Chapter 21
TONY
Tony stood in line at the buffet, watching Tula with Esag, and he felt his heart twist in his chest like a wrung-out dishrag.
She looked so happy. She had never looked that happy with him, not even before the pregnancy.
Her arm was wrapped around Esag's waist, and her hand was resting on the swell of her belly where his child grew.
His child.
The baby she was carrying was his, and yet she stood there wrapped around another male, like Tony meant nothing to her. He had been just the sperm donor.
Esag leaned down to whisper something in her ear, and Tula's face lit up with a smile that Tony had never once managed to coax from her.
She'd never looked at him like that.
The jealousy burned in his gut, hot and acidic, and he hated himself for feeling it.
Tula had never promised him anything. She'd never claimed to love him, but she'd chosen him and had taken ownership of him.
The other ladies hadn't dared to seduce him because they feared her.
For a while, he'd mistaken that for love. But he should have known better.
Tula was territorial and possessive. She liked him, but she'd never loved him.
He'd known that.
He'd always known that.
Somewhere along the way, he'd let himself hope for more, and when she'd revealed her pregnancy, he'd let himself imagine that the child they'd created might be glue enough to hold them together.
He'd been deluding himself.
Tula had never wanted him. Not really. He'd been a placeholder, a warm body to pass the time with until the one she'd been waiting for finally showed up. And that one, apparently, was Esag—the artsy good-for-nothing Esag, who looked at Tula like she'd hung the moon and stars.
Whatever.
Tony was done moping over her. He was done watching from the sidelines while the woman carrying his child looked adoringly at another man. He was done feeling sorry for himself.
He turned away from the happy couple and picked up a plate from the stack, adding a napkin and utensils.
The line was moving slowly, giving him too much time to think, and he searched for something to distract him.
The female in front of him in line was not bad to look at.
She was curvy in all the right places, with a cascade of curly red hair that tumbled past her shoulders like liquid fire.
Freckles dusted her bare arms, visible above the sleeves of her dress.
She shifted her weight, adjusting the napkin-wrapped utensils in her hand, and somehow fumbled the bundle. The napkin fluttered to the ground, spilling the fork and knife onto the grass.
"Oh, damn," she muttered.
Tony quickly bent down, closing his fingers around the hilt of the knife just as her hand reached for it.
Their skin brushed, and the contact was electric. Literally electric—a sharp spark of static that made them both jerk back with a startled laugh.
"Ouch!" She shook out her hand, grinning. "That was quite a shock."
"Sorry about that." Tony retrieved the knife and fork, then picked up the napkin and offered her the bundle. "Here you go."
"Thanks." She took the items, her fingers carefully avoiding his this time, and lifted her face to him.
Tony's breath caught.
She was beautiful. Not in the ethereal, almost otherworldly way that the harem ladies were, but in a warm, approachable, almost human way.
Her face was open and friendly, dominated by bright green eyes that sparkled with mirth.
The freckles extended across her nose and cheeks, giving her a youthful appearance that belied whatever her true age might be.
Her smile was crooked, one corner lifting higher than the other, and it made something in Tony's chest loosen for the first time in days.
"I'm Shira," she said, extending her free hand. "I hope I won't zap you again."
He shook her hand, and there was no electrical spark this time, but there was a strange kind of warmth. Like a welcome. "Tony."
"Oh, I know who you are." Her smile widened. "You're one of the men who were rescued from the harem. You're Tula's guy."
The words didn't sit well with him, but he kept his expression neutral. "I was warned that news spreads fast in the village."
"It's a small place, and everyone knows everyone else. Gossip seems to be everyone's favorite pastime." Shira craned her neck, scanning the crowd. "Where is Tula? I'd love to meet Wonder's sister. I've heard so much about—"
She stopped mid-sentence, her gaze landing on something over Tony's shoulder. He didn't need to turn around to know what she'd found.
"Oh," Shira said softly.
Tony turned anyway, masochistically compelled to witness what she was seeing.
There was Tula, her arm wrapped around Esag's waist while his arm was draped across her shoulders, the two of them so tangled up in each other that they might as well have been one person.
