Chapter 9
CHAPTER NINE
Cole lay awake staring out the windows like he did most nights when he was in the cabin. It often took him a while to go to sleep, and today was no different, aside from the fact that he was on the sofa bed, and a very oversized moth-person was in his bed.
All those times he’d been afraid of the dark and monsters as a child, and now, he’d invited one in. And it wasn’t under his bed, but in it.
While he slept out here.
Not that he wanted to sleep in his bed with Akai. That would be weird.
He was big and hairy with giant red eyes and small pointy teeth.
And when Cole had offered Akai pajama pants, he’d declined, saying they wouldn’t fit and that he preferred to sleep naked anyway.
Which shouldn’t have impacted his ability to sleep, but it was, even though he was wearing pajama pants and a T-shirt, which he only did when it was cold, despite packing them every time.
The naked monster in his bed was a problem, and not one he’d be able to solve tonight, or tomorrow, if he didn’t get any sleep.
He rolled over, rather too aware of how thin the mattress on the sofa bed was.
After a bit of wriggling around, he found a comfy spot and forced himself to close his eyes, but he was aware of every movement coming from the bedroom.
Was Akai uncomfortable?
Of course he was—he’d been shot.
But he was also used to sleeping in a nest.
How had he never noticed a massive nest on his property?
At some point, he must have fallen asleep as he dreamed of flying and nests made out of blankets. When he woke, it was daylight, and Akai was standing on the deck staring out over the valley in much the same way he had yesterday…except Akai was wearing pants.
His cheeks heated. Yes, he’d done it because he felt like he was being watched—out weird the weirdo, right?—but it wasn’t some random weirdo. It was Akai.
As he got off the sofa bed Akai turned.
For a heartbeat, Cole froze, not sure what to do. It was obvious he was awake, but he also needed the bathroom, and he was not going out on the deck with a morning wood, not with company, anyway.
He swallowed and got up, pacing over to the bathroom, the one room without views of the valley. He took far longer than he actually needed and wasted extra time brushing his teeth before he was brave enough to face the monster on his deck.
And if the monster was gone?
That should be what he wanted.
He opened the bathroom door and was far too relieved to see Akai in the living room.
“Coffee?” Cole got a pot of water boiling.
“Do you have any juice?”
Cole pulled a carton out of the small fridge. Putting in the solar panels had been an extravagance, but the fridge was worth it. As was the electric hot plate. In winter, he used the wood heater, but in the summer months, it was the hot plate or outdoors, if there wasn’t a fire ban.
He poured Akai a glass. “How did you sleep?"
“Not good. You?”
“Fine, once I got to sleep.” He watched Akai, drinking the juice like his life depended on it. There was no way he could go back to pretending monsters weren’t real. “Do you need some more painkillers?”
“I shouldn’t. Besides, they only mask it, which means I may make the wounds worse.”
Cole made himself a mug of coffee.
Akai grinned. “Not drinking that on the deck?”
His cheeks burned. He swallowed and tried for nonchalance. “Maybe don’t creep on people, and you won’t see things you don’t like.”
“Never said I didn’t like it.” He finished the glass of juice without looking away. “I was wondering if I’d get to see more.”
Cole stared at the monster in his kitchen, drinking his juice. He blinked, not sure what to say. “You’re a… Why would you…” He frowned. “What?”
“Maybe you should drink your coffee because that made no sense.”
“Neither did you.” He took a drink, needing a distraction. Maybe his face had gotten sunburned yesterday because his skin was far too hot.
Akai placed the glass down on the counter. “I won’t be able to fly for weeks. Can I stay here?”
He glanced up. “Here?”
“My workshop is down an old mine. It’s very hard to get in and out of, and my wounded wing makes it hard to balance.”
“I mean, sure. It’s not like I’m here every weekend.” What was he doing? Akai couldn’t stay in his cabin, but he was the reason Akai couldn’t fly.
“I wouldn’t mind if you did come here every weekend…so I don’t get lonely. Bring some games, more food…”
“This isn’t a hotel.”
Akai tilted his head and considered him for several heartbeats. Cole held his gaze long enough to see himself clearly reflected in his big red eyes. He blinked, suddenly off balance. Akai caught his elbow. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, just need some food,” he lied, not sure why he’d gotten that falling sensation.
Akai’s claws pressed into his arm. He hadn’t released him. His hand was warm, hot even. “Maybe you should eat then.”
“Don’t you need to eat?”
“Yes. But I don’t know what you have. I was thinking about foraging. There must be something I can eat nearby.”
“I have oats for porridge and honey. It’s pretty basic as I have to bring everything from town.”
“Honey porridge sounds amazing.”
“Great.” He was now head chef for the monster.
He pulled out the oats, then stopped and looked at Akai.
“How do I know that you really can’t fly?
Maybe you’re trying to take over my cabin…
my life.” It wasn’t a life he wanted, but what if this was like some kind of horror movie where they ended up switching places or something?
What would it be like to fly away from everything?
To be truly free?
“Do you want me to jump off deck and hopefully glide down without ripping my wing more?” He spread the wing, revealing the terrible job he’d done of stitching it up last night.
He did not want to make more repairs. “No. I’m just… I don’t know. This”—he indicated between them—“is weird, isn’t it? Like you hurt me—”
“I didn’t know you were there. And you are never going to let me forget.”
“I broke my pelvis and shoulder. I was on track for a free ride to college playing football.” He snapped his fingers. “Gone, along with my cousins. So no, you don’t get to forget because I fucking can’t. You stole my life, and I hate the one I have now.”
Akai blinked.
“Sorry.” Cole lowered his voice. “That was too much.”
“It was the truth… One you don’t voice.”
Cole drank his coffee. “It doesn’t matter.’
“It does. You only get one life; you should be living it.”
“Technically, I am, as I’m still breathing.” He busied himself with the oats.
Akai tiled his head. “It is weird that our paths crossed again, only this time I am the one injured. Some might say there is a blood debt between us.”
“What does that mean?” He kept his attention on the pot to avoid looking at Akai.
“I hurt you, and while I called for help, the damage was far greater than I could’ve seen. So I owe you.”
“I shot you.” Didn’t that make them even?
“Because I saw the rifle and panicked. My sister was killed while pretending to be a wolf.”
“You weren’t actually a wolf?”
Akai smiled. “No. It’s an illusion.”
“Can I see?”
“Now? Will you panic?”
“Not this time.” But his heart was already beating faster.
Akai stepped back and crouched on the floor. Cole blinked, and all he saw was a very large gray wolf, the same as last night. It moved and stood, and Akai was back.
He leaned on the counter. “Now we have the blood debt, or tangled fate lines between us.”
“And?” Those words meant nothing to him.
“My sister would be able to explain it far better than me, but basically, our paths will keep crossing until such time it has been balanced.”
“That didn’t explain anything.” He stirred the oats. Why was he asking an oversized moth for life advice?
“You’re stuck with me until the karmic scales are balanced?”
Cole glanced at him. “Or we call it even and go our separate ways.”
Akai frowned. “It doesn’t quite work like that. You can’t just say you’re done.”
“I think you’re making shit up. Besides, there’s no way for me to go back to what might have been seven years ago.”
“What makes you think the path you were on seven years ago is the path you would’ve stayed on?”
“I don’t believe in fate because that means I was meant to end up here.
” It also meant he had no control over his life, which was kind of depressing.
At the same time, it also lessened the burden of his responsibility to do something because there was nothing he could do if he was meant to end up here.
In his cabin with the monster.
And if this was where he was supposed to be, what the fuck did that mean?