Chapter Fifteen
Sage
Sage was so glad that he had taken his backpack into the Regis Hotel that night instead of leaving it at home.
He had thought that he would need to use his credentials to be able to secure a flight, possibly even get a discount on one.
So he had his pass card with him when he let Nic and Luc into the Maritime Research Facility.
“I was absolutely thrilled to be able to work here,” Sage explained, as he made sure the door was shut firmly behind them and led the two men down a wide corridor toward where the holding tanks were.
“The entire purpose of this place is to rescue, rehabilitate, and then relocate the animals that we help back into their environment. The larger tanks were actually built more specifically for whales, as we have rescued a number of them over the years. They are generally brought back to health here, and then typically we’d use helicopters with hanging tanks or slings to take them out to the sea where they belong. ”
“That’s a lot of work for one whale,” Nic commented.
“It’s a long and very expensive process for most of the creatures we help here.
Fortunately, we don’t have to rely on government grants, and this place relies almost entirely on private donations.
” Sage flicked on some more lights. “We get a lot of donations from shifters, actually. They appreciate the rehabilitation and the relocation work that we do and our stance against keeping any creatures in captivity.”
“I’ve got to admit,” Luc said, clearly interested as he looked around. “I’ve never heard of this place before. If Nic and I had known about it, we would have definitely contributed. Have you had krakens here before?”
“I don’t recall us having a kraken here – we have very few shifters, actually.
Most of them, as you know, if they’re injured, they heal themselves when they shift back into their human form.
” Sage moved over to the panel that controlled the water temperature, saline content, and various other aspects necessary for keeping the tank water in optimum condition.
“We did have a killer whale shifter here back in January, although that was more a misunderstanding than anything else.
The whale had been caught by a spear fisherman, I believe, and had made his way to shore.
But he was found by some quick-thinking workers who - thinking he was in danger of stranding himself - contacted us, and he was transported by helicopter to our institution.
“It wasn’t until the killer whale was put back in the water here that our whale specialists realized he was a lot bigger than an average killer whale.
We removed the spear, and within seconds the wound had healed – big clue he was a shifter – and he shifted back to human form a few moments later.
He was hellishly embarrassed, but very appreciative about the whole thing.
” Sage chuckled. “It happens sometimes.”
“So he would have shifted before he got rescued as such,” Nic said, and he was chuckling too. “But he couldn’t shift back because of the spear in him.”
“Pretty much. I think he was hoping someone on the shore would just take the spear out for him so that he could heal and shift – whales aren’t known for their opposable thumbs. But his good Samaritans knew about our work here and called us immediately. A good idea in most situations.”
Sage laughed. “As I say, he was highly embarrassed, and he regularly donates to this place now to thank us for the trouble, although it’s not expected.
I remember him saying, ‘I always wanted to travel by helicopter, but I didn’t plan on doing it in my shifted form.
’ We gave him a pair of pants and a phone so he could contact his family, who were looking for him.
“He had just gotten a bit off track on one of his swims, but most of our work is done with natural creatures, and it’s vitally important that they are not kept captured. Although we do have a few visitors here at the moment.”
“I don’t want to put a downer on the evening,” Luc said, “but I think one of your visitors has actually passed.” He pointed over to a smaller tank in the corner of the room where an octopus was lying motionless, its tentacles all drooping in the water.
“Ah, Charlie has attracted your attention. That’s exactly his intention.
Come and meet him.” Sage went around the side of what was a huge tank and, sliding his hand under the grill used to prevent the octopus from escaping, gently wiggled his hand in the water.
“I realize it’s a very human thing to give names to cute creatures, but I mean, when you look at him, you can hardly blame us, can you? ”
Charlie, who had made a miraculous sudden recovery from being splayed in the water, quickly gripped onto Sage’s hand.
“He does this every time,” Sage explained.
“Octopuses are really intelligent, and Charlie has learned that if he looks as though he’s ill or dying, then somebody will go to his tank to check on him. ”
“I think he fancies you,” Nic leaned over, dipping his finger into the water. Charlie glanced in that direction and then used more of his tentacles to cling to Sage. “He doesn’t want anything to do with me.”
“They can tell what we are,” Luc said. “I’d say it’s because of our energy vibrations, or something similar. He clings to you, Sage, because you don’t have the same energies as we do.”
“I hadn’t even thought of that.” Sage tried teasing one of Charlie’s tentacles off his palm – it was tickling him.
“Charlie’s only been here three weeks, and he’s already got all of the research assistants running around like blue-ass flies.
Every time they come in here, they all panic because they think he’s died. He just wants people to play with him.”
“You are tickling me.” Sage chuckled as Charlie was grabbing on with one tentacle as fast as Sage got another one released.
