Chapter 9
Chapter
Nine
TOBIN
“What do you think that was about?” Tobin murmured to Fray. They finally had some alone time while Arvid and Lukas went into the water. They wanted to go freeform after lunch, which was totally fine. Tobin understood that. It was a physical need for their kind to morph into freeform, to swim.
Tobin was also certain that Arvid and Lukas wanted to have a private conversation, and in freeform, they could do that without saying a word out loud.
Tobin was leaning against the railing on the pier, and Fray was pressed against him, their arms around each other. It was an embrace, a need for intimacy, for contact, for closeness. Fray nuzzled into Tobin’s neck, kissing the sensitive spot just below Tobin’s ear.
“What what was about?” he murmured, his lips brushing the skin, his breath warm.
It sent delicious shivers through Tobin. “If you keep that up, I won’t be responsible for what I do to you. In public. For all to see.”
He felt Fray’s smile against his neck, his soft chuckle. “Sounds fun. I wouldn’t stop you.”
Tobin’s body reacted, of course. Every touch, every caress, every soft moan lit Tobin on fire. He’d never experienced desire like it. He couldn’t even begin to describe it...
It was all-consuming, utter perfection, whole-body—
Fray pulled back. “What what was about? You didn’t answer me.”
Tobin blinked, trying to remember what he’d even asked. “You distracted me with the neck kissing,” he said, as if that explained why he couldn’t keep one thought train on its tracks. “Can’t think straight.”
Fray laughed. “Can’t think queer either.”
“That was terrible.” Tobin rolled his eyes, but he was smiling. “No, before, I just meant... what they said about Salem and the way they looked at each other.”
“Yeah, I saw that.”
“What do you think it means? I mean, he’s just a cat, right?”
“Well, yeah. He’s...” Fray shrugged. “I dunno. Always been around.”
“Do you remember when he got here?”
Fray’s eyebrows furrowed. “Umm.” Then his eyes met Tobin’s. “Not really. I think we just figured he belonged to one of the families that left a while back.”
Tobin nodded, because, yeah. He’d just turned up one day. He’d taken to Aurin immediately, and Aurin took him in, fed him, and looked after him. He’d given him the name from some witch TV show, apparently, and it suited him.
“I mean, when is a cat not a cat?” Fray added.
“Like we’re not octopuses?” Tobin replied.
Fray’s eyes met his, serious but also a little disbelieving. “We should tell Ciaran. He’ll probably laugh at us, but...”
Just then, they heard the rumble of the police cruiser coming back into town. “Speak of the devil.”
“They weren’t gone very long,” Fray said, the corner of his mouth pulling down.
Tobin could feel Fray’s concern.
Something’s not right.
“Hey,” Tobin said gently. He ran his hand down Fray’s back and found his hand, linking their fingers. “It’ll be okay.” He didn’t need to ask what the problem was. “What’s got you so worried?”
Fray looked at him then. The low clouds made his eyes appear a greyish blue. A troubled blue. And Tobin understood why. So much had happened in the past few weeks. Their quiet life in Tenebrae had been upended.
So much had changed.
They had changed.
“Nothing,” he said. “But, at the same time, everything. I don’t know.”
Tobin slid his free hand up to Fray’s neck and gave him a kiss. “We’ll be okay,” he murmured again. “I promise. I will protect you. No matter what comes our way.”
And Tobin understood something else too. The theory that bonding occurred in troubled times to make a consortium stronger made complete sense.
Sure, Tobin would die to defend his brothers.
But he would burn the world to the ground, he would raze this earth to ash and ruin, to protect Fray.
Without hesitation.
Fray closed his eyes and pressed his forehead to Tobin’s. “I thank the gods for you.”
Tobin kissed him softly. “Same.”
By this time, the cruiser had pulled up by the station, and when the engine cut off, the silence it left rang in Tobin’s ears. Before Ciaran, Sawyer, and Marten were out of the vehicle, Fray was leading Tobin across to meet them.
“Hey,” Fray called out. “Was something wrong?”
“He wasn’t home,” Ciaran replied.
Oh.
Well, that wasn’t totally uncommon, Tobin reasoned.
“Maybe next time,” Fray said to Marten.
Marten gave one of his signature nods. “Yes.” Then he looked down toward the store before his gaze landed on Fray. “Arvid and Lukas are not with you?”
“They just went in for a swim,” Fray replied. “Maybe ten or fifteen minutes ago.”
Marten smiled graciously, then turned to Ciaran. “I might join them, if that’s okay.”
“Of course,” Ciaran said. “Take all the time you need.”
They watched him walk toward Fray’s place, where Marten would no doubt use the lower dock to disrobe and slip into the water unseen. He didn’t seem the type to shuck out of his clothes and do naked cannonball bombs from the jetty like the Tenebrae consortium often did.
