Chapter 22
Twenty-Two
Keoni
Since there was a high chance the person we were headed to find would be in the water, Zephyr decided to ask Jacinta to come along, while Rei declared she'd stay home.
For some reason, she wasn't a big fan of sand.
She refused to enter the Ocean or Desert areas, and she wouldn't tell anyone why, not even Zephyr.
Jacinta was waiting for us with a small duffle bag slung over his shoulder when we returned to the Ocean area. Zephyr had let Touya know where we were headed so he could keep the place running smoothly in Zeph's absence.
"Shall we?" Zephyr asked, and I nodded, eager to go. I'd been on the other side of this equation once, and I wondered how it would feel to be to give to someone else what Zephyr had once given to me.
Zephyr opened a portal close to the water, and Jacinta walked through first, and then I followed after him with Zeph bringing up the rear.
"Oh wow," I murmured as a salty wind whipped across my face.
We were on a small speck of an island, barely bigger than a city block.
Leaves on the palm and coconut trees rustled overhead, and turquoise water crashed into the sand in frothy waves.
If I played a recording of this at night, it would put me right to sleep.
What would it be like to live somewhere like this? Just me and Zephyr?
It wouldn't work, I realized before I could get far in my daydream. It wouldn't work for either of us. We both loved our family way too much to ever want to live away from them.
A vacation, though... that could work.
"They aren't here," Zephyr murmured, reminding me of why we were here. Right.
"I'll look in the water. I don't see a camp anywhere, so it's unlikely they come up often," Jacinta said, dropping the duffle by my hooves before diving into the water.
"Has anyone ever said no?" I asked, suddenly realizing that was a distinct possibility.
"A few times," Zephyr answered easily, his eyes on the horizon. I stepped closer to him, leaning into his side, and he wrapped an arm around my waist.
"Why?"
"I don't know. Maybe they weren't ready. Maybe they didn't believe me. I tried to find them again after a while, see if they'd changed their minds, and sometimes they had. There were a few who never said yes."
I wondered what happened to those people. Were they still out there, all alone? Or had they met an unfortunate fate because no one had their back?
I hoped this person wouldn't say no.
The splash of water—a different kind of splash—made me look to the shore just as Jacinta walked out of the water, his wet hair sticking to his face while his shirt remained dry.
Behind him was another person, with short black hair and vibrant blue eyes that matched the water behind them.
They were naked and half-hidden behind Jacinta, who extended a tentacle to grab the duffel he'd brought.
He pulled out a pair of pants and handed it to the stranger, and he quickly pulled them on.
"This is Zephyr and Keoni," Jacinta said, and I gave the stranger a bright, friendly smile as I stepped away from Zephyr and closer to him.
He was stunning, and I knew from a single glance what he was: a siren.
I'd only met one siren in my entire life, Mira, but sirens just had this strange shimmer about them.
They sparkled like the water when the sun hit them just right, and there was no mistaking what they were.
"Hey! It's so nice to meet you. This place is beautiful. Have you lived here long?"
The stranger gazed from me to my lower half to Zephyr, and then back to Jacinta, taking us all in. I wasn't sure what or how much Jacinta had told him, but I could understand his hesitation in speaking to us.
After a few moments, he shook his head, and I realized he was answering my question.
"What's your name?" I asked, thinking it was a simple enough question to start with.
His lips moved, but he didn't say anything. Then, he pointed toward the water.
My brows furrowed. "Your name is Ocean?"
He shook his head.
"Water?"
Nope.
"Indian?" I asked, feeling slightly ridiculous.
His brows furrowed, but he didn't shake his head. Huh. Maybe his name was in an Indian language?
"Sagar?" Zephyr asked suddenly, and the stranger nodded quickly, his expression relaxing.
I shot Zeph a curious look, and he shrugged. "It's a Hindi name. It means a sea or an ocean."
"It's nice to meet you, Sagar," I said, and wondered if maybe there was a reason why he hadn't just told us his name. Maybe he couldn't? "Can you speak?" I asked, trying to be tactful without beating around the bush.
Sagar shook his head. Ah, okay, that made sense.
"Gotcha. Can you write?"
Sagar nodded instantly, and I grinned, then turned to the others. "Do you have some paper and a pen?"
Zephyr dug through his cloak's pockets and pulled out a worn notebook and handed it to me, then pulled out a pen from a different pocket, making me smile. "Thanks, Mary Poppins."
He chuckled as I handed both to Sagar, and then explained the Sanctuary to him the same way he had to me once upon a time. Sagar listened intently, though I could tell he was nervous.
Once Zephyr was done talking, I told him how much I loved the place, and how glad I was that I lived there. Jacinta told him a little about the Ocean area specifically, and I could tell Sagar liked what he heard.
When Jacinta finished speaking, Sagar was quiet for a long moment. Then, he opened the notebook to a blank page and wrote just one question: will I be safe?
The question sent a pang through my chest, and I stepped closer to Sagar, fighting the urge to pull him into a hug.
