Reckless Souls (Saints Academy, #1)(63)

other, desperate to get straight to the point and figure this out.

“I don’t think you’re ready for my honest answer, Rhea,” she murmurs, brushing her hair back off

her face, before rising to her feet, searching for something and dropping back down to the bed with a

book in her hand.

It looks old, worn, and tattered, like it has the answers to all of life's problems and is used far too

much for the sacred details it holds.

Fuck, this can’t be good if she needs reference materials to explain what’s going on.

“You’re not filling me with confidence, Harm,” I grumble, swiping my damp hair back off my

face. “Are my eyes likely to go back to normal or not?” I ask, just as much to myself as Harmonia.

“Honestly, I’m not sure, but everything you’ve described sounds like you have sealed your souls

together or something,” she mutters, flicking through the pages before coming to an abrupt stop.

“What the fuck is that? Sealed souls? You mentioned it the other week and never expanded,” I

state, moving to sit up as concern burns my chest, and as much as I try to rub the ache away, it does

nothing but intensify.

“Don’t worry about it. It can’t be that, you would have used protection, and the barrier condoms

provide stops it from happening,” she says passively as my entire body freezes.

Fuck.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

The blood drains from my face as my pulse rings in my ears, fingers trembling all while my brain

short circuits.

“It says here—”

“Harm…”

“That if you—”

“Harm!” I shout, louder this time so she stops reading the book and looks up at me, confusion

flashing in her pink eyes as I shake my head. “He… I… uh, he took it off, the condom, I mean,” I

mumble, watching as her eyes widen and she gapes at me in shock, while I try not to cringe.

Apparently, I did leave a part out after all.

“Were you not taught about practicing safe sex down in Phoenix Valley, Rhea?” she hisses, her

face reddening as she gives me a pointed look, and I shield my eyes with my free hand, squeezing my

temples as I try to remain calm. Even though she’s trying to help, I don’t need a fucking lecture about

using condoms.

“I was, Harm, I really was. But we were in the midst of it all, and when he slipped it off and

thrust back inside of me, it was exactly what I needed. Besides, I had to have the angel dust injection

when I was fourteen. It’s mandatory for humans, forcing us to not procreate outside of marriage,” I

add with an eye roll, another of The Hex’s rules that we, earthlings, must adhere to.

“I thought that was a myth,” Harmonia responds in surprise, and I simply shrug, not wanting to get

into the details right now.

For population control, once a woman turns fourteen in Phoenix Valley, every girl has to have the

angel dust injection which essentially acts as magical pregnancy protection, and can be reversed once

you have a marriage certificate.

It’s a load of bullshit if you ask me, but for moments like now, I’m thankful as fuck.

“Don’t worry about that right now, we’re getting off track. I had sex, Harmonia, that’s all. There

was definitely no sealing of souls or any of that shit. I would have felt something,” I state, raising my

eyebrows at her, but the tight smile she offers back tells me I’m incorrect.

Fucking hell.

“It’s so rare, Rhea. To the point that people even gave up on it before the war. Everyone started

arranged marriages for power and all of that crap, hoping that would give them the strength to grow,

but let me make this clear. Nothing, and I mean nothing, compares to sealed souls.”

The conviction in her words do nothing to calm my racing heart as I try to swallow past the lump

in my throat.

She’s not hearing me. She can’t be.

It was just sex.

“Harm, I think we’re digging too much into—”

“What color were his eyes?” she asks, interrupting my excuses, my tone starting to sound

borderline frantic, and I frown at the random question.

“They were like an amber shade, but they were almost yellow at one point,” I answer honestly,

and she nods, scanning through her book, but the way she looks up through her lashes at the phone,

with certainty in her eyes, I know I’m fucking screwed.

“Gods, I’m such an idiot. What does this mean for me, Harmonia?” Desperation is clearly causing

the tremor in my voice, her mouth is open as she starts to speak but her response is halted when a

pounding sounds from the other side of my door.

It can only be one of four people, and I don’t want to see any of them right now. I’m going to

ignore the fuck out of them once they stop hitting the door like they’re trying to punch a hole through it.

I get more annoyed with every knock when they don’t stop, cringing at the phone as I glance back

at Harmonia. “Find out everything you can from that book, Harm. I’ll call you back,” I state before