53. Aryn
Aryn
Two weeks have passed since we returned. It took surprisingly little to convince Sprocket to move into Cato’s old place, though I feel bad for Sakane. Now he has to deal with the late-night hookups and complete lack of volume control.
Cato started moving his things the day we returned. The house finally feels like ours, and the space already carries his scent alongside mine. His clothes hang beside mine in the wardrobe, and his boots sit by the door next to mine. It’s small, but it’s ours.
Discussions with Ailynor and her crew are ongoing. She’s been in near-constant meetings with our group, private sessions with her general, and heated arguments with Sovran. Ronan has played peacemaker a few times, keeping his firecracker of a mother from laying the others out with her temper.
After a few days of back and forth, Sovran agreed to take her to Atlanta.
It’s the closest city, and he has contacts there that could ensure her safety while they visited.
Her guards argued against the plan when they were left outside the gates to guard the van and wait, but it’s easier to blend in a single rogue monster than a whole crew of them.
None of us are entirely sure what he showed her there, but when they returned three nights ago, it’s clear she’s all in.
Everyone is waiting with bated breath for the final word on the plan.
She hasn’t given a firm commitment yet, but the way she speaks about it is no longer skeptical.
It’s strategic, like the gears in her head are already planning another hostile takeover.
There’s a meeting planned for tomorrow morning, and I imagine we’ll get our answers then.
Tonight, the five of us—Cato, Bash, Xeni, Ego, and I—sit together in the shade.
Every time I glance up at the night sky, part of me still expects to see the deep reds and three moons of the other side.
I wonder if Brihn is looking up at that same sky and thinking about me, too.
I miss him in ways I didn’t think possible, though the new ring around my neck serves as a reminder of his presence.
The evening air is warm as Cato tucks himself into my side, watching fireflies drift lazily through the trees. Bash has Xeni in his lap, while Ego sprawls in a chair with a mug of something strong.
“So,” Bash starts, breaking the comfortable silence. “What do you think is going to happen next? Do you think this meeting is to build us up or let us down easy?”
Cato shifts against me. “Ailynor’s going to help. She wouldn’t have spent all this time here otherwise. She’s seen the cities, seen the military control, and she has her son to consider.”
“And her son-in-law,” Ego adds.
“They aren’t married,” Xeni argues, lifting his and Bash’s entwined hands to kiss the ring on his finger.
Cato rolls his eyes. “They’re mated, dipshit. It’s the same damn thing.”
“Is not,” Xeni counters.
“Regardless,” I say over their bickering, “she’s not the type to sit back once she decides something matters.”
Bash nods, tracing lazy patterns on Xeni’s arm to calm him. “She’s already talking about mobilizing forces. The question is how many, and how fast. If we can open enough rifts and get enough people working together like Sovran said… we might actually pull this off.”
“Yeah,” Cato argues, “except we don’t even know where the rest of the rifts are.”
I frown as I glance down at him. “Yes, we do.”
He scrambles to sit taller, jaw slack. “What?”
My brows pinch as I gesture vaguely toward the house. “We’ve talked about this before, I’m sure of it.”
“Bold of you to assume he was listening,” Xeni says with a smirk.
I shake my head, still focused on Cato. “That’s what my research was about. Those notes I brought with me from Ljómur have locations of dozens of rift sites.”
He scoffs before shaking his head. “You mean all those times I made fun of you for reading in the shadows, you were actually studying?”
My lips twitch. “You say it like it’s a bad thing.” He shoots me an incredulous look, but I don’t give him time to carry on. “I spent decades researching how to get back home, Cato. I didn’t stop just because I was free. Hells, if anything, it made me work harder.”
Ego takes a sip from her mug, staring into the trees. “Well, whatever happens, it’s going to be messy. The military won’t just roll over, and you already said our tech is a lot more advanced.”
Cato sighs, nodding. “The soldiers in Elyra can’t imagine the weapons here.”
Bash hums thoughtfully, twisting his mug in his hand as he purses his lips. “The humans who’ve been living under their control for so long are complacent. They’re going to need convincing this isn’t another trap, and I’m not sure that’s possible anymore.”
I tighten my arm around Cato, urging him back into my side. “It will be. It has to be. We have something they don’t—the truth. We know how to use the prophecy, and now we have the Vaelor on our side. If anyone can rally the kind of numbers we need, it’s her. She’s done it before.”
Cato looks up at me. “Sovran swears he has pockets of rebels all over the place just waiting for a chance to fight back. Hells, we met some of them after we escaped Atlanta.”
Ego takes another long sip, then lets out a burp far too loud for her size. She thumps a fist against her chest with a grin. “You guys sound like you’re planning the victory marches already. Are you trying to skip the part where we start having fun?”
Cato chuffs a laugh. “It’s been fun, baby. This feels like the part where we finally start winning.”
Bash raises his mug with a grin. “To winning, then. And to not dying in the process.” We clink our drinks together, the sound swallowed by the cicadas.
Cato takes a long drink and glances around. “Where’s Sakane? He’s missing out on the good ale.”
Ego hiccups. “Yeah, Sprocket really outdid herself with this batch. It’s getting me drunk and I like it.”
Xeni grins and shakes his head. “Rhael wanted to watch the sunset. Said he needed to see it a few more times so he can paint it properly when he gets back. Nyx and Reyes were taking him up to their outlook, and Sakane weaseled his way along.”
“Baby’s got a crush,” Ego croons.
Bash furrows his brow with a frown. “He doesn’t need to get too attached. They’ll be going home soon. I imagine that’s going to be the big discussion tomorrow. Ailynor already said she’s got too much to plan and needs to be back with her generals. She’s been gone for weeks already.”
The conversation winds down after that, and the group breaks up to head to bed.
Ego stumbles a little, but waves Bash off when he tries to help.
Cato and I walk back to our house hand in hand, closing ourselves into the quiet of our home.
We move through our familiar bedtime routine, and I watch as Cato pulls off his shirt, the bite mark from a few nights ago still visible on his pec. He catches me looking and smirks.
“Like what you see?” he asks, tossing the shirt toward the hamper.
“Always,” I reply, stepping behind him and wrapping my arms around his waist. I press a kiss to the back of his neck. “I can’t believe this is our life now.”
“Boring nights of reading books, just like you predicted.”
“Don’t tell me you’re ready for another adventure already.” I turn him in my arms and kiss him slowly, savoring the way he melts into me.
“Maybe just a little one,” he agrees with a wide grin.
“Something tells me we’re about to have enough excitement to last a lifetime.”
“Yeah,” he says with a yawn, “probably so.”
We finish getting ready for bed and climb under the covers together. Cato curls into my chest like he always does, his leg thrown over mine. I wrap my tail around his thigh, holding him close.
As sleep pulls us under, he murmurs against my skin, “Love you.”
I press a kiss to his hair. “And I love you, rha khor.”
The house is quiet, the village peaceful outside our window. For the first time in a very long time, the future feels like something we can build instead of something we have to survive.
I close my eyes and listen to the steady rhythm of his breathing and the distant sounds of the night creatures beyond our walls. This is what we fought for. This is what we crossed worlds for.
Whatever comes next on this uncertain path, we’ll face it together. Not as two lost souls running from the dark, but as mates who have already found their way home.
For the first time in my long life, I’m not afraid of what tomorrow brings.
I have him.
We have each other.
And right now, that’s enough.