“I know you just want some attention, young Charlie,” he said.
“I have other visitors I need to see to today. That injured tentacle of yours is working really well, don’t you think?
Hmm. I’m thinking it’s about time for you to go back into the wild. ”
Sage always thought it was fascinating the way Charlie seemed to understand what he was saying, even though he knew scientifically that wasn’t true.
But it was as if Charlie had suddenly remembered he was meant to be injured.
He took one of his tentacles and stuck it out really straight, trying to look pathetic all at the same time.
“That same tentacle was curled around my finger. I think you’ll find you’re fine. I’ll leave a message for Doctor Stevens about the fact that it might be time for you to go home. You’re getting just a bit too comfortable in here.”
Sage finally got Charlie’s tentacles to let go and wiped his hand on the side of his suit before latching down the hatch again.
“Sorry about that. Charlie is really engaging. But it’s vital for our work that the creatures that we have here go back to the wild where they belong.
Charlie here deserves to find a mate and start spawning a family of his own.
He’s not going to be able to do that in a lab. ”
“The setup you’ve got here is just incredible,” Nic said. “The main pool is huge.”
Sage tried to view it from a visitor’s perspective. It was big, but then Sage didn’t know how big the pool was up in the Regis penthouse.
“It was important we had someplace large enough, and with moving water, which is vitally important to sharks, and whales to a certain extent. The moving water helps calm them in an unfamiliar environment. You’ll notice there are jets on either end of the tank that recycle the water and keep it gently moving all the time.
It also helps stop the water from getting stagnant in any way and prevents algae from blooming.
I can turn the jets off if that’ll be more comfortable for you. ”
“No, no, don’t do that,” Luc said, going over to the main tank and trailing his fingers through the water.
“This setup is just…mind boggling. We are seriously going to have to talk about this jet system at another time. Nic, could you imagine us having that setup in our pool? How that would feel against our tentacles? It would almost be like being in the sea.”
Sage’s cheeks flushed again. It was becoming a habit around these two.
“That was what we were trying to emulate here. We haven’t had any complaints.
But in fairness, we also don’t generally have clients who can leave us a review either.
Okay, but…yes. I’ll leave the jets on. I’ll turn a few of the lights off, so you can have a more romantic atmosphere.
I’m sorry if the whole place appears a bit clinical. ”
“It really doesn’t,” Nic said. He had already taken off his jacket and was unbuttoning his shirt.
“You’ve actually crafted a beautiful space here - a segment of the sea, so to speak.
The way you’ve got the rocks in the corners and on the sides to provide something a bit different, so it’s not just the glass or the metal bands around the tank.
I can smell the water – so clean. It’s just, it’s like being out by an island, Luc, does it smell the same to you? ”
“All I can smell is you two, and that’s doing stuff to me you wouldn’t believe.” Luc’s voice had dropped a full octave, Sage was sure of it. He was also getting undressed, and Sage wasn’t quite sure where he was meant to be looking.
“Well, I’ll just… I’ll just… Are you sure I should be in here?” Sage wanted to stay. It wasn’t for a pervy reason. He just…There was still a tiny part of him that thought the third business was a dream – and if it was…No. It wasn’t even that. Sage felt drawn to the two men and he wanted to stay.
But now the men were getting undressed. There was a lot of very enticing skin showing.
Nic’s tattoos, Luc’s hair, and broad shoulders.
Just the sight of them pushing their pants off their thighs, and Sage had to remind himself that he had other things on his mind.
Although gods, it would be really easy to forget about any of the real-world hassles for a few hours if he just.. .
No! Sage didn’t consider himself an empath, but he’d caught something in Nic’s tone when the man had talked about always wanting Luc. These two have waited for years, and they deserve, even if it’s just a few hours, to be together on their own before they claim their third.
As far as Sage was concerned, that was the most important thing. “I can go and do some work in my office if you’d just like to be alone for a while,” he said briskly, prepared to do exactly that. But Luc’s hand on his arm stopped him.
“Don’t go,” Luc said, his voice still impossibly deep. “Please. My kraken would be really disturbed if you weren’t in the room with us. Now we’ve found you, we don’t want to lose you.”
“I can understand why you don’t want to get in the pool with us, but please stay,” Nic added. He was naked – not a stitch of clothing on, and Sage had to quickly swallow so he wouldn’t drool.
“Sure. Thank you. Yes. I’ll just get a chair. You guys get into the pool.”
The chair was easy to find, but gods, there were times when Sage cursed his pragmatic nature. He was so tempted to throw off his clothes and dive into the water as Luc and Nic slid into the pool and their tentacles appeared. They are sooo big.