4. Chapter 4
Danzig
The moment I was back in town, I got a rideshare back to our house. I tossed my suitcase in my room, then rushed to the garage. I pulled on my gear in record time and was soon riding out of the garage in search of Marduk.
It was easy for me to track my twin. Although I could feel that he was perfectly fine, it was still a relief to see my brother parked in a spot and perched on his bike. He was staring at the front door to Bec's condo with a frown on his face.
Another difference was that I had metal locking panniers on mine. They were rectangular, aluminum, storage containers attached to either side of the tail of my motorcycle. All he carried on the back was a spare helmet and jacket strapped to the passenger seat by a bungy cord.
I was sure that the helmet and jacket would fit Bec. Talk about wishful thinking. Marduk thought it wouldn’t be long before she gave in to us. I was sure that we were going to have to work hard to convince her to be our mate.
Switching off the engine, I heeled down the kickstand and leaned the bike over to rest on the stand.
“It’s about time you got here,” Marduk grumbled.
I undid my helmet and pulled it off to hang on one of my bike’s side mirrors. “I got here as soon as I could.”
“Not soon enough. I haven't slept in two days,” he said. He wasn’t really irritated at me. I could feel that something else was bothering him. It probably had to do with why his phone was going straight to voicemail when he made a point to keep it on and always answer my calls.
“What happened?”
He let out a long sigh, then told me about Bec almost being killed by a human. I could feel my eyes light up with power as outrage filled me. No human who held a gun on our mate should be allowed to live!
“Where is he?” I growled.
“I took care of him,” Marduk said. “And then Angel Chavez took him away.”
“I’ll contact Angel to get a name,” I said. “I can’t believe you let him live.”
“Bec was there,” Marduk reminded me. “I don’t think she’d approve of me killing him.”
“You’re probably right, damn it,” I cursed. Our human was nice. She would want to see someone appropriately punished by the judicial system instead of us quietly making them disappear.
“I wouldn’t be concerned about him,” Marduk said. “I gave him the soul gaze.”
I nodded with approval. “That works. Did you fry your phone when you dealt with the store cameras?”
“Yeah. And probably Bec’s also. I didn’t tell her.”
“That’s for the best,” I assured him. “You can head home and start up a new phone. I’m here now. I’ll keep watch the rest of the night.”
He grunted in agreement but didn’t move. After a while, I nudged his leg with my boot. “Marduk?”
The bone-deep sigh that came out of him made my eyebrows go up. “It’s not going to be easy.”
“What isn’t?” I asked, although I was sure I knew what he was talking about.
“Convincing Bec to be our mate,” he answered. “Even though she’s human, I thought she’d feel the mate pull.”
I was relieved he was finally seeing reality. He’d considered Bec another building project. As if all he had to do was figure out what needed to be done and do it. She wasn’t a thing to build or manage, she was our mate and a human. She needed to be dated, adored, and drawn in.
“She does feel it,” I said. “But it’s not the same. Humans don’t feel it as strongly as us. We can’t treat her like she’s a shifter, pixie, druid, or bruja. She’s human and new to our world.”
“I know,” he snapped, then rubbed his hand over his face before looking over at me. “Sorry.”
“You’re tired,” I said. “Get some rest, and we’ll come up with some strategies tomorrow. All our contracts are done so we can both focus on Bec. That will make it easier.”
“You were smart with that PixUs thing. Until she realized I’d been following her, she was opening up to me.” Marduk shook his head. “This is going to be the hardest thing we’ve ever done.”
“We need to do this the human way,” I said. Maybe if we talked about it, Marduk would feel comfortable enough to go home and get some sleep.
“Human way?” he asked. “What would you know about dating humans?”
“I’ve been talking to Cora and Imani,” I said. “I wanted to talk to Mila, but I was worried Bec might see that as trying to find things out behind her back.”
“What have you learned?” he asked.
“We need to take her out to do fun things like dancing or museums,” I said.
“Those are very different activities,” Marduk said with a dry smile.
“We’ll put together a list and let her pick,” I said. “We find out what food she likes and take her out to nice meals. Oh, and buy her gifts, but nothing really big or expensive. They should be thoughtful and reflect how well we know her.”
“Like a camel plushy?” he asked, already looking like he was planning an online shopping spree.
“A llama and camel plushies are a good start,” I said with a chuckle. “It’s too bad she’s not a world serpent. We could show her how worthy we are by bringing her fresh kills and fighting off other males.”
