Wicked Harmony

Chapter 21 | Dorian

Chapter 21

Dorian

I ’m sitting slumped against my headboard after practice a couple of days after Sin showed us her designs. We’re two weeks into our month at the cabin and we smashed through practice for about five hours today.

My body’s really feeling it. Despite the calluses on my hands, hours of working them leave me feeling like I need to rest my hands in an ice bath or something.

I’m exhausted, rubbing my tired eyes with even more tired fingers. It doesn’t help that I haven’t slept well since we arrived. Sin’s scent is all over this house and it feels like I can’t escape her which is making me increasingly antsy.

Something about her triggers all these muddled, conflicting emotions inside me.

One minute she’s manipulating me in an elevator. The next, she handcrafts a cuff that’s made Micah happier than I’ve ever seen him.

She created a bunch of badges to help the people at the center where my mom works, and then two days later, she explained all about how she was heavily involved in sponging money off people as part of a cult.

I don’t know how to feel about her.

So I’ve been sequestering myself in my room.

I keep thinking about the talk I had with her at the dingy shop where she stayed hidden for years. All the shit I gave her about being a coward and hiding. I’m a damn hypocrite. If anyone knows about hiding, it’s me.

Fucking sucks.

The room’s silence is driving me crazy. The lack of noise always sends my head spinning, and I’d usually be in the living room with the TV on full blast. Right now, I can’t even do that. Not if I want to keep avoiding Sin.

It’s annoying how she smells so damn good all the time too. She splays out watching whatever crap on TV, with her feet tucked under Cal’s massive thighs and they look so comfortable, it kind of makes me want to puke.

All I know is, every time I see her, my insides go weird and my brain stops working properly, which means I fall back on my old habits and wind up being an antagonistic dick.

“Knock knock,” Iri calls as he taps my door. I quickly slip my shades on my face and tell him to come in.

He shuts the door behind him, glancing around my room before striding over and cracking open the window, like he’s my mother or something.

“I want to ask your opinion on something,” he says, before eyeing my bed. “Is it safe to sit down? Why do I feel like this place has suddenly become jizz central?”

I roll my eyes and ignore him. “Shut up and sit down. What do you want?”

He smirks before thrusting his open laptop at me. I eye the screen, unsure of what I’m seeing. It looks like...

“Cedar Orlog. Isn’t this Sin’s weird cult leader guy? Why are you on his social media?” I scan the page again, scrolling for a minute before asking, “Why are you talking to him on social media? And calling yourself Brock? Hang on, are you catfishing him?”

It sure looks like it. Iri has a whole fake profile set up, and he’s got a conversation going with the guy... offering him a donation .

“What the hell is going on here?”

He doesn’t answer, instead he pulls up another page with what looks like a bunch of bank transactions.

“Are you showing me your money? Dude, what the fuck are you spending all this cash on?”

Maybe it’s the sleep deprivation talking, but I’m pretty sure he’s lost it.

“Those are Cedar Orlog’s bank statements. The guy owes some dodgy people a lot of money.”

“Oka-ay.” I stare at him blankly. I have absolutely no fucking clue what’s happening in this conversation. “How do you have this guy's bank statements? And why do you have them?”

“I’ve been looking into him ever since Sin explained about how he had her doing for him. He’s been off-grid for the past couple of years. Probably because he owes money to the wrong people that he can’t pay back. But he’s still been making videos, still begging for cash from people who can’t afford it.”

“So... you decided to start catfishing him?” I’m really not getting what he’s throwing out here. I swear this conversation is wrinkling my brain.

“I want to lure him out. I figured what better way than to offer him cold, hard cash?”

I rub my brow and the tension headache currently forming. “And what are you planning to do if you lure him out?”

“My lure isn’t working. That’s what I wanted your help with.” He taps impatiently at the laptop screen. “So, any suggestions?”

I stare at him, dumbfounded. “Does Sin know you’re doing this? How do you think she’s going to react if she finds out you’ve been going behind her back contacting this guy?”

He waves a hand, like these are needless concerns. “She doesn’t need to know until he’s out of the picture and she’s finally free of him. ”

All righty then.

His intentions might be good, no matter how creepy and intrusive Iri’s methods are. But that’s the kind of guy he is.

I also know there’s no way he’s going to leave my room until I give him an answer.

“From what we know about him,” I say slowly, aware that Iri seems to know a lot more than the rest of us from his million hours of research into Sin’s life. “All this guy seems to care about is his reputation and money. If you can use both things, he’ll come running.”

Iri stares thoughtfully at the screen for a moment before snapping the laptop shut. “Thanks, man. I appreciate it.”

I grunt. “Just don’t tell Sin I had anything to do with it when she finds out what you’re doing and reams you out.”

He grins at me and ruffles my hair like a fucker before heading out of my room, whistling a jaunty tune.

It’s not until he’s gone, I realize he never told me what he plans to do if he manages to lure Orlog out.

On second thoughts, it's probably better I don’t know.

AN HOUR LATER AND I’M still in the same position on my bed. I’m not quite napping, but I also can’t be bothered to be conscious right now. Maybe I’ll manage a couple of hours shut-eye before sneaking out to grab something for dinner.

