Chapter 13
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Alistair
What the actual fuck! Who is this guy and why is he all over my lover?
Hands curling into fists, holding back my shift by a thread, I—
Find myself being held back by Gideon.
“Let me go!” I snarl, trying to yank my arm free from his grip. Damn fucking demons and their strength.
“Sam will kill us both if I do,” he says. “That’s Aidan’s assistant. He turned up this morning.”
“I don’t think kissing is part of his job description,” I grit out as the fucker leans back and dips his head to smack a kiss on Aidan’s mouth. Why hasn’t he let go of Aidan yet? “What’s he doing here anyway? I thought this was going to be top-level clearance only.”
“Percy and Aidan both said the magic gave him the all-clear,” Andrew says, coming up beside me. “So relax. Aidan’s safe.”
I’d glare at him, but I don’t want to take my eyes off the slimy fucker groping my lover.
That’s right. He’s mine .
“They’re awfully touchy-feely for what’s supposed to be a professional relationship.” I yank my arm again, and Gideon responds by tightening his grip to bruising proportions.
Andrew turns fully to stare at me. “Are you…?” A slow grin spreads across his face. “You’re jealous!”
“I’m not jealous,” I snap. “I’m infuriated! Look at that leech.”
My asshole secondary best friend doesn’t bother to look. “Is there something going on with you and Aidan?” He leans forward. “You can trust me. I won’t tell everyone I know.” The gleam of delight in his eyes makes me wish I can partially change so I could claw them out.
Well… almost. I’d threaten to, anyway.
Surprisingly, Caolan speaks up. “You have nothing to fear,” he assures me, looking at my lover and the leech and then dismissively waving a hand. “You and Aidan have paired souls. With that one, there is nothing.”
Uh…
“What?” My voice squeaks just a little. “Did you…? Are you saying Aidan and I are soul mates ?”
“Do soul mates really exist?” Andrew adds, and Gideon’s grip on me loosens.
All three of us stare at Caolan, and he takes a step back.
“Soul mates? I don’t… oh, two people meant only for each other? No. There’s no such thing.”
“But you just said,” Andrew whines. Caolan cuts him off with a shake of the head.
“I said paired souls. It’s different.”
We lean forward in anticipation, but he appears to be done.
“Well?” Gideon barks. “Tell us!”
Caolan tries to peer around us, seemingly a bit nervous.
I don’t know why. Maybe it’s Gideon—he can be a scary motherfucker.
“There are some souls with greater compatibility. Relationships change as people grow, and sometimes that means a connection between two souls comes to a natural end. When people with paired souls are in a relationship, they always grow in the same direction. Their souls will always complement each other.”
I sneak a glance over my shoulder into the living room. Aidan’s still talking to the leech, but it doesn’t bother me so much anymore.
“That’s lovely,” Sam says, appearing out of nowhere, and I choke down a shriek. “Is this an abstract conversation or are we talking about someone in particular?”
Andrew opens his mouth. I jam my elbow into his solar plexus.
“Sam, you haven’t met Caolan yet,” I say quickly as my secondary best friend bends over and gasps for breath. “Caolan, this is Sam Tiller, one of my close colleagues and my dearest friend.”
Caolan smiles and looks from Sam to Gideon and back. “I’m very pleased to meet you.”
“We’re so excited to have you here,” Sam tells him. “We have many questions, but we’d like you to feel welcome and comfortable. Is there anything in particular that you need? Food, for instance. Are there specific foods I can get for you?”
The consternation on Caolan’s face is almost comical. “I’m not certain,” he confesses. “As far as I’m aware, your native foods are safe for me to eat, but things have changed considerably since last my people were here.”
“We’ll stick to fresh produce, then, and ask Percy to check in with the magic before you eat anything,” Sam says soothingly.
“Just to go back to the previous topic of conversation, do you mean a relationship between paired souls doesn’t end?
” He shoots me a sideways smirk that tells me he knows exactly how this came up.
Caolan spreads his hands. “Everything can end. Anyone can choose to end a relationship. But when it’s between paired souls, it would take a lot.
Compatibility is assured, forever. The only breakups between paired souls that I’ve heard of are when one decides they no longer wish to be in a relationship—or if they meet another paired soul and decide to pursue a relationship with them. ”
Sam looks fascinated. “So let’s say you met someone, got along really well with them, started a casual sexual thing, and thought it might be more but worried that it was too soon. If you were paired souls, that worry would be groundless, wouldn’t it?”
