Chapter Thirteen
Eoin
I leave Dáithí at reception with one last kiss and head for my office, grateful for the quiet before most people arrive.
He wanted to come in earlier than usual so he could clear some things that didn’t get attended to yesterday, and I decided to come with him and get a head start on the Summit of Love Challenge.
Dáithí hates that name. I thought it was ridiculous, in a catchy kind of way, but he got all fired up this morning when I mentioned it, which led to me apologizing profusely with a blowjob. I’ve made a mental note to tease him with it as often as possible, just so I need to apologize some more.
The office is empty still, so I aim a spell at the light switch on my way through the darkness to my desk.
I had coffee with Dáithí earlier, but I wouldn’t mind a cup of tea—later.
If I go to the breakroom now, there’s a chance I’ll be waylaid or distracted.
I want to spend some time on the challenge before I start on my work for the day.
Some of the tasks will have to wait for a more appropriate time—like taking Dáithí’s shift, which needs to be planned for an appropriate time, or cleaning his apartment.
I check my calendar and make a note to see if he’s got anything planned for Saturday morning.
Maybe I can convince him to go out for brunch or do some shopping—or both.
I make a note to ask Jared and the king what they’re doing too.
They could keep him company while I’m scrubbing his kitchen floor.
That raises another question—do I need to do the cleaning manually, or can I use my magic? Since the tasks aren’t designed to be tricks, I’m assuming the list would specify if I couldn’t, but I’ll check anyway.
I can’t plan for the two tasks that were redacted, so I focus instead on the date planning and the surprise, making lists of ideas.
My list of questions has gotten a lot longer when a notebook thumps onto my desk beside my hand, and I become aware that some of my team have arrived.
“What’s that for?” I ask, not bothering to glance up. I have a sentence to finish.
“Things I thought of since I saw you last night,” Ari replies, pulling his chair over from his desk and sitting down. That stupid pink wristband is still on his arm. “Caolan sent me the full list and the criteria for assessment, which I had to swear not to disclose. So I won’t.”
“I don’t want you to.” I reach for the notebook.
“I’m going to do this fairly.” The first page is a list of questions that looks a lot like mine.
He has a couple I hadn’t thought of, probably because he has more context than I do.
“Thank you for this.” It almost makes me feel bad that I’m going to stick him with the background checks on the Warhammers.
He shrugs. “I’m on your support team, remember? I also started a list of ideas for your dates and things that might come up while you’re working reception, so you can be prepared.”
“I hadn’t gotten to that last one yet, but I’ve been working on the dates too.” I flip to what looks like the right page and skim through his list. “No to camping—Dáithí doesn’t like it.”
“What? But he used to talk about camping at Rothschen River. He used to go all the time.”
I nod. “Yes, but that was back home. He’d sacrifice hot water and a comfortable mattress because he loved it so much, but he’s not willing to do that here. He says it still reminds him too much of what he’s lost.”
Ari’s face falls. “Oh. Yeah, I…” He doesn’t bother to finish, but he doesn’t need to. We both understand Dáithí’s perspective.
“He recently started hiking again, though,” I volunteer. “Maybe he’ll eventually want to camp again too.” I know he will—it’s not in us elves to stay separate from nature for long, and Dáithí doesn’t get enough time away from the city to forgo camping forever.
“Time heals,” Ari says quietly with a sad smile. “We have enough of it now that we can let it take its course.”
I pat his arm wordlessly, and we both pull ourselves away from melancholy thoughts. He’s right—we have time now.
“What have you come up with so far for date ideas?” he asks. “How many are you planning?”
I push the list I’ve been making toward him. “Three to start with. I might add some more later, though.”
He reads my notes, a faint crease forming between his brows at one point, only to be replaced by a smile. “This one first,” he says, tapping the paper. “I wouldn’t have thought of it, but it’s very Dáithí. Can you pull it off?”
“Maybe. I need to make some calls and ask for favors, but if I activate the friend tree, it should be possible.”
“I’ll leave you to it, then. Anything I can do as a member of your support team?”
“No—actually, yes.” I grab his notebook, flip back to the first page, and add a few of my own questions to the bottom. “Could you check with the Bros and Dáithí and get the answers to some of these?” I check it against my list, making sure everything is covered, then hold it out to him.
“No problem.” He takes the notebook and stands, grabbing the back of his chair in preparation to go back to his desk.
“I’m also sending you some stuff to follow up from the hockey meeting Raeulfr and I had the other day with Caolan.”
Ari freezes. “What kind of stuff?”
I grimace, and his groan is loud enough to attract attention from some of the other members of the security team. “Eoin, noooo. It’s not my turn.”
The curious faces that were looking our way immediately turn back to what they were doing. Brayan actually leaves the office, as if that would stop me from assigning something to him if I wanted to.
“I know, but it has to be you this time. I’m sorry.”
He doesn’t reply, just sighs and glares at me as he shoves his chair toward his desk—hard. It crashes, and he narrows his eyes as if to say he wishes it was me.
Smirking, I ask, “Feel better?”
While he stomps out of the office, notebook in hand, I email him the list of names from Warhammers Erik, check my emails for anything urgent, then grab my phone. Time to see if I can set up this date.
It rings out the first time, no voicemail, but with this person, that means nothing. He misplaces his phone all the time, and he disabled voicemail when he realized people expected him to check it and return their calls. I try again… and then again.
Finally, on the fifth ring of the fourth call, it connects. “Hm?”
Crap. This is obviously not the best time. “Fabian, it’s Eoin.”
“Hm.”
Dammit. “Fabian?”
