Chapter Seven
Oakley
Convincing my dad to let us save those people and arrest everyone else on Friday had been easier than I’d thought it’d be. I’d been sure he wouldn’t want to risk them realizing we were onto them, but he valued the lives of those people just as much as I did.
That was something I had to try to remember.
I wasn’t with my mother’s people anymore. I wasn’t with that cult—the Emissaries of Gepisha’s Iron—that only cared about gaining power, no matter who was hurt in the process. I wasn’t with my mother, who… who…
Closing my eyes, I tried to push away the memories, the phantom aches and pains, the phantom fingers on my skin, digging into my flesh, stealing my blood, carving out my scales—
I shook away the thoughts before I could go down that very dark path of memories and nudged Roman with my shoulder, happy he was beside me. He’d help keep the darkness away. He always did.
We were sitting on the couch, watching TV—Circle of Living, a show about humans and different supes learning to live together that I’d been forcing Rome to watch with me—and munching on sandwiches while we waited for our backup to arrive. They’d be here any minute now.
“You okay?” I asked him since he seemed to be staring past the TV and not watching it. Truth be told, I wasn’t really paying attention to it, either.
He sighed and rubbed his face before sending me one of his soft smiles. “Yeah, just… tired. We’ve been at it for two months now. I miss being home.”
“Me too.” I gave him another nudge, then I leaned into his side and rested my head on his shoulder.
After doing it the one time, I’d decided I already did the hard part—testing his reaction the first time. He hadn’t pushed me off, so… I did it again. If it worked out this time, I could maybe move on to other cuddles.
Like before, he tensed up, then slowly relaxed.
“This okay?” I whispered.
“Yeah… yeah, of course.” He surprised me by wrapping his arm around my shoulders and pulling me closer so my head was on the front of his shoulder, and my hand automatically rested on his chest.
I really wanted to turn my nose into him and give him a good sniff, or lean up and run my tongue along his neck, but… but that was pushing it too far.
Instead, I scooted in a little until I could press the top of my head against his neck, and Roman let out a long sigh that sounded suspiciously like contentment.
With him holding me like this, it was impossible to let the bad memories pull me under, and I found myself nuzzling into him a little with a smile on my face.
Watch, now that I had him where I wanted him, our backup would show up and ruin it.
As if on cue, there was a knock on the door, and I held in a sigh. I wanted to see them, but for crying out loud, I really wanted to cuddle with my big, strong dragon bodyguard.
Roman kissed the top of my head, making my eyes widen, slid out from under me, jumped to his feet, grabbed his sword, and said, “Stay here,” before I could really react.
I blinked a few times, surprised by… everything, then rolled my eyes at him and got up, getting my own sword out and ready.
We had strong wards around our place, so it was difficult to determine who was on the other side of our front door with scent alone, but the second Roman opened it, I sheathed my weapon.
I’d recognize Tan’s scent anywhere.
He hadn’t been my stepfather for very long, but he’d been better to me than my own mother ever had, and I felt a kinship to him in a way I hadn’t expected.
In a way I’d never experienced when I’d lived with the Gepisha’s Iron blood witch cult.
I’d never felt safe there or like I could truly be myself, one hundred percent. Ever.
And yet, after even a few weeks with Tanyl Helegolor, I’d felt a connection. And that connection had grown into a familial love that I now cherished.
So I pushed past Roman and engulfed Tan in a big hug.
He hugged me back tightly, holding me like a father would as he whispered, “It’s so good to see you, Oak. I missed you.”
“I missed you too,” I mumbled into his shoulder, breathing him in. He smelled like home—a scent I didn’t realize I’d missed so much until now—and I couldn’t help but take an extra moment to soak in his warmth as my eyes watered a little before letting him go.
He held my shoulders, staring up at me as if he was looking into my soul, then shot me a wide grin. “You look good, Oak.” He rubbed the top of my head, making me squawk. “Your hair’s starting to grow in some.”
I smacked his hand away with a laugh, then jumped when a meow echoed up from my feet.
Looking down, I found Tan’s Bonded One staring at me.
“Well, hello there, Orangelica.” I bent down and scooped her into my arms, hugging the orange tabby cat tight, who was actually a chimera—a sphinx, dragon, and hellhound mix. “I missed you, little miss.”
