Any way we could.
Dr. Palmer bristled but looked at Arabella and changed the subject. “How is your relationship coming along with your mates? Do you trust one another more after the battle?”
“No,” Arabella said at the same time we answered in unison, “Yes.”
Arabella whipped her head toward us. “What are you talking about?” Navy eyes narrowed. “You three have done nothing to earn my trust.”
Scorpius scoffed loudly.
Arabella gritted her teeth and asked condescendingly, “Do you have something you want to say, Scorp?”
“Yeah, I do.” Scorpius laughed cruelly. “We fell to our knees in front of hundreds of witnesses and proclaimed ourselves your hounds. We promised to serve you and not the sun god, and you have the audacity to say we’ve done nothing.”
“Lie.” Arabella laughed louder. “There were sixty people. Max.”
Scorpius let out a string of expletives, and Dr. Palmer snapped, “Control your mouth in my office.”
Everyone ignored her.
Scorpius continued with exasperation, “Corvus even crawled for you.”
My gut twisted at the reminder.
She acted like it meant nothing to her.
“What else do you want us to do for you?” I looked down at my Revered. “Do you want us to watch you suck off the twins and say nothing about it? Because we’ve done that—we haven’t even brought it up?”
“Excuse me. Suck who off?” Dr. Palmer asked with confusion.
Scorpius muttered something about John holding her head as he adjusted his pants.
I rolled my eyes; his new obsession with the human was entertaining.
Poor John.
Arabella jabbed her finger into my chest. “Wow, you couldn’t just let it go? You had to bring it up. Sun god, I knew the three of you couldn’t be mature.”
“You had his cock down your throat, what do you want us to do?” Scorpius’s face turned red, and he gesticulated wildly. “Congratulate you?”
Arabella bared her teeth at him. “Maybe it would be nice to have a little support and not be slut shamed for owning my sexuality. Sun god knows it’s been hard enough for me after what I’ve been through.”
“Sweetheart,” Orion whispered. “Of course we support your sexuality.” He reached across me and grabbed her hand. “I thought it was hot.”
She held his hand back and smiled. “Thank you. That means a lot.”
I gaped at my Protector. “You cannot support her sucking off the twins?”
“Technically, I only sucked off Luka,” Arabella pointed out.
Orion nodded. “I support her. Not her actions.” He shrugged and whispered, “You have to admit it was—intense.”
I glared, not him too.
What was happening with my mates and the twins? Couldn’t they see that they were stealing our Revered from us?
“No,” I said. “What it was—was horrifying!”
Fire buzzed beneath my skin, and the urge to burn the world intensified because now I couldn’t stop remembering my Revered gazing lovingly up at another man, who had his dick down her throat.
A piece of the carpet went up in flames.
Everyone ignored it.
“What the hell is going on?” Dr. Palmer shouted. “Someone explain. Now.”
Arabella didn’t take her eyes off me as she snapped, “I gave Luka a blow job at a party last week while the three of them watched, and John pulled my hair during it.” She clapped. “Case closed.”
I glared right back at her.
Dr. Palmer put down her pen. “I’m not paid enough for this.”
“Are they paying you?” Arabella furrowed her brow. “Wait a second—is the High Court paying us for fighting in the war?”
“Stop talking.” Dr. Palmer clicked her pen. “None of you speak.”
Arabella made a noise of annoyance but slumped back into the couch, and I pulled her back against my side.
She moved both her hands to hover over my still-flaming palm.
More warmth fluttered in my chest because my Revered might be mad at me, but she still needed my warmth.
She needed me.
I’d never been more grateful for my abilities.
“Since the High Court thinks it’s crucial that you mate and come into your full powers for the war effort—and they’ve tasked me with the impossible job of helping you—here’s what we’re going to do.” Dr. Palmer smoothed her hands over her already slick bun. Then she grabbed a stack of small books off the table next to her and handed one out to each of us.
“This is an enchanted truth journal. In order to avoid species rights violations, the High Court gives them to inmates incarcerated at the Olympus realm’s maximum-security prison. It is supposed to help unfeeling sociopaths build relationships.” She glared at us. “I think they would be beneficial for you four.”
Arabella crossed her arms. “Are you calling us—”
“Yes,” Dr. Palmer said.
Arabella slumped petulantly, and I couldn’t stop my chuckle because she was so adorable sometimes.
Dr. Palmer forged ahead. “Your answer to the prompt will appear in one another’s journals. That way you can discuss back and forth the implications of your answer and build a connection.”
Arabella made a sound of disbelief.
“I understand your doubts.” Dr. Palmer stared at me as she spoke. “At the very least, it should begin a discourse among the four of you, which it seems like you need. Communication is the key to forging any type of connection.”
“Sounds like a pseudoscience,” Scorpius muttered under his breath loud enough for everyone to hear.
The doctor turned purple.
I patted the book on my lap. “We’ll take them.”
Dr. Palmer narrowed her eyes. “This is not up for debate. All four of you will answer the prompts whenever you have free time.” Her tone was clipped with annoyance. “The pen is enchanted to only write down the truth.”
She looked down at the books pointedly.
None of us touched them.
Dr. Palmer frowned. “Also, I’m mandated to inform you that if you try to use the pen as a weapon, it is enchanted to electrocute you.”
It took a second for her words to process.
Arabella opened her book. “Cool,” she said as she stabbed the pen into my thigh.
She was electrocuted.
I lunged and grabbed her twitching form, just barely saving her from falling off the couch. I gaped down at the woman in my arms.
I’d never met anyone so reckless.
Keeping her safe was near impossible. Sun god, she’s a hazard to herself.
“She just stabbed Corvus,” Orion whispered with horror, and Scorpius barked with laughter.
After painfully long minutes where I worried over the physical but mostly mental health of my Revered, she stopped twitching and grinned.
“That was sick.” Her curls stood up around her head as they crackled with electricity.
I snatched the pen out of Arabella’s hand, and a shock leaped where our fingers touched. “Don’t be a brat,” I ordered.
She smirked, and for a second, her gaze caught on my lips. Her pupils expanded, and lust sparked between us.
Abruptly she winced and jolted.
Strange.