Chapter Leo #2
The older man just smiles, but he offers his hand palm down, as you would to a strange dog. Leo can’t tell if he’s foolish or smart.
Rowan tilts his head back and forth, like he’s shaking off a fly.
It hits Leo then that Ignatius is using that magical animal-talking Talent.
What was it called again? Zoelexis.
There’s a bounding noise on the stairs, and then Doodle and Domino slide into the room on slippery feet. They’re up in Ignatius’s space and between his legs in an instant, when they usually only give the time of day to Gideon, Nix, or Skye.
Tsuki butts up beside Jay and sits, as if waiting her turn, too.
It’s like the fuzzy-haired man is a modern-day Dr. Doolittle. A vision of him in the yard with the squirrels and the birds flashes through Leo’s mind.
Skye giggles, and Leo feels the moment the boy comes out from behind him, head tilted to the side.
The tinkling noise is so rare, and certainly never so clear.
His amusement is usually limited to half smiles or, when Rowan is particularly ridiculous, a huff.
Leo’s heart twinges in his chest. He could listen to his son’s joy like this for the rest of his days.
“Well, okay. Yes, I see. Not all at once, please.” Ignatius gets to his feet with a groan. “I’ve been training for just this occasion, but I hadn’t expected to be quite so popular.”
It seems to be enough to settle Rowan finally, and with a huff, as if he hadn’t just been part of a full-on Alpha Voice showdown, he nudges Grayson to get on with the baby show-and-tell.
“Rowan and I have an understanding, I think.” He rubs his hands together with a grin. “And yes, they’re lovely. You did a fine job. Yes, yes, Doodle would like me to tell you that she wants to ride the fast red beast again, and Domino says he prefers tuna—”
“Why don’t we all have a seat?” Nix interrupts, voice uncharacteristically high-pitched, and Luca scurries away after him.
The fast beast? What have those two been up to?
There’s a story there, no doubt about it. But when Leo checks in, no one seems interested in finding out what it is. He should probably be more worried that Gideon will find out Leo has been feeding the cats regular supermarket tuna rather than their expensive gourmet cat food.
Everyone jockeys for a spot on the couch, and there are so many pleasantries that Leo can hardly keep track, the din of voices becoming louder and louder. Even Gideon gives Rowan a quiet talking-to, not ready to let him off the hook just because Ignatius was able to talk mano-a-animano.
Jay, as usual, is watching from outside the chaos, a small smile on his face, satisfied pride oozing from every pore. He’s never happier than when his den is full of family and friends. He’s so pleased that his fresh pine scent makes Skye sneeze beside him.
It reminds Leo of the moment when Skye had been happy to see Ignatius talking to the animals and Rowan. Often more stoic than Leo thinks any three-year-old child should be, his giggle had been relaxed and trusting. He hadn’t even been upset at Elysia’s gasp of shock.
Ignatius’s partner is sitting on the sofa beside him, but her swirling white-black eyes are on Leo and Skye.
He’d not minded when it had been turned on him at The Guild in Clearwater, but she’s looking at Leo’s pup with such focus that his wolf is well on its way to taking offense.
He’s surprised to hear his own rare growl, and that alone is enough to snap Jay out of his fond gazing with a frown.
“Leo?”
“I’m good, just a lot going on.” Leo forces a smile, but turns so Elysia can’t see Skye behind him.
Eyebrows to his hairline, Jay looks as surprised as Leo feels.
“What is with everyone?” he says quietly.
“I mean, I expected it from Rowan, and maybe even from Gideon.” He nods toward where Gideon is casually pacing behind the couch.
“But…what’s got you jumping like a cat in a room full of rocking chairs? ”
Skye drops his hand, squishes between them, and lifts his arms for Jay to pick him up, much to Jay’s surprise.
“Me? Okay.”
Skye huffs, like this isn’t the first time he’s let anyone hold him like this except Nix and Luca, who seem to get carte blanche with random affection and eye contact.
Jay points to where Elysia is sitting.
“You want to say ‘hi’ to Ms. Noctis? Yeah, okay…”
That same feeling pokes Leo’s wolf again, but he holds him down, with a rarely-required mental stand down, dumbass.
If this is what Rowan has to do constantly, Leo will have to be more sympathetic to his mate. He trails along behind, shooing the two cats off the ottoman where they’re sitting like two sphinxes waiting for their turn with the Pharaoh Ignatius.
“Ms. Noctis, this is our son, Skye.” Jay sits on the ottoman so he’s facing Elysia and can turn Skye to sit on his lap.
The boy turns away, sticking his nose into the front of Jay’s t-shirt and breathing deeply, suddenly shy now that he has her undivided attention.
“Call me Elysia, please. Hello. May I call you Skye?”
“I am very happy to meet you, Skye,” she says when he nods. Her eyes swirl, the vortex of light and dark so hypnotizing that Leo has to look away. “Can you see me?”
“See you?” Jay asks what Leo is thinking, and he notices that most of the conversation around them has faded away.
She ignores his question, though, focused solely on Skye. “Your Grayson tells me that you might be like me. A little bit.”
Skye’s eyes flit to where Grayson is now holding Rosie on his lap, her small fist grasping Ignatius’s finger.
He tilts his head, looking at the top of Elysia’s braided hair, threaded through with gray, her bronze skin, and her fashionable jacket and jeans.
But his eyes find hers, and he nearly takes his own eye out with a tiny finger.
She chuckles. “My eyes. No, they’re not like yours. I meant in here.” She taps her forehead and then the center of her chest.
Skye shrugs, but he doesn’t shake his head.
“I can see people’s soul impressions. That’s what I call it. The light and dark that make people who they are. Does that make sense?”
Skye squints his eyes, looking over her shoulder to where Gideon is frozen behind her. But he nods and points to Leo, and then Nix.
“Oh, yes. Your Leo and Nix are very bright, right?”
Skye covers his eyes once before pulling them away.
She chuckles, even when no one else does. “Do you see them bright now?”
Skye points to Nix and nods.
“Oh, I see. That makes sense. I see that, too.”
“Pretty,” Skye whispers, his voice raspy.
Nix flushes bright red, burying his face in Finn’s shoulder with a groan.
“Yes, on the outside but also the inside, right?”
Skye nods adamantly, whispering, “More.”
“Yes, he’s more. But the others? You don’t see them all the time?” She nods at Jay.
Skye shakes his head, just points at Grayson and Rosie. He makes what looks like jazz hands.
“They’re magic,” she says. “Like me, and Ignatius and Nimue, right?”
He nods, pointing to himself with a shrug.
Leo thinks he’s asking, Am I magic, too?
“I think so. Do you want to try with me?”
Skye sticks his hand out so fast, palm up, and the whole room holds its breath waiting for her to take it.