2. Ellis
CHAPTER 2
ELLIS
Holy fucking fuck.
Next to me, Shane glanced back at Ms. Jackson, who was lying flat on the rear seat, their tail twitching in time to the 80s song on the radio. He widened his eyes at me, and I bugged out mine back at him. Ms. Jackson’s demonstration of their abilities had been unreal.
I didn’t know of any beings on Earth who could use magic like that. I mean, we’d all heard stories about the Elves, and how they’d been able to use magic to manipulate objects and their environment, but I didn’t think Elves started out their lives as magical artifacts.
It wasn’t a mystery I could solve right then, so I shoved it aside to worry about later.
I followed Greg and Cal out of the parking lot to go over to their new house. Okay, I was pretty sure Greg was technically the sole owner, but given the bond between them, Cal would be moving in too. Their bond was only two weeks old; they wouldn’t be able to be apart from each other much yet.
I checked on Shane again, but he’d relaxed into his seat, tapping his fingers on his leg to the music. Ms. Jackson had intimidated him when we’d gotten to Cal’s place, but he seemed to have adjusted to their presence, even with the freaky display of magic.
He noticed me looking at him, and he gave me a shy smile. Damn, I could not get enough of that smile, with his wide, pink lips and white teeth against his tanned skin and coarse black stubble. I couldn’t help but imagine those lips around my dick, and it made me hard and slightly embarrassed at the same time.
DMs didn’t bond with DMs. We were both nesting, so our mates would be arriving in our lives at any moment. Having sex with Shane—even thinking about having sex with Shane—would be a disservice and an insult to our future mates.
Dammit.
Greg wound through a residential neighborhood before parking in front of a house currently being remodeled. The roof looked new, but the green paint was peeling and a few shutters were missing. A dumpster took up half the driveway, and two cars were lined up in the other half, so I pulled in behind Greg at the curb.
Ms. Jackson bumped their forehead against the door, waiting to be let out. Probably more fun to join us than stay in the car. Shane stepped out and, after scanning the completely empty street, opened the door for them.
Greg and Cal walked across the yard to meet us, and we followed them up to the front door. Greg knocked as he opened it, calling out, “Hello? Ruben? Kayla?”
“Hey, Greg and Cal, good to see you.” An enormous man, a porcupine shifter with their typical brown-blond hair, came out of the stripped-down kitchen. A much smaller young woman, also a porcupine shifter, walked out behind him .
Greg and Cal shook their hands, then Greg gestured at me and Shane. “Ruben and Kayla Tooley, this is Ellis, the DM of the Northeast District, and Shane, the DM of the Southeast District. And this is Ms. Jackson.” He put his hand on their back. “Everyone, Kayla is Ruben’s daughter. They both travel frequently. Kayla visits Houston, and Ruben goes back and forth to Dallas and Ft. Worth.”
Shane and I shook hands with Ruben and Kayla, and they both waved awkwardly at Ms. Jackson. Once the pleasantries were over, Greg offered us a tour before we got down to the connecting.
The house was old. Probably not as old as Shane’s place, but old enough to have been in pretty bad shape before Ruben started working on it. As it stood now, almost all of the fixtures, cabinets, and flooring had been ripped out. The kitchen walls were still covered in some godawful wallpaper, but there weren’t any countertops or appliances. The only intact rooms were a huge game room upstairs and an office in what had once been the attic. I could absolutely picture Cal working up there at the top of the house.
When we returned to the ground floor, Ruben said, “I’ve got some folding chairs on the back deck, if you’d like to do the connections out there.”
We were all agreeable and trooped outside. Ms. Jackson, who’d followed us silently through the house, perked up. They bounded off the deck and onto the grass before running in a circle. Suburban neighborhood yard sizes were not meant for exercising tigers.
“Crap. This is their first time on grass. We should’ve taken them to a park or something before now. Fuck.” Cal rubbed his face .
Well, that was just sad. But Ms. Jackson was making up for lost time, rolling on their back and stretching in the sun.
“Hey, Ms. Jackson,” Shane called. They stopped twisting their back into the grass and lifted their enormous head to look at him. “I have a hammock in my back yard. Uh, it’s like a swinging bed made of knotted rope. Don’t let me forget to have you try it out.”
