Chapter 24 Bechora
“So, all I have to do is show up and listen to any concerns?” I asked, turning slightly to look at Zypher.
“If you were a male, yes. But since you are a female already bonded to one demon, the males will want to touch your hand to see if they are part of your Vinculum. With your ability to copy power, I am not sure that it’s wise, Dilectus.
We have no way of knowing what could happen should you absorb so much at once. ”
I frowned and shifted again to get more comfortable.
We’d been in my dorm working on homework and discussing how to handle the demons’ expectations of me, since classes ended a few hours earlier.
At some point, we’d all moved to the floor around the coffee table rather than the couch and recliner, and my butt was starting to go numb.
Archer leaned forward, flipping through the open pages of my mother’s journal, which sat on the table in front of us.
“I think I have a solution for that,” he said, eyes bouncing between the journal and a notebook, with his scribbled notes that looked more like a code puzzle with numbers than anything useful.
“I’m pretty sure I saw something about being able to choose when you take on an ability.
Ah, here! One of the entries from the third, no fourth Starcaller, is a visualization exercise to shut that off. ”
“What does that mean, exactly?” I asked, perking up slightly.
“Well, if my translations are correct, you just have to come up with some sort of mental image that shuts off the flow of power.” His finger skimmed over his page of notes. “Looks like she pictured a door that she opened and closed as needed.”
“So, I just picture a shut door, and I’m good? That sounds almost too easy.”
“Because the wolf is making it sound simpler than it is,” Gabriel interjected. “I’m willing to bet it takes a lot of practice the same way I had to practice not accidentally enthralling anyone I bit when I first came of age.”
“Oh,” I sighed, slumping slightly in disappointment.
“Just another thing to add onto my never-ending ‘to-do’ list. I don’t get how there could have been so many Starcallers before me, and things are still this complicated.
Why couldn’t one of them have been the prophesied one, so I could just live my freaking life?
” I tilted my head back and groaned before a thought occurred to me.
“I haven’t experienced anything new since meeting Archer, maybe I’m already turning it off without realizing it. ”
“Maybe…” Archer replied in a way that said he didn’t think that was the case.
Disappointment washed through me, and Gabriel scooted over so that he was pressed against my side and tucked me under his arm, while Zypher took my hand in his as if they sensed it.
Archer’s face twisted into a look of longing that made my heart ache.
The wolf shifter practically spent every waking moment he wasn’t in class, with me or working to translate more of the journal my mother left, for me.
He was growing on me, and I was starting to wonder why I was putting off sealing our bond.
Before I could get too lost in my thoughts, the door to my dorm swung open, and Shadrie strolled inside with Miles behind her, their arms full of snacks.
“Alright, boys, it’s time for you to go. B needs a girl’s night, no mates allowed.” She grinned as she walked over to the coffee table and dropped the load from her arms.
“Shadrie,” I started, stifling a laugh. “We don’t–”
“Nuh uh,” she cut in. “No arguing. You’ve been running yourself ragged. It’s time to relax a little, and I’m gonna make sure you do. Bestie code.”
I shot Miles a pleading look, and he gave me a sheepish grin from behind her back, shifting the weight of what looked like entirely too many bags of candy. “I was told there’d be snacks and candy, and that if I didn’t come, she’d ice every book I even so much as looked at, so I couldn’t open it.”
Zypher gently squeezed my hand, and Gabriel pressed a chaste kiss to the side of my head before they both pulled away and started to stand.
“As much as I’d prefer not being separated, Shadrie has a point. When was the last time you spent time with your friends without us hovering?” Gabriel asked, though the look on his face said the question was rhetorical.
“He’s right, Dilectus. You need this.” Zypher agreed.
“Ugh, fiiiine,” I replied, a playful smile spreading across my lips.
They chuckled, Zypher holding out his hands to help pull me to my feet before pressing a gentle kiss to my lips.
“You too, wolf,” Shadrie said, crossing her arms over her chest as she stared at Archer, still sitting on the floor.
“Why does he get to stay, but I have to go?” he pouted, glancing at Miles.
“Archer—” I started.
“Miles isn’t one of B’s mates,” Shadrie said at the same time. “ And he’s Bestie Number Two.”
“Come on, Archer, let Bechora have time with her friends,” Gabriel commanded.
Archer’s pouty expression slipped into a sly grin, and he moved to stand as his gaze shifted to Gabriel. “Look at you getting all bossy, Pretty Boy. Keep talking to me like that, and I might just do anything you ask.”
Gabriel’s expression went flat with annoyance. Pure, unfiltered and directed entirely at Archer.
“Don’t push it,” he said evenly, though the muscle ticking in his jaw gave him away.
“Come along, wolf,” Zypher chuckled. “If you behave, perhaps I will help you figure out how best to get under his skin.”