“We’re really good at that,” Marduk agreed. “But I can learn other ways to seduce.”
I pulled my phone off the holder on my handlebars and opened up PixUs. I debated about sending a message and decided it was a good idea. She was angry at Marduk, but not me. She probably didn’t even know I was back yet.
GreenScales1520
I gazed at the full moon last night. I was sitting on the roof of my hotel. The jungle was right behind the building. It was loud with the sounds of frogs, insects, and other nocturnal animals. It was wonderful but all I could think was that I wished I could share that moment with you.
Marduk would say I was being too sappy, but the response clearly indicated that I’d done well.
TheNewMe888
That sounds magical. I’ve never been outside of the country.
“Are you messaging her?” Marduk asked, leaning over to peer at my phone. “Tell her I'm sorry I upset her, but I needed to follow her to keep her safe.”
“I won’t be saying anything about that!” I said, looking up at him.
“You saved her life. Let her sit with that for a little while. Then when you message her, start up where you left off. If she brings it up, then deal with it. Otherwise, go back to being charming.” I eyed him up and down.
“Well, as charming as you're capable of.”
He gave me a sour look, but then focused on my phone as it chimed again.
TheNewMe888
If we could go anywhere tomorrow, where would you take me?
GreenScales1520
That’s hard, but if we were going to get there in a day, then I’d take you to Teotihuacan. It’s one of the most impressive ancient ruins I’ve ever seen. They call it the city of the gods for a good reason.
“That’s a good answer,” Marduk said. “It’s an amazing place.”
“See how good I’m at this?” I asked him with a teasing grin. “Now sit back and watch me do my magic!”
He grumbled and lapsed into silence as I chatted with Bec. He didn’t stop looking over my shoulder though so when she messaged about him, he saw it right away.
TheNewMe888
Your brother really pissed me off today, but I also feel guilty.
I decided to pretend ignorance.
GreenScales1520
Why? What happened?
I could feel Marduk’s tension. I looked over at him and shook my head. This was my phone and my conversation. He didn’t get to have any input. He scowled and crossed his arms over his chest, but didn’t speak.
Looking back at my phone I saw that Bec was typing, but no words appeared. She paused, then typed, then paused again. Nothing was coming through so I took a risk.
GreenScales1520
Whatever happened, I’m sure both of you were doing your best.
“That was a good way to put it,” Marduk said begrudgingly as Bec responded.
TheNewMe888
You’re probably right. I need to think for a while. TTYL.
GreenScales1520
Anytime. Goodnight sweetheart.
The endearment was a risk, but she responded by hearting the comment so I considered it a win.
“I need a phone,” Marduk said as I put my back in the holder. “Do you think she thinks I’m ignoring her?”
“I doubt it,” I said. “Or at least I hope not.”
“I’m heading out,” Marduk said, zipping up his jacket.
Because our power tended to be hard on electronics even when we weren’t flaring our auras, we always kept several phones on standby at home and we backed everything up.
I was sure his sudden urgency to get home was due to wanting to reload the app and check for messages from Bec.
He was reaching for his helmet when I felt something powerful. Tensing up, I looked around, trying to identify what kind of creature it was.
“I feel it too,” Marduk said without me having to alert him.
Although we shared a connection so we could always feel each other’s emotions, to really talk without speaking, we had to be touching.
I dismounted, and Marduk mirrored me. Standing on either side of our bikes, we searched the surrounding area for a threat.
There were a few people walking around: a couple holding hands, a man jogging, and a woman walking her dog. It took me a moment to realize that it was the woman walking the dog that was making my J?rmungandr senses tingle.
At the same time I singled out the woman with the dog, Marduk focused on her also. Without even having to look at each other, we walked to her, putting ourselves between her and Bec’s building.
She stopped walking and looked at us with the kind of smile you might give an overly tired and fractious child.
“Aren’t you both adorable,” she said, completely unconcerned about facing off with two fully grown world serpents.
The dog sitting at her feet tilted his head at us, as he was confused about why his walk had been interrupted.
“Go away,” Marduk said.
Her smile didn’t waver. “I live here.”
“No, you don’t,” Marduk said. “I haven’t seen you before.”
“I’ve been traveling, but I’m back,” she said. “I don’t know who you’re protecting, but I’m no threat to anyone unless someone attacks me.”