Chapter 19 #4
“No problem, Drak. Just don’t rough him up too much, okay?
” Picking up her tablet from the couch beside her, she tucked it against her side, disentangled herself from Arcanthus’s embrace, and patted the sedhi’s thigh as she stood up.
“I’m going to take a shower. Don’t take too long… cause I’ll be waiting.”
Arcanthus grinned and ran his tail down her leg. “I could just come now. I’m sure Drakkal would understand.”
Sam’s cheeks flushed, and she smiled.
“Yeah, I would understand,” Drakkal said with a chuckle. “But it won’t hurt to wait a little, sedhi. Build some anticipation.”
“I’ll leave you guys to it,” Sam said. She hurried to the door and out into the hallway.
Arcanthus stared after her, and even when the door closed and she was no longer in sight, his gaze lingered on the place she’d been. His expression was almost wistful, and Drakkal couldn’t recall if he’d ever seen Arc look like that in all the years they’d known each other.
“You all right?” Drakkal asked.
Laughing softly, Arcanthus shook his head, keeping his gaze on the closed door.
“Seeing Samantha hold little Leah earlier, seeing that joy and wonder on her face…” He sighed and finally turned to face Drakkal.
“I didn’t think my instincts could get any stronger regarding Sam, but they’re going crazy right now. ”
Drakkal tilted his head, studying Arcanthus closely. “You saying you want a cub, Arc?”
“I…” Arcanthus’s mouth hung open for a few seconds before he chuckled and smirked. “Yes. I think that’s exactly what I’m getting at.”
“Just to be clear, sedhi, Leah’s mine. Get your own.”
“That would be the plan, azhera…whenever Sam’s ready, that is. Strange how I’d never even considered the notion before Samantha. Even now, I have a hard time imagining myself as a father.”
“Me, too.”
“But you are one now.”
Drakkal grinned. “Meant I have a hard time picturing you as a father, too.”
Arcanthus’s brows rose. “Oh? Well then, you can go fuck yourself.” He leaned back, crossed one leg over his opposite knee, and spread his arms to either side along the backrest. “What was it you wanted to discuss?”
Drawing in a deep breath, Drakkal leaned forward and settled his elbows on his thighs. “Need to tell you the truth about something I haven’t been honest about for a long, long time.”
“This ought to be interesting.”
“Just…let me tell you before you give me any shit, all right?”
Arcanthus lifted a hand, gesturing lazily for Drakkal to continue.
“I told you I was living with a female before I was enslaved,” Drakkal began.
“Yes, and that she died in the raid.”
“Well…I altered some of the details.”
Drakkal told Arcanthus the real story, the whole story, just as he’d told Shay. The words came easier than he’d expected, and Arcanthus—surprisingly—refrained from comment until Drakkal finished describing the upper city encounter with Vanya.
“Hmm,” was Arcanthus’s only reply for several seconds.
He brought his hands together, pressing the tips of his pointer fingers against one another and tapping them on his lips.
“I could go on for some time about how, despite all your talk of trust and openness and honesty between us, you’ve been keeping the truth of this from me for… what? Fourteen years? Fifteen?”
Drakkal nodded. “At least. And you could go on. I wouldn’t blame you.”
“All this time, and I thought you’d simply loved and lost.”
Shrugging, Drakkal turned his palms toward the ceiling. “I thought the same, in my own way. But I never really loved Vanya. I loved the idea of her. Thought she was the ideal female.”
“I know for a fact that thinking that way didn’t ease your pain.”
“No, it really didn’t. I was young and dumb. Had my head full of these old azheran ideals that probably never really meant much to begin with.”
Now Arcanthus shrugged. “You were young, and you didn’t have the older, grumpier version of yourself to tell you don’t be stupid.”
“Sure didn’t. But what I have with Shay now…
it’s real, Arc. There’s no question of it.
She’s my mate, and Leah’s my cub, and I love them both.
” Drakkal’s chest tightened with another surge of longing.
He still didn’t know how he could miss his terrans so thoroughly knowing they were only a minute or two away, but he felt their absence fiercely.