Archer practically bounced as he rounded the coffee table, his grin growing wider by the second. Gabriel hissed out a threat under his breath that caused Zypher to let out a booming laugh. I shook my head at their antics and watched them file out into the hallway.
“See you boys in the morning!” Shadrie said, following them to the door, and shutting it behind them before they could respond. “So, what should we gossip about first?” she asked, turning back to where Miles and I stood around the coffee table.
“I feel like we should talk about what’s up with one of you two,” I replied as we settled onto the couch. “I barely see either of you outside of meals, and I live with you.” I pointed at Shadrie.
“I can’t help that I have a busy social calendar,” she snickered. “Miles is the one hiding in the library all the time. We should start with him. What’s new besides the books you’ve basically buried yourself under? Any word from B’s smoking hot brother?”
Miles flushed crimson and reached for the nearest bag of candy to busy his hands. “Kind of.”
Shadrie gasped, like he’d just confessed a crime. “Kind of?” she repeated, dragging the words out as she leaned forward, eyes lighting up. “You have to give us more than that. You can’t leave us with just ‘kind of’ when you have a mate that looks like yours.”
I snorted, tucking my legs up under me as I angled toward Miles. “She’s right, you can’t say that and not give details.”
He huffed out a breath, shoulders slumping in defeat as his fingers toyed with the candy bag. “He’s sort of been… sending me letters.”
“Letters? As in plural? I can’t believe you’ve been holding out on us!”
Miles winced. “I wasn’t holding out, I just…” he broke off, dragging a hand through his hair. “It’s weird, okay?”
“Define weird,” Shadrie said immediately, already leaning closer as if she could physically pull the details out of him.
“They just… show up,” he admitted. “In my books, on my study table. One was tucked into my bag, and I know I didn’t put it there.”
My brows pulled together. “What do they say?”
“It’s not like… detailed or anything. It’s more…” he trailed off as he searched for the words. “Poetic… and a little vague. Somehow, I finish them feeling like I know him a little better, even though we only met the one time at the end of last term.”
Shadrie’s grin sharpened. “That’s because you do know him better,” she said. “Emotionally, spiritually. Through the power of dramatic love letters.”
“That’s not how that works,” Miles deadpanned.
I couldn’t help the laugh that erupted from me.
“Honestly, that does track with Geordie. Even back when I thought he was just human and my best-friend-slash-roommate, he had a flair for the dramatic. I’m glad he’s found a way to reach out, and didn’t just leave you in the dark after dropping the ‘mate bomb’ on you. ”
Miles smiled at me in response. “Thanks. It’s been kind of nice, honestly.
There was one that he listed a book for me to check into.
I swear, I’d been stumped about something in Alchemy class, and that afternoon, while I was in the library, the letter showed up with the exact book I needed to figure it out. ”
“That’s so sweet!” Shadrie squealed. “Did he give you a way to write back to him?”
Miles’ smile fell, and he shook his head. “No,” he sighed. “It’s been pretty one-sided, but with everything we know about the prophecy and Geordie being B’s brother and a seer, I get it. He can’t risk being found just so I can write him back.”
I reached over and gave his arm a gentle squeeze. “It still sucks,” I said. “It’s okay to be upset about it.”
“What B said,” Shadrie added. “I’d probably be curled up in a ball, crying my eyes out in your shoes. Somehow, you’re still being our badass researcher and going through class.”
Her words sent a bolt of guilt through me.
I’d been so focused on myself, I’d failed to consider how my friends were affected by the prophecy and my choices.
Sure, it made sense in human terms to want to take things slow and get to know my mates before bonding myself to them for life, but that left me either unprepared for what was to come or left my friends in limbo while I got my shit together to fulfill the prophecy.
“Fate couldn’t have picked someone more perfect from you, based on how dramatic you’re making these letters sound. Right, B?” Shadrie’s voice pulled me back to the present, and I realized they’d continued on with the conversation while I was in my head, starting to spiral.
“What?”
Shadrie shot me an annoyed look. “Never mind,” she shook her head at me. “My statement stands regardless. You needed someone to balance out that workaholic, big-brain energy.”
Miles flushed red again. “Maybe…” he shrugged. “Can we talk about something else now, please ?”
Shadrie shot him a look that said she’d let it go for now before settling deeper into the couch and grinning. “So, I finally hooked up with a demon last night. And let me tell ya, if Triple D is anything like he was, I don’t know how B doesn’t spend every waking second climbing him like a tree.”
My mouth gaped open, but Shadrie launched into a detailed retelling of her night before I could say anything.
We fell into a comfortable pattern after that, swapping stories about our classes, Shadrie regaling us with lurid tales of her conquests for the term, and just enjoying feeling normal for once.
Still, as the evening wore on, guilt coiled in my gut, reminding me that we could have more of this if I’d just stop dragging my feet.