Chapter 40
Chapter Forty
Hailey
The drive home from the center was fast becoming my favorite time of the day. Eric and I talked about our day, work, the house, plans for the weekend, and the future. It felt domestic and normal, and I loved every minute of it.
Today, though, he was kind of quiet. “You okay?” I asked softly, and he reached over and gripped my thigh, squeezing gently.
“Perfect. Just thinking.”
“About work?” He shook his head. “Us?”
He tilted his head. “Kind of about us. Ilyas spoke to me before we left. Do you like him?”
“Ilyas? As like, a coworker or as a person? Actually, it doesn’t matter, because the answer is the same. He’s a nice guy. Why?”
“He wants to bond with me so we can be a clan.”
Shock ricocheted through me. “I didn’t think he liked men.”
Eric laughed, twining his fingers in mine.
“That’s what I said. Apparently we were both wrong.
That isn’t the reason though. He wants to bond because his flight is trying to force him to mate with another gargoyle, with coercion if necessary, and he thinks that if he is already bonded to another species, they’ll get the hint and leave him alone. Is that something you’d be okay with?”
I mean, the reasoning was solid. Louis told me that gargoyles tended to be purists, so a mixed species bonding was probably a giant turn off.
“Of course. Ilyas would be an amazing person to have in any clan—pack… You know what I mean.” He was so fucking handsome and mysterious, and he had a body like a fucking Greek statue.
Fortunately, Syke wasn’t here to call me out on my thoughts.
“What I don’t understand is why you?” I winced at how bad that sounded.
“I mean, not ‘why you’ like that, since you’re amazing, but it’s a little out of left field, right? ”
Eric sighed and squeezed my fingers tighter. “Don’t freak out—” Because no one ever freaked out when someone started a sentence with that. “But a few clan sickness symptoms have reemerged—exhaustion, body aches, insomnia. Those kinds of things.”
I whipped my head toward him. “Eric!”
“You’re freaking out, aren’t you?” he teased.
I slapped his arm. “Of course I’m freaking out. You should have told me or Louis. We could have snuggled more or something. Bonded sooner.”
Shaking his head vehemently, he turned off the freeway onto our country road.
“This is why I didn’t. You deserve so much more than rushed courtings.
You deserve romance, and to be wooed and loved to Louis’s best capabilities.
You both deserve that, and I could wait.
Ilyas just provided a solution that didn’t involve… ”
“Getting worse? Possibly dying?” I tried not to screech, but I didn’t think I was particularly successful.
“I wouldn’t have died. I was fighting a mate sickness and clan sickness before. That was a lot. I’d just feel like I had the flu for a while.”
I turned and looked out the window before I said something I’d regret or burst into tears. The sun was beginning to set, and it was pretty, even if I was annoyed.
“Hailey, sweetheart, talk to me.”
I shook my head. “I can’t because I’m angry at you.”
“Because of Ilyas?”
Glaring in his direction, I gave him the stink eye.
“Don’t play dumb with me, Eric Voight. You know why I’m mad.
You’re my mate, and you had to work hard to hide this from me.
I feel what you feel, remember? And I had no clue.
Unless I’m just a shitty mate.” Maybe that was the real reason I’d been oblivious.
Maybe, because I was human or completely out of touch with my emotions, I was just bad at being bonded to another person.
What examples did I have of successful relationships?
My parents? The junkies who shot up together, stayed together?
Eric threw the car onto the shoulder of the road.
“No, baby, no. You’re too fucking good for me.
I was… scared you’d think I trapped you into this because even with you, it isn’t enough to keep the clan sickness away.
I was worried you’d leave. I’m so fucking terrified all the time that you’ll realize this isn’t what you want and that you could have had dates and romance and someone like Louis courting you all along, not some battered orc without a clan who mate bonded you without your consent. ”
Taking some deep breaths, I calmed my racing heart. We were the same like that, Eric and I, products of fucked up parents, so we were always reading too much into every little thing, expression, and tone of voice, waiting for the other shoe to drop and the person we loved to turn into a monster.
I wasn’t a monster, and neither was Eric.
“I love you, Eric—the orc you are and everything that comes with it. We’re partners in this, which means you can’t keep secrets, especially when it’s something as important as your health. You have to promise me that we’ll approach our life together with open honesty, okay?”
He unbuckled his seatbelt and leaned across the center console. “I promise. I’m sorry.” His apology was echoed in the way his lips brushed mine with needy desperation. I kissed him back, pouring every ounce of reassurance into the action.
Eventually, he pulled back and restarted the car. I laced my fingers with his again, and he held it tightly on his lap.
We stayed lost in our own thoughts until we pulled up to the house.
He turned off the car, and the silence was its own beast. Finally, I turned to him.
“If it’s what you want, I’m okay with you bonding Ilyas.
I don’t like the fact that either of you are doing it out of necessity rather than love, but you’re grown creatures.
I think Ilyas is a good man, and an even better creature.
I’d be happy to have him as part of the clan. ”
“And perhaps more one day?” Eric asked lightly, his eyes sparkling.
My cheeks flushed, and I shrugged. “If that’s the way it works out, then I wouldn’t be upset by the idea of sex in the air. Did you see that wingspan? The ease in which he just lifted off the ground? That’s impressive, right?”
Laughing, Eric slid his seat back and pulled me onto his lap. “None of us deserve you, but I don’t think there’s a creature on this planet who does. I’m just so glad you decided to slum it with us anyway.”
We kissed in the car until we were both a little sweaty and breathless. Finally, I pulled back with a panting breath. “Come on, let’s go christen the upstairs balcony. Or the shower. Or the laundry room.” I nipped his lower lip. “We should message Louis and Syke and ask them as well.”
Eric nodded, and I pulled my phone from my bag. First, I messaged Louis.
Me: How do you feel about Ilyas joining the pack?
I decided not to mention Eric and his clan sickness, because I didn’t want it to sway Louis’s decision. The irony of me yelling at him for doing the same thing wasn’t lost on me.
Louis: One hundred percent in. I already love the big guy. As long as you’re okay with it.
Me: Yep. I’m all in too.
I swiped to Syke’s message thread. The last message he’d sent me was a picture of a hedgehog in the bath.
Me: How do you feel about Ilyas joining the pack?
Syke: Who do you think gave him the idea? The overgrown boulder would have brooded his way into a forced mating by the end of the year otherwise. I figured there was no harm in asking.
Syke: You’re the most important person though. If it doesn’t feel right, then just say no. He’s a big boy. He’ll figure it out.
Me: As long as it’s okay with everyone else, it’s okay with me.
Syke: *Devil emoji* You forget that I saw your fantasy when he took off his shirt after the splooter mess the other day, and he was half naked on the office floor.
Me: He has a twelve pack, so sue me.
Me: Can you read his thoughts too? Does he want me as well?
Syke:
Oh, now he had morals.
I realized Eric was still reading over my shoulder, his body shaking with silent laughter. “Don’t laugh. I can’t wait for you to eat humble pie when you see him shirtless for the first time. The guy is a work of art.” I kissed his cheek. “You can message him and tell him we’re in, if you want.”
Eric growled low. “I will later. First, you and I have a date with the ensuite bathroom and the detachable showerhead I just had installed.”
Much, much, much later, we lay in bed, and Eric pulled out his phone. I gave him Ilyas’s number, and he messaged him.
She said yes.