Page 48

ORION

The second Eve was gone, the tension in the room shifted. I felt the change like a weight dropping into the air, heavy and impossible to ignore.

I forced myself to look away from the hallway and back to the room. Xander stood a few feet away, arms crossed, his expression carefully neutral, though the tension in his shoulders gave him away. Ragnar leaned against the far wall, arms hanging loose, but his jaw was tight.

Atlas didn’t need to move, didn’t need to speak. The man never needed words to command attention—he was the calm before the storm that ruined lives.

I wanted to scream at him, but the anger was suffocating.

The energy between us all was brittle, like the thinnest layer of ice. One wrong step, and it would crack wide open.

Xander broke the silence first.

“We’ve been trying to reach you for months—“

“What was so fucking important that you couldn’t answer a single call?” Ragnar snapped.

If Ragnar’s frustration was a hurricane, Atlas was the unmoving rock in its path. Instead, he shifted his weight just slightly, his hands clasped loosely behind his back.

“I was… checking on the others,” he said, his voice calm and measured. “There was an emergency.”

I watched him closely, my instincts buzzing. There was something he wasn’t telling us. His gaze stayed steady, flicking between us without giving anything away.

Ragnar clearly wasn’t buying it either, judging by the low growl that rumbled from him.

“This was a fucking emergency. We needed you here!”

Xander shot him a warning glance, his hand twitching like he was ready to step between them if things escalated.

“Catch me up,” Atlas said, his tone flat. “Every detail.”

Xander led the conversation, as he always did in situations like this, his hands resting on his hips. He ran through the targeted attacks, the witches’ warnings, and the way the daema always seemed to find her—like they were tracking something inside her.

“She has been manifesting something…” he paused, choosing his words carefully.

Ragnar snorted. “Everywhere she goes, the daema aren’t far behind her. She’s been fucking things up left and right.“

“Watch it,” I snarled.

Ragnar just shrugged, leaning back against the wall like he wasn’t the one stoking the fire.

Xander continued, outlining the erratic nature of what we’d been up against—from the consistent daema attacks to Azremond’s warnings, then finally the fire Eve couldn’t seem to control.

“There’s a chance she might be more than just another fire elemental,” he said, his voice growing more taut. “If she really has Phoenix magic, then—”

“She doesn’t,” Atlas dismissed, like that was the end of the conversation.

The floor didn’t fall out from under me, but it tilted—just enough to rattle the trust I’d been clinging to.

“You haven’t seen what she can do, she—“

“She is not a Phoenix.”

There was something behind Atlas’s eyes—something calculating. I didn’t like how much of this he’d already decided without even knowing her.

Xander fell silent, his lips pressing into a tight line. I caught his gaze for a brief second. He wasn’t fooled either.

Ragnar let out a sharp laugh, the sound grating against my nerves.

“Knew it. She’s nothing but trouble—collateral we should’ve dropped the second this started.”

My fingers twitched at the memory of flame against skin, of how close we came to losing everything. Just because her magic was dangerous, it didn’t make her expendable.

“She’s not collateral,” I said sharply. “She’s in this now, whether you like it or not. And maybe if you spent five seconds thinking with something other than your blind rage, you’d see that.”

“Like you’ve been any fucking better! Chasing after her like a damn dog—“

“It doesn’t matter what she is—or isn’t,” he said. “We should find out why the daema are after her. Before things escalate further.”

His words settled heavily, as if daring any of us to argue.

Ragnar, of course, couldn’t resist. “We should use her. Bait the daema out and end this before it gets worse.”

“Absolutely not. She’s terrified enough as it is!”

Xander stepped in then, his tone steadier than mine but no less firm. “She’s already been through enough, Ragnar. We’re not putting her at risk like that.”

Ragnar rolled his eyes, shoving off the wall with a scoff. “She’s the reason we are all in this mess! Maybe we’re wasting time babysitting someone who—”

“Stop.”

Atlas’s voice cut Ragnar off like a whip, sharp and commanding. His eyes narrowed as he turned toward me and Xander. “It’s not the appropriate plan right now. But we will consider every option before we dismiss it. All of them .”

I narrowed my eyes. “You think you can just walk back in here and start dictating like you’re king of your fucking castle?”

“Yes. Someone has to take control of this situation.”

“What are you implying, Atlas? That we’ve been running around with our heads up our asses? You. Haven’t. Seen. Her. ”

Ragnar cut in, his words venomous. “He’s implying you’ve lost your edge, Orion. And he’s right. He leaves for one godsdamned moment, and suddenly you’re a changed man—head over heels for a parasite.”

The anger in me twisted into something tangible.

“Brother,” Xander stepped in front of me, halting me with a hand on my chest. “Don’t do this now.”

Atlas’s eyes swept over us, his gaze lingering on the space between me and Ragnar.

“Clearly, things have gotten out of hand in my absence. But I’m back now. I’ll clean this mess up.”

I heard the faint creak of the bedroom door opening, followed by soft but slightly deliberate footsteps.

I straightened myself, trying to dispel some of the tension buzzing in my veins.

“She doesn’t need to know about this conversation,” I said, my eyes landing on each of my brothers before settling on Ragnar. “And if anyone tries to push this bait idea again, they’ll have to go through me.”

Ragnar rolled his eyes but said nothing.

Eve stepped into the room then, and everything else fell to the wayside.

She was freshly showered but still pale, her exhaustion written across her face in shadows under her eyes. She was wearing a button-down that clearly belonged to Xander and a pair of baggy sweats.

She scanned the room, eyes cautious—but when they landed on me, something in my chest cracked open.

“Can you take me to the diner? And… We should talk.”

Her eyes flicked down to my arms. I could still feel the ache from the magic strain healing both of us, but it was a small price to pay. I wasn’t about to let her see me falter—not now, not ever.

All I could do was nod.

She turned toward the corner of the room, grabbing a spare coat and blood-soaked shoes, and I watched her for a moment, the protective knot in my chest tightening.

Before I followed, I glanced back at the others. My gaze locked on Ragnar, then shifted to Atlas, heavy with unspoken warning.

“I’m watching you both,” I said, too low for her to hear, before I followed her out of the room.

I felt their eyes on me as I walked after Eve, the weight of the last few days settling heavily on my shoulders. I caught up to her, watching the way she fumbled slightly with buttons on her coat, but kept her chin high.

Fuck, she was admirable.

I didn’t know where this was headed, but I knew wherever she walked, I’d be by her side.

Even if it burned me alive.