Chapter 34
FISHY FORGIVENESS AND THE FUTURE
PARKER
“I know, I know,” I said as I scattered flakes of fish food across the surface of the water. “But I feel like I’m abandoning you.”
Sushi, Filet, and the others refused to look in my direction as they swallowed down their food.
Honestly, I couldn’t blame them. Since Fin had moved into my apartment over the café, their tank was in the best shape it’d ever been. The water had never looked or smelled better. I guess that’s what happened when a water mage took over tank maintenance.
Still, I hadn’t planned on leaving them.
Other than my clothes and a few personal mementos, the fish and their tank were the only things I’d planned on taking with me to Levi’s place.
I didn’t like any of my furniture enough to take it.
Besides, Levi’s furniture was so much nicer than mine, and I didn’t have any strong attachments to any of mine .
“Are you sure you don’t want to move?” I asked for the zillionth time. “I had planned to take you with me. You know that, right?”
They ignored me. Not that I’d expected anything else.
“Maybe it’s better this way,” I said. “Fin needs you more than I do right now. I have Levi, but Fin’s whole world has been turned upside down. And I know you guys are good listeners.”
I swore Sushi bobbed up and down like he was agreeing with me. I doubted any of them would give me a more definitive answer than that. I pursed my lips. Except…
“But if you change your mind, Levi has the perfect spot at his place for you. You know that, right? And that was absolutely the plan before… Well, you know. Before Fin.”
Could a goldfish roll his eyes? Because I swore that’s what Filet was doing right now.
“Fine. I get it. You have it all under control and the only one who is second guessing this is me.” I was fighting the urge to throw in a little more food to ensure there were no ill feelings, when someone knocked at my door.
It was a loud, sure knock. The kind of knock that a big guy like Levi might do. Of course, I’d been fooled by knocks like that in the past.
“I’ll get it,” Fin called out.
He raced down the stairs with more energy than I had, even though he’d worked the same hours I had at the café today. I suppose it helped that he was still in his early twenties too .
I doubted he’d work for me at the café for long. It wasn’t his passion like it was mine, but it gave him something to do while he acclimated to a world filled with magical beings like himself.
“Where is he?” Levi’s voice floated up the stairs.
“He’s trying to reassure the fish. Again.” Fin sighed.
“Of course he is,” Levi muttered.
The sound of heavy footsteps announced someone was coming up the steps. When they got to the top, I still didn’t turn around. A moment later, big arms wrapped around me from behind.
“I’ll just, uh, let you talk. Okay, Pow?” Fin mumbled. His hurried steps disappeared down the hall to the bedroom he’d been using.
“Hey,” Levi whispered in my ear.
“Hey. Sorry, I took so long. I know I was supposed to meet you at the motel so we could head over to the pub.”
“No problem.”
We both stared at the fish swimming happily in their tank.
“Why do cows have hooves instead of feet?” Levi said after a few minutes.
“Why?”
“Because they lactose.”
“That’s terrible.” But I was smiling now whether I wanted to or not.
“Parks, talk to me.” Levi pressed a kiss to the side of my head. “You know we can take the fish with us, right? That was the plan before Finley decided to stay here.”
“I know. But honestly, I think Fin needs the fish more than I do right now. They’re great listeners.” I traced my finger down the side of the tank. “And it isn’t like I can’t visit them.”
“We can always move them later too.”
I nodded. But would I? The temperatures had dropped well below freezing this last week. And the forecast suggested we wouldn’t get a break from this cold spell for a while.
Winter was well and truly here now. We didn’t have much snow yet, but it was coming. I wouldn’t want to take the fish outside in this. Even if I took all the precautions in the world, it would still be too much of a risk.
“You know,” Levi said, resting his chin on my shoulder. “You never did explain why Finley calls you Pow.”
I groaned.
“Come on. It can’t be that bad.”
“Fine, but it’s ridiculous,” I said. “When I was a little kid, just learning to talk, I couldn’t say my name very well. It sounded more like Pow Cow than Parker.”
“Pow… Cow…” Levi repeated slowly. Then he started to laugh.
“Hey.” I elbowed him in the side. “Be nice.”
