Page 117 of Spit

The opposite of pride was humility, and even Legion could admit that he had royally fucked up by killing Katalina.

He couldn’t help it—she had made him so incredibly angry. Something that the fallen angel was not used to at all. Katalina Dubois had made an effort to become close to him. Though they had been friends above lovers, he had trusted her with his secrets.

Her attention had seemed out of place at first. Legion knew she wasn’t attracted to him in the way she portrayed. He could smell arousal, pheromones, and other scents a wanton female should put out. Katalina had always been devoid of those clues, even when she went as far as to put her hand over his cock at the dinner table.

Legion had put her off for months, uncaring of her advances. He had assumed it was because she preferred women; after all, the only time she released the scent of an aroused female was in the company of another witch named Ashley.

Still, he shouldn’t have entertained her affections, though it had only been once. Surrounded by other bodies, writhing and fevered by Sev’s magic. Legion knew that that damned null witch was on the balcony. He could sense her like a predator stalking him in the woods, making the hairs on the back of his neck rise and his skin turn warm.

Alexis Boudaire.

She was human. Heart beating, pissing, shitting, sneezing, and coughing human.

Legion had been in the Red City for five years, living amongst the worst humanity could offer. Feeding off the vapid humans that insisted on filming their reality TV and hosting their exclusive fashion shows—simply because the Red City was a dangerous place. A place that drew notice.

He hadn’t expected Alexis Boudaire.

When Legion had contacted Beezlebub, he had been desperate. He hadn’t wanted to call in the favor he’d had in his pocket for the better part of a millennium, but he’d had to. He needed Mars and Quinn back.

Losing Camio had been a knife to his heart; Legion had lost something vital the day Camio’s connection went dark, like a golden spiderweb in his brain. A dead star floating in the universe.

Legion had expected to die when he felt their bond go dark. He expected the safety net of their bond to unravel and the magic that kept them separated to spindle apart.

Legion had been five years without someone else in his head. Without sharing a body with his kin, he had no idea where Legion ended, and the others began.

Camio had been with him from the beginning. Short-sighted, brash, and loud. Camio had always been predictable. It was one of the reasons that it was so easy to believe that he had been picked off by some nefarious and unknown enemy. Legion had searched for a hint, any clue, of what had happened to Camio, but there was nothing. Not even a body.

But hehadfelt Camio’s bond wink of existence.

He should have listened to Arlo. Arlo hurt the most from Camio’s death. They’d had a relationship that Legion didn’t understand, but he had felt the echoes of their emotions through the bond. He knew they were lovers. He knew the depths of their feelings.

Camio’s death had felt like a part of him had died.

But to find out that it had been a trick? That Camio had melted the devil’s silver and found a way to nullify the bond that they shared?

Legion didn’t know whether to be impressed or angry.

When Alexis Boudaire arrived, Legion had expected her to be like Camio. After all, she was of the gluttony ilk—a particular type of person identified with that sin. Someone who was thoughtless. Uncaring and blind to others unless it served their purposes.

Gluttons viewed other people as a resource more often than not. A hole to fuck. A wallet to open.

Alexis Boudaire was not a glutton.

Legion didn’t want to admit that he liked her quiet company.

He knew that she was affected by him. The pink blush hid under her cheeks when she looked into his eyes for too long. Her astute observations—always watching, constantly cataloging. She was a cocoon. Shielding herself from the world as she grew into herself.

Legion saw her potential, but more than that, he saw the person she was. And he liked that. He liked her.

He had respected her rejection, though it had made his heart ache in a way that he didn’t quite understand. For the first time in his life, Legion had felt jealous of Trey. He had seen the pleasure that Sloth had given Alexis through his brother’s eyes. He had watched Alexis come and replayed the image in his head more times than he could count.

Sev could connect with her in her dreams, and Arlo had nursed her back to health. Arlo had protected her innately. That should have been the first clue that she was becoming someone to them.

Legion wondered what he could offer her. He hadn’t even thought to offer her clothing. Trey had seen to that.

Then he killed Katalina before she could tell them where Alexis was. Where Mars and Quinn were.

Their stars had not gone dark yet, but the connection was muffled.

---