Chapter 7
CHAPTER SEVEN
Alistair felt the magic brush against his skin.
Not to get into his head. No, this was a spell he was more familiar with.
Every supernatural was taught how to read another supernatural.
Some races could pick up more than others, but everyone could get a general idea of power level.
From the shock on Elijah’s face, he just realized he couldn’t pick up anything from Alistair.
“How–” Elijah began, then snapped his jaw shut. Alistair could tell he had questions. Questions Alistair would refuse to answer if he said them out loud. He didn’t. He seemed to realize his blunder and cleared his throat, frowning at his empty plate.
“I, uh… I’d like to assist in clean up, if I may. You cooked, after all.”
Isaac seemed to pick up on the tension as well.
His narrow-eyed gaze shifted between the two of them, and when he shot a questioning look at Alistair, Alistair shook his head.
He hadn’t told Elijah about the magic blockers.
They stayed hidden beneath his sleeves, and no one was any wiser to their existence.
Not even Morana knew. She assumed he was human.
It happened in mage families from time to time.
She wouldn’t think to ask questions about it.
“Sure. I’ll help,” Isaac said, standing and grabbing his and Maverick’s plates. “There’s not much to it, we have a dishwasher, but we can load it together.”
After clearing the table, they disappeared into the kitchen, leaving Alistair and Maverick alone.
He didn’t spend much time with his new brother-in-law, but he liked the man.
He was good for Isaac. Treated him like something precious.
Alistair had seen them together plenty of times since he came to stay with them, and Maverick always looked at Isaac like he was the dragon’s entire world.
It was what his little brother deserved.
“You’re not required to tell anyone if it makes you uncomfortable,” Maverick grumbled, his expression serious. “And we won’t share it either.”
Alistair let out a slow breath, nodding. He was a little worried Isaac would say something to Elijah, he was quick to agree to join the telepath in cleaning up, but he should have known better. Isaac would never betray him like that. It just made him feel better to hear it said out loud.
“I think I’m going to hit the gym,” Alistair said as he pushed away from the table. “Thank you for the meal.”
Maverick waved him away, already pulling out his phone, probably to do some work while Isaac wasn’t looking.
He’d seen the way the dragon’s fingers twitched while they were talking about work.
He probably wanted to make note of the conversation, maybe set up a meeting for first thing Monday.
It was what Alistair would have done if he thought there was a mole in his unit. He wouldn’t want to wait, either.
In the monstrosity his little brother and his mate called home, there was a full gym as well as a pool for exercise.
Dragon shifters needed a lot of exercise in general, but Maverick worked out more than an average shifter and had all the equipment to do it.
When he’d shown Alistair after he moved in, Alistair had nearly tripped over his own feet.
He wasn’t sure he’d ever be comfortable living in a house like this.
He could afford something nice, the military paid battle mages well enough, and he got some disability pay, but it just felt like too much to him. The house had no character.
He did make use of the gym regularly, though. He couldn’t meditate without it feeling wrong, so he exercised instead. It helped clear his head without drawing attention to the disconnect from his magic.
After changing his clothes, he went for the treadmill first for a warmup.
The gym, like the rest of the house, had a wall that was entirely glass, giving an amazing view of the acres of land behind the house.
As Isaac had explained it, dragons needed a lot of territory, so as far as he could see was all Maverick’s land.
There were some hiking trails that Isaac dragged him on a few times, but otherwise, he didn’t explore much.
He avoided being around nature now. It hurt too much.
A throat cleared behind him, and Alistair knew it was Elijah before he even looked. He was the only one polite enough, or maybe shy enough, that he would clear his throat and wait instead of disturbing Alistair outright.
“Yeah?”
“I, uh, wanted to apologize. For earlier. I hadn’t meant to– Well, I mean, I did, but it wasn’t to–”
The man was a conundrum. He’d done what any other supernatural would do when interacting with someone new. The spell he used was so commonplace, children could do it. It never mattered to Alistair before now, but there was no way Elijah could have known that.
“Do you always apologize this often?” he interrupted, shooting a frown over his shoulder. “You didn’t do anything wrong. You have no reason to apologize.”
Elijah looked unsure of himself, and something about that bothered him.
It almost felt like the telepath was afraid of him.
He worked too damn hard and sacrificed everything he held dear so people wouldn’t have to be afraid of him anymore.
If he was doing something to scare the telepath, he wanted to know.
Turning off the treadmill, he hopped off and strode over to the taller man, crossing his arms over his chest when he got close enough. “Is there a reason you’re afraid to look me in the eye?”
Startled, Elijah’s eyes jumped up, giving Alistair a chance to admire the color.
He’d met people with hazel eyes, but never with such startling contrast between the inner and outer ring.
Copper in the middle, ocean blue on the outside.
The glasses emphasized them, making him look innocent and frankly, adorable.
Which was an odd thought. He couldn’t remember the last time he thought about someone like that.
“I, uh… It doesn’t have anything to do with you. People aren’t comfortable with making eye contact with me, so I just avoid it to–”
“Make them feel more comfortable,” Alistair finished.
