Chapter Two #2
“I have always seen flickers,” Atlas started. “When I was younger, I didn’t understand and couldn’t explain it properly. As I got older, it didn’t take long with everyone always looking at me like I was crazy to realize that I shouldn’t tell my friends or family about the animal people.”
“You’ve said that before. Animals.” He had to mean shifters.
“When they flicker, their human faces flash into animals. Real animals. Like Lions and such.”
“You saw a shifter’s true self. Their other half,” Bel said.
“I always wondered. I mean I’ve watched television and movies, so it wasn’t outside the realm of possibilities.” Atlas shrugged. “There was just no one that I could ask.”
“What about the shifters? You never asked them?” That was what Bel would do.
“I tried,” Atlas confirmed. “Especially when I was younger. It does not go well when you accuse people of looking like animals. If I asked one of the kids I went to school with, it wasn’t long until they stopped coming to school.”
Bel nodded. “Rule number one in most packs is hiding what they are. If you asked the wrong questions, the parents would most likely remove their children from being around you to keep them safe.”
“But why? I was asking questions because I didn’t know what they were. How was I a threat?” Atlas asked.
“What if you told someone else? An adult that could harm them?” Bel asked gently.
Atlas winced.
Damn. “You did tell?”
“I guess I did.” Atlas shrugged. “Not that anyone believed me.”
“They could have. Shifters have been hunted for centuries. Some species to extinction.”
Something, a strange look, flashed across Atlas’s face.
“It’s not your fault when you didn’t know yourself.”
Atlas quickly shook his head. “I guess. It’s just…never mind.”
Bel wanted to push. He could feel that his mate was starting to pull away from him.
The excitement and curiosity being strangled by another emotion.
He just didn’t know which one. Humans weren’t a species that Bel spent much time around.
He’d barely had any interactions with anyone other than demons.
He had a lot to learn about his human mate.
“What do you see exactly?” he questioned. Bel knew the answer had to be there. They just needed to figure it out. It pained Bel that Atlas had suffered all his life. Being lost and alone with this special ability. In just their short interaction, it was obvious that Atlas had suffered greatly.
The question seemed to relax Atlas. Like he could handle this direction of the conversation. Bel made a mental note of that.
“Like with you,” Atlas said. “You seem human and then would flicker and I could see that you weren’t. The horns, bumps along your cheeks, sharp teeth, wings. All of it. I mean you have a freaking tail!”
Bel tried not to show his amusement.
“I mean I saw it all when you only wore the towel so…”
Yes, being half naked had not been putting his best foot forward.
“Does it bother you? My true form?” That would make his mating difficult.
He wouldn’t even be able to use his glamour to help Atlas become more comfortable in his presence if Atlas could see through the magic.
Was that it? Maybe Atlas was magical? Or anti-magical? Was that a possibility?
“Nah.” Atlas waved his hand. “It’s better to be able to see all of you. Like this. The flickers give me a headache and eventually my eyes start to ache. It’s hard to look at someone when they’re flickering.”
Which might explain why Atlas had refused to look at him back in the human realm. “And you said no one else in your family had this…ability?” Bel wasn’t sure what else to call the flickers.
“No one that admitted it,” Atlas told him.
“It’s not like I have a big family. It was just my grandma, Mom, and Dad.
Mom and Dad had me tested for all types of problems. They did not understand my description of animals.
They thought I had a mental disorder. My grandma just told me to stop talking about the flickers. Especially in front of my parents.”
Hmm, not helpful. Still Bel wouldn’t mind speaking to Atlas’s family. Maybe he could call Dean, a powerful mage from the pack that Lucifer was connected to, to test Atlas’s magical abilities or answer some of the questions they had. At least Bel had resources to help figure this out.
“No one in your family said anything about magic? Or claimed to be able to use any?” Bel asked next.
Atlas’s lips twitched as he shook his head. “My mom and dad wouldn’t believe in magic if they saw it performed before their eyes. Like that trick you did with the fire and chairs. Or the food. They were both academics and thought everything had a scientific answer. No way were they magical.”
Bel didn’t miss the way that Atlas spoke about his parents in the past tense. Were they no longer living? That must be hard on his mate. “And your grandmother?” Bel inquired.
Atlas seemed to think about that for a moment.
“I don’t believe so. She was really concerned when I talked about the flickers.
She would shush me when we were around other people, but she did ask me when we were alone about what I saw.
Now I wonder if she did or knew more. I just can’t figure out why she would keep it to herself. ”
Again, Atlas used past tense. Did this boy not have anyone? Well, he had Bel now. Bel would take care of his mate. “She might have been magical though. Or one of your parents might not have known or were afraid of using it. We can find out.”
“You’ll help me?” Atlas asked incredulously.
“Of course. You really shouldn’t have been able to follow me into another realm.
That is concerning. The only explanation I can come up with is that you must have some magic in you.
That doesn’t explain the flickers.” Bel leaned back in his chair and stretched his neck.
