Page 71 of The Reaper's Vice

Wrapping an arm around my waist, he grips my chin with the other, forcing my eyes to the skyline. “I got you, little dove,” he whispers. “Just look.”

I blink out at the open blue, the beauty of the sight taking me hostage and filling me with awe. It reallyisbeautiful up here—so quiet, so peaceful—like we’re standing at the edge of the world.

“Wow…” My mouth falls slightly as my gaze catches on a couple of gulls gliding along the breeze, their white-tipped wings gleaming in the morning sun. “I had no idea… I didn’t think there was a place like this in Moriton.”

“Wait until I show you the waterfall.” Orion presses his lips to the thrumming vein on my neck. “You might like that even more.”

I turn to face him, leaning my upper half backward over the edge and letting him hold me. For some reason—one I’m not going to try to understand—I feel like I trust this man. At least here, at this moment, I know he would never let me fall.

“Thank you for showing this to me,” I whisper. “I needed something like this after yesterday…”

He frowns, wiping his thumb over my cheek where a stray tear has fallen. “I wish I could take your pain from you, little dove. If I could wish for one thing in this life, it would be that.”

“Really? You wouldn’t wish for me to be in love with you?” I slam my mouth closed as soon as the question falls from my lips.Where the fuck did that come from?

Thankfully, Orion seems not to have heard me. Instead of answering, he pulls me tighter against him, his eyes burning as he whispers, “Do you trust me, Seraphina?”

I blink up at him, unsure of how to answer the question. His hands—his soul is stained with murder. He’s done terrible things to me and to others—and he seems to show no remorse about it. But something in me screams—demands for me to realize the truth. That for all his faults, all his fucked-up-ness, Orion will protect me with his last breath.

And in the moment, I decide that I do. I trust him implicitly.

I nod, my eyes wide as I allow him this brief glance of my fragility. “I shouldn’t… I really fucking shouldn’t, Orion. But I do…”

He smiles, and it’s one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. It’s free of arrogance, of all the malice I’m accustomed to. Right now, he just looks…happy.

“I’m so happy to hear that.” He leans in, pressing a kiss to my forehead.

And then he shoves me off the cliff.

“What the fuck!”

The air whips around me as I fall through the air, each millisecond taking me closer to the jagged rocks below. I should be more concerned about my brain smashing onto them, yet as my imminent demise nears, I’m overcome by a disturbing thought.

Are those my last words?

I raise my fist to the sky, my face a twisted mess of rage as I scream, “Fuck you, dirty onion! Fuck you, your penis, and everything you stand for!”

There. Much better.

I close my eyes, awaiting the sweet release of death. But then a pair of strong arms wraps around my middle, and then I’m soaring, flying higher and higher into the skies.

Wait… that’s not possible.

I look over my shoulder, not believing my eyes even as the hang glider contraption strapped to Orion’s back takes us higher and higher into the air. Two great metal wings spread out from his shoulders, held tightly to his back by thick leather straps that wrap around his chest and abdomen, leaving his arms free.

I’ve seen the contraption only once before—as a child when we visited the Sanctum headquarters. The memory is foggy, but I still remember the sight of that Mask standing on top of the building, at the strange metal wings strapped to his back. When he jumped, I was sure I would see a man lose his life—only to watch him sail back into the sky a moment later as his glider caught the breeze.

I have no earthly idea how Orion came into possession of this equipment, but I’m also not going to question it when it’s the only thing keeping me from certain death. Instead, I wrap my hands around Orion’s forearm, my fingers digging into his skin as we sail higher into the sky.

He looks down at me, giving me his million-dollar smile as he tugs me closer to his chest. “I told you I got you, little dove. You want to take back that last statement?”

The urge to smack him upside his head takes over me, but the fear of death still lingers, so I keep my hands to myself. Orion dips the nose toward the water, and we start a free-fall, the salty sea breeze smacking me across the face the closer we get to the water.

Just before we crash into the wave, Orion jerks upward, and the glider stabilizes, allowing us to sail across the surface of the water like I had seen those gulls do earlier.

My mouth falls in wonder as I reach a hand down, allowing my fingertips to break the surface. A trail streams out behind us as the cool water laps at my hand, and I lower the other, marveling at the gentle tug of the water against my skin.

“Look to your right!” Orion jerks his head to where a school of dolphins is breaking the surface, dozens of slate gray fins popping up only to disappear a moment later as they dive below the waves. A squeal falls from my lips as I watch them sail through the water, wishing more than anything I could reach out and touch one.

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