Page 13 of Darkening Truth
I nod, “Yep, he said he had no idea what kind of creature he was, but he would look into it.”
“Oryn must be rare if even Xerxes doesn’t know what he is,” Zev says. “I guess we wait to see what he can come up with. I am curious about why we can’t see him.”
“Me too,” I reply. “I don’t think that it’s a case of him choosing not to let you see him, like Poca can do, because I’m pretty sure he would have revealedhimself to you by now. There’s no reason why he wouldn’t have.” Before any of them can reply, I level a look at Khaos, “That reminds me, Cerb?”
Poca huffs from his corner.
“Don’t start with me,” I warn him.
Khaos grins and looks over at Poca too, “Do you want to tell her or shall I?”
Poca rolls his eyes and stands up, prompting Meri to chirp indignantly and fly over to Storm, curling up around his neck, and making me smile.
I raise my eyebrows at Poca as I give him an expectant look, and he sticks his tongue out at me. I feel the magic around him grow and engulf him, and then, standing in the place of Poca is Cerberus. I know exactly who he is. Everyone knows the legends of Cerberus.
Zev lets go of my hand, and Oryn flies off my lap as I stand up and approach Poca. He’s fucking huge, but then again, he always did like to be this big. His three heads are just as adorable as his single one has always been, and I grin.
“So fucking cool,” I grin, as I reach out and stroke him, giving each of his heads a good scratch. I giggle when he smothers me in kisses.
“Not a lot fazes you, does it?” Khaos asks curiously.
I shrug, “Not really. I’ve been through too much in my life to be fazed by something as awesome as the best friend I’ve had since I was three being a legendary supernatural, and pretty fucking famous too.”
Poca growls playfully and rolls his eyes before he shrinks back into his more recognisable form, at least more recognisable to me.
“To be honest, I thought you would freak out a lot more than you did,” Loki admits.
I shake my head, “He’s still Poca,” glancing back at my Hellhound, I ask, “Do you want to be called Poca or Cerb now?”
“Poca is probably safer,” Hades points out and Poca barks in agreement. Hades continues, “As you said, Cerb is a very well-known supernatural, and I think it’s probably best that not everyone knows that you’ve got him as a familiar.”
I nod, “Yeah, that makes sense.”
I pat Poca one more time before I head back to the sofa, the guys shift me so I end up lying on my side with my head on Zev’s lap this time, and my legs in Loki’s lap. Rival moves so his back is against the sofa again, and he tips his head back so it’s resting on the cushion, and my fingers move back to his hair. His eyes close as he lets out a quiet sigh.
As the others begin to discuss Poca, I tune out, the events of the last fuck knows how long catching up to me.
I feel a knock on my mind and grin. I have really fucking missed the feeling of the bonds in my mind.
“Are you okay, Darlin’?”Kill’s familiar and incredibly relieved voice comes through the bond line.
“I am, surprisingly so actually. I think maybe I’m getting used to being kidnapped and tortured,”I try to joke, admittedly it wasn’t a good one, and Kill’s terrifying growl echoes throughout the room and makes everyone stop and stare at him in question.
He shakes his head, and everyone frowns slightly, but seems to decide that it’s not worth questioning him about because they go back to their conversation.
“Sorry,”I apologise.
He shakes his head slightly, his voice coming through in my mind, “You don’t need to apologise. I just wish that you were never in those situations.”
I nod. I know Kill, and I know that simple platitudes and telling him that it’s okay aren’t going to help in the situation, so I reply with something that I know will.
“I won’t be in that situation again,”I meet his eyes.“You won’t let me. You’ll make sure of it.”
“On my life,”he agrees fiercely.
He gets up and walks over to me. None of the others even shift to move out of the way as Kill leans forward and kisses me, pouring all of the feelings that he can into it and leaving the bond line open between us so that I know exactly what he’s feeling. My hand moves to cup his cheek, and I feel his tail tap me on the arm, the only place that it can reach, making me smile.
My head is spinning, and my smile is huge when he pulls back.