As he watched, Esag pressed a kiss to Tula's temple, and she leaned into him with a contented sigh.
"Yeah." Tony's voice came out rougher than he intended. "Oh."
Shira turned back to him, her expression shifting from surprise to something that looked too close to pity. "I'm sorry. I didn't know."
"That Tula had moved on to greener pastures?" Tony forced a laugh that sounded hollow even to his own ears. "I thought gossip traveled fast in the village. That's already old news."
"But isn't she..." Shira's gaze dropped to where Tula's belly was clearly visible. "I thought that she was pregnant with your child. Wasn't that the impetus for the rescue?"
"She is, and it was."
Tony saw the questions forming in Shira's eyes, the same questions everyone had been too polite to ask him directly but that he knew they were all wondering about.
How could she leave you when she's carrying your baby?
What kind of a woman does that?
How are you okay with this?
He wasn't okay with it. He was the opposite of okay. But he'd be damned if he was going to stand here and let this beautiful woman feel sorry for him.
"I moved out," he said, straightening his spine and meeting her eyes directly.
"It was my choice. I wasn't willing to settle for being someone's second choice.
" He shrugged, aiming for casual and probably missing by a mile.
"Tula didn't love me. She was never going to love me.
I'd rather be alone than compromise on anything less than everything. "
That was such a lie. He'd been willing to compromise if she had, but Tula wanted Esag, and that was it. He'd become yesterday's news.
Shira studied him for a long moment, her green eyes assessing. "You are absolutely right. I wouldn't have been willing to compromise for anything less than everything either."
"Even if you were pregnant with that less-than-everything guy's child?"
"Of course. Most of the clan females have raised their children alone. We can't get too close to humans and risk exposure."
"I'm human."
"But you were already exposed. That's different."
He knew what she meant, so there was no point in dwelling on something that was out of his control.
The line moved forward, and Shira moved with it, gesturing for him to come stand beside her. "Did you love her?"
The question caught him off guard. "Maybe," he admitted.
"I thought I did. But now I'm not so sure.
She's stunningly beautiful, and she's feisty, which is something I'm attracted to, but our relationship always seemed to be lacking in some way.
I never felt the deep emotional connection that I expected to feel for the woman I fell in love with. Does that make sense to you?"
"Perfectly. That's the elusive thing we are all searching for. It's the coming home feeling."
"That's it." He looked at her with admiration. "That's the best definition I've heard of what I was looking for. I never felt that with Tula. It was more like sharing a hotel room."
"I've visited many of those." She looked at him apologetically. "They were all human. I'm still hoping that my home will be with an immortal."
"I might be a Dormant." He began filling his plate.
"The reasons are mostly circumstantial, but if you believe in the Fates, then you know that things usually happen for a reason.
I worked with Kaia before I was abducted to the island, and I even had a crush on her, but she was too young at the time, so I never told her how I felt.
Then it turned out that she was a Dormant and became an immortal while I was stuck on an island full of immortals.
Too many coincidences. I think the Fates are trying to tell me something. "
He didn't know why he was telling Shira all this when they had met only minutes ago. Well, he knew why. He didn't want her to dismiss him as just a human. He wanted her to believe that he had potential.
Shira loaded her plate with an impressive amount of lamb. "I agree that it's too much of a coincidence. You should go for it. You just need to find someone you like to induce you. Anandur is a great guy."
"I've been too busy to think about anything, to be honest. I just got here a week ago, and I immediately started working with Kaia. Thank God for that. Otherwise, I would be thinking all day about Tula leaving me."
"I thought you were the one who left." She added a generous helping of rice and reached for the flatbread.
"I did, but that was after she asked me to sleep in another room."
"Ouch." She smiled at him. "You did the right thing." She started walking toward the tables, and he followed.
Shira led him to a table near the edge of the green where two people were already seated. The woman was beautiful, like all the immortals here, and the guy seemed like the friendly sort.
"Fenella, Din, this is Tony," Shira announced, sliding into the seat beside the dark-haired woman.
