Chapter 59
Chapter Fifty-Nine
Otis
I hated that Syke had been right about the orc riots. The king had gone on television, looking solemn, and declared that everyone would be punished to the full extent of orc law.
Insurance companies paid for damages, and the city moved on.
The media had picked up Eric’s filing to enforce democracy among the orcs, asserting the orcs had a basic human right to vote for their leaders.
The media had put pictures of those riots right below the headline, creating a juxtaposition that was so on the nose, it bordered on prejudicial, but there was nothing we could do about that.
Eric had shrugged it off, claiming he had bigger fish to fry before media ethics. His whole office was working on his case before the Supreme Council, and it was the kind of case that could create a historical legacy for their firm.
At least things had quieted down. The rest of our shift had been more normal, and we were anxiously waiting for our days off.
Well, everyone but me, because it was sure to be fucking torture. Listening to the guys fuck Hailey was a fresh hell that I made myself live through because there was no way I could leave them unguarded. I didn’t know when I decided they were mine to protect, but it was right at the beginning.
We packed up and loitered, waiting for the handover once more.
Deuce and Liam had arrived, and everyone had a story about what happened down in Southside. Deuce told us that the diner where Hailey had worked had been firebombed, but so had most of the businesses up and down that section of the street.
I was surprised there was still no Allison. Was this disagreement really worth giving up her life’s work for? Guilt at leaving team two short staffed ate at me, but in the end, none of that had been my decision or my fault.
I had called in a favor with a friend, and Eric now had a bodyguard for the day while he was at work. I didn’t think the orcs would be stupid enough to come for him at his place of work, but if the riots had proved anything to me, it was that they were a species of act first, think later… maybe.
Chet arrived at the same time as the auditor, and they were already arguing. Chet was going to get us shut down just because he was a curmudgeonly old bastard. “Get out of here, Otis. I’ll call you if I have questions on your notes.”
That was it. We were officially dismissed. Louis gave me a wide-eyed expression, mouthing, “What the fuck?” but Syke just shrugged and headed to the elevator.
“Don’t look a gift dragon in the mouth.”
Hailey was standing in front of me in the small metal cube, and I could smell the sweet honey scent of her hair.
I breathed in subtly, trying to fill my lungs with her.
She looked over her shoulder at me, running her eyes over my face.
I was in my human form, because it was easier in the elevator.
There wasn’t a whole lot of room for a minotaur and a gargoyle in a tiny metal box.
I wondered if she preferred me in this form. Was I more attractive to her like this?
“Are you coming home?” she asked.
I knew she meant her house. I swallowed hard. “Yes.”
She smiled brightly. “I’m driving home with Otis,” she told the guys, and to my surprise, no one protested. Everyone kissed her cheek, though, before climbing into Louis’s truck.
Syke kissed her like she was leaving on a month long international trip and not the thirty minute drive out of town. “I’d say drive carefully, but Otis drives like someone’s grandma.” He smirked at me and disappeared into the shadows.
I held the door open for her as she climbed into my passenger seat. I didn’t know why she’d decided to travel with me, but I was desperate for more small moments, so I’d take it.
We drove out of the city in silence, but it was comfortable. She didn’t need to talk all the time like Louis, and she didn’t brood the way Ilyas did. She was just… comforting.
We were on the edge of town when she turned to me. “Tell me about minotaurs. Are there many of your kind left? I know there is Liam, your aunt, and your uncle, but is there, like, a collective or something that keeps track?”
I shrugged a single shoulder. “Yes, there’s someone who keeps track of family lines, but only so we don’t fall into extinction without anyone noticing or accidentally interbreed.
We are monstrous enough without inbreeding,” I joked and then wished I could facepalm.
Who joked about inbreeding? I cleared my throat.
“There are about five thousand in North America, so not as desperate in numbers as gargoyles, but not as prolific as we once were. We don’t gather very often.
It’s odd that my aunt and uncle even took me in. ”
An anomaly, but that was my aunt for you.
She was a powerhouse. When she’d found out what my mother had done, she’d cut her off completely and set about trying to find me.
She didn’t stop until I was in their home, then they loved the traumatized little kid until I could sleep at night and not jump at loud noises.
“And finding mates? How does that work if you don’t have gatherings very often?”
“We have a dating app.”
She turned so fast I was worried she’d given herself a neck injury. “Do you have it downloaded?”
I grunted. I’d downloaded it six months ago because I was staring down a long life of loneliness, but none of them felt right.
“Oh my god, you do! Can I see?”
I handed her my phone and pointed to the app she needed to open. She scrolled through it, looking at all the eligible minotaur females. The app wasn’t just for minotaurs, it was for any rare creatures that might not accidentally stumble across their mate.
“A kitsune! She’s beautiful. You’d make a nice couple,” she told me, and I grunted again.
She was quiet as she scrolled. Maybe I should look at the app again and find someone, especially if the guys all had Hailey.
Finally, she put my phone back in the cupholder. “So how do minotaurs bond? Do you court?”
Why did every question feel like a blade to my chest?
“Not really. It’s just kind of an agreement.
No biting like predators. We just kind of…
choose. You wake up every morning and choose the other person, day after day, year after year, until one of you leaves this earth.
” I thought it was more romantic, personally.
You never had to wonder if your mate loved you.
They made the choice to be with you every day.
“And courting?”
“Mainly dating, like humans.”
She looked out the window again, then she turned back to me. “Otis?” she said softly.
My heart was beginning to thump in my chest, but I didn’t want to hope. “Yes, little one?”
“Do you want to go on a date with me?” Her voice was small, and I turned to look at her, my gaze flicking between her wide blue eyes and the road. “It probably isn’t fair to ask you while you’re trapped in a car with me so we can just forg—”
“Yes!” I yelled and snapped my mouth closed.
I sucked in a deep breath. “I mean, yes. I would like to go on a date with you. I didn’t…
” I trailed off. What could I say that didn’t make me sound either like a coward, or worse, like I felt like I was missing out and that’s the only reason I wanted her? “Are you sure?”
She smiled at me, reaching over to interlace her fingers with mine.
“Do you think I’m being greedy? It’s just, there’s something missing, and I know, deep down in my gut, that it’s you.
We need you, and I didn’t want to pressure you, but I also didn’t want you to sit back and wait, because you’re kind, protective, and sweet, and I knew you wouldn’t want me to feel pressured.
I just didn’t want to let you slip away, you know? ”
I swung the car over onto the shoulder of the road and unbuckled her seatbelt, then I pulled her over the center console and kissed her.
I kissed her with all the pent-up feelings I’d been suppressing.
I kissed her with the need that had been churning through my veins since the moment I saw her in the hallway of her dingy building.
I kissed her with all the hope that sat like a warm ember in my chest.
I kissed her and kissed her and kissed her just in case I’d never get to do it again, until we were both breathless, and she pulled away with swollen lips and flushed cheeks.
“Yes,” I repeated. It was a yes to the date, but also a yes to so much more.
She smiled, reaching up to cup my cheek. “Yes,” she whispered and leaned forward to kiss me again.