“Hello?” he sounds startled, as though he wasn’t expecting anyone to be talking to him. Good—that means he’s listening.
“Hi, Fabian. It’s Eoin—from King Raeulfr’s security team.” We don’t know each other all that well, and he can be vague at the best of times.
“Oh—hello. Did I call you about something? I don’t remember what I needed, but I can check my notes.”
I grin. “No, I called you. I have a very big favor to ask of you… well, of your boyfriend, really.”
“Rhys? What kind of favor? Did you join his study? I promise, your personal information is very private—he doesn’t even know himself who’s generating the data. Except for mine, of course.”
Considering that Rhys is running a scientific study on the effects sex has on metaphysical health, I hope everyone’s information is private. “No, that’s not—”
“You didn’t join the study?” Fabian’s voice is full of disappointment. “Oh, Eoin—you of all people must know how important this is. You were at the meeting with the king when we—”
“I joined the study, Fabian, but that’s not what I need to talk to Rhys about.” I interrupt before he can get more off track and take me with him.
He pauses. “Oh. You know he and I are exclusive, right? He won’t go on a date with you.”
I take a deep breath and cling to my patience. “I wasn’t going to ask him. I’m hoping he can help with the arrangements for me to take someone else on a date.”
The gasp of excitement is my only warning before I’m hit with a barrage of questions. “A date? Who? Is it a first date? Do you love them? How did you meet? What can Rhys do to help? Is—”
“Fabian!”
He stops. “You can answer those questions first while I think of some more.”
How generous. “It’s Dáithí, Fabian. I’ve been seeing Dáithí since March last year, remember?”
“My Dáithí?”
“I prefer to think of him as mine.”
“You’re the commitment-phobe!”
I tip my head back and squeeze my eyes shut. This isn’t a positive start. “Actually, I’m trying to convince Dáithí of the opposite, so—”
“The Summit of Love is for you!”
If he yells one more annoying declaration in my ear, I’m hanging up and finding another way to get his boyfriend’s number. Brandt will have it.
Fuck. I should have just asked Brandt to begin with. He’s on my support team—a sentence I never thought would exist.
“How do you even know about that?” I demand.
“So it is you? Caolan told me about it. He had to check something in the archive while he and his bros were planning the tasks. This is so exciting! Do you need Rhys’s help to sweep Dáithí off his feet? I can help too! Rhys and I are both very romantic.” He pauses. “In different ways, though.”
“Could I have Rhys’s phone number?” This is going nowhere fast.
“Sure, but… aren’t you going to tell me why?” I can practically hear Fabian’s pout, and I silently promise myself that I’ll funnel the next favor I need through my support group. They can deal with the overeager dragons.
“I’m in a hurry,” I say. “But Rhys can tell you all about it, I promise. I’ll let him know he has my permission.”
With a big sigh to convey how unhappy he is with me, he gives me Rhys’s number, then says, “I’m setting an alarm to call him in half an hour, so you better be finished by then.”
Great.
I’ve only met Rhys a few times, but he’s definitely the more settled member of that relationship. This next call is guaranteed to be easier… I hope.
“Rhys Griffiths,” he answers, and I exhale in relief. That’s already better.
“Hi, Rhys. This is Eoin Feirstrigh. We met—”
“Hello, Eoin. Of course I remember you. How are you?” There’s a tiny note of concern in the question, and I smile wryly to myself.
“I guess Fabian told you about the challenge.”
There’s a tiny pause, and then he answers, “I think so. He called it the Summit of Love.”
It seems like that name’s going to catch on, dammit. “I want to go on record as saying that I knew nothing about the name. I’m pretty sure Dáithí didn’t approve it either.”
He snorts. “Well, if you have Hagen, Caolan, and their friends helping, there are probably going to be a bunch of things that spin out of control.”
“I’m expecting it. Anyway, since you already know about the challenge, that’s going to save me giving you background. One of the tasks is to plan some dates, and I was hoping you could help.”
“Me?” His surprise is audible. “I’m not great with that sort of thing. Scientist, remember?”
“Fabian seems to think you’re romantic, but I’ve got the idea part handled. It’s the execution I need a favor for.” A big one.
“I’m intrigued. What do you need? If it’s in my power, I’ll do it—if only to make Fabian happy.”
That’s sweet—and I completely understand his motive. There’s a lot I’d do to make Dáithí smile, too. “I’m not sure if you remember, but last time we met, you mentioned that your company has a suite for the baseball season—that you had to go once to chat up potential investors.”
Rhys groans. “Yes. I still don’t know why I had to go. Nobody wanted to talk about our research—it was just bragging and gossip the whole time, with the occasional comment about baseball. And half of those were about the players’ personal lives, or how they looked in their pants.”
Perfect. Dáithí loves gossip and baseball pants on other people.
“That’s how I remember you describing it.
Is there any chance you can talk your boss into including me and Dáithí on the guestlist?
I’m willing to make a donation.” Not as big as what the people who are usually invited can give, but money’s money, right?
I earn decent money and I’m not a wild spender.
“Don’t worry about that,” Rhys says. “The DEA is a backer of my research, remember? You work for the DEA—directly for the king—so you qualify as a representative. Leave it with me and I’ll get you on the list. Which game do you want to go to?”
“Uh…” I can’t believe it was that easy. I thought for sure I’d need to talk him into it, maybe talk to his boss as well. Definitely throw some cash at the company. “There’s a home game this weekend, but if that’s not possible, whenever the next one is.” I’ll make the scheduling work.
“I’ll call you back later today to confirm when, but you can consider this done, Eoin.”
And just like that, the details for the first task fall into place.