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Odd.

Quinn pondered his words, hands wrapped around the handle of a watering can. Quinn now stood in the gardens amongst a sea of withering plants, trying her best to coax them back to the realm of the living. She supposed Carlos was afraid that she might anger the seven and lose her life. Or that she might piss off the guards that flanked their sides, the politicians that could roam their halls now that they had returned. Perhaps some other Omega might kill her for her insolence and rudeness.

But to fall in love with the seven? Was he fucking crazy? Regardless, the concern he had for her was nice. Her lips quirked, a smile growing as she watered dying plants, fingers brushing dry leaves. It was nice to know that she had an Omega on her side. That someone was looking out for her.

It was nice to know that he cared.

"Were you fucking him when we were away?"

And she turned now, water spilling from the spout, the can clattering to the ground, shock dancing over her face. Her eyes swayed to the figure before her—black wings fluttering, an awful scowl on his gaunt but beautiful face. Helios landed before her like a regal god, like the devil, always so unfairly alluring, always so fucking breathtaking. But there was a sharpness in his eyes now, a darkness that occupied his mouth and eyes—gaze darkening into narrowed slits.

He was angry.

"He's just a boy," Helios snarled, tongue to cheek, incisors showing. "So it was easier, wasn't it? To make him fall for you? To make him want you? You with that sweet fucking scent. He could never have resisted. I should have known all girls are the fucking same. Always looking for the next conquest."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Quinn answered. The Omega was breathing hard, looking like the wildest of sin. His eyes were like the pits of hell, crimson orbs that seemed to swallow her whole. And she was oddly aware of the spice in his scent, the way it dripped darker into a bitter caramel salt.

"We went away because we thought you'd feel better alone. We starved because you smelled afraid." Helios chuckled then, tossed his head back with a laugh, and she could only stare at him in confusion, in horror. Had she done something wrong? "We thought you didn't want this, that you were a damn victim in this arrangement. And yet here you are fucking any young Omega you can find—"

"Carlos," Quinn breathed in dawned understanding, brow twitched. Instincts sharp. "I'm not fucking Carlos. He's just a child." Helios's snarl was ragged then, a hand through his hair, twisting through the gold strands.

"You lie. I saw you both, pressed close together, whispering, laughing. You smell like him—"

Quinn inhaled sharply. "He's a friend. Friends can hug."

"You had your fucking hand on his fucking cheek—" She grabbed his wrist then pulled him close, eyes locking to his. They were sandwiched together now, chest to chest, his warmth burning against her, enveloping her body. She could feel his nipples through the cloth, the flex of his muscles hard and velvety against her. And it was odd that her heart fluttered, thundering in her chest as if cursed.

"Taste my emotions and tell me I'm lying to you when I say I do not see him that way." She told him hotly. "I am not lying to you when I say Carlos is just a friend."

He paused, body freezing, eyes searching hers. There was confusion in his eyes, one that smoothed into realisation. A wideness that grew as he swallowed and gulped like he was hungry, tongue darting out to taste the air. Only to wince, tongue gagging at the splash of her honesty. And he must be starving, for his wrist was thin in her hands, his jaw so much sharper, plump cheeks now sunken, eyes framed by darkened purple shadows. He stammered out a response. Must have found what he wanted, for he seemed to shrink into himself, horrified. "I…"

"It's alright," she told him, almost immediately, sucking down her anger with a sharp smile. No, it wasn't you goddamn idiot. "You were just hungry and confused."

"I-I was," he swallowed, eyes fluttering, a pant hot in his throat. He must have tasted the lie in her words for shame clouded his face for a second before it vanished into a strange rush of desperation. "I was," he trembled, and Quinn was shocked to find tears welling, the pearls of them slipped from the corners of his eyes. "Q-Quinn, I'm so hungry. I've been so hungry since I first tasted you. I-I've said to the others that I don't remember what happened between us—"

"I know—"

"But the truth is, I do. I thought it was all just a sick dream," he whimpered, nestled against her, breath hot against her throat. It was all going so fast that she was startled at the change, at the switch of his emotions with each flutter of his wings. "That it couldn't be real, that you saved my life." He mumbled, with his nose pressed to her scent gland, plush mouth puckered into a kiss. "You smell so good. You smell like mine."

Quinn blinked, startled by him as she moved to the bench, his body draped over hers, his scent all sweetened now into a caramel drip. He was hot to touch, steaming in her lap, legs parted to clamp hers together, steaming and cock-hard at the apex of his thighs. But her mind was working, suspicion brewing. Helios wasn't sweet like this, and in his insanity, she'd known him to be coy. "You collapsed in a cave," Quinn said, trying to twist her lies in a bed of truth. "I risked my life to take you out of there, bring you to safety."

"You found me there, waiting for someone to save me," he agreed, falling for her trap eagerly nodding. He didn't remember. And she saw his tears now as what they truly were— an act. "You found me and saved my life, and I was so grateful for that." And his expression melted then, eyes growing round, his voice dripping from him in an almost moan. There was a voraciousness in him that threatened to swallow her whole. "I want you so bad, I want you to fuck me like you did out there in the wastelands—"

"Helios," she murmured, hands brushing against his wings, the feathers silky. "You don't have to do this to gain my trust." He paused then, arms around her throat, body stiffening. He pulled back, and now she saw his truth. The tears were gone, and the whiney look on his face had vanished. His features were now pinched into a scowl, lips pressed into an angry pout. His tears clung to his lashes and glittered in the light, but his eyes were filled with rage.

"Fuck," he hissed, a nasty twist in his tone. "Couldn't you have made it easier for both of us?" His eyes were sharper now, boiling into thin wolf-like slits. "You've done this once. Surely you can do it again for me."

"I'd prefer it," she answered simply, "if we did things properly without the lies."

Helios snorted, lips pulled sharply into a thin line, head shaking. "You're so stubborn, so fucking proper. I'll be surprised if you've had any Omegas, you're like a little virgin—"

"I am a virgin," Quinn replied, head turned to look at the spilling can. It would be wrong to say Euodia was one, but Quinn was one. And the memories of Euodia's conquest felt only like a film that she'd watched from the sidelines. It was hardly an experience. "And the only person who's touched me intimately is you." Helios paused then, a strange look fluttering across his face. He turned to look at her, eyes wide.

"You didn't fuck me?"