Chapter 16
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Alistair didn't have to be a telepath to see how Elijah felt about his offer. The relief and overwhelming joy on his face answered before Elijah could get the words out of his mouth.
“I’d like that too,” he breathed.
A tension he hadn’t realized he carried eased inside him, and he had to steal a kiss to hide the fact that he had been worried.
Not that he could truly hide his emotions around Elijah.
He’d said being this close, he could pick up on everything.
It surprised Alistair that it didn’t bother him, but then again, maybe it didn’t.
He trusted Elijah. The man had literally pushed his magic down for years to keep his coworkers happy. He wouldn’t poke around uninvited.
Elijah lifted his head, kissing a little harder.
It wasn’t sexual tension that made him react that way.
Alistair knew without a shadow of a doubt that the man was touch starved.
Alistair was going to figure out a way to fix that.
And not just with him. There hadn’t been anything that could be done about Alistair’s magic.
But if he could do something to help Elijah, he would.
Breaking away with a gasp, Elijah murmured, “You have to stop. Bombarding me with those kinds of emotions will make it hard for me to keep my hands to myself.”
That made him chuckle, and he smacked one more kiss against Elijah’s lips before rolling out of bed and taking the telepath with him. “You don’t need to keep your hands to yourself. Unless you plan on riding me in front of my brother. I’ll draw the line at that point.”
Elijah made a face, which drew out another chuckle from Alistair. He was fun to tease, his telepath.
“Come on,” he offered a hand to Elijah, tugging him past the piles of clothes on the floor toward the closet. “You’ve had a long day. Put on something comfortable, and we’ll go eat.”
“I really am okay,” Elijah protested, even as he did as Alistair asked.
Alistair wasn’t willing to walk away just to go change, so he pulled on the clothes he’d been wearing earlier, ignoring the tie and jacket in favor of leaving the top two buttons undone.
He knew he’d get questions from Isaac, but he really didn’t care.
There wasn’t a chance he’d hide what was happening with Elijah. He’d never treat the telepath that way.
After Elijah rejoined him wearing a soft looking sweater and a fresh pair of slacks, they headed for the kitchen together.
Elijah had that sweet look of surprise when Alistair offered his hand, but the responding smile when Alistair laced their fingers together made Alistair grin in response.
He was curious if there would ever be a point where his actions didn’t surprise the man.
Hopefully, one day he wouldn’t be so shocked that people wanted to be close to him.
Isaac and Maverick were in the kitchen when they arrived, and Isaac’s eyes immediately narrowed on their hands clasped together. Alistair was waiting for the interrogation to begin, but he wasn’t expecting the huge grin to spread across his brother’s face.
“Holy shit. When did this happen?”
A quick glance at Elijah showed the man’s bright red cheeks as he tried to come up with an explanation. “I– I mean, we– it–”
“We just decided together when you interrupted us,” Alistair cut in, sparing Elijah who looked flustered the more he attempted to explain.
Isaac rolled his eyes at Alistair. “How was I supposed to know what you two were up to? No one said hello when you got back. I fed Helios, by the way, Elijah. He was pestering Maverick, and I didn’t know if maybe you weren’t feeling well or something.
You’re looking a little pale. Did something happen? ”
Alistair cast a sharp glance at Elijah. He couldn’t tell if Elijah started suppressing his magic again. He’d hoped since Elijah and Isaac were friends that he’d feel comfortable keeping his magic free while they were in Isaac’s home. Now, he wasn’t so sure.
“Isaac, can you feel him?” he asked before Elijah could make up an excuse.
Isaac cocked his head with a frown. “Feel what?”
Narrowing his eyes at Elijah, he growled, “Eli…”
Elijah shook his head with a frown. “You gave me permission. They didn’t. I wouldn’t want to make my friends uncomfortable, especially while I’m staying with them.”
“What would make us uncomfortable? What’s going on?” Isaac demanded, his gaze flicking between Elijah and Alistair.
Alistair raised an eyebrow at Elijah, silently asking if he’d tell them the truth.
From the closed off expression, Elijah wouldn’t speak a word of it.
He didn't want to be pushy with his lover, Elijah had a lot of baggage and fear from a lifetime being an outcast, but he didn’t want him to suffer anymore either.
“Elijah has been suppressing his magic,” he explained to the couple. “He got a migraine after using his magic at work today so I took him to the pharmacy. The pharmacist said if he kept up what he was doing, it would shorten Elijah’s lifespan and make him prone to illness.”
Isaac sucked in a sharp breath, swinging around to face his friend. A flash of something, magic if he had to guess, passed through his eyes, and then he frowned deeply. “I’m feeling the same amount of magic I always have. Are you suppressing it right now? Elijah, that’s dangerous!”
“It’s fine,” Elijah tried to reassure him. “The pain is already gone, and I’ll be recovered by morning. I just… I don’t want to make anyone uncomfortable.”
Alistair could point out again that he deserved to have his freedom, but he got the feeling stepping in to speak for his brother wouldn’t help Elijah to let go. He’d still worry about Isaac’s true feelings on the matter. It was better to let Isaac speak for himself.
His little brother narrowed his eyes, expression turning thoughtful.
