Five to Love Him (Phoenix Immortal: Hive #1)

20. HIVE

twenty

L eo’s sniffles ebbed slowly. We waited patiently though we would have liked to coax him upstairs, get him to lie down to make sure he’d be better able to relax while he cried, but like the sensitive wings of a new-hatched butterfly, we didn’t want to touch and prod.

Eventually he calmed. It was just when we arrived—we had told Coral we’d finish our shift with one.

“Oh,” Leo said when the door opened and we came inside.

We lifted a bag. “We got some more chocolate-covered strawberries.”

He cackled, his nose still stuffy. “You’re totally spoiling me. You better be careful or I might get used to that sort of treatment.”

“We wouldn’t be opposed.” We touched his sides. “Would you like to go upstairs, rest for a bit before heading back to your house?”

He looked around. “What time is it? It has to be going on midnight.”

“Just past eleven.”

“Wow. Can I go and take a quick look upstairs before we go home? If you’re done packing, I mean. I don’t need to rest.”

“We are.” We came down with the bag in our hand. We had packed more clothes than we needed for one night, hoping Leo wouldn’t notice.

He nodded, oblivious. “Look. Forget my first reaction, okay? I’m still new to this, and your place is awesome. Oh, I want to check out the bathroom too.”

We let him, our cheeks slightly flushed.

At the Dazzle, Coral waved his towel in front of our face. “The werewolves look like they’re about finished. I’m sending you home once they are. A little bonus for working with four hands all this time.”

We beamed at him. “Thank you, Coral.”

The lernean huffed. “One lucky guy. That one from yesterday, right? The blond one?”

We bobbed our head. “He is ours.”

Coral inclined his head. “Take a bottle with you. Anything you want. Celebrate with him. And please don’t quit on me, okay? You’re the best server I ever had. I don’t want to train anyone else.”

“We don’t want to quit. We enjoy working here as well, Coral, we really do. We met Leo here.”

Coral winked, showing off his dazzling fake lashes.

“That’s his name, huh. Bring him by some time and introduce us.”

We promised that we would while we watched Leo opening and closing the sliding door to our bathroom before grinning at us.

“I know it’s just a sliding door, okay? How’d you fit the washing machine in the bathroom?”

We shrugged. “It came with the unit though we wondered the same thing. Maybe they built the place around it.”

“Maybe. Ugh, I hate moving big furniture. Clearing out Gran’s room was a workout, and don’t even get me started on the adventure otherwise known as kicking the old couch to the curb.”

“We don’t mind big furniture. We may be small, but even we can handle a move.”

We tried to keep the longing out of our voice. Two balled their fists, keeping us from saying we’d happily move everything we owned by ourself if only Leo said we could. We wanted to be close to him, wanted to be with him, but we had read books and watched shows and movies, and so we knew that humans needed more time. Maybe we were lucky already to be allowed to sleep over.

The werewolves asked for the check, and we hurried over to their table, Coral chuckling behind us.

Leo stopped in the middle of the ladder to the second floor.

“Hold on. You don’t mind big furniture, and you picked me up like a straw doll. Tell me more about your superstrength.”

“It’s not superstrength. A hive is simply stronger than a human.”

Leo continued up the ladder, and we decided to follow with one, briefly considering bringing the strawberries, but they would be better as a dessert after dinner. Maybe he’d want to lounge on the floor again while he ate, resting close to us.

“You know what I mean. Superstrength for me. What else can you do?”

“We think we’re getting to be very skilled at hive hugs.”

He made an adorable sound of amusement. “Funny. I mean it. Look, Instructor Arick said you guys—and I mean hives, not thinking of you as several people—anyway, he says you are all very secretive. Can you fly? Glow in the dark? What’s there to hide?”

We had a hunch that after his outpouring of grief, Leo was veering toward overtired and unusually excitable. We’d get him home soon enough. We were considering what drink to take from the Dazzle and picked a plum wine, something sweet and soft, so much like Leo. If he didn’t like it, we could mix it too, turn it into something closer to his taste.

“We don’t necessarily mean to hide things, but hives are private and very protective. We have a knack for picking out supernaturals and knowing what they are, not perfect, but good. Most others think that our real strength lies in being a multiple—” We cleared our throat, some of our hands shaking at the memories this brought. “You see, hives aren’t violent by nature. There are stories of some of our kind being captured and used for things such as magic tricks.”

That was safe to say. It was general, didn’t talk about why what had happened had happened to us. We weren’t even sure why that human had wanted us. We didn’t know that it was because of what we were. For all we knew he liked the way we looked or…we clasped hands where Leo couldn’t see, almost dropped the plum wine but managing to hold on, to calm down enough to gather our things and leave the Dazzle, mumbling a quick goodbye and thank you to Coral. We wanted the one to be close. It would help us stay calm.

Leo didn’t seem to have noticed anything amiss. He was looking around the upstairs, a smile spreading over his face.

“You only have one bed, just like me.”

“We do. We told you. We don’t need to sleep all at once.”

He crossed his arms. “Basically, you never sleep.”

“Not in the way you do.”

“That’s a superpower. I mean, I could tell you stories about college and study drugs. Some of the people there would have done anything to not have to sleep.”

“But singulars need it. We need to not be kept apart, and singulars need rest. It’s your nature.”

Leo looked at us, thoughtful. “I think I get it now. It’s hard enough to hide what you are from other humans. You don’t need me to tell you to only come alone or with two or whatever.” He heaved a sigh. “Communication. Let’s not become Ezra and Tate.”

The panic that had risen in us ebbed, and when Leo sat down on the bed, we sat next to him, close, so that we touched.

“Ezra and Tate will figure it out. They are close. It’s right in front of them.”

Leo smiled. “Yeah. I’m getting kind of tired. We should leave. There are spare chairs in the basement, for the kitchen table. It folds out. Gran’s office used to be the dining room, and if you like moving furniture, then maybe it’s the perfect time to close the office down for good and make it a dining room again so that all of you fit.”

“No.” We stood, put our hands on Leo’s shoulders, and shook him gently. “Leo, no. We…we can’t let you do that. Because of our mating instinct. And remember what you learned about not fighting that.”

This was the definition of a white lie, and we only felt slightly guilty. We couldn’t let Leo give up his grandmother’s business for a dining room though, we knew that.

“Huh?”

We looked up the ladder, wondering whether we should join with the other three, but maybe this would be easier for Leo if he’d have just one to focus on.

“We mean it. You’re keeping the office.”

“But—”

We pouted. “Please.”

“I mean, okay? I was just thinking that you all should have a space.”

“We’ve seen your kitchen table. It’s big enough for you and us.”

“I guess, but…” He shrugged. “I guess.”

“We’ll go there now. We’ll show you. Dinner is going to be cozy. How about pasta? Do you have pine nuts?”

Leo looked at us with big eyes. “No. Didn’t know you can put pine nuts on top of noodles.”

We flushed. He was too cute. “We’ll show you, Leo. We’ll show you.”