Page 26 of Fallen Heirs

His head shot up as he took me in.

The surprise all over his face gave way to a smile as he took me in freshly showered and dressed. “Don’t you look all bright-eyed and bushy tailed,” he teased. “I’m glad you were able to get some much-needed rest, baby bird.”

“Bushy tailed,” I chuckled to myself. “That would look hella weird when I’m in phoenix form.”

“It certainly would.” He gestured to the fridge. “I made you a plate of fruit in there. Have at it. There are even your favored nectarines.”

“Whoa,madeit? Not conjured it?”

He lifted a shoulder. “I had some time.” He murmured under his breath. “Finally.”

I walked to the fridge and opened it, finding a large plate piled high with a whole lot of fruits—strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, sliced nectarines, sliced oranges, even kiwi.

As I took it out and walked to the kitchen table where he was sipping at his coffee, affecting a casual air that really didn’t gowith the whole intense Dark Prince thing he had going on, that combined with him actually doing a chore—making breakfast—the mundane, non-magical way, had suspicion sparking.

I slid his phone back to him and he caught it in his free hand, then stowed it away in his blazer pocket, wearing his studded vibrant-purple one this time with a pair of black leather pants that did him a hell of a lot of justice.

I leaned in and kissed his cheek and he turned into it, nuzzling against me for a moment, before I took a seat beside him and started eagerly digging into my fruit plate.

“Where’s X?” I asked, between stuffing my face.

“Currently out front by the courtyard erecting a ward.”

I frowned. “Elliot put up a ward and, being extra paranoid given everything that’s happened lately, you reinforced it with your dark magic.”

“He needed a magical workout and it takes a great deal of power to erect a ward of this nature, so I let him do his thing. Before this, he was experimenting with spells from his old grimoire of days’ past. And beforethathe was vamp-speeding all over the house and the grounds within the ward.” Off my startled look, he explained, “He was incredibly wired. He ingested a lot of Alena’s blood.”

“Ah, so that’s how this break came about. It didn’t come to a natural end after all.”

“No. I had to fuck her to within an inch of her life and even that wasn’t enough, so I had X drain her.”

“Shit. Well, that explains all the damage upstairs.”

He nodded. “I’ll fix it when she wakes up.”

“How long do you think she’s gonna be out?”

“Another few hours.”

“She’s not gonna be happy about what you did to get her to rest.”

“I’m sure.”

“Fuck, Ore. This is gonna be a whole thing.”

He leaned forward, telling me, “You were so exhausted and desperate for a break from all the intensity that you didn’t come in here complaining that you were left to sleep alone last night. In fact, I’d wager than you actually relished the alone time. And you hate alone time as a rule. You don’t like to sleep alone. You spent more time in my bed at the Academy than in your own.That’show bad things had gotten.”

I rubbed my hand over my head. “Yeah, I know. Just… the way it was done.”

“What else would you have had me do? She wasn’t slowing down, wasn’t calming down. She even challenged me sexually, Talon.Me.Even fucking her through the wall wasn’t enough. I unleashed on her, I hurt her, and she still wanted more.”

“Holy shit.” I slumped back in my chair. “Do you think it’s the grief, or more than even that?”

“A whole slew of things in all likelihood. But she won’t talk about it. She’s clearly trying not to feel or think about anything negative at all. She’s trying to stay on a high—hence all the fucking and being all over us non-stop. The longer it goes on like that, the worse it’s gonna be when it does all finally come crashing into her, when she can no longer hold it off.”

“I know what it’s like to lock down emotions more than anyone. I can talk to her.”

“I’ve already tried. Xavier hasn’t because of all the guilt he’s harboring. He’s not going to do anything but cater to her.”

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