Slowly, he nodded. “Okay. I guess I can understand that, especially after the way I initially reacted to you. But I would have thought by now you knew I trusted you. You can be yourself here, Elijah. I know you aren’t going to poke around.
You have my permission, just like Alistair’s. Let your magic go.”
Elijah shot an uncertain look at Maverick, who shook his head. “You don’t need to worry about me. You know this. Let go. No one will treat you unfairly while in my territory.”
It took a few moments of pushing as much steady reassurance at Elijah before he finally capitulated and released his magic again. This time, Alistair knew it had happened because Isaac’s eyes went as wide as dinner plates and even Maverick looked surprised.
“Goddess… You’ve been suppressing this much?” Isaac asked, gobsmacked. “How the hell did no one know?”
Elijah lifted a shoulder uneasily. “I’ve been practicing magic suppression since I was a teenager.
Any growth spurt, I had to start all over because my magic grew with me.
” He shot a tentative smile at Alistair.
“We’re the same in that regard. When I finally felt my magic was mostly stabilized, I did everything I could to push it down enough to not come off as a threat.
I don’t want to hurt anyone,” he insisted, his voice cracking with emotion.
“I just want to be around people.” His shoulders slumped. “That’s selfish, isn’t it?”
“No,” Isaac replied, and Alistair stepped closer to Elijah with his hand on his back so he knew Alistair agreed with Isaac’s assessment.
“It’s the natural way of things to seek companionship,” Maverick interjected. “No one should hold that against you. But if what the pharmacist said is true, what you’re doing to be able to be close to others is killing you. There needs to be a better option.”
“Like what?” Elijah asked, shaking his head. “I’ve been trying for years to figure out another way. People just aren’t comfortable around me.”
Isaac shared a speaking look with Alistair. In that moment, Alistair knew his little brother felt the same way he did about this issue. Together, they would figure out a way for the company to accept Elijah as he was.
Elijah looked grateful when Isaac dropped the subject and nudged them both to the table to eat.
Alistair would have felt bad, but Elijah deserved to know he had allies.
And Isaac was relentless when he got his mind onto something.
Like when he invited Alistair to stay with him.
He didn’t stop pestering until Alistair moved in, and he still came up with ideas to help him relax when his mood got the better of him.
His little brother was a force to be reckoned with.
Elijah must have been aware of that because when he sat down, he said, “I appreciate you letting me release my magic while I’m here, but I’m not ready to do so at the office.
I already have trouble with my coworkers accepting me.
If I showed up with this kind of magical signature, I shudder to think of the response. ”
It annoyed Alistair that he had a point.
People were already afraid of him. If they felt real power coming off him, they’d either run screaming or potentially attack him.
They’d have to go through Alistair if that was their plan, though.
He might not have magic anymore, but he kept himself in shape and knew how to handle enemies without magic.
He’d protect the sweet telepath with extreme prejudice.
Isaac didn’t argue. He nodded his head slowly, his lips pursed in thought.
“True. That would be kind of shocking. We’ll come up with a plan, though.
You shouldn’t have to hurt yourself just to work at Spellbound.
We’re literally the leading company in supernatural integration alternatives.
We are all about acceptance. We’ll figure something out. ”
“You might want to get Taron’s input,” Maverick pointed out. “He’s a pain in the ass, but he’s got an ear on every department in the company. People trust him. He should be able to help.”
Isaac hummed and nodded. “Probably. But if I want to keep my sanity, I’ll go through Tony.”
“Who’s Tony?” Alistair asked, mostly to distract Elijah from the obvious stress written all over his face.
He took Elijah’s hand, rubbing his thumb over his knuckles soothingly.
Alistair understood the apprehension. Elijah had probably been working his whole life to be accepted.
It was hard to imagine they would come up with something he hadn’t.
But he’d been working towards that goal alone.
Alistair knew how much could be accomplished with a team.
No one was the hero in a military unit. They couldn’t get anything done without their team.
It was the same here. They’d make a team and together, they’d figure this out.
“Taron’s assistant,” Maverick answered.
“And his mate,” Isaac added with a smirk. “If you leave that part out, he’ll pitch a fit. Don’t get Alistair into trouble by keeping that part out.”
Alistair resisted the urge to roll his eyes.
Mates. They were all so damn short tempered when it came to their other halves.
It wasn’t something he experienced when he married Edwina.
They were considered mated, but they weren’t true mates.
There was no bonding. He was grateful for that, because if he had to be separated from his mate on top of everything else, he would probably have become catatonic.
He glanced at Elijah, who was chewing on his lip almost to the point of hurting himself. Alistair reached for him, gripping his chin to tug the abused flesh free. He used the same grip to turn Elijah to look at him.
“What’s wrong?”
“I just… I’ve never had allies before. Not like this. I don’t feel like I’ve done anything to deserve it.”
Isaac scoffed, eyeing him like he was crazy.
“You mean like stepping in during our mating and making sure Maverick kept his job? Or keeping the attention off of Dorian last month when he was going through his own mating insanity? And Tony said you vouched for him to get full-time employment when he was sure he would fail his interview. You do plenty, Elijah. This is our chance to return the favor.”