“Come on. That’s funny.” He was still laughing. “Pow Cow and the Minotaur. We could be leads in our own Saturday morning cartoon.”
Then I laughed too. Because yeah. I could see it.
“I’d always thought Pow came with automatic exploding speech balloons,” I confessed, wiping a tear from my eye.
“Exactly, Pow Cow is totally the type to have a flashy spandex suit and a cape. ”
“And what about the Minotaur?”
“Well, he’d obviously be the reasonable one.”
I rolled my eyes and shook my head. “No way. You’d have to trade your loin cloth for a bright red speedo with a massive belt. Oh, and your horns would be tipped with gold. And…”
“Enough already.” Levi snorted. Then he was tickling me, and I damn near pissed my pants with laughing.
“You better be keeping things PG out there,” Fin shouted from the other room.
That made us laugh harder.
“Come on,” Levi said. “Let’s get out of here. Carter is waiting for us.”
I met Sushi’s eyes one last time, and a moment of understanding passed between us. I nodded. It was time.
“Nana has something planned tonight too,” I reminded him.
“Can I hitch a ride with you guys?” Fin asked, poking his head out of the hallway.
“Sure, come on,” I said.
“Do you know what Nana wants to talk to us about?” Fin said, as he grabbed his jacket from a hook at the top of the stairs.
“Um…”
“Oh my God, she told you, didn’t she? Why doesn’t she trust me?”
“Obviously, she’s going to trust you, since she’s told you she has some news.”
We followed Fin as he stomped down the steps.
Honestly, I was surprised she was telling Finley already. Nana had made a deal with the devil, or at least that was the way it sounded to me. Apparently, Davina had some kind of pre-existing arrangement with Gage, and because of that, Teague’s ritual wouldn’t work for them.
Instead, Gage had offered the same deal to Nana that he had to the rest of his old team. They’d each been given immortality, but only if they vowed to protect the vulnerable from harm.
I wasn’t sure of all the details—and I’d probably overheard more than I was supposed to—but I didn’t need to understand everything that was involved.
My job was just to be happy for Nana and Davina.
Which I was. It also meant that I wouldn’t be saying goodbye to my meddling grandmother for a long, long time. Perhaps never.
I don’t know what was in the bargain she struck with Gage, but she was already acting more spirited than normal. I just hoped the world could survive a more energetic Edith Girard.
When we got to the bottom of the stairs, Levi spun me around and pressed me against the wall. Fin had already charged out into the cold evening, so we were alone for a moment. We couldn’t linger too long, though, or Fin would be coming back to find us.
“Do you remember the first time you brought me here?” Levi asked as he crowded closer. He wrapped his thick fingers around my wrists and lifted my hands above my head, pinning them to the wall.
I nodded.
“As soon as we stepped inside here, hidden away from curious eyes, I wanted to push you against this wall and kiss you.”
“I wish you would have,” I whispered. “I would have stripped out of my clothes so damn fast.”
“I had so many fantasies about you and me in this damn stairwell…”
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner? We could have made all those fantasies come true before Fin moved in.” I rocked my hips against him.
Levi slammed his mouth against mine as he ground against me.
Fuck yeah.
Every day I learned something new about Levi. And today it was that he had fantasies about me. Fantasies he was ready to share and explore.
I liked it. A lot.
The door swung open, knocking against us. Cold air gusted in.
“Oh, for pity’s sake,” Fin said. “Are you seriously making out right now? I’ve been waiting by the car for the last five minutes wondering what the fuck was keeping you. Did I mention that it’s freezing outside?”
I snickered against Levi’s mouth.
Levi pulled back and grinned at me.
“Come on, mate,” I said, stressing the word mate , which earned me a dazzling smile from Levi. “We’ll finish this when we get home tonight.”
“About time,” Fin muttered, as he returned to the car.
“I love you, Pow Cow,” Levi said, pressing a quick kiss to my mouth.
“I love you too, Mr. Minotaur. We’re going to have the best life together.” I grinned. “And it starts with me kicking your ass at pool tonight.”
“Fuck off,” he said, but we both knew it was true.
THE END