Garden of Embers: Beneath Devouring Eyes #2

Chapter 2, Final Part

Domi didn't want to think too hard about what Arbita and Valens were doing on the opposite side of the domus. But he couldn't help feeling a morbid curiosity. The new husband and wife hated each other. Were they really going to bed each other just because they were now married?

Yet they had gone to Valens's bedchamber—well, both of their bedchamber now—as soon as they'd returned home from the domus, their expressions resigned. He was pretty sure they were doing it. Having sex. His cheeks burned.

"Your face just turned five times darker than normal," Sidus said with a knowing smirk. He, Domi, and Radix were in Valens's library, the farthest corner of the domus from his aedificans's bedchamber as Domi had been able to find. "You're thinking about them consummating their marriage, aren't you?"

"I am not," Domi said too quickly, too hotly. His face was so warm now that sweat beaded on his brow. He was tempted to press his face to the cool wood of the mahogany table at which he sat, where for the past day since they'd moved in Radix had been stacking books they thought he should read. "I'm not the one always thinking about sex. Don't you ever have anything else on your mind?"

"You," Sidus said promptly, and behind them, Radix scoffed. The starholder's smoldering eyes flicked to the Pyrrhaeus and then landed on Domi once more. A smile quirked one lip. "Actually, in that case, no." He laughed and fixed Domi with a heated look, dropping his voice. "No, I can't say I think about much else, Basiluculus."

Domi shivered beneath the look.

A thud echoed through the library. Domi jumped and twisted to look behind him. Radix, halfway up the sliding ladder to browse books on the wall-to-wall mahogany bookcase, spread their hands and glanced down at the large leatherbound book they had dropped on the floor. "Oops." The redhead didn't sound surprised or sorry about their mistake.

Sidus arched a brow as he looked up at the petite Pullatus. "Is there a particular reason you're still here, Erus?" he asked, his voice polite but filled with genuine confusion.

Ah. Domi rubbed his heated cheeks. It was probably best to make some things clear. "They can stay, Sidus. Radix is my best friend, not my servant."

Something about his words made a shadow pass across Radix's expression. They glanced away from him, but not before he saw the hurt in their face.

Sidus stretched, his movements languid. His voice drew Domi's attention away from his confusing friend. "We're all your servants now, Basiluculus." The starholder patted the cluden hilt at his waist.

Domi grimaced. He was glad Sidus was spending time with him, but he felt a pang of unease at the reminder that the other boy was not here just because the other Trueborn wanted to keep him company. Domi's royal brother had insisted that his younger twin must never be alone. Whether guarded by Sidus, Bellus, or any other Lightholder on his staff with high enough ranking to counter his magic or stalked by Valens's or Aix's warding promenia cloud, Domi was always supervised by someone. It was, in part, to protect him from kidnappers, assassins, or others who might mean him harm, but it was mostly to prevent his uncontrolled magic from harming anyone or anything.

His heart pounded faster as his thoughts slipped once more in the direction of his dangerous sorcery. He shook his head hard, trying to cast the fears away like water droplets. But they clung to him and, breath choking in his throat, he waved at Radix to get down. "I should practice my breathing." Or rather, a related project he had in mind, one he should have tried days ago. He was pretty sure he knew how to end this whole twin radiance thing, though no one would like it. Now, with Valens and Arbita busy, was the best time to give it a try. A test.