She meowed in response, purred, and rubbed her little head against my chin.
Tan smiled at me, then randomly grabbed the cat out of my arms and nodded behind himself. “You better greet them before they jitter out of their pants.”
I snorted and faced the rest of the group, who were all finishing up their greetings with Roman. It looked like Tan had brought half the Orsova vampire den with him.
Phaeron, Beshiro, and Jedediah Orsova all stood there with varying expressions on their faces.
Phaeron looked bored and serious as always, Beshiro had a small smile on his face and waved at me when I made eye contact, and Jed looked like he was about to pop right out of his skin with excitement, literally bouncing around on his toes and wiggling his fingers like he couldn’t wait a second more to come over and give me a hug.
He was on me in a flash, pulling me into a huge hug and rocking us back and forth as he mumbled, “Oh my word, Oakley. It’s been soooooooooooooo long since I’ve seen you. Holy smokes, I need an Oakley fix more than a drink.”
I snorted at him and hugged him back. “It’s good to see you too, Jed.”
“Psh. Of course it fucking is.”
Before I could respond to that, I heard a loud growl, and Jed was suddenly yanked away from me. I blinked in confusion as Roman stepped between us, looking pissed off and ready to murder Jed. Like… actually murder him.
He growled loudly, and Jed backed up, holding his hands up in surrender.
“Hey,” I said, grabbing Roman’s arm. “What the hell was that?” I pulled him back. “Roman.” When he wouldn’t look at me, I growled myself, letting a little dragon into the sound. “Roman. Cut it out, you asswipe.”
That seemed to knock some sense into him, and he shook his head as if coming out of a haze and stepped back. “I… I… um, sorry.” He glanced at me, looking embarrassed, then rushed away toward the bathroom and bedrooms before I could ask him what that was all about.
I turned to Jed to apologize, even though it wasn’t my fault, and I found the vampire staring at me in glee. What the fuck was that look for? Creepy ass.
It actually made me take a step back. “What?”
Beshiro sighed, gave his younger brother a push, and stepped up to me, pulling me in for a quick hug. “Hey, Oak. Nice to see ya.”
“You too.” I patted his back, and we released each other.
Apparently, we were ignoring the Roman weirdness, but maybe I could ask him about it later. In private.
Maybe.
Phaeron moved up to me, and I thought it was going to be awkward for a few seconds before the vampire let out a small sigh and stepped closer. He wrapped his arms around me in the quickest hug I’d ever received, then stepped away, saying, “Hey.”
“Um, hey, Phae.”
Jed walked into the living room and plopped down on the couch without a care in the world.
“So… as much as I want to ask you what the hell the two of you have been up to this whole time—and I think I know.” He sent me a wink that I pretended not to understand.
“But we’re here on business, and we don’t have a lot of time to prepare. So… what have you got for us?”
I stared at him for several seconds before I gestured to the dining room that we’d turned into a recon center. “Everything’s in there. Um, let me just…” I gestured to the hall Roman had disappeared down, and Jed smirked.
“Go ahead, Oak,” Tan said. “We’ll take a look while you check on him.”
“Thanks, Tan.” I sent him a small smile, then went after Rome.
I found him in the room we’d been using as his bedroom for the last several weeks, and after knocking, I let myself in, shutting the door behind me. Roman was sitting on his bed with his head in his hands.
“Rome?”
He didn’t respond or move.
“Roman?”
Still nothing.
“Rome, you’re freaking me out. What the hell’s wrong?”
He sighed and finally lifted his head to stare at me. “Nothing’s wrong, I just…” He trailed off with a shake of his head. “Never mind. Let’s go out there and give them all the deets.”
I shook my head. “Not until I know you’re alright.”
That got me a small, soft smile. “I’m fine, promise.”
I stared at him, and I could tell he was in one of his stubborn moods, which meant that no matter what I said or did, he wouldn’t talk, the asshat.
So I sighed and ran a hand down my face.
“Fine. Whatever. Come on.” I waved him toward the door, but the second he stood, I turned back and stared at him for a second.
No matter what he said, I could tell something was bothering him. He looked… kind of sad.
So I stepped up to him and pulled him into a hug.
Because that was what you did when one of your… friends was sad. Right?