Instead, I spoke. "Yes. You'll be completely safe.
Only residents and their mates can get into the Sanctuary, and Zephyr is a very powerful sorcerer.
We also have a dragon in the family, and no one protects better than a dragon, right? "
Sagar looked a little wide-eyed as he nodded, but I knew I had him. He was going to be the newest member of the Sanctuary.
Zephyr
Keoni was a natural.
He'd always been good with people, and it'd never been clearer.
It would have taken me much longer to win Sagar over, but Keoni had this air of sincerity about him that made people want to trust him, and his openness invited others to be open with him too. Maybe we should always do this together from now on. I thought he would enjoy it.
It didn't take long for Sagar to decide to come with us, and after a dip in the ocean to fetch some possessions he was keeping there, he followed us back through the portal to the Ocean area.
With a promise from Keoni to show him around later, we left him with Jacinta, who would show him around the area, explain the rules, and take him to his new home.
"I don't know if it's the sun or the salty breeze, but I feel very sleepy all of a sudden," Keoni mumbled as we made our way to the exit after I closed the portal.
"I feel the—" A yawn cut me off, and Keoni chuckled as he shot me a twinkly-eyed look.
"How about a nap before dinner time?"
"Sounds good to me."
I woke up as the dinner bell rang, and blinked blearily into the dark room. With a flick of my hand, I lit the bedside lamp, and Keoni moaned as he stretched his arms over his head and squinted at me.
"Whatimeisit?" he mumbled, and I chuckled as I leaned over to press a kiss on his cheek. His lips quirked into a smile, and he puckered them, clearly asking for a kiss.
To mess with him, I placed my index finger on his lips, and he frowned.
I chuckled, but before I could pull back, he wrapped his lips around the tip of my finger and sucked it into his mouth.
He opened his eyes, and blinked up at me, his baby blues full of coyness and innocence. All absolutely fake, of course.
"Keoni," I warned, glancing at the door.
We needed to go get dinner. Jacinta hated it when someone was late, and I wanted to be there if Sagar decided to join everyone.
People usually didn't on their first day here, but sometimes they did.
If Sagar decided to come, I wanted him to have a few familiar faces around.
Keoni bit my finger, and I gritted my teeth to keep from making a sound. Be strong, Zeph. Be strong.
"Hey, lovebirds!" Rei called through the door, making me jump. "Jacinta said to get your butts into the Dining Room. The newbie's there."
Keoni released my finger with a wink, then called toward the door. "We'll be right there!"
Rei huffed, then mumbled something that sounded like, "You better be. Jacinta's scary," before her footsteps padded away.
I sat up with a groan, then slid my arm back on before getting to my feet.
We dressed in silence, and Keoni pulled me into a kiss that left me weak-kneed before pushing the door open and trotting off, leaving me to catch my breath and follow after him as I tried to get my heart—and my dick—back under control.
Sagar was sitting at a table with Jake, Marion, and Mira. The fact that Jake and Marion, who rarely ate in the Dining Room, had shown up to keep Sagar company made me smile.
"You go talk to Sagar. I'll get our food," Keoni said as he kissed my cheek then made his way toward the buffet style tables laden with food.
I approached the table, and Sagar smiled when he spotted me.
"Hey, Sagar. I just wanted to check in. Are you settling in okay?"
Sagar nodded quickly, and I smiled.
"I'm glad. If you have any questions or any concerns, please don't hesitate to ask me. If I'm not around, you can talk to Touya," I said, pointing toward the human, and Sagar nodded again.
Then he raised a finger and pulled out a phone—Touya must've given him the 'welcome package' he'd made—and started typing. He showed it to me when he was done, and I smiled when I read what he'd written.
Thank you for inviting me here. This place is wonderful.
"It was my pleasure. I'm glad you like it here. I will leave you to your dinner."
Keoni arrived with our plates just as I turned around, and we returned to our usual table, where Silas and Liam were taking their turn holding little Aspen and Reign so their dads could eat.
"Oh my God. How do they keep getting cuter and cuter every day?
" Keoni exclaimed as he abandoned his plate to walk over to the other side of the table and peer down at the sleeping babies.
Of course, one baby was in human form while the other was wrapped around Liam's neck as a tiny green snake, but they really were equally adorable.
"You wouldn't think that if you had to wake up at two to change their diapers," Dustin grumbled as he spooned some food into his mouth.
"Imagine if they were both in their human forms," Keoni murmured, then backed away when Dustin shot him a murderous look. "Or not. We don't have to do that."
I bit back a chuckle as Keoni retreated to my side with his metaphorical tail between his legs, and patted his side. He smiled at me, then turned his attention to his food, and I did the same.
Like always, we chatted as we ate, and I wondered how I could've ever thought eating in my office was better than this. Thank God Keoni had dragged me here and made me see what I'd been missing.
Keoni had made me realize a lot of things. He'd made me see how loved I was; he'd made me see it was okay to ask for help every now and then. More than anything, he'd made me realize how good life could be if I just stopped fighting it every second of every day.