Ms. Jackson rolled over and bounded to their feet. Then without even a running start they leapt onto the deck, landing next to Shane. He took a couple of steps back but otherwise held his ground. I put a hand on his shoulder in case he needed support. Ms. Jackson walked forward and rubbed their head against Shane’s hip. They didn’t leave any fur behind like a housecat would, though I wasn’t sure if that was a tiger thing or a Ms. Jackson thing.
“Uh, you’re welcome?” Shane chuckled uneasily.
Ms. Jackson turned around and jumped back to the grass. They proceeded to walk along the fence, inspecting the overgrown shrubbery.
Shane turned to Greg and Cal. “When you get around to it, let me know if you want some help with your landscaping.” He looked around the yard. “I can put together a few designs. Or at the very least I could help you pick out some native plants that’d be more drought-tolerant than what you have here already.”
Cal’s eyebrows hit his hairline. “I didn’t know you were a plant expert, Shane. It’s really nice of you to offer.”
Shane turned ruddy under his tan. “Oh, well, I don’t know if I could be called an expert. But I do work with plants all day. ”
I shook my head at him. “He’s being modest. While we were on the way up here his boss called him because no one else can do landscape designs like he can.”
Ruben said, “Shane, I frequently need a landscape designer—mostly for single-family homes, nothing too difficult. Would you be willing to show me a couple of your designs?”
Shane’s face turned even redder, and he shoved his hands into his pockets. “Oh, I don’t know if I’m good enough for something like that. I’m not a licensed landscape architect or anything.”
I could tell Ruben was about to argue, but Shane had his mouth pressed into a thin line and his shoulders were hunched over.
“Tell you what, Ruben,” I interrupted. “Why don’t you give me your contact info. I mean, we’re going to be connected anyway, right? And Shane, when we get back to Houston, I’ll convince you to show me some of the things you’ve done.” I flashed him a winning grin, and I was relieved at his tentative smile back. “Would you trust me to tell you if I think they’re good enough to send Ruben some photos?”
“Um, okay.” Shane clasped his hands together and looked down at his shoes, but he didn’t seem upset.
I had trouble continuing the conversation because my eye caught on Shane’s fingers where they interlaced. They were thick and strong. They probably wouldn’t have the dexterity required to do a Boingy Boing, but they’d feel damn good in my ass.
Fuck. Objectifying Shane was inappropriate. I should’ve been paying attention to the conversation. I dragged my eyes away. “Um, that okay with you, Ruben? ”
“Sure. Didn’t mean to pressure you, Shane. I just really prefer to give my business to other members of the campaign, you know?”
Shane nodded but didn’t speak.
“Why don’t we sit down and do the connections?” Kayla said. She pointed at the folding chairs arranged in a circle on one side of the deck.
I sat next to Ruben, and Kayla sat by Shane. She told him, “My best friend Fantine is in your District.”
Shane brightened. “Fantine Walker? She’s great.”
Kayla beamed. “She is. She’s the reason I go to Houston so often.”
“Well, I’m glad we’ll be connected.” He didn’t say anything else.
I stepped in. “Okay, well, Ruben, are you ready to try a connection?”
“Sure.” The big man turned in his chair so he was mostly facing me. He held out his hand.
I clasped his wrist, and Ruben wrapped his fingers around my forearm. I closed my eyes and looked for our magic. Ruben’s wheel was bright and spun swiftly, like most shifters’ magic did. He had about thirty or so connections already, and I could easily see which one led to Greg. I used my magic to tease out a tendril of his, then I wrapped mine around it. I pushed my intent to connect through the spot where our magics joined, and I felt Ruben doing the same.
And it was done. It felt just like every other connection I’d ever made with a Wonder. I opened my eyes and released Ruben’s hand. I chuckled. “That was way too easy for all the buildup. ”
Ruben laughed, clapping me on the shoulder with his big palm. “No kidding.” He made a sweeping gesture toward Shane and Kayla. “Your turn, but I daresay you won’t have any more trouble with it than we did.” No doubt. The experiment was a success, and hopefully more Wonders who traveled outside their Districts would connect with multiple DMs going forward.
I glanced over at Greg and Cal, and they were beaming at us. Greg was holding Cal’s hand in both of his, and I felt a pang of envy. I wanted that.
I looked back to Shane, who was smiling his shy smile at Kayla as they celebrated completing their connection. My heart went pitter-pat in my chest.
My mate had better get here before I did something stupid.