6. Ellis
CHAPTER 6
ELLIS
I remembered to grab my glasses off the counter by the sink before I ran after Shane to the front door. I was actually a little relieved to have a potential emergency to deal with, because then I could stop freaking out about my bond with Shane for a while.
Not that I wasn’t happy to have it—I was fucking ecstatic—but ever since we’d woken up, I’d been low-key stressing, thinking of all the issues we’d have to deal with. We didn’t know each other well; what if all my little habits irritated Shane? What if his irritated me? What if he thought my hobby was too dorky and made fun of me? Where would we live? What about our jobs? What would our families and friends think? Not to mention, what was wrong with our magic?
So, yeah, right now I was glad to focus on who or what was on the other side of the door Shane was pulling open.
Which was nothing.
No one was standing in the doorway. Shane opened the screen door and stepped outside. I followed closely.
To our right, a tall blond guy stood by the railing on the side of the porch. He was a magic carrier of some kind, wearing a white button-down and black pants, and he was holding what appeared to be a potted plant wrapped in black fabric. I couldn’t see it clearly since he had his back turned. The guy looked over his shoulder and blinked at us, but then he went back to staring at something else. I turned to see what had his attention.
“Fuck!” I stumbled backward into Shane. There was a fucking dragon looking at us from the side of the house!
Shane grabbed my arm, and through our bond he sent calming thoughts. “It’s okay, it’s okay. Ms. Jackson, is that you?”
The dragon bobbed its head.
I put my hand on my chest. Right. Ms. Jackson had been in dragon form before, and I’d seen the picture someone had posted on Discord.
“Hey, what’s up?” Shane was talking to the guy with the plant. “Don’t be scared. That’s just Ms. Jackson. They’re, uh, not going to hurt you.”
I looked at the guy’s pasty-white face, then I looked at Ms. Jackson’s sharp teeth and the smoke curling out of their nostrils. Yeah, I wouldn’t believe Shane either. And I fucking hoped none of the neighbors were looking out their windows right now.
I stepped between the blond guy and the scary dragon. “Ms. Jackson, you’re frightening our visitor. I don’t think they mean any harm. Can you maybe change to something a little more... friendly-looking?”
Ms. Jackson tilted their head, considering the guy. Then the vertical slits in their reptilian eyes widened. I spun around. He was now facing us, and I could see the potted plant he was holding also contained a young girl. A dryad, based on her yellow and green-mottled skin and hair. She bared her fangs at us.
Ms. Jackson made a crooning noise. When I glanced back at them, they pushed their head further under the roof of the porch. Shane and I backed up, but before I could say anything, they shimmered, and the creepy four-foot-high hedgehog from this morning was sitting on their ass on the porch.
The blond guy made a choking sound. He had a horrified expression on his face.
Ms. Jackson twitched their very large snout, and their extremely long and sharp spines moved threateningly.
Shane held up a hand. “Ms. Jackson, this form is, uh....” Through the bond I felt his frustration at not being able to find the right words.
“Scarier than the dragon,” I supplied. “Hedgehogs aren’t supposed to be that large, so when you turn into one it makes our human brains freak out.”
“Exactly,” Shane said.
Ms. Jackson snuffled discontentedly but nodded. They shimmered again and became a... fluffy donkey. They were a little taller than the hedgehog, but the fluffy gray hair didn’t look like it would stab you if you got too close.
It would have to do.
“Um, thanks. That’s cute and not frightening.” I threw a glance over at the guy and the dryad. “I promise, they won’t harm you. They’re, uh, very protective of their friends and you were a stranger. But now they’ve, uh, met you, you’ll be their friends too.” Or something. At least the color was coming back to the guy’s face. The little girl blinked at Ms . Jackson with bright green eyes. She smiled briefly then hid her face in the potted plant.
Behind me, Shane chuckled. I turned to see Ms. Jackson had manifested a crown of flowers around their ears.
Shane came to stand beside me. Our visitor—the guy—was in his mid-twenties, good-looking in a rich white boy way. The rich part was reinforced by the late model hybrid Range Rover parked by the curb, his expensive haircut, and the tuxedo he was wearing. Or had been wearing. The jacket was wrapped around the little girl as she clung to the potted plant, and his bow tie hung loose from his open collar.
“I’m Ellis,” I said. “This is Shane. Uh, sorry we aren’t dressed for visitors.” I gestured at our towels and naked chests.
The guy shook his head. “It’s not like I had an appointment. I’m Rory, and this is Pia. She was being held captive by an asshole with too much money on his hands.”
Holy fuck. I tamped down the rage I instantly felt, which was echoed across the bond with Shane.
“We’ll get his info from you later.”
Rory, who must’ve been a Hunter, nodded. “Absolutely. Pia here didn’t have any plants in the cage with her. Uh, I was told the District Monitor lived here, and you could help?”
Shane moved closer to them. “We’re both District Monitors, but I think I’m the one you’re looking for.” Keeping a firm hand on his towel, he bent down so his head and Pia’s were on the same level. She didn’t look at him. “Hi, Pia. I’m Shane. I like plants a lot too. What’s your favorite kind of tree?”
She tucked her head down even further. Rory cleared his throat and said, “I was told she likes fruit trees the best. ”
Shane made an exaggerated delighted expression. “Really? I have an apple tree right here in my backyard! Let’s go see if it suits you better than that juniper you’ve got there.”
