Find Your Fire - The Angulus Chronicles #1

Chapter Twelve

The hallway was dark as I stood for Orins door, hoping she was still awake. I had missed her and I wanted to make sure she was feeling okay after all that happened.

Lorem was soundly asleep in my bed. Yes, my bed.

We had discussed the upcoming events and all the little details until the sun was faaaar under and Fletch was snoring loudly on the blue rug in my room. Lorem hadn't been feeling well, a severe headache terrorizing his head after all the little sleep he got, and I felt so guilty that I immediately jumped upright when he told me and ran as fast as I could to the medics to get a painkiller.

As soon as I came back, Lorem had been asleep, his head resting against one of the four beams on my four poster bed, still in his clothing. His chest had been falling and rising slowly, his mouth a little open and his arm hung loosely over the bed. I had unzipped his shoes and carefully dragged him properly onto my bed, which wasn't easy because God damn that boy was heavy. When he lay sprawled over my mattress, I had tugged him in tightly and gave him a soft caress over his cheek before leaving my room.

I was slightly, just slightly, excited to be sleeping next to him, but first I wanted to make sure Orin was doing alright. So that brings us to here.

I knocked on her door and a muffled answer came from behind. I entered the room and eyed Orin sitting on her bed, crossed legged and closed-eyed. All around her candles were lit and the sweet smell of vanilla drove into my nostrils.

"Paying a tribute to the gods?" I said amused.

Orin opened her eyes and when she saw me, she jumped off the bed immediately and ran to pull me into a hug.

"I'm asking them to forgive you for being such a bad friend." She muffled in my ear as her arms draped around my neck.

She pulled away and looked for any injuries on me. I did the same to her. Orin had a dark skin tone but even in the dimly lit room, I could see it being paler than usual. The light in her eyes was dimmed to a worried flicker and her lips were cracked. She could easily join the I was worried so I look like shit group.

"Am I that terrible?" I winced.

She bit the inside of her cheek and played with her beaded bracelet. "No, but you did scare us all to death, C. I don't want the gods to punish you, I want to do it myself."

We stood in comfortable silence and looked at each other, drinking the moment in, grateful I was still alive.

"Well," I took her hand and pulled her to her bed. "What punishment do you have in mind? A sleepover?" I prodded her with my elbow and smiled.

"You can sleep on the floor if you really think that is a worthy punishment. Your almost death wasn't your fault, but you didn't tell us, C." She fingered the sheets of her bed. "You didn't tell us of the invitations. Of a possible threat."

"It wasn't a threat. They invited me because they need me."

She gave me a pointed look. "Oh, yeah, because the second invitation wasn't harmful at all, was it? Jesus, C. Maybe the kingdoms don't want you dead, but that does not mean there ain't nobody out there, going after you. Being important to the leaders makes you a beloved prize for a bribing."

I hadn't realized how right Orin was. People would go after me and use me to gain riches by the kingdoms. Oh my god.

I lowered my face in my hands and groaned. "I'm so sorry. I never thought about it like that. I was so focused on finding out why they wanted me, that I never thought about how other people might want to hurt me."

Orin touched my hands and forced me to look up. "Just promise me you'll tell me immediately the next time. I hate to be left out, especially when it's about something that concerns your safety."