by Kaye Draper
She laughed. "Well, yes. Like I said, you'd have to be stupid and…they are male, sweetheart."
I sighed. "So, you're not upset?"
She pouted at me, pushing her plush pink lips out in a way that made me want to bite them. "Only that it's not me."
I chuckled. "You want to have a baby?" The thought was so damned adorable. "I'm sure one of the guys would be more than happy to help you out."
She rolled her eyes. "Maybe, someday. But I meant I wanted to be the dad."
I shook my head. "You're so fucking weird."
She kissed the tip of my nose. "Oisin is right, Gesa, you really should have done some research on your potential mates. I tried to tell you…not all my tentacles are normal tentacles. Krakens are like mollusks and the like."
At my blank look, she frowned. "Hermaphroditic. Idiot gryphon, in my kraken form, I'm both male and female."
She must have been able to tell my brain was about to explode, because she waved all that information away and grabbed my hands, giving them a squeeze. "So? Who is the dad?"
"Hisashi. And I'm having…twins."
She squealed like a kid at Yule. "Oh my Gods! Fluffy little baby foxes!" Her dark eyes took on that terrifying gleam that said she was about to start hoarding. “Imagine their adorable little ears. And the tails….”
"I at least get visitation now and then," I said in a tired voice. "Since I'm the one giving birth. You can't keep them in your cave with the rest of the shiny things."
She huffed, as if offended. "I would never."
Yeah, right.
I shook my head. "You got me completely sidetracked, kraken. What did you do to make Oswald's life a living hell?"
She slid off my lap and leaned against the desk. "As I was traveling, I seem to have picked up a few…strays. And I thought, I might have to leave the ocean, but why not take a part of the ocean with me?" She waved a hand. "There's plenty of water around here. And the ones who came with me can tolerate the cold."
I laughed. "And you all accuse me of having a soft heart." A sudden thought occurred to me and I stood, going to the office door to call up the stairs toward the apartment. "Chike? Come here, please."
The young merman came down a few minutes later. Hisashi and Oisin had taken him shopping, so he was wearing a normal t-shirt and jeans, rather than Oisin's ridiculous silk and cashmere. The guy's amethyst eyes still looked a little dead, but hopefully my news would cheer him up.
He handed me a mug of coffee, his eyes landing on Kai, but no expression on his beautiful face. "Con said to bring you this. I don't think he knew you had a guest."
I smiled at him as I took the mug. "She's not a guest. This is Kai—our kraken. She's back now, so you can go home."
I waited for his eyes to light up, a smile to grace that mopey face. I got nothing. If anything, I think he looked more depressed. "You're a kraken?" the boy asked, tilting his head to study Kai.
She shook his hand. "Yep. That's me. Thank you for being collateral. Your family was very kind to look after me when I wasn't quite myself."
He pressed his lips together, but the words slipped out anyway, bitter and angry. "Yes, I'm sure they're very kind…to anyone but me."
I looked at the kid with new eyes. "Hey. What do you mean? Your brother said they loved you, that you were important to them. I could tell he wasn't lying." I tapped my head. “Gryphon thing.”
The kid scoffed. "I guess that depends on your definition of love." He shrugged. "Never mind. I'll go pack." He paused to look at me, a bit of worry in those wide eyes. "I can take the stuff we bought, right? That's okay?"
I frowned. "It's yours, do what you want with it. But why would you need all those clothes in the ocean?"
He gave me a feral grin. "I'm not going back there. They never expected me to come back. This was just an easy way to get rid of me."
Kai crossed the room and blocked the door. "Why don't you want to go back?"
He blinked up at her. "It's complicated. Basically, I'm a big disappointment to them on multiple levels. And to top it off, I'm gay."
Kai pressed her lips together, thinking. Glancing at me, she shrugged. "Merfolk are really rigid about that."
I knew how this was going to end. But I kept my mouth shut for just a little while longer. Godsdamn it. I wasn't a complete pushover.
"You aren't fully mer either, are you?" Kai said softly.
The kid lifted his chin a notch, defiance replacing the apathy in his crystalline eyes. "No."