Another blush tinged those fair cheeks, and Elijah shoved his glasses up his nose to hide it. “Yes, quite. Anyway, I didn’t want to interrupt your exercise. I just wanted to apologize–”
“Join me.”
Elijah’s wide eyes went even wider and his mouth fell open in surprise. “I– What?”
“Join me,” Alistair repeated, raising his eyebrows.
“You’re a friend of Isaac’s, and I’d like to get to know you better.
” And figure out some way to get the man to stop hunching in on himself.
It still bothered him, despite knowing the reason.
Their height difference was nearly eliminated again as Elijah sank in on himself. “Unless you have work to do?”
“N-no,” Elijah stammered, still floundering with the invite. “I’ll just… go change.” He shot a frown over his shoulder as he headed for his room, and nearly walked into the door for his efforts. Alistair huffed a laugh, shaking his head as he climbed back onto the treadmill.
In all honesty, he surprised himself with the offer.
Aside from Isaac, he hadn’t spent any time being social since the blockers were put on and he came to stay here.
He was polite with coworkers when they spoke to him, but he didn’t encourage conversation, nor did he accept any invitations to go out for drinks after work.
It was possible he was keeping his distance so he wouldn’t have to explain himself if the blockers were ever seen.
There was just something about the telepath that made him curious.
He was so different from any other supernatural he knew, and he wanted to dig a little into the man to figure out what it was that made him so different.
At what point did Elijah admit that he didn’t exercise often? He did the bare minimum to keep himself healthy but otherwise put his energies elsewhere. He avoided gyms, so there was no social pressure. And he’d rather be reading than exercising. It made him feel a little less alone.
Muscles he didn’t realize existed ached as he lifted the dumbbells Alistair had offered him. He’d lost count of the number of times he’d done so, but it had to be at least a hundred. Maybe more?
Alistair sat his much larger dumbbells back onto the shelf with a sigh of satisfaction. “Almost finished? There’s a row machine you can try next.”
Elijah whimpered, giving in to the urge to drop the dumbbells and sit on the floor. He was sweaty and achy and exhausted, and they weren’t even done yet? He might cry at this rate.
“Ready to admit defeat?” Alistair asked, a weird intonation in his voice Elijah didn’t understand.
Elijah glanced up at the mage, worried he’d see disappointment on the man’s face. What he saw instead confused him. Was Alistair laughing at him?
“What?”
A smirk pulled at those gorgeous pink lips and the mirth in his eyes made Elijah straighten. He was laughing at him!
“You… You did this on purpose?” he asked, incredulous.
“Not at first,” Alistair admitted, still smirking. “But when I noticed you refused to tell me when you were at your limit, I thought you were trying to show off or something. Was that not the case?”
He was lying. He knew Elijah wouldn’t try to show off. It was written all over his face. The man was evil. Cruel. Why would he–
It hit him like a ton of bricks. He was starting to feel a little embarrassed by how often the man surprised him into gaping at him.
But no one had ever teased Elijah before.
His friends were kind and chatted with him, but they didn't play with him.
They didn't tease. Not even when he was a kid living with his brother did they have the kind of relationship where they teased one another. He was so unfamiliar with the action that he didn’t see it for what it was until Alistair was practically spelling it out.
“Oh.”
Alistair let out a low chuckle, the sound sending shivers up Elijah’s spine. “Yeah. Oh. Are you always this gullible?”
He flushed bright red, but couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face. “I’m not sure. I’ve never considered it. Are you always this evil?”
“As his younger sibling, I can answer that question with an absolute yes,” Isaac offered with a smirk as he wandered into the room.
He was obviously getting ready to settle in for the night in plain pajama bottoms and an oversized t-shirt that Elijah would bet good money belonged to Maverick.
It was the slippers that made him laugh out loud.
“Are those dragon slippers?”
Isaac wiggled his feet, grinning wildly. “Yes. Avery gave them to me for my birthday. They drive Maverick nuts.”
“They’re anatomically incorrect,” Maverick grouched as he joined them. He didn’t seem interested in straying far from his mate, one big hand on Isaac’s hip as he scowled at the offending slippers.
“They’re slippers,” Isaac shot back.
“I think it would be a little creepy if they were anatomically correct,” Elijah pointed out, cocking his head at the footwear in question. Alistair nodded in agreement.
Maverick considered that with pursed lips before acquiescing. “You have a good point.”
Isaac scowled at him. “Oh, so you’ll listen when Elijah points that out, but not me when I said it after I first got them?”
Maverick shrugged, but his wicked grin said he enjoyed screwing with his mate just as much as Isaac did with him by wearing the slippers.
Elijah watched them interact with a small amount of envy.
He would give up every ounce of his magic to have a relationship like that.
One where no matter the disagreement, they still loved each other deeply and held hands even while bickering.
Elijah had never held hands with a lover in his life.
He’d never had a lover to begin with. That would require someone to touch him, and no one ever dared. Not even his friends.
As if to prove him wrong, Alistair nudged his arm, jerking his chin at the couple as he said something about Isaac having always been a brat when it came to messing with people.
Elijah didn’t catch all of it. He was too shocked by Alistair’s willingness to touch him.
Would there be a day where this man wouldn’t stun him silly?