Page 3 of Left Hand of the Divine
However, the love we felt for each other could never be anything more than touches and longing looks. It was forbidden and against the law. I’d petitioned Hades to change it, but he wouldn’t. I understood why the law was there, I did. Hellhounds were there to protect their Reaper and the Underworld. If they were in love with their Reaper, they’d have compromised judgement. I’d seen it with the twins occasionally. They’d question me over my decisions and sometimes they’d fight against my orders, so I got why the law was there; I just hated it because it kept me from them. If I could give up being a Reaper, I would, but that was impossible. It would be like asking a human to stop being a human.
“You okay there, kitten?” Atticus asked, and I blinked at him, not understanding what I was seeing.
Because I could see all of him. “How are you doing that?”
The shadows had pulled back from him, leaving a space between him and the darkness, and a little orb of light hovered above the palm of his hand.
“Oh, just a simple light spell. I have a little bit of witch running through me on my mother’s side.” Atticus made the orb glow brighter. “I can’t do much more than the basics, though.”
“Not that,” I huffed, but I’d circle back to the witch thing later. “How are you stopping the shadows from surrounding you?”
“Oh,” he replied with a soft laugh. “I don’t think they like me very much.”
Atticus reached out towards the swirling wisps, and I watched in fascination as they recoiled from him.
“Interesting,” Thane mused as he stepped into the space next to Atticus. “Perhaps they fear you.”
“But why?” Magnus asked. “You’re not more powerful than Thane or Roux. What does a shadow have to fear from a demon?”
“I’m not just any demon,” Atticus said coldly, and the temperature plummeted as he dropped the guards on his power. I instantly sensed it brushing against the edge of my mind, and a shiver ran up my spine. It was supposed to be scary but because I was his mate, I reacted differently to it. Atticus was a Metus demon, a class five on the Underworld scale and one of the scariest creatures out there.
As his power surged, the shadows crept further away, leaving the six of us standing in the pool of light cast by his little floating orb.
“Okay, I get your point,” Magnus mumbled, his face twisted in pain. Whatever Atticus was doing, it was affecting Magnus. I’d never seen the vampire look so terrified.
“Knock it off,” Rayne growled as he stood in front of Magnus, ready to defend him. His eyes glowed brightly as he reached for the power of his Hound.
“My apologies,” Atticus said as he pulled his power back towards him. The shadows stayed where they were, creating a little pocket of light for us to stand in. For some reason, I missed their playful touch.
“I’m fine,” Magnus said as he rubbed soothing circles on Rayne’s back. Interestingly, Rayne’s anger dissipated under the vampire’s touch, and a wave of sadness washed over me. That’s whatIdidfor them. I kept them calm and soothed their pain and anger, and now they had Magnus. Had I lost a little bit more of them? Did they even need me anymore?
Two sets of luminous blue eyes met mine. The twins looked at me with concern. Damn telepathic connection. Making them aware of everything I fucking felt.
Rafe and Rayne shared a look and did their silent communication thing. They were two halves of one soul and sometimes didn’t need words to communicate.
Then they both threw me a determined look.
Oh, great. We were going to talk about this later.
I huffed a breath and started walking down the corridor again, silently hoping the shadows would steal me away.
“Do they do that a lot?” Atticus asked.
“The nonverbal communication?” Thane answered softly. “Yes. Their connection runs deeper than mere words. You’ll get used to it.”
My heart broke a little bit more because I didn’t think Atticuswouldget used to it. I feared that as the twins’ connection with Magnus deepened, mine would fade into the background.
And that was something I might just have to learn to live with, even if the thought of it had my heart shattering into a thousand pieces.
We walked for what seemed like miles until we reached a large door. From what I could make out in the low lighting, it was a wooden door, but I couldn’t see a handle. I traced my hand over the surface, feeling for a join or button orsomethingthat wouldhint at how to open it, but I couldn’t feel anything other than the rough surface of the grain. “There’s got to be a way to open it.”
“What’s that up there?” Magnus asked, pointing to the top of the door. There was something shimmering in the low light. Small gold circles painted onto the wood in a random order.
“They’re stars,” Thane said, wonder lacing his words.
I turned to look at him, and his gaze was fixed upon the painted dots. “Stars?”
“Yes, it’s a constellation. Lupus.”
