Chapter Thirty-Five #2
Nick blinked. Kit’s tail twitched, his eyes meeting Nick’s.
There was a question in his gaze. Not a ‘what are we?’ but more of an ‘are you going to tell him?’.
Everything had happened so fast that there had been no time to sit down.
Figure things out between them. Practical things.
Like, how would a relationship work when Kit lived in Aridia, Nick on the coast of Ireland, and a months-long journey separated the two places?
Long distance by letter? That would be far too little to satisfy Nick.
Nick had thought it out, of course. He had college exams and then summer break stretching out before him.
He could train up a new hire for the café so his dad wouldn’t be short-staffed and then make the trip to spend the rest of his summer holiday in Aridia.
Push back starting college a few weeks to squeeze in as much time here as he could.
Maybe Kit might even be up for travelling with Nick to his world for a look around?
He hadn’t even explained where he came from.
Not really. He was pretty sure anytime Nick had mentioned another world, Kit had taken it as a turn of phrase.
But he could picture Kit by his side there.
He’d take up his dad on that college fund he’d thus far unsuccessfully tried to give Nick and find a studio apartment to rent.
Two rooms, so there would be space for Mini.
Nick shelved his uncertainty and focused on the present. Right here, right now, what did Kit mean to him? “We’re together. He’s allowed to see me naked.”
If Connor had anything to say, he kept it to himself. Kit made an agreeable sound, his lashing tail relaxing into more of a swishing motion. He quickly wrapped Nick’s arm in a clean bandage, the bleeding sluggish.
“Keep this raised,” Kit instructed, guiding Nick’s arm to his chest and wrapping it in a sling. “Are you hungry?”
“Starving.”
Kit’s brow creased into many lines. His eyes darted to Nick’s chest, though the bruising was now hidden beneath a plain dark shirt. “I can prepare something light so your stomach isn’t irritated.”
“That sounds good.”
Kit led them both to a dining room, one so fine and crowded with decor that Nick was now certain the house belonged to one of the council members.
Most likely Desre, given Kit’s access. Nick slid into one of the overly plush and, admittedly, comfortable dining chairs and immediately his eyes were a struggle to keep open.
Connor took the spot right next to him, a steady, watchful presence.
“Do you have a boat at the dock?” Nick asked.
“No, I came with Adonis.”
“If Kit doesn’t mind hosting, let’s sleep here. I’m exhausted. It has been a long few weeks.” Nick was almost grateful Trevor and Laurence were a day away. It gave him time to rest up.
“I’ll see.”
Nick looked sideways at Connor.
“Adonis has had trouble keeping his legs since you were taken.”
Nick’s lips twitched. At the smallest hint of irritation, Adonis had trouble keeping his legs, and the emotional merman found many things to be irritated by. Trevor looking at him, for example. “I didn’t realise he cared,” Nick said wryly.
Connor’s brows raised. “It was more to do with me being upset than him. But now that you’re found… I’ll go see if he can join us here. If not, I’d rather camp out on the dock for a few hours.”
“I don’t think anyone will bother you if you do. They’re all scared of the new ‘monarch’ in town.” And Nick had seen it in the church. Not just the reaction to Adonis, but the reaction to Connor himself. The way they’d regarded him as someone to be feared.
Connor shrugged. “No idea what that’s about.”
“I can just ask Kit.”
“Right. I’m sure your captor will know the intricacies of foetal genetic manipulation.” His delivery was bladed.
“No need to be an asshole. Just say you don’t want to talk about it.”
Connor released a sharp breath, looking away.
“Don’t call him that again,” Nick added, more stung by that little ‘captor’ remark than Connor’s tone.
“Dad’s going to have a lot to say about that relationship.”
“He’s just going to be happy that I’m okay.”
“And then he’s going to start asking if it was the way Kit handled your chains that drew you to him or –”
“I just said don’t be an asshole.”
Connor’s jaw tightened. It took him a few seconds to relax and speak again. “I’m just making sure. Alright? You were kidnapped, and now you’re dating the guy who kidnapped you. Put yourself in my shoes, or swap out yourself for Laurence. You’d freak.”
Nick couldn’t deny that.
“Kit’s a good person. He purposefully swapped boats in the middle of the day so that word would get to you guys about where I was.
He’d even escaped from Desre, and the only reason he’s here now is because he came back for me,” Nick explained.
Kit was willing to face down a monster that petrified him to keep Nick safe.
He was willing to put himself back in her power to protect Nick.
“I can understand being grateful. Developing romantic feelings is a stretch.”
“I liked him at Vi’s party,” Nick admitted.
Surprise showed on Connor’s face. “Really?”
“Really.”
Kit brought him a small bowl of oats. “Would you like some also?” Kit asked Connor, addressing him directly for the first time.
Connor looked between the two of them, frowning at Nick when he promptly spooned a bite into his mouth. “No. I’m getting Adonis.” He stood up. “I can feel Nick wherever he is, and he better stay in this building while I’m gone.”
Kit didn’t answer the threat but met Connor’s eyes without backing down. Nick dropped his spoon to give Connor a shove as he walked away. Connor didn’t acknowledge him whatsoever.
Nick apologised to Kit once Connor was gone, but Kit only shook his head. “The threat is warranted. I stole you from him.” His fingers brushed against Nick’s shoulder, a small point of reassuring contact. “I have painkillers boiling with tea for you, but fill your stomach first.”
Nick did as asked. He finished eating, then drank Kit’s tea with painkillers, head lolling back by the time Connor returned with Adonis.
Adonis promptly reached for Nick’s arm, unwrapping the sling and then the bandages with surprising care for such a brute.
He placed his hand above the knife wound.
Nick waited. Kit and Connor watched. Adonis made a disagreeable noise in his throat. Warmth trickled through his tattoos, like the heat that had activated whenever Adonis was nearby, but on a far lesser scale.
“What’s wrong?” Connor asked.
“The spells are blocking him,” Nick said.
He could even feel the cut symbol that shielded him from Desre heating, as if just being bandaged back together was enough to return it to working order.
He gnawed on his inner cheek, searching within himself for the emotional hangup that was activating the spells and blocking out Adonis.
“Maybe I’m a little wary of magic being used on me…
” Desre, and what her influence did to him, remained stuck in his head like glue.
He cast a sideways look at Kit. “Maybe you could forgive Ios and let him stitch me up?”
Kit’s expression became one of immense displeasure. “I would rather Anna do the work. Mini has gone to tell her the news…but she is far from here. I will get Ios.” A low growl rumbled from his throat as he stalked from the room.