Page 91 of Legion
“So long as you’re aware.”Lifting her spoon again, she scooped up more cereal and shoveled it into her mouth.
Just then, his cell phone beeped.Something that happened a lot in the mornings—a time when he was contacted by his sentinels and members of his Force–a band of demons who helped police the lair.They sent in reports, complaints, and all that jazz.
She knew that he’d also receive emails from his business associates, of whom he had plenty.Hence why, in between taking sips of his coffee and bites of his bagel, he’d replied to whatever messages awaited him.He’d told her that he liked to get a head-start on tackling any issues that lay ahead of him each day.
Chewing on her food, she watched his face darken as he stared down at the screen of his phone.“Everything okay?”
He inhaled deeply and then set his cell on the table.“Yes.Some demons simply need reminding that there are rules they must follow, so then long talks are necessary.Annoying, because I have a busy schedule today.”
“Is confronting Iain anywhere on that schedule?Because I’m thinking it isn’t necessary for you to do that.”
“Why?”
“I genuinely believe it was a coincidence that we were both at the Xpress bar last night.It’s not as if I go there often, so he had no reason to think he’d bump into me there.He wasn’t rude to me.He even apologized for his past behavior.”
“And maybe he meant it.Maybe he won’t be any threat to you in future.But Konstantin will remain as your guard.He is of the same opinion as you, by the way; he believes it was a coincidence that Iain happened to be at the bar the same time as you.I trust both your judgments.So no, I won’t be confronting Iain over it.But if he shows up where you are again, it’ll be a different story.”
“You trust my judgment?”
The surprise in her tone made Luka’s brow pinch.“Yes, I do.”
She cleared her throat, shifting awkwardly in her seat.“Oh.Good.”
And there it was.That hint of vulnerability she tried to hide.One born of rarely having others look beyond her beautiful surface to see the shrewd, intelligent mind beneath.
When it came to sirens, people seemed to assume that they were one-dimensional femme fatales.In his experience, that wasn’t the case.It certainly wasn’t the case with Naomi.
His siren was no pretty, empty-headed ornament.She had more layers than an onion.She was sweet, quirky, caring, cunning, merciless, grounded, independent—on and on it went.She was a whole juxtaposition of traits, really.Didn’t fit in any one box.
She’d very quickly reeled him in, making his possessiveness grow and grow.His entities were in much the same boat, as evidenced by the many brands on her skin.
She currently wore a long-sleeved tee, so Abraxas’ marks—the matching bands it had left on each of her upper arms last night—weren’t visible.Something that annoyed the demon.It wanted everyone to see them.
Normally, Luka wouldn’t welcome being branded, but it admittedly bugged him that he wore none from her entity.According to Naomi, it hadn’t ever branded anyone; it simply wasn’t bothered about even temporarily claiming people as part of its circle, no matter how territorial it felt toward them.
Luka’s demons felt sure that her entity was possessive of him.Abraxas’ theory was that the demon was waiting for something.It couldn’t sense what, though.It only knew that a certain thing needed to happen—or maybe that Luka himself needed to do this certain thing—before the entity would lay any claim to him.
He couldn’t imagine what this “thing” could be.He had too many unanswered questions about the creature before him.“Abraxas believes that your demon is waiting for something from me.”
Naomi paused in the process of setting down her cup.
“It thinks that your entity won’t act on any possessiveness it feels toward me until I give it what it needs.The look on your face confirms that that’s true.So my question is ...what exactly does it need from me?”
She carefully placed the mug back on the table.“I can’t explain that right now.”
“Why not?”
She hesitated.“My answer wouldn’t make much sense to you, so you’d only find yourself with more questions.”
“That doesn’t mean you can’t at least tell me what it wants from me.I won’t pressure you to elaborate beyond that.”
Her eyes narrowed.“All right.”She exhaled heavily.“Acceptance.It needs you to accept ...something.”
“Something about you, or something about your entity?”
“Both, really.That’s the most I can say on that, though.At least for now.”
At least for now.Those words should have appeased him to some degree, but they didn’t.She had been right in her prediction that he’d only want to hear more.