"Tony, this is Fenella and Din. I hosted Fenella when she first arrived after the clan rescued her from a much worse place than you were rescued from, but it was also part of the evil umbrella of the Brotherhood. "
Tony took the seat across from Shira, setting his plate down.
"That was ages ago," Fenella said. Her accent was Scottish, soft and lilting. "Well, not really. It just feels like it, and I'm doing my best to forget that dark part of my life."
"Sorry," Shira said. "But I wanted to point out that you and Tony have this in common. It's always good to have something to talk about."
Fenella glared at her. "I don't want to talk about that."
Shira shrugged. "The clan is in the business of rescuing. Find immortals in trouble, swoop in, bring them to the village, throw a big welcome party. Rinse and repeat."
"You say that like it's a bad thing," Din said. His accent was Scottish too, though rougher than Fenella's.
"Not bad at all. I love it." Shira popped a piece of lamb into her mouth and chewed.
"I've heard that you are working with Kaia on something," Din said. "Some highly classified project."
Tony nodded. "I'm a bioinformatician. I analyze biological data, look for patterns, that sort of thing." He shrugged. "It's not as exciting as it sounds."
"It sounds plenty exciting to me," Fenella said. "I tend bar. Not exactly cutting-edge science unless you regard it as social science. You can learn a lot about people when you work in a bar."
Tony's interest was piqued. "Where is that bar?"
"Right here in the village." Fenella grinned. "It's called the Hobbit because it's built like a hobbit home. Come by tonight and check it out. I provide a unique type of entertainment."
"The Hobbit," Tony repeated. "As in Tolkien?"
"The very same."
"So you sing?" Tony asked.
She chuckled. "Badly in the shower. Din plays the guitar, and he sings, but only when he's in the mood.
I provide fake psychometric readings. It's more like stand-up comedy than real readings, so don't be afraid to hand me an object.
Even if I actually do see something, I will make up something funny instead.
" She turned to Shira. "You should come too.
It's been ages since you've visited, and Tony will need a guide to navigate the natives. "
"I've been so busy." Shira made a face. "I had to work overtime. We're digitizing the entire Greek history collection, and my boss is breathing down my neck about deadlines."
"You're a librarian?" Tony couldn't keep the surprise out of his voice.
"Don't sound so shocked." Shira's eyes narrowed playfully. "Wait until I put my fake glasses on. Then I'll look the part."
"No, it's not that. It's just—" He fumbled for words. "You seem so lively. Every librarian I've ever met has been mousy."
"Then you've been meeting the wrong librarians." She tossed her curly red hair over her shoulder. "I work in one of the largest libraries in the city. There's research, and community programs, and plenty of other activities."
There was something captivating about the way her face lit up when she talked about her work, and the way her hands moved expressively to punctuate her points.
"The harem had an enormous library with many rare books," he said. "When it got damaged in the flood, the ladies embarked on a massive restoration project."
Was meeting Shira one more of those coincidences that were not coincidences at all? She was a librarian, and Tula and the other ladies had become experts in book restoration.
Perhaps she could help them find gainful employment restoring books?
"That's a dying art. Only very old and rare books get to be restored." Shira held his gaze, something flickering in her green eyes. Then she smiled, that crooked, asymmetrical smile that made his pulse quicken.
Fenella cleared her throat, breaking the spell. "So, it's settled. Both of you at the Hobbit. Tonight. I'm not taking no for an answer."
"I'll be there," Tony said, then turned to Shira. "Will you?"
She tilted her head. "Are you asking me out?"
The directness of the question caught him off guard, but only for a moment.
"Yes," he said. "I am."
Shira's smile widened, her eyes dancing with that mirth that he was beginning to find irresistible. "Then it's a date. You can pick me up at my house at nine."
"I don't know where you live."
"Check the map of the village on your phone. You can find me there. There is only one Shira in our community."
Tony was hyperaware of Fenella and Din exchanging knowing looks across the table, but he didn't care. He was excited to explore this thing with Shira.
Wasn't it serendipitous that he was also smitten by a redhead?
Another coincidence that wasn't really a coincidence?