Since that was clearly a sore subject, Kai waved it away. "If you don't want to go back, then just stay here."
I narrowed my eyes at her, and she grinned.
"Oh for fuck's sake," I growled. "Fine. But Oswald is going to murder us. And I'm not asking White for any more favors."
Kai shrugged. "He can stay with the sirens. It will be good for them to get over their uptight ideas about other supes. And he's old enough to join the vocational program."
The kid crossed his arms and glared at us. "Why are you making decisions for me all the sudden? Don't I get a say in all this?"
Kai smiled and patted him on the cheek. "No, honey. You don't. Your family didn't want you, so now you've got a new one. And your moms can be absolute monsters if you don't listen."
He glanced at me in disbelief and I shrugged. "Best to just go with it, kid. Unless you want the tentacles to come out."
He stared at us for a beat before turning and walking out the door. "Fine. Whatever. Damned weirdos."
Kai smothered a laugh as the teenage merman stomped off to his borrowed room. "Oh Gods, that was adorable."
I smiled at her. She was going to be an amazing—terrifying, but amazing—mom.
Chapter 16
While Kai reunited with the rest of the crew, I ignored the hubbub and focused on figuring out what subspecies of pixies I might be dealing with. Were these ones more likely to have poison claws, or a second set of teeth, or that nasty skin secretion….
When I emerged from my office, thoroughly disgusted by nature, I found Hisashi manning the bookstore and Troya tucked into her favorite corner with a book. I stretched, thinking I might haul out the box of antique tombs Halstad was fussing over and try to figure out if we could sell some of the collection to magic users for top dollar. I didn't know what Oisin's sister had been up to, but she had some freaky shit stashed away in the store. Oisin just shrugged and said "bargaining chips" when I asked him about it.
I had almost made it to the back room when the door chimed and a dark touch of creepy magic hit my senses. Fuck my life.
I turned and crossed my arms. "What now?"
White just smiled at me and hung up his trench coat. "Good to see you as well, my dear Miss Lionheart. Is your…." His dark eyes cut to Troya, then back to me. "Is Halstad at home?"
I sighed. "Upstairs."
White had suggested that he help fund Halstad's new misfit mage school. Of course, there was some bargain in there somewhere. But now I knew the truth, the demon's every move seemed so much more purposeful. He was building a city where supes and humans could live side by side. A city that, apparently, needed to be able to survive some serious shitstorm. And now, he was building his very own mage school within the city.
No wonder the guild had pulled their mages from the area. If they got wind of White's plotting to build a fucking mage army, they'd be pissed.
The demon made his way to the apartment like he owned the place. I was still staring after him, wondering how one man could manage to pull all those strings, when Troya spoke up from right beside me, her open book clutched to her chest and her eyes wide. "That guy is so scary. Like…somebody's hot dad about to turn serial killer." She shuddered in revulsion.
I looked at her, trying to see how this awkward human teenager could be White's long-lost reincarnated love. From the face she was making, she sure as hell didn't get warm fuzzy vibes from the demon.
I kind of felt…sorry for him. If he was desperate enough to ask me
to be his friend, he must be really fucking lonely.
I sighed and steered Troya back toward her seat. "He's not that bad," I muttered, for some damned reason.
My phone started ringing and I sighed when I saw it was my sister. "I'll be right back, I told Hisashi. I should probably talk to my annoying family."
He smiled at me and continued putting stickers on books.
When I reached my office, I answered the phone with a growl. "What?"
Gabbi laughed. "Nice to talk to you too, sis."
"It's not that I don't want to talk to you, Gabs. But you never call just to talk."
She sighed. "Fair enough. How are you? Is your kraken back? Have you fucked the mage? How was he? Did you murder that demon yet?"
I answered her questions—well, some of them—but I knew there was a reason she had called. The clan must be having some new upheaval that needed my input.
"So," Gabbi said, her deep voice dripping with guilt. "Mom was going to call you, but I stopped her."
I sighed. "What the fuck does that thing want?" I might understand her twisted motives, but I still hadn't completely forgiven my conniving parent.