I held the screen door open. Ms. Jackson clopped inside, then Rory and Pia. Shane followed them into the house, chattering like it wasn’t the middle of the night and he wasn’t wearing next to nothing. I smiled. He was so good at putting people at their ease.
He told Pia, “It’s a Granny Smith apple tree. My granny lived here, and she used to tell me wild stories about this other granny the tree was named after.”
I followed them in, pausing to close and lock the front door.
Pia didn’t respond, but Rory said, “She, uh, must have loved you a lot.”
Shane was probably going to reply, but I was distracted by something inside my chest suddenly yanking me toward him. I grunted and stumbled forward, one hand outstretched to catch myself, and one hand clapped over my junk as my towel slipped.
Rory stopped walking and looked between me and Shane, who was bent over clutching his chest. “What’s the matter? Are you okay?”
Ms. Jackson snorted and rolled their eyes.
I grimaced. “Um, sorry. Just bonded. Forgot we need to stay close to each other for right now. Let’s get Pia settled.” I hurriedly refastened my towel and went over to stand next to Shane.
Most people would’ve congratulated us on our bonding, but Rory’s expression said he had other things on his mind. He shifted the pot in his hands, and I noticed it was made out of concrete, like the kind people had in their front yards. It must be heavy as fuck, plus Pia’s weight on top of it. Damn.
Ms. Jackson nosed the thumb latch on the back door, then they used their chin to press down on the handle. Nudging the door open, they flicked their tail as they went outside. Shane and I could see in the dark pretty well, and as a Hunter, Rory could see even better than we did. Nevertheless, I flicked on the outside light as I passed through the doorway. A little light might make Pia more comfortable.
Shane put his hand on my back, and we followed them onto the concrete patio. He pointed to the far right corner of the yard, where a tree was covered in white and pink blossoms. “How does that look, Pia?”
Ms. Jackson trotted over to the tree, and Rory walked swiftly after them. I found myself admiring how his ass filled out his tuxedo pants. Shane jerked his head around to look at me, and I was swamped with guilt. Fuck, I hadn’t even been bonded for half a day, and I was looking at other guys? It wasn’t supposed to be possible, so did this mean our bond was even more screwed up than we’d thought? I hated that Shane had felt my attraction to Rory.
“Sorry,” I muttered, continuing to follow Rory to the tree.
He set the pot and Pia down next to the base of the trunk. Then he patted her on the shoulder and stepped back, shaking out his hands and arms. “What do we do now?”
His hands were beautiful, with long graceful fingers. He wouldn’t have any trouble doing the Boingy Boing.
Crap. I yanked my gaze back to Shane, who was kneeling in the grass near the tree. He said, “Pia, do you want to hang out with the apple tree for a while? ”
She lifted her head and looked at the tree, then she turned to Rory and reached out a hand. His jacket was so big on her that the extra fabric of the sleeve hung limply where her hand didn’t reach. She was wearing some sort of t-shirt with a shark on it under the jacket.
He took her sleeve-covered hand. “I won’t leave you, kiddo, but you need the tree’s magic. Your mom says so.”
I blinked at his words. Her mom? Pia didn’t have any active connections other than what appeared to be a brand-new tenuous one with Rory, so she couldn’t have any living relatives or close friends. What an asshole move to pretend like her mom was still alive and communicating with him, especially when Pia would know he was lying.
For his part, Rory didn’t have any connections either, other than Pia. Which was weird, because Hunters had connections to their teams. But that wasn’t important right now. Maybe he just didn’t know how to talk to kids. It was the middle of the night, and he’d rescued her from a bad situation. I should give him the benefit of the doubt.
For now.
Shane cocked his head, and I felt his discomfort with Rory’s comment about Pia’s mom, but he didn’t say anything. He asked Pia, “What if we bring some chairs over here and sit with you while you make friends with the tree?”
She seemed to tug on Rory’s hand, and he crouched down next to her. She leaned away from the plant enough to whisper in his ear.
Rory’s expression turned sympathetic. “I’m so sorry, Pia. I didn’t think of that.” He looked at us. “She wants clean clothes. The... jerk who held her kept her in a glass box with no running water. Is there a 24-hour Walmart around here or something? ”
Ms. Jackson’s ears went back, and they kicked out their hind legs. Same, Ms. Jackson. I felt the exact same.
Shane said, “Well, if you don’t mind old lady clothes, Pia, I still have some of my granny’s things. If those would do for tonight, we could get you something a little more fashionable tomorrow."
She nodded and gave Shane a small smile. I felt his heartbreak-slash-pride through the bond.
“Okay I’ll be back in five minutes.” He stood up. “Uh, make it ten minutes, because I’d like to put some clothes on myself. Pia, do you need water or food or anything? Do you want to wash up?”
Pia shook her head. She hadn’t let go of Rory’s hand, and he eased himself to the ground, sitting cross-legged next to her.
“Rory, you want some water?”
“God, yes, please.”
“Got it.” He touched my arm as he passed me, and I fell into step beside him. He opened his mouth to protest, and I could feel through the bond that he didn’t want to leave Rory alone until we knew him better, but then he said, “Oh, right.”
I snorted. “We need to figure out how long our leash is.” I winced when I stepped on a twig. I hadn’t noticed my bare feet on the way to the tree, but now I was ready to put some shoes on.
When we went inside, Ms. Jackson had walked over to Pia and lowered their head to be scratched.