Page 202 of Serpent In White

Taking a seat by his side, my eyes train toward his. He’s looking at his home. Or rather, what will be his home, in only a few short weeks. I’m amazed at how quickly the thing went up, considering its size and how elaborate it is.

I swear, we have some of the best carpenters in the world, right here. On our Expanse.

“I’m going to call it the Den,” he finally speaks, voice deep and dripping in contemplation.

He’s coming into his own with this leader thing. I’m not sure how it makes me feel…

My chin bobs. “Like for lions…?”

“Or for snakes.” His face curls toward mine, and he gives me a look. It’s one I’m quite familiar with at this point, and it sets a longing in my chest unlike any other harsh sensation.

He misses me.

I see his feelings in his eyes, that deep, beckoning cerulean, like the ocean I haven’t seen in more years than I can count. And my own emotions are radiating from me, like a pheromone.

It gives me a thought. Or an idea… Maybe not a great one, but I suppose we’ll find out.

“I made something,” I tell him. His brows quirk as he waits for me to continue. “Something… important.”

His blue irises sparkle. “Like what?”

Stuffing my hand into my pocket, I pull out a vial. I’ve been carrying it around with me lately, syringe included, waiting for another opportunity to use it. Or to give it to someone who needs it more…

“Its effects are similar to the trumpets… on the surface.” I take out a syringe and unpack it, sticking the needle into the vial and sucking up clear liquid. “But at its core is something much more potent, powerful. Lucid.”

Darian’s gaze is wide. “What are the effects?”

“Knowledge,” I whisper, lifting the syringe and squirting some out. “Capability… Truth.”

He worries his bottom lip for a moment, eyes bouncing between mine and the needle in my hand. Then he straightens and scoots closer. “Let me try it.”

Amusement dances on my face as I take his arm. I’m struggling to contain my excitement. Because deep within myself I know the entire reason I created Empyrean was for Darian… For us to get closer.

For him to know what I’m thinking, so I don’t have to fucking say it.

When my fingers wrap around his lower left bicep, just above the elbow, warmth seeps into me through his skin. I can’t help the heavy swallow I try to disguise as I hold the syringe’s plastic between my teeth and tap his veins with my fingers.

We haven’t been together in months…

And I fucking miss him, so badly it’s hard to even be near him right now.

Finding a vein I like, I take the syringe from my mouth and prepare. My eyes hold his, and his mine, the anticipation in his thoughts racing so loud, I can barely think. Blinking at him, I press the needle into his smooth flesh.

Seconds tick slower as I await the blood. And when it swirls, I plunge down and give him Empyrean. Every last drop.

Removing my tight grip from his arm, I drop the empty syringe on the forest floor and watch Darian’s eyes. In a single instant, they’ve gone from dark blue to a crystalline topaz.

Breath leaves my lungs in a gasp as his lashes flutter. That was insane…

“Wow…” he breathes, face tilting skyward. “This is amazing.”

He’s getting the initial effects, the psychedelics.

Now, let’s show him what we’ve got.

It is, isn’t it?I think to him with my mind.

“Yea,” he mumbles, completely ignoring me while his eyes dart all around, likely catching sight of things I can’t see. “It’s like I can see my thoughts.”