Gabbi let out a long groan. "She wants me to ask you to consider taking a gryphon into your pride."
I scoffed. "I'll just bet she does."
Gabbi was really good at soothing ruffled feathers and remaining neutral. "She even has a bunch of potential candidates picked out. I know it's a dumb idea," she said calmly. "But I can see why she suggested it. It would look good to the clan. And, you know, she just really wants some baby gryphons."
Of course. We were back to that again. My sister was trans and gay. Not a lot of hope for biological kids there. So I was my mother's last hope at continuing our proud gryphon line.
I smirked. "Why don't you put mom on the line, Gabs. I know she's probably lurking around there listening to the conversation anyway."
Hisashi wandered into the office with a book in his hand, pointing at the barcode to let me know he needed my input on pricing. I waved that away and pointed him to a chair. This was going to be fun.
"Gesa, darling," my mother purred. "How nice to hear from you."
"Cut the crap, mom," I said, before she could really get on a roll with the fake chit-chat. "Gabbi told me about your schemes. You can just chill out, grandma. I don't need a gryphon mate. I'm already pregnant."
I held the phone back from my ear as she shrieked. Okay, so my mom might actually want grandkids, and not just for political reasons. I suppose that was possible.
Of course, then she went and ruined it. "Oh Gesa, darling, I knew you'd see sense. Who's the lucky gryphon?"
I rolled my eyes. "No gryphon, Ida. Hisashi is the dad."
I winked at the fox.
My mother was dead silent for a beat. "Hisashi? Isn't that the nine-tail? You conceived with a fox?"
I grinned at her tone of abject horror. This was so much fun. "Yep. So, sorry but the old womb is occupied right now. Better luck next time."
She screeched. "But what…what…they'll still be gryphons, won't they?"
Hisashi sidled up to me and whispered in my ear, his deep voice bubbling with laughter. "Do you want to know? Or would that spoil the surprise?" His blue eyes were glowing silver around the edges and his lips were curved in a smile, not the least bit offended by my mother's stupid behavior.
Like I could say no, now that I realized he knew. Duh. I nodded.
He winked, putting a hand over my stomach as we both ignored the screeching from the phone. "Winged foxes," he breathed, grinning like a fool.
I kissed him and gleefully told my mother she was going to have grandfoxes. I think I took years off her life. One can only hope.
Chapter 17
It was a few weeks later when I felt the babies move for the first time.
Luckily, I happened to be by myself, a rare occurrence these days. Kai was in the next room unpacking the newest pile of shiny baby things she had wasted her entire paycheck on. Oisin was in the living room, pumping Hisashi for information about pregnant women and babies, since Hisashi's clan was big on motherhood.
I had no clue what Con and Halstad were getting up to. Last I knew, Halstad had all his creepy spell books spread out all over the kitchen table as he muttered to himself about lesson plans and teaching procedure for mages. Con had the day off, so he was probably making something complex and amazing for dinner. He was trying out recipes on us while he tried to get up the courage to invite his mother over for dinner.
I put a hand over the fluttering in my middle, a stupid, cheesy grin stretching my cheeks so bad they hurt. It was one of those weird moments where life has just been happening to you for so long, you don't really realize where you are until you slow down. I looked around my cozy bedroom, with its massive bed and stained-glass windows. There were bits and pieces of half a dozen lives strewn about here and there. One of Oisin's fancy vests hung over the back of the chair. Kai's trashy romance book was cast aside on the footstool where she'd left it earlier. About a hundred-odd glass vials and twists of paper and plants and God's knew what was strewn on top of the dresser—Halstad's mage crap. Con's reading glasses were folded up on the nightstand, right on top of Hisashi's new tarot deck.
My eyes watered and I found myself blubbering like an idiot. I was…happy. Really fucking happy. I wish I would have known a few years back how happy I would be, all because my clan finally pissed me off and betrayed me bad enough that I left. I could almost be thankful. Almost. I still mostly hated my clan. They had a long way to go to redeem themselves.
Heavy footsteps in the hall had me swiping at my eyes. Maybe I could blame the hormones or something.