“Yes.” Caolan smiles. “There is no such thing as ‘too soon’ with paired souls. If they feel the connection and choose to accept it, it won’t fade simply because they’ve only known each other for a short time.”
“That’s incredible,” Andrew says. “And you can see by looking at a couple if they have paired souls?”
“Not literally see.” Caolan looks at me. “This is the same as the twin soul. ‘See’ is a dangerous word in your language.”
“He senses it with his magic,” I tell the others.
“What’s a twin soul?” Gideon wants to know.
“Shifters.”
“I’m a twin soul?” Sam sounds way too excited about that. “That’s so cool.”
Caolan hesitates, then says, “You are also a paired soul.”
The joy that breaks across Sam’s face is almost painful to see. “I knew it!” he shrieks, throwing himself at Gideon and climbing to wrap his arms and legs around him. “You’re mine forever!”
Gideon buries his face against Sam’s hair, but not before I get a glimpse of his massive grin.
“Just checking,” I say to Caolan, “Sam’s soul is paired with Gideon’s, right?”
Snapping his head back up, Gideon growls at me, and I take a sideways step behind Andrew.
Caolan looks from me to Gideon and back, then says, “Yes. Of course.”
Andrew, the tool, can’t stop himself from asking, “You’d say that even if they weren’t, right? Because Gideon’s got his scary face on.”
Sam detangles himself and drops his feet back to the floor, laughing. “Ignore them, Caolan. Thank you so much for telling us. We appreciate it more than we can say.”
I squint at my bestie and then ask Andrew, “Do people in relationships become a joint entity? Are Sam and Gideon no longer able to speak for themselves individually, only for the collective Sameon?”
“What the fuck are you all blithering on about now?” Noah pushes past Andrew, and I look over to see Percy and Elinor behind him.
“We let you out of our sight for two minutes, and— Oh.” He catches sight of Caolan, pales, and steps back.
“Uh, s-sorry about the swearing.” He swallows hard and reaches for Andrew’s hand.
Fuck. I didn’t think that meeting an elf might bring up some bad memories for Noah, especially since he’s still recovering from what happened the last time he met an elf.
Lucky for me, Sam swoops in. “Caolan, we’d like for you to meet the lucifer, Percy Caraway. Why don’t we all go into the living room? We have a lot to talk about.”
Percy comes forward, smiling in that way that makes everything feel better, and says, “Welcome to Earth. I hope Alistair and Aidan have been taking good care of you.”
I sniff and open my mouth, but Andrew steps on my foot, so I close it again.
Caolan smiles back at Percy. “They have, although I will confess this morning has been more exciting than I anticipated.”
“For us, too,” Percy commiserates. “Come and sit, and I’ll introduce you to everybody properly.” He gestures toward the living room doorway and then leads the way in, Caolan falling into step beside him. Before I can follow, Sam grabs my arm.
“Did you hear that?” he hisses. “I’m going to be with Gideon forever!”
“I heard,” I say, looking toward the others. “Shouldn’t we—”
“And you and Aidan are meant to be .”
I grin before I can stop myself. “That’s not what he said,” I caution.
Sam raises an eyebrow.
“But yeah,” I continue, “Aidan’s probably stuck with me forever.
Our wedding is going to be a glorious event.
We’ll both wear white to symbolize the purity of our paired souls, but I’ll be draped with a sash of vividly colored fresh flowers as I walk down the aisle.
Thousands will stand and bow their heads in reverence as I pass, and—”
“Thousands?” Sam’s skepticism is a knife through my heart. “Also, reverence ?”
I pout. “People revere me, Sammy. Lots of people.”
“Uh-huh. I’d hold off on sharing those wedding plans with Aidan, just—”
The front door opens, and a guy I recognize from Percy’s security sticks his head in. “Food delivery?”
My stomach rumbles in appreciation. “Oh, thank fuck. I haven’t eaten in hours.”
“I’ll take care of this. You go in there—Caolan will probably feel more comfortable with you around.”
I obey, because only an idiot gets on Sam’s bad side—especially when he controls the food—and stroll into the living room.
Percy and Caolan are seated in the armchairs that flank the fireplace, while Noah, Andrew, and Elinor have taken the couch.
Gideon’s hovering near the door—he won’t settle until Sam comes in.
Extra chairs have been brought in and spaced around the coffee table, making the area an actual conversation circle.
Aidan and the leech are in the two opposite the fireplace, while David is sitting beside Percy.
“Hey,” Gideon mutters subvocally, “is it just me, or is Caolan being weird?”
I can’t answer him without the others possibly hearing—demon ears are good, but not as good as shifter—so I turn my attention to Caolan.