive, still studying my ghost…boyfriend? I mean is that what he is now? My stomach turns again with a bit of excitement at the idea.

I feel Orion’s hand on my face, his finger curling beneath my chin, turning my gaze quite deliberately to him. “They’re your little collection,” he says, smirking at me, his dark eyes so close to mine that honestly I feel I could drown in them. “If it was up to me we’d be a much…smaller group.”

“Oh yeah?” I say, dropping my own tone to match his, private and a bit illicit. “And who would you cut from the group first?”

“Probably all of your admirers,” he says, a little growl in his voice, his eyes narrowing with jealousy.

I laugh, delighted despite myself. I mean, I can’t help it – when the super-hot, very desired prince of the Underworld hits on you…it’s hard to not feel flattered.

My wolf growls at me, nipping me inwardly in my soul, her mind singularly on Anton.

But I just flick her little nose. Go away, I bid on a happy sigh. Let me have my fun.

She grumbles but backs off.

“But they all admire me,” I say with a wicked grin, resting my chin on my hand and my elbow on the table, studying him. “Are you suggesting they all go away?”

“Yes,” he murmurs, his eyes dropping to my mouth. My stomach twists and I wonder, honestly, if it’s a bit deliberate? Or if Orion actually…

“Careful, Orion,” I say, light and teasing. “You’re at risk of give me the impression that you’re quite serious about romancing me away into a marriage. You know, the kind that isn’t for political convenience.”

“What other kind is there?” he asks, raising his eyes back to mine, smirking.

“One just for the fun of it,” I say quietly, my expression matching his.

“Well then yes, let’s go for that one. It sounds like much more fun.”

I sit up a bit straight because…I mean. I sensed the flirting but…what, really, is happening right now?

“Orion,” I say, glancing again towards the bar, where Anton’s back is to me – still trusting, still giving me my privacy. “You know that Anton and I are like…together. Right?”

Orion shrugs like it can’t possibly matter and casually turns to his beer, lifting it to his lips and taking a long drink. My mouth falls open a bit at the easy dismissal in him and my wolf growls, her head dropping low in suspicion.

Orion takes a moment to contemplate the question, taking his time swallowing his beer. My eyes move to his neck, watching the steady movement of his throat. “I know Anton likes you,” Orion says after a moment, turning back to me. “I know you’re…intrigued by him.”

I laugh at this, shaking my head. “Orion, I’m more than intrigued by him.”

“He admires and flatters you, June,” the Prince replies, studying my face like he knows me a great deal. “You like that. I don’t blame you and I can’t fault him for it. But you’ll get sick of him after a while. When he stops being new.”

My mouth falls open further and I sit straighter, staring at him, my wolf’s growl deepening. “Orion, that is not what’s happening.”

“He’s dead, June,” Orion says with a sigh, contemplating me with a bit of sadness. “What, honestly, can he offer you in the long term?”

“What can you offer me?” I snap back, feeling my hackles raise alongside my wolf’s.

“Someone to live your life with fully, who will change and grow alongside you. A warm body in bed. Children.”

I just stare at Orion in shock because…

Shit. That’s a good answer.

But I shake myself out of it a moment later, my wolf howling in protest at all of this. “No,” I say, solid and sure, shaking my head at him. “I – he’s mine, Orion. You’re misunderstanding all of this.”

“Do you have a mating bond?” he asks, his voice low and inquisitive now, like a lawyer in court, putting me on the spot.

My eyes flash. “Do you and I have a mating bond?”

Orion takes my response for the negation it is, moving on. “He can’t give you the life you deserve, Juniper – you’ll move on from it –“

“He can!” I sputter out, worry turning in me. “He will! We’re – we’re going to get him a body – that’s the point of all of this!”

Orion turns his head at me, a bit pitying. “Juniper, that’s impossible –“

I squeak, appalled, and smack him on the shoulder. “It so is not! There was the wish – that was going to be powerful enough –“

“That wish was formed a thousand years ago alongside the prophecy and my father has been feeding it power since then. It is his and his to give alone – and considering the relationship that you’ve built with him – or lack thereof –“

My eyes again fly wide, anger flaring. “Then I’ll just steal it!”

Orion shakes his head, sad. “A wish must be truly asked and freely given, June. You can’t just take it.”

I growl, the sound deepening when I see that it makes him smile, like he thinks I’m cute or something. “Then we’ll get another wish.”

“From who?”

“I don’t know – from Life! From my Grandmother! I’ll…make my own!”

He shrugs, again turning to sip from his beer, a bit smug. “If anyone can do it, it’s you, June. But I wouldn’t pin my hopes on it, were I you. And I don’t think that Anton would want you to sacrifice your life, your hopes, your affections just for…a slim chance. An impossibility.”

I lean back against the booth, crossing my arms, glaring at him.

“Don’t, June,” Orion says, his voice softer now, apologetic. I continue to glare, wondering when the hell he got so…good at this. This persuasion, this…bossiness. “Honestly, I’m not trying to be mean or hurt your feelings – I’m just trying to tell you the truth.”

“You don’t know anything about the truth,” I snap, displeased, even as he leans closer and his scent – his lovely scent – fills my mind, making me a little dizzy. “Anton and I are together. We’re…going to figure it out. You have no idea what he wants.”

Orion gives a half-hearted, one-shouldered shrug, leaning closer. “Do you have an idea of what he wants? What has he even promised you?”

My mouth falls open, ready to give a retort that…damn it, that I just don’t have. Because as confident as I am – Anton…he hasn’t promised me anything, has he?

Orion twists his mouth to the side, looking victorious even as he goes for pity. “See? Even he knows it’s ephemeral, June. Knows that it can’t last. He’s a good guy – he wouldn’t make you a promise he couldn’t keep.”

My mouth drops open as I whip my head towards Anton, staring at the broad set of his shoulders, which shake a bit with laughter as he talks with Faiza, with Laila. Faiza peers at me around Anton’s side, grinning a bit, sensing my disease.

But I just snap my head back to Orion, suddenly baffled and confused and worried because…

Oh my god, is he…is he right?

Anton and I – are we truly doomed?

And does Anton know that!? Is that why he hasn’t made me any promises!?