by Aeryn Jaden
“Rei, go and warn the oth- ugh!”
Moronic, stupid ass brave naga!
“Shut up, Python!”
Kitagawa smiled in a parody of teeth that made Rei shudder and hope he won’t see the guy mandible go all awry and wrong under that barely there skin.
“Listen to your little mate, naga. Next time I won’t aim for your arm. I wonder if you can still flap your mouth if you have your jugular sliced.”
“Fuck-”
“Python, shut up.”
Python’s eyes got all determined and narrowed on Rei and Rei just wanted to hit the gorgeous bastard and make him shut up already. Now he started to talk? With a madman at his back and a knife to his heart? After the mindblowing sex when Rei had tried to reach out and talk some things out, he’d been shut out real fast. Hell, no. Not now. They had enough time to hash this out, whatever it was between them. Today was not the day Python got to be all self-sacrificing and heroic for Rei. Rei didn’t care for that and for sure didn’t need someone saving his ass. No, sir, he was the one doing the saving and Python would do good to get that through his thick skull. Rei may be a human soon to be ex-soldier but his whole life had been dedicated to saving others. He won't fail now, especially not with his supposedly would-be mate.
“And how do you suppose puny little old me does that? A kappa is stronger than a human.”
“Should I care? I have your mate here and that’s enough for me. You figure out how to manage the rest.”
Crazed eyes or not, Kitagawa was not stupid. The old man had not survived this long by being an idiot. No, he’d done it by being a sadistic fuck that liked to torture people.
“I guess you have a point.”
He’d left most of his weapons home. Rei was not stupid either. His cold eyes perused the situation, their positions and the tense way Kitagawa was almost drawing blood on the tan skin of Python’s neck. He needed to distract the guy somehow and reach his boot knife.
He didn’t have to do anything. Python did all for him but Rei couldn’t say he was thrilled. The opposite, his heart simply stopped, blood freezing in his veins with thousands unspoken regrets. One second they were at a standstill, Rei looking for a way to turn things around while helplessly watching the madman threaten what could very well be at least a part of his future- and wasn’t that a kick to his teeth, to accept so easily he’d been just a stubborn moron all this time? Python’s eyes rolled in his head, complexion pale and he just slipped to the ground, a dead weight, unmoving and too still. Rei didn’t know who was more shocked, him or the empty handed Kitagawa. Rei couldn’t see that blasted sparkly knife anywhere, he couldn’t see if Python was bleeding with its blade protruding grotesquely from any part of his body. His not-mate was just a heap of bones and skin and Rei could not see him breathing goddammit! Luckily he was a soldier and he put everything he felt on the back burner. Almost everything, he kept the fear and transformed it in anger and determination. The next second, Kitagawa’s body fell down next to Python’s, a small hitch of surprise in the air, a gurgle of wet blood flooding his lungs and staining his overused carcass. His small eyes lingered on Rei perplexed, eyes glistening with fervor and incomprehension and dulled as the last of his unnatural life poured down on the ground in a rush. Rei couldn’t give a shit. He was next to Python in the blink of an eye, hands shaking for maybe the first time in his life and carefully turned the bigger man on his back. His white shirt was bunched around his middle and not only wrinkled, wet too. Drenched. The knife sat there innocuously, looking like a pretty decorative dagger if not for the sharp blade glistering with newly spilled blood. Rei saw the world darken and dim, his ears deafened by the rush of terror. His eyes fell on his hesitant outstretched hand, his only decoration the transport bracelet received from Troy. If anyone could help Python, it would be his brother and his mate.
Shit. What the hell would he do if anything happened to this annoying, gorgeous, tight lipped bastard?
