“Greetings,” he said, sounding just as happy to see him. “Rose messaged me.”
Adrian tried to step forward, but Zorion blocked his path. “I can take him from here.”
Adrian cursed under his breath as the elevator doors closed him inside.
Zorion leaned into him. “Be leery of him, brother. My hawk has a sixth-sense for deception.”
Gage nodded once. He didn’t need Zorion to say anything more.
Zorion began to walk him towards his and Valor’s quarters.
“You can have our den as long as you need. No one will bother you here.”
“Thank you.”
They stopped near a threshold. “Shoes off.” Zorion said.
A set of doors opened with a soft hiss, and Gage felt the immediate shift in his surroundings.
The air tasted different. Mossy and like wet stones. It was so unusually clean. There were no sterilizers, industrial cleansers, or the metallic tartness of too much tech.
The faint sound of trickling water whispered from somewhere to his left, a steady, patient stream that drew him in that direction.
Under his bare feet was cool, woven bamboo padding. He remembered that texture from when he used to meditate in the gym’s sauna.
“This was designed to comfort the beasts inside us,” Zorion whispered as if this space were truly sacred.
Zorion continued guiding him until he touched a vertical garden wall that spanned as far as his hand could reach. Live greenery crawling up a trellis, damp, velvety-lush growth that breathed under his touch.
“You’re almost at the lotus spring.”
He knelt, crawling toward the sound of tranquility and the scent of soft floral sweetness until his fingertips found the edge of a body of water.
It was so warm and soothing. He imagined it glowing a soft blue or green. He flinched when his hand grazed the wide, waxy petals of the lotus blooms floating across the surface.
The soundscapes alternated between gentle winds and distant animal calls, creating the effects of a world that didn’t belong inside a building…but was.
They have a real freakin’ oasis in their quarters!
Plants. Stones. Water. Wood. Nature.
He was definitely going to ask for some upgrades to his rooms after experiencing this.
Zorion left, and Gage moved through the haven alone, his hands and senses taking over.
After several minutes of just being, exploring and existing, he settled on the ground and breathed life into his lungs until he found stillness.
Time blurred.
He didn’t know how long he’d been meditating when the doors hissed again and footsteps rushed toward him.
Zorion’s voice cut through the den’s serenity. “Gage.”
Something in his tone—that he’d never heard reflect fear—made his stomach sink.
“Scar went off grounds,” he said. “His emergency locator was just activated.”
The words hit like a blow to his throat.