“I know.” Arcanthus moved a hand up to sweep a few rogue locks of dark hair out of his face, tucking them behind one of his horns. “And for some reason, tossing all this in your face feels…wrong. You must’ve caught me on an off night. You get off easy this time.”
Drakkal laughed; the sound released a little of his tension. “Lucky me.”
Arcanthus’s tail shifted restlessly over the couch cushion beside him. “Answer a question for me.”
“What?”
“Is there a particular means by which you’d like Vanya killed?”
Perhaps it was the directness of the question that threw Drakkal off-guard; he certainly shouldn’t have been surprised, knowing Arc as well as he did.
Drakkal sighed heavily and considered the question closely. He couldn’t be sure whether thinking about it was a good thing or a bad thing. “She doesn’t have to be killed.”
“You’re allowed to disagree with me,” Arcanthus said, “but that doesn’t make you right.”
“Arrogant bastard.”
Arcanthus grinned. “Maybe. But”—his expression fell into something hard and unforgiving—“what she did to you is just as bad as what Vaund did to us back on Caldorius. No…even worse.”
Drakkal nodded, dropping his gaze to the carpet. “You’re right, but the circumstances here are different. Can you see if there’s anything to dig up on her? I want to know what she’s been up to since the last time I saw her.”
“She’s in Arthos, Drak. That alone makes her dangerous.”
“She’s just another fucking slaver,” Drakkal growled. “That’d be reason enough for me, even without the rest.”
“I can make all the arrangements. I’ll even take care of it personally. What she did is unforgivable.”
“No. Not yet. We need to know who she is now before we make a move, or we might end up starting another damned war we’re not prepared to fight.”
“Come on, azhera. Make a decision based purely on emotion for once! A rash, bold decision.”
Drakkal laughed, but it was only half-full of humor. “Oh, I have, sedhi. And those risks have paid off so far. I’m cashing out before my luck runs dry.”
“I understand that. You said she threw in with the slavers when they took you, right?”
Drakkal nodded.
Arcanthus leaned forward, reached across the open space between the couches, and patted Drakkal’s shoulder.
“All right. If there’s anything to find on her, I’ll find it.
Slavers can be hard, though. They don’t usually stay in one place long enough to leave much of a record behind. We’ll play this one safe.”
“I’ve been waiting so many years to hear you say that.”
Arc grinned. “I like to make my sweet little kitty happy.”
“You don’t deserve it, but I’m going to say it anyway, even after that. Thanks, Arcanthus. And… I’m sorry. For lying.”
Arcanthus gave Drakkal’s shoulder a squeeze and pushed himself to his feet.
“We’ve learned some hard lessons in our time, Drakkal.
And through all of that, you were the only constant, the only thing I could depend on.
This doesn’t change any of that. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a mate awaiting me—hopefully still in the shower. Get back to your Shay and Leah.”
“Don’t have to tell me twice.” Drakkal stood up and dragged his fingers through his mane, tugging out the tangles, as Arcanthus walked toward the door.
“Night, Drak.”
“Night, Arc.”
Drakkal entered the hallway a bit behind Arcanthus and started back toward the room he shared with Shay.
She and Leah were both sound asleep when he entered, the cub tucked securely into the little basket-like nest standing beside the bed—Shay and Sam had called it a bassinet.
Drakkal gently brushed the pad of a finger over Leah’s forehead, touching soft skin and softer hair.
She was so tiny—he could easily hold her on one hand.
“Sleep well, little one,” he whispered before carefully climbing onto the bed beside his mate.
When he eased an arm beneath Shay’s neck and around her shoulders, she stirred just enough to turn onto her side, facing him, and snuggle against his body.
Drakkal eased himself down fully and held Shay close.
Despite his weariness, he didn’t allow his heavy eyelids to drift shut.
Instead, he watched Shay sleep, studying her face and admiring her beauty.
He felt the serenity displayed on her features in his own heart, nestled deep and radiating warmth.
Right here, right now, there was no outside world. There were no threats, no dangers. Everything was peaceful. Everything was right.
Everything was perfect.