Chapter 25 Kaenon
KAENON
I stand in the hallway, using my heightened hearing to listen to my mate speak with her ghostly companion. Then I slip back into the washroom across the hall, shutting the door so my mate will not overhear as I whisper their words to Athanis once more.
He translates for me. "She says she desires only one boih-frend. I do not know this word, but from context I believe it to be another term for a lover."
Only one lover?
But what will become of these other males who are so protective and adoring of my mate? I frown and go out to listen in once more, then return to the washroom, relaying everything I heard, word for word, from each of them.
Athanis thinks for a moment before translating.
"Your mate does not believe she is worthy of more love than what one temporary mate can give her.
She worries she will disappoint multiple lovers.
Her lovely, blue-haired spirit guardian is unhappy with this and is urging your mate to give all four of the males under this roof a chance to please her.
Alas, Elise is fearful and says she requires more convincing. "
My chest aches as I step out of the washroom once more, frowning at the door to my mate’s chambers.
How could she doubt what she is worthy of? Someone must have hurt my mate deeply in the past to make her believe she is insufficient for the mates whom fate intends for her.
"I will convince her," I whisper low so she will not hear, looking at Athanis with determination. "We all will. My mate deserves all she can have and more. Why should she doubt herself when it is clear every male here would die for her, just as I now would?"
"Hoo thafuhck arreoo tawk ingtoo?" the red-haired blessed one demands as he steps into the end of the hall. "Eyeth ought yoowerr go ingtoo thuhba throom."
Athanis quickly translates for me, giving me the right words to say. I clear my throat and walk closer to face the blessed one without bothering my mate.
"Yes, I relieved myself into the magic cauldron."
He looks at me like I just professed an undying love for sniffing monster droppings. Maybe Athanis's words were not the right ones to say, after all. It is frustrating not to have the words to tell these other males everything my mate just confessed to her guardian spirit.
But the blessed one—Asher, the others call him—mutters something I do not understand before taking my arm to pull me even further away from my mate's door. He must wish to take every care not to disturb her with our voices, and I am pleased by his thoughtfulness.
As we get farther away, one of his hands glows green. It disappears into nothing as his expression turns to one of great focus, as though he is seeking something before he withdraws a strange, curved object from the nothingness.
He holds up the object and speaks in his own tongue at length. He sounds almost cross, but I am beginning to think that is just his temperament.
When he is done speaking, Athanis exhales in relief.
"He is offering you a charmed translation device.
He says it may pain you to adjust to its use, but that a skilled magic-user crafted it for him to use during a difficult hunt in foreign lands years ago.
He grows weary of your confusions and wishes to simplify things.
Remember, I have foreseen this one," my friend adds.
Athanis has told me that before he died, he prayed to Galene for visions of my future to better guide me in this time. He saw this red-haired magic-user who carries a powerful blessing and believes he will be important in my future contentment with my mate.
Trust him, one of my beasts decides.
Safe, another agrees.
Accepting the gift, I study it. I have no idea what to do with an object of this shape.
Asher grumbles something, takes the gift back, and fits it around the shell of my right ear.
"Bray syoorself," he warns.
A sudden pain jolts through my skull, rattling it as if I have been struck by lightning. I hiss and grip the ear that the odd object is now firmly affixed to. Has it stabbed into my head? I am not sure, but it is excruciating.
It fades quickly, but I still frown at the blessed magic-user. "That pained my mind."
My mouth feels strange as I speak, as though my tongue and lips are moving differently, although I am certain I used the right words.
"Tell me about it," he grunts. "I haven't touched the damn thing since that mission wrapped up. Not that it would do me much good now, anyway, since it's not shaped for my left ear."
I rear back in surprise, bewildered. "I understood your words. Praise to the gods."
"Sure, them and Jada, my friend who made it. Now come on. We're going to have a little talk."
Athanis and I follow him back into the sitting and food preparation area of my mate's abode. My mate appears to enjoy making her home comfortable, and she has done well. I like this place. Most of all, I like that her scent is all over it, both tantalizing and soothing.
At first, I think the vampire must have left, but then I see that he is licking the last traces of my blood from Asher's knife as he sits on a stool in the food preparation room.
Asher notices, too. "You're jonesing. Go feed, Ian."