Halstad paused in the doorway, then came over to sit on the footstool so he could face me as I sat on the bed. "Alright, girlie?"
I blinked at him. The gruff guy was getting more and more…normal. Relaxed. "I'm fine. Just hormones." Yeah, it sounded lame, even to my own ears.
Halstad patted my knee. "Gross. Lady stuff."
I snorted at him. He wasn't fooling anyone. "I just felt the babies move," I said, grabbing his hand and putting it on my stomach. A little nudge had his mismatched eyes widening in wonder.
"If that ain't the most…never thought I'd know what that felt like." His cheeks went pink.
I leaned forward and kissed him, reveling in the way his stern lips yielded under my own. I still hadn't figured out this whole dynamic yet, but I was trying. And Halstad didn't seem disappointed.
I pulled back, a stupid thought nagging at the back of my mind. "Halstad?"
"Hmm?" He pulled himself back from wherever he'd just been—probably imagining us naked together.
I covered his hand with mine, not sure how to bring up the sappy stuff, especially with the stoic mage. "What's your full name?"
He raised a brow at me. "You fuck a guy and then ask him his name?"
I laughed. "Oh shut it. I know mages only have one name. But…didn't you have a full name, once?"
He sighed. "I'm sure I did. But I can't remember. I was too young when they grabbed me up. My first handler at the mage guild had German heritage, so he named me Halstad. I don't know what my name was before. Or what my surname was. It's all kind of blurry. And besides, it never mattered. Once you're a mage, they call you what they want. You don't really get a say."
My chest hurt. "You could change your name, now that you're free."
He shrugged. "Halstad's not so bad. And I'm used to it now. When my missions required it, my mage ID card listed Smith as my last name."
He met my eyes, something yearning and hopeful there. "But…if you…wanted to name me?"
I stared at him, my heart feeling like it was going to explode. Damned squishy, useless organ. "Name you? I don't own you Halstad. You're not a pet!"
He shook his head, looking down. "No, I know that. It's just…I've never had a family name before. Not one that meant anything."
I let out a shaky breath. "Would you want t
o be a Lionheart?"
He looked up at me. "Like…you mean…?"
I nodded. "I would have to make sure the others don't mind, but I think they'll understand. We can list you as my husband where the humans are concerned, since the others all have surnames of their own."
Halstad blinked rapidly. I think the hardened battle mage was about to cry. That, or turn into a ferret and hide under the dresser. I wasn't sure which. I don't think he was sure which option to take either.
Instead, he squared his shoulders and nodded. "That would mean a lot to me, Gesa. Really."
I shrugged. "White already gave Kai my last name. So I'm just warning you, I think she's technically our adopted cousin or something like that. Just distant enough to not quite be incestuous." And I think White did that because he found it funny. Damned demon.
I leaned in to kiss Halstad again. He moved his hands to my hips and our knees bumped as he deepened the kiss, groaning when I threaded my hands through his hair and pulled, angling his head back just the way I wanted it. It wasn't half bad, having a big, burly guy like Halstad willing to be at my beck and call.
"Oh-ho," Kai's husky voice called from the doorway, ruining the moment. "I thought you might like to see the new rattle I bought, but nooo, here you are trying to make more babies."
I pulled back from Halstad and rolled my eyes. "Kai, I love the enthusiasm, but seriously? How many rattles can two babies possibly need?"
She shrugged. "But his one has foxes on it, Gesa. Foxes!" She clapped her hands together happily, pushing her boobs up against her low-cut dress in a way that made me wonder how sturdy the fabric was.
I shook my head and glanced at Halstad to find him ogling Kai. He realized he'd been caught and looked away, clearing his throat. I smiled.
"Halstad," I whispered. "Are you sure?"
"Oh for fuck's sake," he grumbled, "I'm not a lily-livered virgin, gryphon."
I chuckled, then stood. Crossing to Kai, who watched me with a small, bemused smile, I took her hand and drew her over to stand by the bed. Turning to the mage, I put on my best prison guard voice. "Stay there, mage. Watch. Don't move until I tell you it's your turn."