CHAPTER 10
Krusk
“She has four jobs,” Savla said with a frown as he stared down at the screen.
“She’s working at the Bureau of Magick, the Green Kobold which is the restaurant that you forced us to eat at, the Twisty Naga which is some kind of exercise place and…
” his eyes widened with glee, a grin crossing his face for the first time in a long time.
I didn’t think I’d seen Savla this excited since we were much younger. It was so rare for Savla that the distress that I’d felt hearing that my mate needed to work four jobs to survive was pushed aside for a moment.
“What?” I asked, my lips already curving in an answering grin.
“She works as a dogwalker,” he told me, his eyes wide and alight with excitement.
“What’s that?” I asked, tilting my head, and Savla typed on the laptop before turning it to face me. On the screen were images of furry beasts that I had to admit were adorable. “What are they used for?” I asked, tilting my head at the screen.
“Hunting and protection originally,” Savla enthused, “but most of the time, dogs are pets. Human companions.”
I snorted out a laugh, shaking my head. “Like that one trichot you brought home,” I joked. “The one that you had to get rid of because he made Enka sneeze.”
His face froze in a pained smile and he nodded. “Yes, that one,” he said, clearing his throat and continuing to bob his head as he turned the screen back to him.
Immediately suspicious—because I knew my brother’s tells very well, and it seemed like he was hiding something from me—I sat on the sofa nearest to him. “So what do dogwalkers do?”
He was facing the screen, the same odd expression still on his face.
“A lot of beings have busy schedules, so they’re not able to meet the exercise requirements for their pets.
That’s when they hire dogwalkers to come take them on…
well, walks,” he finished with a shrug. “The dogs are happy, the owners are happy and since most dogwalkers love animals, they’re happy, too. ”
“And they’re paid for this?” I ask, my fingers thrumming on my left thigh.
“Yes,” he said, turning to show pictures of a cervitaur running with a group of dogs, leashes stretched between them.
“So that’s four jobs,” I sighed, running my palm over my face. “Do you know why she has to have that many jobs? Is there something she’s working toward? Something that she owes?”
He shook his head, lips pursed as he turned the screen back to him. “I can’t tell yet. I’m not as adept as the rest of the staff, yet. Darak—”
“Don’t involve Darak,” I groused, not wanting another male other than my brother looking at personal details of my mate. “Can you find out what she needs?”
He nodded, closing the laptop and turning to face me head-on. “If I have enough time, I’m sure I can learn. But what’s the plan, Krusk? How are you planning on wooing her?”
I took a deep breath, considering my options before saying, “I’ll spend time with her. Get to know her and then make her fall in love with me.” I finished in a rush, grinning at my brother, expecting him to be overwhelmed with my plan.
He quirked an eyebrow instead. “Is that really the best plan you could come up with?”
“What the hell else would I do?” I asked, my grin transforming to a scowl in seconds. “I have to learn about her first.”
“I agree with that part,” he explained, his arms crossing over his chest. “But you can’t just make a female fall in love with you. That takes time. A lot of time.”
“It didn’t take that long with everyone else,” I scoffed, crossing my own arms over my chest and leaning back into the sofa.
A small scuffle from the bedroom made its way to my ears, making them twitch slightly, and I leaned to the side, eyeing the bedroom door. Savla moved with me, leaning until I was looking at him instead of the door, the same expression of guilt on his face that he’d had before.
“Sav,” I sighed, tilting my head back against the chair. “Why haven’t you invited me here before?” I asked, sighing up at the ceiling.
“That would be incredibly rude,” he forced a laugh. “I’d never not invite you over,” he insisted. “Your apartment is just bigger.”
“They’re all the same size,” I corrected, sighing again before lifting my head to look at him. “Just tell me. Do I want to know?”
He shook his head vigorously.
“Do you have it under control?” I asked, my voice filled with the weariness of being the eldest brother of two hellions.
His nod was just as vigorous.
