Chapter 7 #2
The hummingbird disappeared into the bathroom, and a short blond raced into the bedroom barely a minute later. Gramlithyn swore the man could move as fast as a sentinel sometimes.
“You have parents?” Dasan asked.
“I wasn’t hatched. Wait, were you? Birds are hatched, right?”
Dasan rolled his eyes. “In the wild. I’m a shifter. You had to go to school as a kid, right? What is up with Council education if you need to ask me shit like that?”
Gramlithyn chuckled. “I went to the best school in the Council.”
“Then you should’ve paid better attention. Prep me for this meeting. What should I know about your folks?”
A knock sounded, and both men started in fright.
“You’re half zebra and half elf, how did your parents fucking fly here?” Dasan muttered as he rubbed his chest.
“They were teleported,” Gramlithyn responded. His parents had probably contacted Killian the second they got his first text, which was how they’d made the trip so quickly.
Gramlithyn braced himself, took a deep breath, and pulled open the door.
In the hall were his parents, just as he remembered them.
His father stood nearly as tall as Gramlithyn, his noble chin lifted as he took in his only child.
Unlike Gramlithyn’s hybrid self, his father had dark green eyes and matching hair decorated with braids.
At his side, his mother’s afro glittered with beads that coordinated with the ones she routinely slid into her mate’s long tresses. Instead of the traditional garb his father wore, Semira had on her favored overalls and a loose linen tunic.
He wasn’t sure why he’d expected them to look different, but it was as if time had stood still for the past six years. Which made perfect sense, since they were both ageless immortals. They stared at each other awkwardly, and tears slid down his mother’s cheeks.
Gramlithyn’s zebra bounded with enthusiasm at being with their loved ones.
Holding out his arms, Gramlithyn grunted as his mother hugged him with unmatched enthusiasm.
“It’s so good to see you,” she whispered. She pulled away slightly and smiled. Gramlithyn managed to grin in return as guilt swamped him. He’d hurt them, and he hated it, but there would be more pain to come as they learned about the secrets he was harboring.
Gramlithyn reached out to embrace his father, and the heavy pats on his back nearly brought him to tears as well. Throughout his life, his parents had been fantastic anchors. It was their warmth and compassion that, ironically, had led him to flee without a word.
He’d worried that he’d cave and confess his cowardice. How he was too scared to have a matebond without Pyxlevir’s undying love. His fear of disappointing them by defying tradition. Even now his heart trembled with the things he’d somehow have to confront.
“Come inside, I’d like you to meet someone,” Gramlithyn said, ushering his folks into the hotel room. “Chieftain Laconifel Verdanyth and Chieftess-mate Semira Hippotigris-Verdanyth, this is Dasan. Dasan, elves don’t touch strangers, but my mom is a shifter, so you can shake her hand.”
Semira held out a hand, and Gramlithyn had to bite his lip to keep from laughing as, instead of shaking the proffered limb, Dasan brought her knuckles to his face and brushed a kiss on her dark skin.
Laconifel’s gaze slid to Gramlithyn’s, and he raised a forest-green brow.
All Gramlithyn could do was shrug. He hadn’t expected Dasan’s enthusiasm and wasn’t sure how to explain to his friend how many elven taboos he was breaking by kissing any part of a Chieftain’s mate.
“A pleasure to meet you, Dasan,” Semira said as her eyes lifted to Laconifel’s, and she grinned cheekily at her other half.
His returning smile was tiny, but Gramlithyn caught it.
Although Gramlithyn had met more than one stuck-up elven Chieftain, his father wasn’t easily offended.
As long as his mother wasn’t distressed, Laconifel would move past Dasan’s boundary stomping.
Gramlithyn encouraged everyone to grab a seat, and he waited until his parents were comfortable on his bed and Dasan relaxed on his own mattress before he took the lone chair in the room.
“What kind of shifter are you, Dasan?” Semira asked after a minute of awkward silence.
“I’m a hummingbird,” Dasan replied.
“Chieftess-mate,” Gramlithyn added. “You have to use their titles until they give you leave to drop them. They rule the Verdanyth tribe.”
“Of course Dasan doesn’t need to use our titles,” his mother countered. “I don’t believe the hummingbirds are part of the Council.”
For a split second, the gray disappeared from Dasan’s changeable irises, and they turned a dark green. Dasan smiled, though it lacked his usual verve. “Nope, they’re determined to live by their own rules. I left their unenlightened selves many years ago.”
“I was hoping you could help with that, Dad,” Gramlithyn said. “Dasan isn’t part of the Council. Can we make him an honorary Verdanyth and get him an identification card?”
His mother’s eyes brightened with hope, which made Gramlithyn feel horrid for ever putting an ounce of pain in her heart. “Does that mean you’re staying in town?”
“Yes, at least for now. Dasan and I haven’t figured out our plan, but—”
“Vegas seems great, and I’d like to get to know you guys,” Dasan interrupted. “Gram didn’t tell me you existed until, like, five minutes ago.”
“We’d be honored to help you, Dasan, and make you an honorary Verdanyth,” Laconifel stated, his face stony.
Gramlithyn didn’t have to ask why he was pissed.
Dasan’s penchant for honesty had unfortunately told Gramlithyn’s parents that he hadn’t bothered to discuss his family with someone who was obviously a friend. “Do you have a last name?”
“Did some internet searching and saw that shifters often use animal genus names, so I thought I’d go with Calypte since I’m an Anna’s Hummingbird,” Dasan supplied.
Gramlithyn didn’t even know there were types of hummingbirds, so it was good that his friend had done some homework of his own.
Did he originally have another surname? It wasn’t fair to question Dasan.
Neither Gramlithyn nor Dasan had offered much about their past, as it was hardly relevant, so he didn’t ask.
As an elf who didn’t like to waste time, Laconifel quickly worked with Dasan to get the information necessary to complete a form for the shifter so he could be added to the Council system.
“I hope you’ll keep us informed of your plans,” his mother pleaded. “And we insist on having you both over for dinner.”
“Let’s go to a restaurant tonight,” Gramlithyn suggested as an alternative to being trapped in the home with his parents for countless hours.
“If you’d prefer,” Semira acquiesced, though she didn’t look happy about it. “Have you spoken yet with Pyxlevir?”
“No,” Gramlithyn said, his voice flat.
“Who is Pyxlevir?” Dasan asked.
“An old friend,” Gramlithyn supplied. “We haven’t spoken in six years. Where should we go for dinner?”
Gramlithyn had plans to make before he could approach Pyxlevir. And after everything had been decided, he wasn’t sure how he’d handle being near him again.
But he couldn’t hide forever, and he dearly wanted to see him.
In fact, now that they were in the same city again, he was almost desperate to be in a room with Pyxlevir.
However, he wasn’t sure his former best friend wanted to be around him.
Whether Gramlithyn liked it or not, he’d find out soon enough.
Hopefully, his heart could handle whatever awaited him.