Chapter .24.

later that night

i held an Atlas in my lap

ran my fingers across the whole

world

and whispered

where does it hurt?

it answered

everywhere

everywhere

everywhere

-Waran Shire

***

I wake up with strokes of fire licking my back and crawling up in waves of heated pain.

I'm covered in sweat, gasping.

My chest rises and falls to the distress my body is under, the pain that pulses within me.

A low whine catches my attention.

Orion had woken me, my agony the source for his own. He quickly jumps off the bed, the movement causing me to inhale sharply.

It's been a while since this has happened.

I want to reach up and stop Orion. Almost instinctively I know what he is going to do. Just as I conclude in my mind, he shifts, quickly changing into his discarded clothes and running out the room.

Wait. No. Don't.