He was stiff for only half a second, and then he sighed and melted into me, his nose ending up against the side of my neck.
I wouldn’t let just anyone that close to my neck or throat—it was too vulnerable a spot—but I trusted him implicitly.
And it seemed that my dragon trusted him too because I could practically feel the damn thing curled up in a contented ball, ready to lift its neck in submission to the dragon in my arms.
Huh. That was… new. I wasn’t sure how to feel about that at all, but I brushed it away. The important part was that I trusted him.
After a few minutes, he whispered, “Thank you. I needed this.” He squeezed me.
I squeezed back. “Me too. Feel better?”
“Much.”
“We should probably go back out there.”
Neither of us moved for another minute.
“Alright,” I said with a sigh. “We really do need to get out there. We have a lot to do before Friday.”
He gave a nod, and when he pulled away, I could tell he didn’t want to. Honestly, I didn’t either. I… liked hugs these days. Especially when they came from Rome.
He headed for the door, but I said, “Hey, Rome?”
He turned back. “Yeah?”
“I… you know… you know you can talk to me, don’t you? Like, I know I give you shit and stuff all the time, but I’d like to think we’re… friends. Good friends.”
He sent me another smile that actually reached his eyes.
“Great friends.” Then he walked back over to me, grabbed the back of my head, and pressed his lips to my forehead.
My skin felt like it was sizzling with electricity everywhere he touched, and I couldn’t help the small gasp that escaped my lips.
He lingered there for a few seconds before releasing me.
“I know I can talk to you, and the same goes for you talking to me, yeah?”
I nodded, a little shocked at his display of affection.
Was that a… friend kiss?
Was that even a thing?
Like, seriously… was it a thing?
I had no idea.
I’d never had true friends growing up—except one when I was sixteen, but that didn’t last long at all. Any other so-called friends weren’t ones I could fully trust the way I trusted Roman, or even the others in the safe house. So I had no idea what was… typical for a friendship.
I stared at his back as I followed him out into the dining room, but when I came face to face with everything we’d laid out for the case, I shook off my personal thoughts and feelings and focused on our plan.
We had satellite footage of the entire farm, which made it easier to plan how to approach. Tan had brought a whole troop of royal guards with him—they were staying at a second safe house for the time being—so we had plenty of people to surround the entire area to ensure no one escaped.
The plan was to wait until the auction started so we could capture all of the disgusting people who were there to buy actual people, as well as the traffickers themselves.
Between Roman and the vampires, I was sure we had a great plan in place. They were all old and had fought in many battles, so we were in good hands.
Hopefully.
Even as I concentrated super hard on the task at hand, I couldn’t help the way my heart sped up and my skin tingled every time I thought about that forehead kiss.
It had just been soooooo damn sweet.
Tender.
Loving.
I mean… who did that?
Who gave their great friends forehead kisses?
That couldn’t really be a friend thing, could it?
No one else had done that to me since I’d moved back to Sedoba. So… what had that really meant?
And why… why had Roman reacted so… neanderthal when Jed hugged me?
I glanced at the man in question, staring at him as he talked strategy with Phaeron. He really was so beautiful. And sweet, when he wasn’t driving me absolutely nuts.
And even though I’d missed my family and my friends while we’d been out on this mission for the last two months, I’d genuinely enjoyed the time I’d spent with him. When we weren’t out doing something or in planning, we were… cooking and eating and hanging out together.
And it’d been… nice. Fun, even.
He made me laugh, even if it was just at his exasperated sighs when I sassed him. He made me happy.
He made me feel safe.
And that wasn’t something I’d had for the first twenty-five years of my life.
It was something I appreciated more than anyone could ever understand.
Roman looked over at me with a questioning look, and I realized I’d been staring at him for far too long. Like way too long, if the looks I was getting from everyone else were any indication.
I felt my cheeks flame, but I had to cover it up. Roman couldn’t know all the gooey feelings I was feeling for him right then.
So I leaned over and wiped my thumb across his cheek, saying, “You have sauce or something on your face.”
He wiped at himself. “What? Ew. Get it off.”
“I did.” I sent him a wink, then walked into the kitchen to wash my hands—even though he hadn’t actually had anything there—and to catch my breath for a moment.
Damn. What the hell was Roman doing to me right now?