Chapter Five
Rei was so bloody furious he could kill Kitagawa again. Slowly and with his bare hands. More than that, he wanted to get his hands on the snake that had given the old creep the cursed knife. He knew someone had, that knife was not Japanese, with its ornate big stones and its slightly curved handle and blade. Arun’s pitying looks as he’d watched him stumble around, all covered in his mate’s blood and not knowing if Python would survive, yeah… That had pissed him off even more. So, after getting the guy alone and demanding to know what was happening... he’d run in search of a liquor store. Arun had tried some mumbo-jumbo on him to get him to leave- what was that about?- but the decision had been all Rei. He needed a moment to breathe and process what he’d found out. It was one thing to find out things that go bump exist, this- this was much more.
Gods? Primordial gods and jealousy lasting millennia? Half a Pantheon wanting to kill innocent kids just because a petty goddess got jealous that her husband couldn't keep it in his pants and got someone else pregnant? Jesus, you would expect that with great power came great responsibility or such crap. No, oh no, these gods behaved like spoiled brats with over inflated egos, not caring about the consequences of their actions or whom they hurt to satisfy their fucking pride. He could have dealt with that better if he’d not been so brusquely confronted with the severity of the situation via his mate being almost killed. Hell, he still didn’t know if Python will survive!
The store didn't have his favorite sake so he grabbed the next best thing, not caring for once. Damn, was Rei an asshole or not? He just wanted his brain to stop screaming at him that he’d made a mistake, that he should be next to his mate right now. He’d fucked that up already, and fucked Python at the same time. And hadn't that felt awesome. His dick seemed to think so and perked at the thought.
“God, I’m such an asshole! What about Johnny, huh? What about the sweet kappa looking at me with those mesmerizing eyes- Ugh!”
Another swallow, another burn that he could focus on instead of the one behind his eyes and the weight on his chest. He’d parked the car not far from the house, not willing to be too far from the two men messing up with his head. The sea was storming under him but he just watched as the storm came closer and closer to the coast. He was sitting on the edge, car at his back, ass on the cold ground, his ticker jacket back at the house, not that he needed it. He had booze to keep him warm and his mind fuzzy. He was so lame.
“Are you alright, my friend?”
Rei almost dropped the newly opened bottle when he jumped startled, hiding his hand as he reached for his trusty knife. Even drunk he should be able to hear anybody coming so close to him. He turned with a genial smile and barely had a chance to glance at the refined features of the brunet leaning above him before he heard a weird noise, similar to a snake hissing and he felt something like needles in his neck. Darkness was quick to follow. He fought to keep his blurry eyes open, his movements were slow and he dropped the knife clumsily when he pressed on the panic button on that fancy bracelet his brother and brother-in-law had given him.
“Now, why did you have to do that? Humans... you're so much more trouble than you’re worth.”
“Fuck...off.”
Laughter followed him in darkness and Rei last thought was confusing at best. He hoped Johnny and Python will take care of each other until he got out of this latest mess he’d stumbled into.
* * * *
“My brother is dense, stubborn and often stupid but I can’t say yours is any better, Ryuu.”
“You think I’m happy with Rei?”
Troy took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He didn’t want to fight with Ryuu, it wasn’t his fault that all their relatives were insane and most likely retarded. His hands were stained with Python’s blood, his nose smelling only death and what he needed now the most was to reassure himself that he’d not lost his family, that they were safe. He pulled Ryuu’s unhappy face up for a small peck, a tender short kiss, a longer embrace to sustain him and calm his frazzled nerves.
> “Sorry, you’re right. How are the hatchlings doing? Still agitated?”
“There fine. Finally sleeping. They’re really taken to Arun. Him and Hermaphroditus are watching them.”
“Watching them sleep?”
Ryuu rolls his eyes at him and Troy’s heart jumped in his chest. He was so, so lucky.
“More like pretending not to watch each other. You can cut the sexual tension between them with a knife. Shit. Sorry.”
His little mate’s face paled and his round eyes beg forgiveness for callously talking about knives. Silly, as if Troy expected him to never pronounce that word.
“ ‘S alright. Python is sleeping too. Johnny is with him, cooling his fever. I- Ryuu, I was so mad at him that until some weeks ago I could have sworn to you that I was capable of killing the idiot myself and now-“
“Shh.”
