Page 131 of Of Realms and Chaos

Was I losing my touch?

“I hope she snaps your cock tonight.” Henry followed up his oddly specific and slightly psychotic insult with a middle finger to Bellamy, then he stood and left. Wrath chuckled to himself, Bellamy doing everything he could to hold in his amusement. With a tug on his arm, I moved us forward, walking down the short hallway to the door ahead. Outside, snow still fell from above, daylight causing the puffs of white at our feet to nearly blind us. Squinting our eyes, we made our way towards Henry, who stomped ahead of us with far more anger than I thought laughter could ever ignite within him.

“Genevieve must have really done a number on him.” Bellamy’s muttered reply matched my own thoughts perfectly, causing me to finally let out the giggle I had been holding in. Henry turned around at the sound, staring daggers at me. Before I could so much as breathe, the Sun was in front of me, the flash of light even brighter than the snow. His hand wrapped around mine, and I was suddenly wrenched from Bellamy’s grasp. We appeared within a forested area, the city still in sight.

“Henry, what on Alemth—”

“Four and a half months!” His shouted words left me speechless, trying to understand what he was referring to. My head tilted, the same thing Bellamy always did, and I knew it only further irritated Henry by the way he reached out to straighten it as he groaned. “That is how long I have been fucking Genevieve. Do you know how exhausting it is to have traded one annoying princess for another?”

Then he was pacing, his face pointed down towards the icy ground as he made quick work of unknowingly digging down to the grass.

“Immensely, I imagine.”

“Exactly! So, it is not like I desire her company or even really like her. She is just something new. I have never had sex with a mortal before her, and she is far less breakable than I thought.” For some reason, picturing Henry with Genevieve sent images of Sterling on top of me to my mind. I found my hands gripping my chest to keep myself from panicking in front of an already distraught Henry. This was about him. He needed me to be whole while he broke. “Okay, fine. She is incredible in bed. Still, I do not care if she ignores me for three days. She can do whatever she wants, and I truly could not care less!”

What I wanted to ask Henry was why he was explaining this to me. Every word sounded more and more like an attempt to convince himself rather than anyone else, and I found I could not just sit by and let him wallow. Or whatever it was he had decided to use as a coping mechanism.

“Henry?” No response, just more pacing. I tried his name six more times before I was finally fed up with it and slapped him across the face. A shocked gasp split the air, his hand cradling the injured cheek as he stared at me in bewilderment. Despite my annoyance with him, I found my lips tilting up slightly at the look on his face. “Calm down and help me understand.”

“Why is she ignoring me? What did I do?” Freezing, I watched as his hands went to his hair, tugging violently on the orange strands. When his head fell back and he grunted in frustration, my amusement faded completely.

“Henry, do you…like Genevieve?”

“Oh, please. We are not younglings, Asher. I do not have a little crush.” The scoff that came from him sounded far too choked to be casual. Which was why I did not joke or laugh or smack him again. Instead, I closed the space between us and wrapped my arms around his waist, my ear on his chest and my fingers interlocked at his lower back.

For a moment, he only stood there, palms pressed to his face and breathing heavily. Eventually, though, he relaxed into my embrace. His nose pressed into the top of my head, arms wound tightly over my shoulders. Our chests soon rose and fell in perfect synchronization, the silence a comfort in comparison to all the noise we were constantly surrounded by.

I did not speak. Any advice I could offer was pointless when I had no experience with that sort of thing. Telling him he deserved better would not matter, because he wanted her. Explaining that it would all be okay was ridiculous, because who knew if it would? There was no correct thing to say in that moment, so I said nothing until he did.

“Why do I care, Ash? I should not care.”

“There is no blueprint, Henry. No one can determine who you should or should not care about. Your heart will choose regardless. And if it hurts you in the end, then at least you felt.”

He groaned, nodding against my head. “I am so sorry it is her. I know it must be upsetting.”

“No. The only thing that bothers me is seeing you hurt.”

We stayed in the embrace until I felt Wrath weaving between our legs, his body nearly as small as a squirrel. Henry yelped, backing away from me. When he caught sight of Wrath, he made the most dramatic gagging sound, leaning down to wipe the bottoms of his trousers in disgust. Wrath let out a low growl before snuggling up against my ankle, and I waited patiently for Bellamy to find his way to me as well.

The smell of him arrived before his touch, cinnamon and smoke greeting me. His embrace came shortly after, and I settled into him, my head leaning back to rest on his chest. It was odd to experience the differences between Bellamy’s and Henry’s presences so close together. The latter felt like a blanket, comfort and warmth. But Bellamy, he felt like a storm. Like lightning crackling my nerves and thunder raging in my chest. It was like being in the center of a tornado, every emotion swarming me and sucking the air from my lungs—drowning me in love and obsession and joy and desperation. I wondered if I would ever get used to it.

If I would ever have the chance to.

With a kiss to my temple, he left me, my back suddenly ice cold at his absence. He made his way to Henry, wrapping an arm around his best friend’s shoulders and walking him down the hill. They spoke in hushed tones, their conversation private—just as it should be. Wrath grew, his nose grazing my fingers and his fur now thick and scruffy. He really was horrifying in this form, his teeth so large they could probably tear me in two within seconds. I leaned down, grabbing either side of his head and placing a kiss between his wide yellow eyes.

“If I do not survive this, take care of them for me.”

“Do not be melodramatic. You will live thousands of years. I am sure I will be stuck carrying a ring down an aisle at your wedding to the idiot prince and will have my fur tugged by your tiny menaces that you will force me to love.”

My chuckle was stiff, sad even. I could feel how wrong he was.

Before I could wallow too much in my heavy premonitions, Wrath shoved his head into my stomach, lifting to toss me in the air. I screamed in terror, my arms and legs flailing as I fell back towards the snow. But Wrath was there, his back stopping my fall as he continued to grow until he was the size of a large horse. My smile was broad as I adjusted myself atop him. And soon, he was running forward, my hands tightly gripping the fur at the nape of his neck.

I was still a horrible rider in comparison to the others. Months atop Frost and a ride upon a dragon had not fixed my lack of coordination in that sense. Still, I held on, not falling even when Wrath leapt down the hill and caused my bottom to lift from him as we sailed. Bellamy and Henry ducked in surprise, both watching in disbelief as we charged ahead of them.

For the first time in longer than I cared to admit, I threw my head back and basked in joy.

Chapter Forty-Two

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