"I will soon," the vampire mutters, setting the now-spotless blade onto the counter. He stands from the stool to glance down the hallway we emerged from. "What were you guys doing? Is Heidi okay?"
Heidi, my dragon growls, coveting that name.
This must be another name of my mate, aside from Elise. I mouth Heidi, enjoying the feeling of it in my mouth.
The front door opens, and the pierced infernal one who is called Zak strides back into Heidi's abode, brushing copious rainwater off his face as thunder continues to rumble in Pheli's sky outside.
"Bike's parked in the driveway now," he tells us before lounging on one of the cushioned benches in Heidi's sitting area. "How's Candy doing? She sleeping yet?"
Is Candy another name for my mate? I ponder her many names.
"She is yet awake," I inform them, eager to share what I overheard her saying to her ghostly companion so they may help me convince my mate she deserves more. "She is—"
"Back up. Since when did Naked Guy speak English?" Ian sputters, looking me over before he scowls at Zak. "And you, get off our girl's couches. You're soaked."
"Again with the our girl?" Asher huffs before pointing at the cushioned bench Zak is on and looking at Ian and me. "That's it. All three of you, sit your asses down. Let's hash this shit out."
Confused, I look at Athanis, but he also doesn't know what the blessed one means. Still hoping to share what I heard from my mate, I sit beside the infernal one.
The vampire sits on the other cushioned bench, glaring up at Asher as though daring him to begin a fight. "Let me guess. You're going to go full protective bodyguard on us and say to fuck off and get lost because you think she's not our girl."
The blessed one folds his arms, studying the three of us for a moment. Then he shakes his head.
"The way I see it, Heidi needs people in her corner.
The more batshit insane the people fighting in someone's corner are, the safer that person usually is.
So no, I don't really mind three more protective fuckers panting after Heidi.
Problem is, you're all clearly goners for her, and if someone gets jealous and loses their shit around my charge, she might get hurt again. "
"No problem there," Zak shrugs. "I'm not the jealous sort. Plus, Ian's not gonna attack me."
"What Zak's saying is, he made me make some demonic pledge," Ian grumbles. "And so long as no one here poses a risk to Heidi, I won't rip out any throats. For now."
Asher looks between them before looking at me, his green eyes narrowing. "You. Go ahead and share why you're here."
"Heidi is my mate," I offer.
Mate, my beasts repeat in agreement, pleased to be in her abode.
That makes Ian and Zak's heads whip toward me. The vampire looks as fierce as a threatened wild beast, while the infernal one is full of surprise. But Asher's expression doesn't budge. There is something reassuringly steady about this stern, blessed magic-user that puts my inner beasts at ease.
"Guessed as much," he grunts. "Does Heidi know?"
I pause, realizing that with a language barrier between my mate and me, perhaps she does not know who fate intends me to be for her. I look at Athanis. "Does she?"
Ian follows where I'm looking, confused when he sees nothing. "Who are you talking to?"
My priestly friend frowns. "I suppose I failed to mention to her that you are her mate. I assumed she would know it by your scent."
Not all shifters can identify their fated ones through scent alone. It's a rare gift, one I'm not surprised my inner beasts have been afforded. But Heidi—Elise—does not seem to possess this gift.
She does not know, my wolf growls.
Tell her.
My mate must not understand why I am truly here. I look down the hallway, standing as I prepare to go tell her. Asher shakes his head, holding up a hand.
"We're not done here. Tell her after she's gotten some rest."
He is right. My mate looked exhausted, so I sit again, deciding I will share with them what I overheard once we have spoken about whatever has the blessed one looking so pensive.
"Boone, you still being alive clearly means a hell of a lot to Heidi. Zak's a half-demon, so he may be an infernal godsdamned shitty fucking scumball—"
"Still a very taken scumball," Zak interjects pointedly, though I don't understand why.
"But he kept Heidi alive in the Nether," Asher goes on with a slight frown before looking at me. "And Birthday Suit—"
"Kaenon," I correct, unsure why he is calling me after birthday clothing.
"Right. To your credit, you could have lost your temper when I stabbed you earlier."
I shake my head. "You are protective of my mate. It was honorable."
My beasts rumble inside of me, agreeing that this blessed one has our respect.