Chapter 5
CHAPTER FIVE
Elijah let out a breath of relief when Alistair made an excuse and finally left. The man left him feeling out of sorts. He’d stopped Elijah mid-apology, told him he wasn’t at fault, then took the blame on himself? Who did that?
Elijah’s cheeks still burned with embarrassment, but he chose to take Alistair at his word.
He’d do his best to keep his distance, though.
He’d heard what Alistair said before he cut himself off.
He had a bad experience with a telepath.
Elijah could only imagine what had happened.
He knew he was an outlier when it came to telepaths.
There weren’t many, his species was rare, but the stories he’d heard about others were rarely good.
There was a reason people feared telepaths so much.
Blowing out a breath, he let Helios out of his carrier before taking in the room.
It was enormous, decorated in creams and browns, with a large bed against one wall and a fireplace opposite it.
There was a seating area by the windows and an attached bath and walk-in closet.
The bedding was so soft, Elijah immediately wanted to curl up and take a nap.
He sat heavily on the edge of the bed, feeling a little awkward surrounded by this much luxury.
Even with the salary he got from Spellbound, he’d never be able to afford something like this.
Then again, he wasn’t nearly as old as Maverick was, and he hadn’t been working at Spellbound all that long.
A knock on the door drew his attention, and Isaac poked his head in. Before he could get a word out, Helios slipped past him and ran. Elijah yelped, rushing after him, but the house was massive and there were so many places the cat could hide.
“Shit! I’m so sorry, Elijah!” Isaac said as he rushed to follow him.
He didn’t have time to stop and reassure his friend that it wasn’t his fault.
He should have known Helios would try something.
He’d been cooped up all day, and he was in a new place.
He probably wanted to find somewhere to hide that even Elijah wouldn’t be able to find so he couldn’t drag him back into the carrier again.
Most of the doors down the hallway were closed, thankfully, but they did a thorough search of Maverick’s office and the home theater.
Elijah would take a moment to gape at that particular room later.
Helios wasn’t in either room, and he was just starting to worry that the cat somehow got outside when he rushed through a set of open doors and skidded to a halt.
The conservatory was filled from floor to ceiling with plants, the air warm and moist. It was almost like stepping into a rainforest. The ground was stone, not at all as clean and tidy as the rest of the house.
And there, in the middle, sitting on the floor, was Alistair, a shaking Helios in his arms.
“Oh, thank fuck,” Isaac gasped as he came up beside Elijah. “How’d you catch him, Al?”
Alistair shook his head slowly. “I didn't. He jumped on me.” He frowned down at Helios. “What is he?”
“What do you mean, what is he? He’s a cat,” Isaac said, confused.
“In what realm? He’s huge. He knocked me right on my ass when he jumped on me.” He looked up accusingly at Elijah. “Is he some kind of shifter?”
Elijah fought it, he truly did, but he couldn’t help the laugh that burst free. Maybe it was the shock and fear of nearly losing his closest friend, or maybe it was just a culmination of the day’s events, but he laughed so hard his sides hurt and he had to double over to ease the pain.
“I’m guessing that’s a no,” Isaac snickered. “Do you need a hand getting up? Is the kitty too heavy for you?”
Alistair made an irritated sound, but Elijah was too busy laughing to see if he accepted Isaac’s offer. “You’re such a shit. Seriously, what is this thing? It looked like a miniature lion or something.”
Sucking in a breath, Elijah dashed the tears away, forcing himself upright to answer the question. Isaac was smirking at him, obviously amused, but it was the uptick of Alistair’s lips that made Elijah go quiet. He got the feeling the man would be beautiful if he smiled.
“Apologies. I was just surprised. He’s not a lion or a shifter. He’s a breed of cat called a maine coon. They’re larger than the average cat by at least two times.”
“Were you hoping for a guard cat or something?” Isaac smirked, stepping closer to his brother to give Helios a hand to sniff.
“No,” Elijah shook his head. “He was a stray. I foster animals from time to time, and when the shelter asked me to take him in, I took some time off to care for him. He was so little that he had to be bottle-fed, and we spent a lot of time together because of that. I got attached, and when it came time to put him up for adoption, I just… couldn’t.
I kept him, expecting him to grow into a normal-sized cat.
When he just kept growing, it surprised me.
I had to ask the vet what his breed was so I was better prepared to care for him. ”
“Aw, that’s cute,” Isaac commented, eyes locked on the cat.
At least this lack of eye contact Elijah could understand.
Helios was adorable. And currently half-hiding in Alistair’s arms, glaring at Elijah over the thick muscles.
Elijah would have protested, but Helios had every reason to be upset with him.