Ryuu pulled him closer and Troy let his head fall on his shoulder, needing the closeness after struggling for the last four hours to mend broken tissue, energy poisoning, revitalize frail magick in order to save his brother’s life.
“He’s weak. Human almost. Dead. Ryuu. I don’t want my brother to die. What do I do? He just found his mates, he finally has a chance to be happy, to be who he should have always been-”
“Wait. What?”
His little mate was stronger than he looked and to Troy’s unhappiness, unlatched his arms from around him, putting enough distance between them to look up at him with an incredulous stormy expression.
“What?”
“Mates. Plural. Mates? Troy?”
“Huh?”
“Troy!”
That low growl shouldn’t make Troy’s pants tight but then again everything his little naga did was a turn on. They’d not had a lot of time for themselves after their eggs had hatched and Troy was thinking that he should call Mama and beg her to babysit. Either Python or the hatchlings. Or both. She’d want to be here for Python anyway, if she wasn’t already on her way.
“I swear to God, I’m gonna withhold sex for a month, so put that pistol away and focus, Trojan!”
“Um. You’re beautiful?”
“Mates, Troy. You said mates.”
“Um. Python’s mates? What about them?”
Ryuu’s face paled and he took a step further away from Troy, taking his body heath and his soft skin out of reach. It finally made Troy pay enough attention to realize his little mate was really upset about something as Ryuu started pacing back and forth mumbling things.
“Ryuu?”
“Johnny is Rei’s mate too, isn’t he?”
“Um. No?”
“The hell?”
The frown was impressive and wasn’t doing anything to lessen Troy’s overactive libido. Ryuu was currently in naga form and his tail was flicking back and forth behind, betraying his mate’s agitation and finally snapping Troy out of it. His eyes widened in realization and he cursed his idiotic, stubborn brother again.
“He didn’t tell them? He didn’t tell them! I forgot to tell you! Of all the stupid-”
“So Johnny is not Rei’s- He’s Python’s mate. They’re both Python’s mates. Doesn’t that make them mates too? Shit, my head hurts. Mate of mine, your freaking mating rules and ideas suck.”
“Not mine. Just- ideas. Rules. Um. It depends on them? If they want to be together? It’s different for humans and I don’t know about kappas and-”
Ryuu was in his space immediately. Troy’s breath slowed down and synchronized with his mate’s. The horror of realizing that his brother was still dying despite all his best efforts made his knees weak and quaking. Ryuu was there, shushing him, knowing that he needed a moment to gather his wits and explain, a moment to breathe in and stop panicking.
“Python was cursed before we even hatched. He’ll die if he doesn’t merge energies soon. If he doesn’t mate with both of them not only Rei. And errr, of course merging energies like that usually means mating bites? And possibly hatchlings. Your brother needs to come back. Python could be already expecting.”
“My brother shouldn’t have left at all. Rest assured, he’ll know as soon as he tries to get farther than a couple of miles.”
Troy almost missed Ryuu’s smirk, too focused on finding a solution to postpone the inevitable. As Python had two mates, he needed to claim both to be complete- Uh-oh.
“Ryuu, what did you do?”
“What I had to. Now come. Your brother is in good hands and the shower is calling your name.”
He smiled softly at Troy, his luscious hair trailing behind him, looking like everything precious and good that Troy had ever seen, all rolled into temptation and spiced with love. Troy always wanted his mate but he adored Ryuu even more for how he always knew what he needed and when.
“Let me take care of you. Trust me. Everything will be alright.”
And he did. And it was.
* * * *
Johnny was not stupid. Naïve maybe, but stupid? Never. He couldn’t afford it. He’d learned from young that he needed to be a step ahead of everyone if he wanted to survive. Survival had been his everything until now. Even in the pond, when living with his father, survival had not been a given. Johnny was not like the rest of them. Not like humans, not like kappas. Forever caught in the middle. The present situation should not surprise him, therefore.
