Page 86 of Wicked Heirs

A cornucopia of iridescent colors greeted me the moment I stepped out onto the large wraparound balcony of his chambers. It was a perk he enjoyed as Prince, having one of the best, largest, and most luxurious suites at the academy that fit his needs. One such need was his affinity for gardening. Well, magical gardening.

As Dark Fae, a lot of darkness and destruction—sometimes even death—was associated with his kind. But Orpheus not only hated that stereotype despite it having some truth to it, but he hated it forhim.And whenever he could, he flew in the face of it. Like with this beloved hobby of his, creating and cultivating life and beauty.

Of course, he leaned on his dark side withObsidianand he had certain sexual predilections, because he couldn’t fully deny that part of his nature, and he also pulled on it as an asset too.

It was a complicated situation, fraught with contradictions and confusion, in all honesty.

Then again, wasn’t that the case for all beings? There was really no such thing as simple. We weren’t just one thing, we were many. We walked the line between the different facets of ourselves, those that we liked and enjoyed, and those that we feared or even reviled.

At least wetriedto walk the line. It wasn’t easy.

He looked up from tending to his many plants and flowers, that fucking smirk spreading over his face. “That was fast. Even with the vampire thing in play. I guess you didn’t stick around to give our little angel a good-afternoonkiss.”

“Shut the fuck up.” In a burst of vampire speed, I knocked the trowel out of his hand. It hit a window of the greenhouse, shattering the pane.

“You’re using violence, you must be worked up.”

“You want to see violence, is that it? You want to be that trowel and window pane I just decimated?”

“Sure. It’s been a long time since I’ve entertained a spot of violence from a worthy opponent. Although, I should warn you, it’ll probably get me off, so you might want to call your new girlfriend in here to tend to me afterward.”

Like I would be that foolish to take a run at him, especially not in a fit of rage when he’d be able to use that against me. Besides, I could sense the cloaked shield he’d just put up immediately after I’d knocked the trowel from his hand.

With another burst of speed, I put some necessary distance between us as I demanded, “What thehellis your problem?”

“I believe that’s beyond obvious.”

“One moment you’re talking about sharing, the next you can’t handle it.”

He stepped back from his plants and shoved his hands into the pockets of his blazer, glaring daggers my way. “You’renot sharing. You’re keeping her all to yourself.”

“I move at a slower pace when it comes to romancing someone.”

“Romancing?Fuck, X.”

“It’s what I do.”

He took my words in and concluded all too easily, “Ah, you’re afraid it will be too fast if I’m involved.”

“Too fast, too dirty, too fucked-up and depraved… take your pick.”

“Well, the dirty part is bullshit.Love Me Dirtyis the title of your latest novel, is it not? You’re exploring the idea of that through your writing.”

“Exploring, not enacting it.”

“Well, you need to. A snail’s pace isn’t gonna hold her at bay for much longer. It’ll start causing problems very soon. And that will be when you’ll needme. I can offset it for us.”

“None of that means anything right now because of what you did! She was already so done with our bullshit. Oh, I’m sorry, yours and Talon’s. She thought it was finally over, then you pull this! The likelihood of her wanting to continue things with me is really fucking slim now, because she’ll lump me in with you two, thinking that being with me, somebody who’s so close to you fuckers, will just keep bringing her these ridiculous headaches.”

“X, listen—”

“No! Do you realize that you could’ve fucked up even more than that? You know it takes special permission to be granted the freedom to head off campus and into town. That comes with specific rules, one major rule being not exposing the supernatural world to humans—no doing magic or transforming, nothing. You performing that spell could’ve done that.”

“It was glamoured, only we could see it.”

“What about my reaction? The sexual nature of it triggered the demon. It was only through supreme effort that I was able to stop my fangs from dropping, for fuck’s sakes. And I had to use my magic to snuff out the spell. It’s always your way or nothing. You can twist the truth and situations to justify any fucking thing.”

“Look, there was no harm done from a rule-breaking standpoint. And even if there had been, the faculty would have waived the three-month restriction of requesting a few hours outsidethedomewith one single call from Elliot Sabre.”

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