The Reality of the Matter

I can admit that I'm completely in over my head, and Orion pulling his tie off and trying to tie my wrists together was the bar. I started screaming in terror; the idea of him being the one that sent me to that place in this life was an absolute fucking trip.

"Orion, no! No, no, they'll kill us. You need to listen to me," I rushed out, bending to get his attention, ripping the tie apart and running into the adjoining bathroom with a loud slam of the door when it became clear he wasn't listening.

I stood on the other side, holding the door, and thanked Devon for suggesting strength training first.

Who knew?

I owe him for this.

I clicked the lock on and ran out of the other door, turning and skidding around to enter the room the children were in. The boy stood at the foot of the bed, his fists relaxing a fraction when he saw me enter. I locked the door and ran to him, putting him behind me and doing a quick check of his sister before I swallowed a mouthful of air.

"We didn't mean to, these bad guys with the police people tried to take us from our parents they said run…. We- we blew them all away. We didn't mean to-" his cries shattered my soul, and I took him into my arms for a quick, hard hug before I lowered him onto the bed and stood against the door to stop Orion from breaking it down.

"Bro, what the fuck?" Devon's voice boomed from the front door.

I slid down the door a little as my adrenaline was siphoned out, and I started to cry in relief as I unlocked it. Devon ran into Orion, pushing him back and connecting his left fist with his face. Honestly, it's lucky Devon is privately trained and agile because Orion is bigger and stronger. I ran to the little girl, positioned her on my hip with her head on my shoulder, and took the boy's shaking hand.

"It's okay. Devon will help us. He understands. Orion is a little too logical," I joked with a shaky smile.

"Not very normal for kids to be able to blow things up," he joked back with tears in his eyes.

Clever kid.

The little girl started to stir on my shoulder, and I panicked, screaming for Devon to hurry up because I had no idea how these kids made things go boom. He ran towards me and took the boy while I coaxed the little girl to stay calm.

"Liam?" she mumbled sleepily, "Did we blow Mommy and Daddy up?" I froze and turned to Devon, but Orion's eyes were wide and fixed on the back of the girl's head.

"Time to go," Devon hissed, and I turned back and ran back down the stairs without looking back. When we burst into the parking lot, I bent down to keep the kids from the eyes of the police and possibly plain-clothes scientists running around the place, "The black defender put them in the back under the seats and put the blanket over your legs and them."

I repressed the scream of frustration. On what planet is this going to work? I opened the door, placed the girl in the bottom, and climbed in. The Rover Defender is higher than most cars, meaning the children will be hidden from anyone wanting to check. This could work. Devon hopped into the driver's seat, and I pulled the blanket from the boot and laid it over the kids, my legs in the middle and my body leaning against the left side.

The right-side door burst open, and I let out a small 'ah' of surprise and raised my hands to fight. Orion stepped into the car, placed his legs under the blanket, pulled me onto him and slammed his door closed. His eyes were cold as he looked down at me, but he grabbed my fists and put them between us, making us appear as a sweet couple despite the dust and glass all over me.

"You better explain everything to me," he warned, his voice sending goosebumps washing over my skin. 

"I will, but you won't believe it," I whispered back, averting my eyes and catching Devon's in the rear-view mirror.

"He might believe it; he did hear it from the kid's mouth," he said, raising an eyebrow at me in the mirror to make a point, "Shit, we have a checkpoint. They work fast these days," he grumbled, slowing down and winding the window down.

"Devon! What brings you to this side of town?" A cheery man's voice came through the window, and I moved from Orion to see around Devon.

He had dark brown hair and bright green eyes, but before I could get a better look at his strong jaw, Orion laced his fingers in mine and pulled me in for a kiss. His lips pressed to mine, and I gasped in surprise with my eyes wide open. His tongue slowly dipped into my mouth, and my eyes closed as he caressed it.

"Dr. Bradford?" My eyes flung open, and Orion broke our kiss to turn his head breathlessly.

He let go of one of my hands, pressed the button to put the widow down halfway, and stared at the woman dressed in black. She had an automatic gun at her hip, her eyes wide in surprise. A lanyard was around her neck, and the Craver Institute was bright blue across the top.

Oh, fucking hell!

Devon Craver is here.

My hand squeezed Orion's hard enough for him to wince and turn to look at me with his eyebrows furrowed. The man next to Devon doesn't have the lanyard, so he must be part of the private security firm he works for. I was starting to sweat in the hand he was holding, and his face softened before he turned to the woman with that angelic smile.

"Hello, Nina. The checkpoints were built with impeccable speed," he said casually, letting go of my hand to hold around my back and side and pull me into him.

I grabbed his lab coat with both hands, lifting the blanket a little to show the little girl next to my legs.

"It's okay," I mouthed to her, and she nodded carefully before holding onto the flare of my work trousers.

'This is crazy.'

"Yes, we pride ourselves in keeping the safety and peace of the city. Where is Natalie?" she asked, her voice holding a hint of ice.

Oh fuck. I'm going to get taken so early this time. 

Orion flinched and looked down for a moment before he turned to her, and the air in the car dropped several degrees.

I shivered, pulling the blanket tighter around me. What is happening?

'Warning, Daria! A powerful awakened has been detected, and they are using their power.'

"Natalie is not my concern anymore. We're getting a divorce. My girlfriend," he tightened his hold on me, and I flinched in surprise and looked at the woman at the window, eyes wide with surprise. His what?! "was hurt in the explosion, so we're taking her home," the tone in his voice was cold but musical, and I shook my head a little, watching as the woman's pupils expanded to her entire iris.

Woah!

I opened my power portal, and Orion's outline appeared, showing him as a mind controller.

Devon, it must be genetic because Orion is controlling this woman's mind right now.

He better not use that on me! As if he called you his girlfriend.

Not the point, Devon. We might make it out of this.

Orion was rigid beside me, but I didn't pay much attention to it as I caught Devon's eyes in the mirror and jerked my head to the guard beside him.

"My brother called me for a hand. She has extreme anxiety," he said to him, and I nearly scoffed and rolled my eyes.

"Oh, did she see anything?" I shrank into Orion at his question, waking him up from his stupor.

"She didn't see anything. Good luck with your orders," Orion said with a clipped voice, and they both stepped back.

The frost began to fall away from the air in the car, leaving bits of condensation over the windows.

The guys wound their windows up, and the car passed the checkpoint and turned onto the motorway. When I noticed the sign for leaving the city, I burst into tears, and my head fell onto Orion's lap.

"Daria, it's all good. We're nearly home," Devon said softly from the front. "I'll spend this life making sure you and Nexus don't end up back there." At the mention of Nexus, my head shot up.

"We need to get him tonight," I rushed out, pulling out my burner phone and gasping as it fell into pieces, "Oh fuck, I must have done that when I knocked the girl out running." 

"Use mine," Orion said from behind me.

I pulled his intact phone out of the other pocket.

"I can't. It'll be traced and could implicate you," I shoved the phone into his lab coat pocket and started chewing my nails until I saw Rain standing at the end of the drive with his arms crossed.

He stood at the edge of the boundary to our base, and from Molly's crying and trying to pull him inside, he had been standing there since I called him in panic. It's good to know he'll always follow me first, even when I'm miles away.