Ugh. Even when I was a loser teenager, I was never this much of a saddo. I pull off my shades and shove them on the bedside table, massaging my ears where they’ve dug in.

“Hey, Dorian, I wanted to see if you—”

As if my thoughts have conjured her, Sin flings open the door and steps into my room. I must be half asleep as I jerk up, my eyes widening in horror as hers snap to my face.

My bare fucking face .

Oh shit. Oh, my holy shitballs on a stick.

I guess I never warned her not to come into my room without warning. Everyone else knows better. Hell, she should know better. She knows what I am.

“Shit!” I snatch up my glasses and grab them, ready to shove them onto my face. Dreading what comes next, where Sin goes full human statue and has to wait out the effects of my bare gaze on her.

Although... instead of freezing in place like I expect, she blinks at me and raises an eyebrow.

“What—”

“You’re naked,” she says.

I glance down at my chest to check I am, in fact, wearing clothes. There’s a fifty-fifty chance when I’m in here alone.

She’s pretty lucky I don’t have my dick out.

“Your face, I mean,” she clarifies with a frown. “I can look at you. How come I can look at you like this?”

How indeed.

I stare at her for a moment. Honestly, I have absolutely no idea. Could my gaze be getting less effective as I get older? Or is this merely a one-off? I rake my hand through my hair, thinking hard.

The only other person who can look me in the eye with no barrier is my mother.

“I need to call my mom,” I blurt out, sounding less a grown adult and more like an introverted eight-year-old at a sleepover party.

Sin nods, surprising me by climbing onto the bed beside me and nodding expectantly at my phone.

Well... I guess I’m making that phone call with an audience.

The next hour is the strangest one I’ve had in a while. Even stranger than that hour at the weird club Iri brought us all to in the city a few months back, where everyone was dressed up like sexy cartoon characters .

My mother is a terrifying woman to most people at the best of times. But somehow, with Sinjin, she morphs into someone who’s chatty and smiling, asking dozens of questions about the badges Sin created that my mom will be sharing with the trauma center she works with.

“So, is there something else you’d like to tell me, son of mine?” My mom’s tone is light as she bares her sharp teeth in a smile that used to have me shitting myself when I was younger.

“Uh.”

“Like, for instance, the way you’re sitting in bed with your mate and haven’t said a word about it.”

I freeze. “What did you just say?”

“Mate?” Sin and I glance at each other, eyes wide and I really appreciate there’s no barrier between us. It means she can see the confusion and shock in my eyes, just the same as I can read them in hers.

“You have nice eyes,” she whispers out of nowhere, causing my guts to twist with some emotion I don’t recognize and my cheeks go hot. She smirks at my reaction and I elbow her side.

I swear, she just loves fucking with me.

“That’s what I’m calling about,” I tell my mom. “This is the first time Sin’s seen me without my glasses and, well, she didn’t freeze on me.”

“Because she’s your mate.” My mom nods like it’s an obvious conclusion we both should have come to already.

“Uh.” It feels like my brain is buffering. I can barely come up with a coherent thought, let alone communicate one.

“You’re telling me you met your mate and you’ve had her around for weeks and you didn’t realize it?”

“Well, I—”

What can I say? I’ve been avoiding Sinjin like the plague, hiding out in my room and trying to ensure we’re never alone together?

Because she jumbles me up inside and scares me .

Because I’m a pissy little man-child who holds a grudge like no one’s business.

And did I mention she scares the shit out of me?

I can’t say any of that though, because it’s all a bunch of hot air.

I have no excuse.

“There are very few people out there who can see a Gorgon’s eyes,” my mom explains to Sin. “So unless Sinjin is your daughter...”

“I’m older than you,” Sin says with a snorted laugh.

My eyebrows shoot up. I didn’t know that.

“Then the only other option is that you’re mates. Fated to be the one person who can see you without barriers.”

“Wow.”

That’s pretty poetic, and I don’t miss the slight wistfulness in my mom’s tone.

“Well, I’m glad I could shed some light on the situation. You call me anytime, you hear me, sweetheart? I’m dying to meet you as well, Sin. You’ll have to fly down and see your work in action at the trauma center.”

I nod distractedly. “We’ll plan a visit after the tour ends, mom.”

Sin grins over at me as we hang up, her smile slowly fading as I rake my eyes over her features, like I’m seeing her for the first time.

My first unobstructed look at her.

My stomach bottoms out.

I know, I know, I should have been less of a dick from our first interaction. It shouldn’t take the bombshell that she’s my fated godsdamn mate to pull my head out of my ass.

Then Sin shifts to get off the bed and I can’t stop myself from jolting forward, panic filling my veins.

“Wait.” I pause just shy of grabbing her arm, keeping my wits about me enough to know that manhandling her is not the route I want to go down right now .

“Don’t go yet. I—” What do I want? For her to sit and talk to me on my bed like a couple of gal pals, or like Bert and Ernie in our matching pajamas?

... I mean, kind of.

Fuck me. I’m turning into Micah.