“It’s late but I can reach out to a few people in the morning. ”
“Oh. Yeah. That would be great.” Atlas peered around the room. “Do you just take me back or what?”
“That is completely up to you,” Bel said sincerely.
He would return Atlas to the human realm if that was what his mate wanted.
Even if it was the very last thing that Bel wanted to do.
Not that he would leave Atlas alone. It had been years since Bel had attempted to hide in the human realm, but he could do it. Probably.
“What do you mean?” Atlas asked.
“I can return you to your home. In the morning, I’ll ask around and can come find you.
” That was only half truth. Bel wouldn’t leave his human alone and without protection.
“Or you can stay here. I have a room that you are more than welcome to sleep in.” It wasn’t his room, but Bel would take his mate being close and in his home realm over having to hide and stalk Atlas.
Atlas shrugged. “It’s just a motel room that I rent by the week. It’s not really home.” He looked around the room once again. “And I’m already here.”
The reluctance to leave him was evident.
Atlas didn’t want to leave him! Bel wanted to do a little dance and celebrate.
That would not be dignified. “You are already here,” he agreed.
“But you don’t have a home?” That bothered him greatly.
Bel wanted to make sure that Atlas was never alone again.
Give the boy everything that he was missing.
It was the mate pull. Bel knew that. Embraced the link already forming between the two of them.
A slight blush made Atlas’s cheeks turn pink. “It’s a long story. But no, I’m…traveling around.”
Bel had no idea what that meant. “You’ll stay then.” At least Bel could ensure his mate’s safety as they figured out what was happening. “I’ll show you around.”
“Okay.” Atlas had to move to the edge of the chair then drop down.
Bel’s mate was just a tiny little thing. There wasn’t anything human-size in his home. Although the magic in the house would adapt and could be altered for all of Atlas’s needs.
He stood and while he wanted to hold out his hand and touch his mate, that might be rushing things. Bel would take things slow with Atlas. Make sure that his mate was safe and comfortable. Then he was going to have to figure out a way to bring Atlas into his world.
Luckily there were other humans that resided in hell.
Quite a few of them since mates had begun to be found once again.
Bel would use the contacts that he’d made.
He was also certain that the boys would be thrilled with adding another human to their group.
Bel just had to make sure that the master of punishment’s mate, Adam, didn’t try to claim Atlas as a minion.
Yes, that was a thing that Adam did. While it usually amused Bel, he wouldn’t let his mate fall into that chaos.
“This way,” Bel instructed. He strode toward the same wall that he’d entered through earlier.
The wall opened.
“Does it do that when you’re close enough? Is there a weight plate or motion sensor?” Atlas questioned. His eyes were huge as he looked around.
Bel had to slow down. He was so used to magic that it hadn’t occurred to him that all of this being so new to Atlas might be intimidating. Atlas hadn’t been outside of the human realm. Or at least Bel didn’t think so. Surely, the boy would have mentioned it?
“My apologies,” Bel said. “Things work differently on this plane. If I forget to explain anything, please don’t hesitate to ask questions. It might not occur to me to inform you of what is happening.”
“So formal,” Atlas said with a grin. “But yeah, you probably don’t even know what to explain.” He waved his hand. Toward the wall. “So…”
“Magic,” Bel explained. “The wall moved because I needed it to.”
“Huh.” Atlas looked even more confused. “But how did it, and I’m using it for magic, know that you wanted the wall opened.”
Bel stilled. That was a very interesting question. And Bel didn’t have an answer.
“You don’t know, do you?” Atlas cackled as he rubbed his hands together.
“I…” Bel frowned. “I’ve always had magic.”
“I’m beginning to wonder how good your explanations are going to be,” Atlas teased.
Bel was shocked at the teasing. Over the fact that his tiny mate still wasn’t showing any fear toward him or the situation that he found himself in. “I do know a mage that I can ask.”
“Part of those phone calls that you’ll make in the morning?”
“Yes.” There were going to be so many phone calls.
Which meant that Bel was going to have no hope in keeping Atlas a secret.
Not that Bel planned on keeping Atlas a secret, not exactly, but he would like some time to get to know his mate before he had to introduce Atlas to some of his more annoying friends.
Like Asmos. And Mammon. And mostly all the other demons.
He was certain that wouldn’t happen though.
If Lucifer knew, then he would tell Cary, who would be unable to resist sharing the news with Asmos.
“Why do you look like you’re about to eat a plateful of vegetables?”
That shocked a laugh out of Bel. His mate must really hate vegetables. “Demons are…”
“Are?” Atlas questioned.
“Annoying,” Bel finished.
Atlas laughed. “Not what I thought you were going to say.”
“To be fair,” Bel corrected himself, “not all demons are annoying. Most just go about their business and stay close to their familiar units. It seems the ones that I am around the most are just…the odd ones.”
“I can’t wait to meet them,” Atlas told him.
Bel groaned. His little mate bewildered him. The human should be running away, or in a corner hiding. Instead, Atlas strolled through the opening in the wall and exclaimed, “What is this floor?”
Atlas was just full of questions.