The mental image of Marten doing that made Tobin smile.
“Everything okay?” Ciaran asked quietly.
“Oh yeah,” Tobin said with a shrug. “I was just... thinking...”
Ciaran smirked at Tobin, but he could read Fray too well. “Fray?”
Fray nodded toward the police station, and Ciaran understood. Without a word, they headed inside.
Sawyer clapped Fray hard on the shoulder. “Good to see you two are still dressed and fit for public viewing.”
Tobin knew it was a joke. He knew this. The rational part of his brain knew...
But his instincts, the primal side of him, had yet to catch up. In a flash, in a rush to protect Fray, he pulled him behind him, sized himself up to Sawyer, and snarled at him. He fucking snarled.
Mine.
Miiiiiiiiine.
Sawyer took a step back, hands up. “Oh shit. Sorry. Sorry, I didn’t think—”
Ciaran appeared in between them, his skin shimmering, but he kept his human form. He also put his hand up. “Tobin,” he murmured. “He didn’t mean it.”
Tobin shook his head, the protective tunnel vision dissipating as he did.
“Holy shit,” Fray whispered behind him. He was fisting the back of Tobin’s shirt. “I heard that. I felt that.”
Ciaran’s gaze darted from Tobin’s to Fray’s and back again. “Are you good?”
Tobin let out a long, slow breath. He knew the threat was gone. He knew that. But the urge lingered a moment until he had it under control. “I’m good.”
“Tobin, I’m really sorry,” Sawyer said. “I wasn’t thinking, and I know better. Fray, I just—”
“It’s fine,” Fray said quickly. But then he turned Tobin around. His eyes were wide, excited. “I heard you. Like when we’re in freeform. I heard your mind.” He put his hand to Tobin’s cheek. “You said ‘mine.’ But it was more of a growl. It was hot as fuck. Babe, I heard you.”
“You heard what he said in his mind?” Ciaran asked. “Like how we talk in freeform?”
“Wait,” Sawyer said. “You can hear each other’s thoughts underwater?
” Then he looked at Ciaran. “Did you tell me that? Maybe you told me that. I don’t know.
I’ve learned so much weird shit this past week, I’m not sure what’s fact or fiction.
Sorry,” he said, looking at the three cephamorphs. “Please continue.”
“I heard you,” Fray said again, softer this time, his eyes scanning Tobin’s. “It was you. Definitely. It was your voice, your mind.”
“How?” Ciaran asked. “How is that possible?”
Tobin looked at him earnestly. “I don’t know. I didn’t hear anything. I was so focused on protecting Fray, I...” He shook his head. “It was...”
“Like tunnel vision,” Fray supplied.
Tobin looked at him and nodded. “Yes. Exactly like that. Like everything narrowed to one point of focus.”
“I heard you, Tobin. I saw it. I felt it. It felt like we were in a balloon, almost. I dunno how to explain it. Everything else went quiet but you.”
“What?” Ciaran asked, concerned and confused.
Tobin didn’t blame him because he was concerned and confused too.
But Fray seemed to get something that Tobin had missed.
He was excited, looking at Ciaran and Sawyer, his arm now around Tobin’s waist. “I think I figured it out. Before, when our bond was initiated, I couldn’t hear him.
I’d get nothing, then, in a burst, I’d get slammed by everything he felt, and then it would disappear again.
Like a glitch or bad phone service cutting in and out.
When I couldn’t hear him, I thought it was me, or that our bond had malfunctioned, or something.
” He shook his head. “But it’s not me. It’s Tobin. ”
“I malfunctioned—”
Fray shook his head. “No, no. The opposite. He has walls,” he said to Ciaran and Sawyer.
“I can’t explain it any other way. He puts up his defensive walls, and he’s unreadable, closed off.
I can’t feel him. Or when we’re in freeform, I can’t hear him.
” Then his eyes met Tobin’s, and his voice went softer.
“But then he lets his walls down. He lets me in, and by the gods, I can hear and feel everything.”
Sawyer tilted his head. “But you said you heard him just now. In human form.”
Fray grinned and nodded this time. “Yes. Because he was startled and went into defence-mode to protect me. And maybe because I was touching him? He brought me inside his walls.”
“His walls,” Ciaran murmured.
Tobin tried to get his mind around what Fray was saying. He wanted to believe it, but...
“He has a superpower,” Fray said, smiling again at Tobin, pride shining in his eyes. “Like my ability to zap, and your ability to burn, Ciaran. Tobin can go into stealth mode.”
Tobin made a face and shrugged it off. “I’m not sure if my glitch is a superpower? I mean... I dunno.” He’d spent his whole life thinking it was something negative. To consider it in a positive light was strange.