The Opelux and Other Monsters || Book One

CHAPTER 31 - ORION

"Wait. Replay that," Tritteon said, as the Kovei escorted Aeryn out and he looked back at me with that confused look on his face. "Vialla is terrified and Aeryn looks absolutely bewildered. And look at their charge's faces."

I hadn't paid much attention to them before. Ambassador Ganton, Callen's charge, looked ashen. Princess Gralli and Princess Aundran looked like they might vomit.

"I don't think they had anything to do with their Guardian's attack," Tritteon said.

Finally, we got to my brief conversation with Daniel, and Tritteon watched without a single comment.

The image faded and Tritteon's face came back into focus.

"I want you to go see them," Tritteon said aloud. "Just the Guardians. Their charges are clearly not to blame."

An uneasy shiver went up my spine. "Alright."

He looked me over. "Are you going to be able to handle it?"

I gave him a flat look, irritated by the question, but said nothing. Reliving the entire Breakfast catastrophe had not done me any favors. I wasn't feeling as confident anymore, not that I would admit it to him.

The bed sank in next to me and I jumped. He'd moved so quickly I hadn't noticed him get up.

Without thinking, a Veehm exploded from my hand, slamming him to the floor, and I drove my knee into his stomach, both hands raised with Veehms that held him in place while he coughed and gasped, the breath knocked out of him.

"You weren't kidding," he choked, resting his head against the floor in defeat, his curls sprawling out like a crown.

"What made you think I was?" I said through my teeth.

"Nothing. I am still trying to understand you," he said gruffly, searching my face. "That expression you wore before made it appear you were allowing your confidence to wane, so I thought I'd give you a chance to reconsider that line of thinking."

"You let me take you down?" I said, unable to keep the disgust from my voice at the notion.

"No. I was going to put up a fight. But you are terrifyingly quick when you're on alert."

I let my Veehm fizzle out and moved back to the bed. "That was a sad, personal space invasive attempt at helping me?"

He got slowly to his feet and slid onto the bed opposite. "Orion, you did well. Your instincts were perfection. I would have killed all three Guardians."

He paused and I heard the unspoken words that shadowed his expression. Killing Seth haunted him. If he'd had to kill the other three, he never would have been able to forgive himself.

"But you commanded control," he continued. "You incapacitated them until the Kovei arrived."

"They stayed there only because they thought I'd killed the boy."

"And you used that to keep order. Even the Royals obeyed you. That never happens without extensive complaining."

I rested back against the headboard. "I understand we can't just send them all away. None of them can be trusted. But how do we stop this from escalating further? Rilyin wasn't there. I was. This really is all because I'm here. The Breakfast proved that. And, you have to admit, their actions are entirely justified."

"Except that I don't believe the Royals had anything to do with it," Tritteon said. "They were horrified and confused." He rubbed a knuckle over his bottom lip, his jaw tensing. "Aeryn and Vialla and Gauwin and..." Pain flashed in his eyes, "...and Seth have been my close friends for years. Their actions do not make an ounce of sense. I believe these attacks are the traitor's first moves."