“Good. Then I’m not going to ask about it, but if you need anything from me—”
“I’ll come to you, I promise,” he told me with a cautious nod.
“Okay,” I sighed. “So what do you think I should do about my mate?” I asked, changing the subject. This was a tactic that I used with Savla all the time. No matter how much I twisted his arm, he never told me anything before he was ready.
“I think you should watch her from afar, learn everything you can about her, and slowly, very slowly, integrate yourself into her life. It might take a few years, but—-”
“Years?” I scoffed, shaking my head. “No. It has to be faster than that.”
His scowl told me what he thought about me scoffing at his plan. “Fine. You can make it go faster by integrating yourself into more aspects of her life. But it’ll still take a few months—”
“I can deal with months, Sav,” I told him, ignoring the loud thump that came from the bedroom. “But I can’t do years without her. I’ve spent too much time without her already.”
He studied me for a long moment before nodding thoughtfully. “Alright. Then you should start with work. It seems like that’s where she spends most of her time. I’ll get her schedules and you can start there.”
Eagerness filled me to the brim. “Perfect! How would I do that?”
Savla leaned back in his chair, not even flinching when a crash came from the bedroom.
“You’ve already started it, which is good.
You went to her restaurant,” he said, lifting one finger into the air.
“And while the food was terrible, I can find her shifts and make sure you’re seated in her sections for all of them. ”
Hope filled my chest as he continued.
“You can get a membership at this exercise place and go to all of her classes. And I’m sure Dristan or Zara can help with getting you a job in Emma’s section of the Bureau. Or at the very least, you can do all the errands for the coven,” he continued, lifting two more fingers.
But then he lowered his hand, tapping it against his seat. “But the dog walking…” he trailed off with a sigh, shaking his head. “That’s a solitary thing. Most dogwalkers work alone. I’m not sure how—”
“I can get a dog!” I exclaimed, leaning forward. “Then I could hire her!”
“That’s a fantastic idea,” Savla enthused, “and I have the perfect dog for you!”
“You have a dog?” I asked, my brow furrowing immediately, my eyes going to the bedroom before I ran my palm over my face. “Of course you have a dog.”
“Well, not a dog per se,” he told me, standing and walking toward the bedroom. “But he’s basically a dog.”
I narrowed my eyes on the back of my brother’s head. Savla was the most logical of the three of us. But when it came to animals, logical wasn’t the word that anyone would use to describe him. He loved them all with equal amounts of adoration no matter what they looked or even smelled like.
While usually that was a wonderful thing, I really had to wonder if whatever the hell he had in that bedroom would qualify for the “dog walking” portion of my mate’s portfolio.
I watched with trepidation as Savla entered the bedroom and winced as more noises, thumps and crashes were heard from inside.
“Got him!” Savla exclaimed and I looked heavenward.
What have I gotten myself into?
Savla exited the bedroom, beaming with pride, his hands thrust forward as he held out a… wait a minute.
“Is that the trichot that I told you to get rid of?” I demanded, standing and facing my brother and the little beastie he was holding.
“No,” he insisted, cuddling the little monstrosity closer to his chest. “You said that I couldn’t keep it in the cave anymore. And I didn’t. I found another cave nearby and I—”
“You kept it?” I asked, spreading my arms out in shock. “And how the hell did you get it here?”
The guilt that flashed across his face was answer enough. “You smuggled it, didn’t you?”
“Zara said it wasn’t smuggling,” he answered in a low mutter.
“I told her about him and asked if I could bring him over. I had his location and everything. He would have been there alone. He never would have survived.” All of this was said as my logical brother stroked a palm over the little creature’s head.
It closed its little bug eyes with pleasure.
My eyebrows raised and I sighed, scrubbing my face with my palm again. “Okay, so he’s here. And he’s… a pet.” I tilted my head at it before remembering the pictures of the dogs. “Are you sure she’s not going to realize he’s not a dog?”
Savla grinned at me, shaking his head. “There’s no way.”