Page 33 of Flirting with Death

Bellamy smirked, and I knew before he said a word that he was going to deflect. "There is no bed in here, love, but the golden throne might be a good place to worship you."

Her gaze slipped to the throne, and breath filled her lungs. Then Brook cleared her throat, the moment shattered before it could begin.

"So, about that," Brook said. "I might be a sex-crazed Unseelie, but you guys might have me beat. And seeing as how we are all stuck in here, I'm begging you not to have sexy times until after we have our rooms. After that, you can fuck like bunnies, and I won't care."

Bellamy eyed Brook as if he was deciding if she would really mind and must have decided that he didn't want to find out.

"You swore again," Sam said.

"It was needed, because I swear to any God that will listen, if you get naked in front of me, I will die. Then you would be responsible for my death, and I'm pretty sure my guys wouldn't be happy with that. It would start a whole new kind of war."

Sam threw her arms around Brook, and they hugged each other tight. "I would never. I love you too much."

Raiden returned shortly after we got back to searching, each of us in different areas. Hours passed as everyone did their best to find what we were looking for. None of us knew what it looked like, but I hadn't come across a single red gem or jewel the entire time we'd been searching. With a sigh, I straightened up and stretched out my back. It was sore from bending over for so long.

"Let's call it a night. Baldwin said there would be food ready for us when we were done." Raiden twisted and cracked his back, obviously having the same soreness as me.

He locked the door behind us with the same bio-magic as before. The dragons had been ahead of their time with their protections, too bad it only extended to their treasure.

A large table stretched out with food that sat along the wall of a grand hall. The area was empty except for the food and another long table surrounded by chairs. We moved to the heavenly scents of some of my favorite dishes of the Underworld, and I grabbed a plate to fill it up. There was enough here to feed a dozen dragons, and it appeared to be made for us. It was all warm still, more magic that kept it that way.

Sam studied the food, and I watched as Alastor stepped up next to her, bent his head, pointing out and explaining each dish. He really cared about her. I knew how long he had waited for his soulmate. He would let nothing harm her. Which meant we were on the same side. After years apart, I had to learn to be in his presence again. My first friend, my best friend, until we weren't, and I'd be lying if I said it still didn't hurt a bit inside my chest.

Bellamy piled his plate high as if he hadn't eaten in a year and took a seat. I followed him over and dropped my plate down to the spot next to him, before folding into the chair. A bit of his power came from him, the chocolate scent at odds with the meat in front of me.

"What happened when you closed the portal?" I asked. Curiosity made me ask. "We thought you were dead."

"I almost was," he admitted. His attention drifted to Alastor and Sam, still in conversation ten feet away. "But Alastor made sure I didn't die."

"Then why are you so angry now?" I leaned back to watch him.

He turned back to me and sighed. "I left something out of my story before. He broke my heart back then. He was the forbidden fruit I didn't dare try for, but I almost died, and he offered, like it was nothing. To heal me, for her, because he knew our hunter had feelings for me. So I took what he gave, so that I could live." He laughed and shook his head ruefully. "I spent all that time trying to die, and all I wanted in that moment was to live. But I had promised myself it would never be him. Even if he was the last man or woman available, I would starve first. Yet, I was weak."

"You weren't weak." I dropped my hand to his thigh and squeezed. "You did what you had to do."

"No, that is where you're wrong. I did what I craved to do and used death as an excuse, because I would have healed in time." He picked up a piece of meat and took a bite, chewing so he didn't have to say anything else. I understood him more than he would know. "But I do know, Lex, I claimed you, in the same way I can feel Samantha and Alastor, I can feel you."

It clicked then. That was why he was so annoyed. He could sense his thoughts, and he was avoiding what he could read. He was running from what made him afraid, and Alastor scared the shit out of Bellamy. I pressed my lips together. I didn't need to say that out loud, not if he was reading my thoughts right now. He heard every word.

The muscle along his jaw pulsed, and I knew he was clenching his jaw as he avoided looking at me or them. Brook and Raiden slid into seats and started eating, oblivious to the tension building in the room. Sam sat next to Raiden, and he sent her a soft smile that showed how much he cared as Alastor took the chair next to her. Cerberus sat at his feet, his eyes on our plates of food, waiting for scraps.

We had a normal conversation, Bellamy adding little to it, still in his own head. Sam noticed, and her eyes kept drifting back to him with concern. If he thought he was keeping anything from her, I was sure she was making a plan to extract it.

As we finished up with the meal, Raiden put his napkin over his plate and rubbed his food baby. "Baldwin said that only the royals stay in the palace, and they kept it up for my return. He showed me the rooms they made ready. But we have free rein to explore."

"I hate to admit it, but I'm tired. The time differences between realms is catching up with me." Brook stood up and stretched.

"I can show you to a room," Raiden said.

"I'll come too," Sam said, shooting to her feet.

Brook waved her off. "I'm a big girl, Sam, and I'm in good hands. Stay here. I'm seriously going to crash as soon as I see the bed."

"Fine, I'll see you in the morning." She didn't sit back down. Instead, she walked over to large windowed doors that looked like they led out to a balcony overlooking the mountain below. A cool breeze flowed into the room as she tugged them open, the scent of fresh snow followed as she stepped outside.

Bellamy watched her like a man that was starving. I knew how he felt. Alastor pushed away from the table and stood up, he eyed us both warily before he followed Sam. Cerberus trotted along behind him, his tail wagging happily.

Their muted conversation came back to us before I turned to Bellamy. "It seems you can shed some light on our group with your connections. Why were you really looking for a genie?"

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