“I’m sorry for being such a dick,” I blurt out.

I’m feeling uncharacteristically vulnerable and naked right now. Not in a fun way, either.

It feels like I’ve just been pantsed in swim class in front of all the other kids and they’re laughing at my dick.

Not that I’m speaking from experience or buried childhood trauma or anything.

I shake the memories off and suck in a deep breath. I need to pull it together.

“So, mates, huh?” Sin settles back onto the bed beside me. “Are your mom and dad not mates, then? You didn’t see the whole no glasses thing while you were growing up?”

I snort and shake my head. “I’m a sperm donor baby. That version of my mom you just met is one that most people don’t see. She intimidates even the strongest males, and she wasn’t interested in having an uneven dynamic in her relationship. My mom likes you, though. She likes your gadgets, and that she thinks because I’ve found you, I won’t die a lonely idiot who never found a solid connection in his entire life.”

I pause, realizing I’ve just dumped a whole lot of information on her. This might not mean the same thing to her as it does to me and I’m here spilling my guts out and baring my soul, while she might be freaking the fuck out about being tethered to an asshole like me.

“Not that I’m saying you don’t have a choice here,” I blabber on. “We can just be friends or get to know each other. Whatever you want.”

Yes, I’m panicking .

Yes, I’ve just done a full 180 in how I see Sin in the past hour.

But fated mates aren’t something to be fucked with.

“I don’t know too much about the whole ‘mate’ thing,” she says. “Cal uses the word when he talks about his mom and his dads. He asked to court me and that he sees me as a mate so long as I accept him.”

I blow out a breath. “Cal knows better than anyone about it. His parents met, and they were bonded for life within about a week of knowing each other. They’re disgustingly sweet together. Madly in love.” I swallow hard. “I don’t think it means we’re forced to like each other, just that we’re... compatible, I guess.”

“Enough for me to see the real you,” she mutters so softly I’m not sure she intends for me to hear the words.

They still make my stomach lurch. She’s right. And maybe that’s why I feel so out of sorts around her. My glasses are a shield, a barrier between me and everyone else. At least if everyone thinks I’m a standoffish prick with my glasses on, they haven’t seen the real me.

Sin will, though. And that realization makes me feel kind of sick.

I scrub my hand over my face. Dammit. I used to be cool. A fucking rock star. Or at least, I used to pretend like I was and eventually I started believing it.

There’s a reason Cal, and I became friends, though. And it wasn’t because we were the two cool kids in highschool. We were the outcasts, the weirdo losers who happened to be good at music and who tricked the world into thinking we were cool kids.

“Shouldn’t we have... felt it?” Sin asks softly, her eyes darting between mine. “A bond snapping into place, smacking us around the head?”

I shrug. “You’ve driven me fucking crazy from the get go. Maybe that was the bond at play. ”

I’m afraid of saying anything more and fucking things up, so I climb off the bed and grab my shades. “We should ask Cal about his parents.”

Sin nods and troops along behind me as we head into the living room where Cal’s busy with his sewing kit, frowning down at the material in his hands.

I swallow hard and quickly outline the situation, watching his brows climb higher and higher on his face.

Shit. He likes Sin. They’ve just started dating or whatever, and here I am throwing a wrench in the works.

He doesn’t seem mad though, or threatened, or jealous. Instead, he starts texting his family group chat and asking for advice from his parents for me and Sin.

When we explain we didn’t feel the mate bond from our first meeting, he frowns. “You’re saying you didn’t feel a pull toward each other or a flash of connection, like maybe this person might be for me and I could be safe with them?” His eyes dart from his hands to Sin’s face and back again. “Coz that’s how I felt when I first met you, Sin. We might not be fated, but I still felt something that drew me to you.”

Well, shit. The Orc’s a damn poet and clearly a lot more in touch with his feelings than I am. I just have a bunch of muddled sensations swirling around inside me, and I don’t know if I have names for any of them.

Sin glances at me, and I shrug. “I definitely felt something from the moment I first saw you. Why do you think I’ve been hiding out here so much since we arrived?”

“I figured I just pissed you off.”

“Pretty sure I pissed you off too,” I reply, and she just smirks at me.

“You should spend some time together,” Cal says, glancing up from his phone and sounding like a sage king of wisdom. “My mom’s got a fated mate bond with Ostin, one of my dads, but none of the others. She said she had to work just as hard to keep their bond alive and strong as she has with the others. The bond will grow the more time you spend together, and it’ll wither if you don’t.”

That’s another kick in the gut. So far, I’ve been doing a terrible job of getting to know Sin, so our bond must be like a tiny little seedling struggling toward the light.

How the hell do we get to know each other?

“It’s Elemental Infusion week on Alchemy Showdown and I’ve missed nearly all of it,” I tell her. “Want to see if Roger sets the workspace on fire again in today’s episode?”

She snorts. “You’re a Showdown fan too?”

I nod and grin. My stupid stomach flipping over itself like an overeager puppy. While I don’t think trashy TV is the usual way to bond with your soul mate, at least we have one thing in common.

I guess it’s about time I pulled my head out of my ass and got to know my fated mate.