Chapter 19 #2
The moment they stepped out on the street, Thano nuzzled Eli's throat. He'd trimmed his beard. Nice. He liked Eli's beard, but now it was much shorter. “When will you come home?"
He spoke against his skin, shivering when Eli wound an arm around him and pulled him in between him and the counter. “If someone sees us here, they'll kill me." He dipped his head as if to kiss Thano but not knowing where his mouth was. Thano went up on tiptoe and brushed his lips over Eli's.
“I'll keep you safe."
His fingers twitched on Thano's hip, then he sighed and bent his head farther until his forehead was resting on Thano's collarbone. “They're throwing me out, and Mabel Mallon--"
“Despicable female."
Eli snorted. “She said there will be another shop, a membership store of some kind, and certain criteria must be fulfilled. She didn't say it outright, but it was clear she meant I won't be approved."
Thano wasn't sure what it meant.
“I'll starve--"
“You'll come home with me like you were meant to. We'll have a garden, we'll trade for meat from Ciar and Draven." He scrunched his nose, though Eli wouldn't be able to see it. “Or I guess I could hunt for you, but I hate to get blood on my suits. They're not easy to clean, you know."
Eli barked a laugh, then his hands gripped the back of Thano's suit jacket in a desperate grip.
“Let me take care of you, honey. No one starves on The Moonlight Ranch.
We have cupcakes." He shrugged. “Or whatever we're to call them.
Romeo was thrilled, and the crows were so pleased.
I wish you could've been there to see it.
" He had. Everyone had been happy, but Thano hadn't been able to enjoy it.
He'd missed Eli. Eli should've been there.
He'd helped plan the whole cupcake business.
“I feel guilty for abandoning the people here. I can't just...Elijah needs me, and Rosie, and Lisa-Mae, and did you see the old couple that was in a little time ago?"
Thano had, he'd heard everything Eli had told them. “You're too kind."
“They won't be able to afford food, Thano. They can hardly afford it now, they're too old to work, and if I'm not here, I can't look out for them."
Thano didn't like his reasoning. “And it's important to you?"
“I hope someone will look out for me when I'm old. I don't have a family, I don't have any children, and I never will. There won't be anyone to take care of me. If I can't rely on there being kind people around me, I won't make it."
Thano snorted. “You won't grow old."
Eli raised his head and frowned. “What?"
“You're mine. Once we're bonded, you won't age. You'll share my life span."
Thano frowned when Eli's face turned blank. It was good news, wasn't it?
“Bonded?"
“Yes. Bonded."
“And how...wait..." He shook his head, and Thano sighed.
“We'll create a blood bond. I'll drink from you at the same time as I feed you my blood, and we'll be forever linked. You can spend centuries helping the people in Last Hope if that's what you want to do with your life."
“Centuries?" Eli slapped a hand on his chest. “It's so fucking weird to have this conversation without being able to see you. I can't tell if you're serious or not."
Thano huffed. “I'm serious, but there is a man outside guarding the shop. I can't drop the shadows without risking him shooting you."
“Shooting me, not you?"
“I'd have the good sense of moving out of the bullets' way."
Eli huffed.
“Eli." Thano cupped his elbows. “Be mine."
“Yeah, but what do you mean with centuries? Are you immortal?"
“No, not immortal. Vampires can be killed, and most often we die naturally somewhere around five and seven hundred years."
Eli looked a little pale, which was worrisome.
“Did you eat today?" Maybe he needed food.
“The cupcake."
“It's afternoon, and all you've eaten so far is a cupcake?" It was too little. Way too little. “We need to close up and get some food into you."
“Five hundred years. How old are you?"
Thano shrugged then remembered Eli couldn't see him. “I'm not sure. We don't count days in the wild country. A hundred and fifty maybe."
“Huh. And how many others are you blood-bonded to?"
Thano stared at him, unable to name the feeling welling up inside. “We only ever have one mate, Eli. You're mine, and you'll never have anyone else. You're mine."
“Oh, I'm yours, am I? And I don't get a say?" He was too relaxed for Thano to believe he was angry, but he sounded a bit annoyed.
Thano pulled him close and went up on tip toe to nip at his earlobe. “Mine."
Eli shivered. “You know what?"
Thano studied him, not sure what to make of the expression. “No."
“I think it's the best offer I've had today, so I'll take it."
Heat washed through Thano, and a grin stretched his lips. “You never had a choice."
“Idiot." Eli pinched his side. “I can't leave yet, though.
I need to have the shop open tomorrow, then I need to go to the bank and...
close my business, I guess. Probably best to close my bank account too.
" He was quiet for a moment. Thano wasn't sure, but he believed it was sorrow shining in his eyes. “What will I do with Mom's house?"
“Leave it for now. Humans are fickle creatures, almost worse than crows."
Eli snorted.
“You might want to come back to the house at some point."
“Yeah, but I have to pay for electricity and such. If I leave it unheated, it will be destroyed."
“It'll be fine. Now close up so we can feed you."
“Just like that? Leave everything. Abandon everyone."
Thano hugged him tighter. Eli was too kind for his own good. “Just like that. Leave Last Hope and help everyone from the outside. You can reach Fisherman's Lake by going around the lake instead of across it. I'm sure Joshua or whatever his name is will be willing to continue to trade with you."
“Trade when I have no money."
“Who says you can't have money? Simply because you don't have them in the bank doesn't mean you can't have money. If you want to have a market stand along the road leading out of Last Hope, people can give you money for your goods, and you can give the money you get to Joshua."
Something close to excitement glinted in Eli's eyes, then it died. “But what about taxes? Business licenses and--"
“We don't have taxes. Nothing to worry about."
Eli stared in his direction, but not straight at him. Thano glanced out the window. The man was facing away from the shop. He dropped the shadows, and Eli jumped, instantly making himself as big as he could to shield Thano. It was sweet.
“You can do whatever you want." Thano held onto his gaze, willing him to understand that Thano would make sure he'd get to do whatever he wanted to do.
If it was to feed every last idiot in Last Hope, then so be it.
“I'm the leader of The Moonlight Ranch. If I say you can do something, you can do it. "
Eli laughed but shook his head. “It's not that easy."
“Make it easy. Come with me."
For a second Eli didn't move, then he nodded. “Yeah, I'll come with you, but tomorrow."
“Fine. I'll live in the shadows until then." He pulled Eli close and kissed him. “But tomorrow we head back home."
“Yes." Eli clutched at him. “I'm sorry I left, but I had to..."
Thano grunted and kissed him again. “As long as you know who you belong to."
“You're a bit of an ass, did you know?"
Thano grinned. “I believed you liked my ass."
Groaning, Eli nipped at his lower lip. “I do. And it's mine, right? Only mine."
“For another five hundred years or so."
Eli sucked in a breath, but before he could start asking questions again, Thano kissed him. “Come on. Close up."
Glancing out the window, Eli kissed him again. “I'm glad you came back."
“I was never going to leave you."
Eli's eyes flicked over his face. “No?"
“No. You needed to do what you needed to do. Now you have and can find something else you need to do."
Eli's nod was slow, but this time he moved away from Thano to close the shop for the second to last time. A lot would change, but Thano would take care of him. They'd figure out how to grow food, how to trade for food, and if Eli wanted to, how to get food into Last Hope.
* * * *