Chapter 9 #4
Fray gasped then. I heard you.
Fray’s voice sounded so clear in his head, it was if he’d said the words out loud, and it startled Tobin so much, he felt the walls in his mind go up. Like an airbag deployed, it was an instant recoil.
No, no. Come back, Fray tried.
He wanted to stay open to him. He wanted Fray to read him openly, but he felt the bands snap back. He tried to open it again, to hold it, and he almost did—for a few seconds, it almost worked, but then it was gone.
“Sorry,” Tobin whispered.
Fray took his face in his hands. “Don’t apologise. It was perfect.”
Sawyer came over and slid a hand onto each of their shoulders. “Check out my tattoo,” he said, though his eyes said, Hey, I think I know what just happened and you need to keep it a secret because there are three Norwegians watching you right now.
And yeah, they were watching.
And so was Salem.
Christ.
“Looks great,” Fray said, all smiles. He could clearly cover better than Tobin, but then again, Fray’s kilowatt smile masked a lot... so Tobin had learned. His humour was as much a defence mechanism as Tobin’s mental walls. “It’s actually better looking than Ciaran,” Fray added. “Cuter too.”
“Hey, Fray,” Ciaran said far too pleasantly. They all knew what was coming... “Fuck off.”
Everyone laughed, and Hendrix sat back and studied his work. “Okay, you’re good. Who’s next?”
“Me,” Tobin said. “Gonna need Fray to supply some ink though.”
Fray stood up. “Hell yes.”
“You’re all freaky,” Hendrix said. “I love it.”
Ciaran was looking at his left hand, which Sawyer was quick to take. He looked at Ciaran’s new tattoo, lifted it to his lips, and kissed it. “I love it,” Sawyer whispered.
It was a simple tattoo. A single band on his ring finger.
“Nice,” Tobin said.
Ciaran gave him a shy smile, which Tobin hadn’t seen often. And certainly not before Sawyer arrived. “Thanks. Can’t wear a wedding ring, obviously,” Ciaran said.
Of course not. As soon as he morphed, it’d sink to the bottom of the Cove. But a tattoo? It was permanent.
“What are you gonna get?” Ciaran asked him.
A week ago, Tobin would have been mortified to admit such a thing, but now he was proud. “Three blue hearts. One for each of Fray’s.”
A few of the others let out a collective, “Aww.”
Sawyer put his hand to his sternum. “Oh my god.”
Fray stood up. “Everyone shut the fuck up.” He came over to grip Tobin’s face and pressed their foreheads together. “I fucking love you so much,” he whispered.
“I love you too,” Tobin whispered back.
Because he did. He loved him. In ways he never thought possible, never dreamed he’d ever have—
A noise made them all turn, and Tobin instinctively pulled Fray behind him, his walls ballooning out to include him. To protect him.
Whoa, Fray thought. Holy shit. You’re doing it again. I can hear you.
Tobin glanced back at him, not wanting to take his eyes off the possible threat. I’ve got you, Tobin told him.
Fray’s smile was blinding. I know.
“It’s a boat,” Kellan said. He’d gone to the door to peer out.
Everyone let out a breath of relief.
Everyone but Tobin. “It’s not a boat that’s been here before,” he said. And he’d know. He knew boats. He knew every boat, every trawler that came into the Cove. And they never came at night.
Ever.
Tobin’s defence walls tried to snap back, tried to recoil into his mind, but he pushed them harder to include Fray. He pushed and pushed, though they fought against him.
Then Otis’s phone chimed. He read the screen. “Oh, it’s my cousins,” he said. “They’re here.”
And Tobin’s walls snapped back like elastic, and he almost sagged with the relief of it. The exertion, the strength it had taken to maintain, made it feel like he’d tried to stop a car.
Fray slid his hand up Tobin’s back to his shoulder, then to the back of his neck, and he squeezed. “Baby,” he murmured, then pulled Tobin for a hug. “I’ve got you too.”
Tobin huffed out a laugh, still trying to catch his breath. Fray had definitely heard him. It wasn’t without considerable effort on Tobin’s part, but this was something they could work into an advantage.
Everyone was filing out of the room, Hendrix included, so the tattoo was on hold for now. That was fine, Tobin reasoned. Fray needed to supply some ink, and maybe they could have fun extracting that...
“We should go meet our guests,” Fray said.
Tobin gave him a smile. “Yeah.”
Aurin was the last of the others to leave. He gently put Salem on his seat, and when Fray held the door for him, Aurin gave his usual golden-boy smile and flitted out into the darkness.
Tobin gave Salem a parting glance before they left. Of course, the cat was staring at him, his eyes full of curious contempt. It was unnerving, almost. Tobin would have laughed it off or wouldn’t have even spared the damn cat a second glance before the Norwegian guys had mentioned him.
But now...
Now he was certain Salem was... not just a cat.
Tobin was quick to look away, grab Fray’s hand, and go out to meet the arriving boat.
Salem sat there and watched as Fray and Tobin walked out. He hadn’t been particularly interested in any of the conversations tonight. Typical consortium behaviour, embracing their human side with food and beer.
Salem hadn’t been interested in that at all.
Except for the way Aurin ran his dainty fingers along Salem’s back. Salem was rather partial to that. He hadn’t allowed himself such affection in so very long...
But then something very interesting happened.
Tobin happened.
A shift in the air. An intangible shield.
A whole new realm of possibilities—and problems.
Imperceptible to the others, oblivious to the metaphysical, they were. Not even the Norwegians were aware.
But Salem was.
Salem saw.
Hmm.
Things were getting interesting, indeed.