It still hurt. He wanted Rei. He wanted someone of his own, somebody to care for him at last and someone to love. He also wanted Python well and not hurt because Johnny was interfering in his mating. He’d never seen a mated couple but the stories described it as sacred and so, so good. If Johnny could not make Rei happy, ahe was glad Python existed to pick up the slack. He wanted happiness for Rei more than he wanted to be loved. Johnny would have left Python and Rei if that would mean they were both happy and healthy. It was an easy decision to take. Or would have been if not for his grandfather.
After Ryuu had gently reminded him that Johnny was on borrowed time with them, he’d decided to go, just disappear and lick his wounds somewhere else, try to make a life for himself far away from them. Then Python got hurt protecting Rei from Johnny’s grandfather. Badly hurt. Johnny had smelled the blood the second Rei had teleported with Python in the caves (that bracelet Rei had sure was a neat artifact, Troy was really powerful to create something like that). Johnny had not smelled only blood though, Johnny had smelled them all over each other. Rei and Python had mated and wasn’t it sad that they’d needed only a couple of hours away from Johnny’s interference to get together? He’d been ready to go but Rei jumped the gun before he could make a clean cut. One minute the guy was clutching a bloody, barely breathing Python at his chest, expression broken and eyes haunted; the next, he’d disappeared and left Johnny to help Ryuu carry Python to his bed. Johnny didn’t know what to make of everything but for now he just couldn’t let Python alone. Not because he was feeling guilty about wanting the guy’s mate, not because Rei would want Python well and cared for. Johnny cared what happened to Python and he was starting to believe that his suspicions were true. Maybe Johnny had two mates. Maybe Python had two mates too and they were all meant to be together.
The naga was a victim in all this, wounded because of Johnny and had all the reasons to resent Johnny. The guilt was suffocating and Johnny could hardly be glad to be free of his imprisonment if it came with such a high cost. Then Python had woken up just five minutes ago, looked for a second at Johnny silently crying his special tears while watching over him and had smiled, whispering roughly.
“You’re free.”
This man. This man was not at all what Johnny had thought. He found himself intrigued and compelled to not leave his side not out of guilt but because he cared. Funny thing about kappas? They weren’t romantically attracted to anyone else but their mate. Or mates?
He mapped Python’s face, lingering on the chiseled features, bronze skin glistening in sweat. Python smelled sick, far more than from a magick knife wound. Python smelled as if his essence was dying, becoming dilute
d, mortal. Johnny was not stupid, no. He could figure things out without anybody having to spell them out for him. He’d figured out that Rei was resisting the mating because of something Python had done to endanger his brother. Also, Python was somewhat sick and from what he’d heard the others speaking, him mating would help cure his illness. Considering all that, Python had still left Rei alone, left him to Johnny if he so desired. A man like that was worth knowing and for the first time since Rei had rescued Johnny, he found that he resented the human for his actions. Nobody left their mate like that, especially when they were wounded, right? True the man was human, but he should still feel some kind of pull, no? Johnny shouldn’t judge too harshly, he knew what it meant to panic and make the wrong decision, just…the reality of seeing Python half-dead and still glad to have helped Johnny did things to him.
Things he just didn’t want to think too much about. Gods, he was so confused.
* * * *
“Who send you, really?”
Arun smirked at the feisty god and stubbornly held his silence. It wasn’t that it was such a big secret. His brother, Garuda had not said anything about secrecy, still, a careful approach was preferred. They didn’t want to upturn all the Indian Pantheon, just right some wrongs here and there, bash some heads, slap some wrists. After all, neither him nor Garuda where in the mood to be responsible for upholding the peace and structure in the Indian beliefs system. Been there, done that and it had taken them an extremely long time to make the current godlings quasi self-sufficient and forget about Garuda and Arun’s existence. Sesha was a good guy and the other gods had not taken care of him at all. Except Vishnu, of course. Still, having had to give up his daughter and when so young too, being without any support-yeah, not one of the finest moments the godlings had shown decision wise.