Page 190 of Psycho Gods

“I don’t want that.” Her voice cracked. “I want to be more than your Revered. I want to be a person to you. I’ll never be your perfect, ideal mate. I’ll never be him.”

Scorpius staggered back and pulled away at her purposeful use of the male gender.

My stomach dropped to my feet, and I swayed like I was going to collapse. She wrapped her arms around me and kept me from falling.

“We don’t want a male devil,” Scorpius rasped loudly. “I-I used to think I wanted one, but I was a fool—I don’t want anyone but you. You’re the only person I’ve ever sat in a shower with fully clothed for hours talking. You’re the only person I don’t like seeing in pain.”

She squeezed me tighter, fingers pulling my sweatshirt taut as she clung to me.

Scorpius pulled the wet hair off her nape and softly kissed the exposed skin. “You’re the only person I’ve ever wanted, Arabella,” he said fiercely like he was proving something.

She exhaled against my chest.

Her heart raced with such force that it pounded against my sternum, and I could feel it through our clothes.

“You’re the only person I’ve ever spoken to without fear,” I whispered down to her. “And you always listen. You see me for who I really am, and I want to provide that same solace to you. I want to be your person because you are mine. No one can ever compare, and you deserve to be treated like the treasure you are.”

She sighed loudly. “You know, you guys aren’t as hopeless as you think you are. You’re different from the fronts you present to the rest of the world. Even Malum.”

Scorpius wrapped his arms around both of us and resumed pinning us against the wall of the shower. “We don’t deserve you,” he said.

I agreed, “No, we don’t.”

Time slipped around us under the warm spray.

No more words were spoken.

There was nothing left to be said because words couldn’t fix our mistakes. Only we could.

Chapter 35

Aran

STRATEGY

Dreich (adjective): dreary.

DAY 25, HOUR 16

“What is wrong with you people?” Rina asked, her pretty features contorted in a sneer as she leaned against the desk.

No one answered her.

The strategy room was colder than usual, and the small lamp that illuminated the space glowed golden. The red rug that covered the room was reminiscent of freshly spilled blood. I’d never noticed its intense hue.

Jinx and I stood on one end of the blackboard, and Malum stood at the other. The kings had found crutches for Jinx at the shifter mall.

Although, “found” was a generous term because they’d dragged a shifter with a broken leg into an alcove, punched him in the stomach, and forcibly stolen his crutches.

Jax had scowled at their methods, Cobra had patted Malum on the back and taken the crutches with a grin, while Ascher and Xerxes had bemoaned that they should have thought of attacking an injured person sooner.

Men.

The kings had smirked at me like they’d proven something.

They weren’t smirking anymore.

None of us were.

---