He wouldn’t have enjoyed being trapped in a carrier all day either.
“I can take him back if you want,” Elijah offered. Alistair looked uncomfortable holding the cat. Not like he was heavy, Elijah doubted those muscles were for show, but more like he wasn’t used to being around pets in general.
Alistair grunted in agreement and tried to hand the cat off, but Helios wouldn’t go. When claws got involved, Elijah took a step back, giving the cat an incredulous look. “He’s not your personal carrier, Helios. Let him go.”
Helios’s tail twitched in agitation, but his claws refused to unclench from Alistair’s clothes.
Elijah shot Alistair an apologetic look.“I’m sorry. He’s not normally like this. I think the events of the day have been a little much. I’d force him, but I don’t want him to hurt you.”
Alistair looked down at the cat, then back at Elijah, the discomfort clear on his face. “What do I do with him?”
Isaac patted his shoulder, a grin spreading across his face. “Get used to being a cat tree?” he suggested.
Elijah twisted his lips to hide his smile at the blank stare that comment got the younger mage. Alistair was not amused.
“Um… If you’re willing to wait just a little bit, I can get his food bowl set up and feed him. He’ll be more willing to go if there’s food waiting.”
That got another grunt, and Isaac elbowed his brother in the side for it. “Don’t be a caveman. Use your words.”
When Alistair’s lip lifted in a snarl, Elijah stepped in, hands raised to soothe the riled man. “Let’s not fight. Alistair, could you show me back to my room? I’m a little turned around after running through the house like that. Helios’s food is in there, so we can get him down in there.”
Alistair eyed his brother with enough of a glare to make Elijah worried. Isaac didn’t feel the same way. He just grinned cheekily at his brother and waltzed off, saying something about looking for his mate.
“Brat,” Alistair grumbled, leading the way out of the conservatory and down the hall.
“I don’t think he meant any harm,” Elijah began with a frown.
To his surprise, Alistair smirked and shook his head. “I know that. He says he teases me because he loves me. I’ll find a way to get back at him eventually.” He glanced over his shoulder at Elijah, looking him over. “I take it you’re an only child?”
“No, actually,” Elijah frowned. “I have a brother.”
Alistair cocked his head, eyebrows raised in question. “I’m guessing you’re not that close?”
Elijah’s head jerked back in surprise. “How…”
“You’re fretting over nothing. I don’t get offended by Isaac’s teasing. If you had close siblings, you wouldn’t be so worried about it.”
Since they were finally on a topic that didn’t hold a heavy weight of awkwardness, Elijah seized on it, answering, “You’re right.
We aren’t close. And my parents weren’t interested in more.
I honestly don’t think they would have had any if my father hadn’t had a premonition that they would have a powerful son. He didn't expect two of us.”
The hallway looked more familiar as Alistair stopped just outside Elijah’s door. He frowned, which seemed to be a natural state for him.
“That sounds… odd.”
True. Most psychics were. And while Elijah held the same deep-seated belief in fate, he was less convinced that premonitions were carved in stone.
It was possible the premonition meant if they chose to have children, one child would be a boy with strong magic.
Not that they had to procreate to make the premonition come true.
“Let me put it this way. My father called me last week with a premonition that my new body wash would lead to my doom.” He winced when he admitted, “He was half right. Leaving the shower on while I went downstairs to get my body wash from the grocery bag I’d forgotten it in had led to the ceiling falling on my head, but had I stayed upstairs, I would have likely fallen through the floor. ”
Alistair stared at him for a long moment before the tiniest hint of a smile tugged at his lips. He was fighting it, but Elijah took it as a win anyway. At least they weren’t awkwardly apologizing to each other anymore.
He grabbed his bag that he’d dropped by the foot of the bed, pulling out the bowls and cat food from inside. Seeing the can got Helios’s attention, and he finally hopped down from Alistair’s arms, coming to twine around Elijah’s legs.
“Were you hurt?” Alistair finally asked.
Elijah shook his head. “Not really. A few scrapes. I got lucky. My groceries didn’t survive though. I left them on the dining room table, and that took the brunt of it.”
“Maybe you should have put them away then.”
His jaw hit the floor, and he spun around, taking in the bland expression of the mage by the door. If he hadn’t been looking carefully, he would have missed the mirth dancing in the man’s eyes. Alistair looked 100% serious about what he’d said.
“I was going to!” Elijah protested, feeling his cheeks burn when Alistair only raised an eyebrow at him. “Oh, hush, you! I would have gotten to it.” Eventually. He wasn’t the most tidy person in the realm, but he got to the chores at some point or another. And no one would have noticed anyway.
Maybe this was karma for leaving his house in disarray for so long.