by A. S. Oren
“You won’t believe how many bedrooms he has set up. There’s at least twenty between all the levels. I think he wants you to have kids with all of the Fold at least twice.” He laughs. We climb the stairs to the second level. Maverick glances over his shoulder and winks. “I bet we can turn one of these rooms into another special place.”
I frown. “But the cave is still close by, don’t you like it?”
He nods. “I love it but think of all the toys we could purchase that wouldn’t get ruined by the elements. So far we can only do that stuff at the Cabin, and I doubt we’ll have access to that place forever, eventually a new group will find it and take over ownership.”
I nod and take his hand as we reach the landing. I suppose he’s right. After Rosemen ran off, Michael Perlow became more open with us. We’ve even had him over to dinner with doctor James Quinn. He told us that once we found the Cabin and signed our name to the contract, he and James were no longer able to use it. So, we won’t be able to go there forever either. Horace has been working on digitizing the library, so that we will always be able to read the books it contains. A lot of them are too rare to pass up, but it would take a lifetime to try and read them all before some new group comes along to claim it.
The hall he leads me down has doors on either side with a set of wide, white double doors at the end. He opens one side. “I think this one is supposed to be for you. It’s only fair that you get the biggest room. We can still share your bed on set days, like we do at Spearwood.”
“Yeah, it would be nice to share my bed with you guys all night long.” I envy the couples that can make love to each other and then spoon all night, as if it isn’t a privilege for them.
A massive king-sized bed prevails over the room, with red comforter and black pillows. I lift an eyebrow. "Zaria must've had influence over this room, too. There's no way Ed chose this bed. I bet he was all for a tiny twin." Maverick pulls me to him and wraps his arms around my waist. His lips grace my bare shoulder. "What do you say to breaking in the new bed and christening the room? We've got a lot of rooms to mark. We should start now." I lean back into him.
"As much as that would be fun for the two of you after your obvious frolic in the woods before you returned to Ed's, I don't think he would appreciate that too much while he's still in the house." I turn in Mavericks arms to peer around his side at Paden.
Uh oh, that naughty fantasy of them both having me at once has crawled its way to the front of my mind. Don't say it, don't say it... "I suppose you're right. Unless you want to join?"
I said it. My brain and mouth must need a filter change.
Maverick deep laugh vibrates against my cheek as Paden lifts a dark blond eyebrow. He steps further into the room, closing the door behind him. Is he actually considering taking me up on my offer? My heart beats faster. Dear Sun god, yes! Thank you! He opens his mouth. "Maybe--"
The door opens and in walks Mirren. He stops in his tracks at the sight of the three of us. "I was just looking for a bathroom."
Yeah, I doubt he was looking for a bathroom. He was probably snooping and got caught. I glance at the three of them. Oh Sun god, here comes more unwanted sexy fantasies.
Maverick chuckles. My cheeks flush with heat. I don't have to be a mind reader to know he's thinking about earlier in the cave when I told him of my fantasy about him and Mirren.
“If only you knew what I know.” Maverick laughs harder as I slap him in the chest.
“I swear to the Sun god I will not go anywhere with you for a month if you even try to elaborate on that sentence.
He lifts an eyebrow at me. “Are you sure you could last that long?”
I lift an eyebrow in return. “Do you really want to chance finding out?”
He shakes his head. “Touché.”
Edgar edges his way into the room past Mirren who’s still starring at us all like we’ve lost it.
“I’m glad you found your room. Do you like it? Zaria decorated it. I wanted cotton sheets for you, but she said satin would spice thin’s up.” He shakes his head.
I hide my face in Maverick chest. At least he didn’t walk in on anything super awkward. I don’t know if I could live with myself if Edgar walked in on me while a threesome was happening.
He motions with his arm. “C’mon. I still haven’t shown you the basement. I set up a game room for you and for when you have kids. The others are waitin’ down there for us.”
I move my head to glance a Paden. He looks back to me; his arms folded over his chest. I can’t even begin to imagine what he’s thinking right now. “We’ll continue this conversation later.”
He walks out past Mirren who turns before peering over his own shoulder at Maverick and me.
The fantasies come back to full force. I take Maverick’s hand. “Let’s go see this basement before I do something I’ll regret later.”
CHAPTER FOUR
Day One
I sigh and peek at Paden through the mirror on his wall as I pull on a cut-off tee of Jared from The Labyrinth. I miss David Bowie. "Do I really have to move into that house now? Can't we just stay in these cabins?"
Paden lays on his bed, his hands behind his head. I woke him up as soon as I transformed back this morning. Today, we're moving our stuff into the new house. Everyone picked their rooms yesterday. In true Mirren fashion, he made snide remarks about me being a Princess and getting the best room.
He grins. "You'll live. I think you two are grown up enough to be civil with each other."
I grab a pair of jean shorts out of the drawer I keep in his cabin. "I'm sorry but have you met me? My temper is notorious for being childish. I don't have much control over it either."
With a sigh, he sits up and perches on the end of the bed. His open shirt hangs loose from his shoulders. "I have faith in you. You've already promised Maverick that you’ll try to make things work. I don't know why, but you always listen to him and do as he says. Even though I'm supposed to be your leader."
A small smile pulls at my lips as I go to him, still just in my panties and a shirt. I run my fingers through his long, dark blond hair. He closes his eyes and pushes his head into my touch. "I will always listen to you in battle, you know that. My relationship with Maverick is complicated in some areas. I love you."
He sighs again. "I know." Standing, he kisses me on top of the head. "I love you, too."
I pull away from him to get my shorts on. "I suppose we should start bringing our library over to the new house. At least we can use Voids to help us. They'll save time on carrying things over or having to put them in boxes."
He laughs. "At least we have that. I don't know how Norms do it. Putting everything in boxes, then a truck, only to carry it inside the new place and unpack. Seems like it would suck up so much time."
"If only they weren't scared of real magic. They could hire supernatural movers and be moved in a day or less." I put my hair into two braids and tie the ends. I couldn't have done that before Amr met Jakki, and I let him tame my hair.
Paden nods and finishes buttoning his shirt. "Ready to go?"
I sigh. "Yes."
He places his hand on the wall of his cabin and opens a Void to my old room at Edgar's. Taking his hand, I travel through it with him.
Floor to ceiling bookcases line each of the walls; one small shelf even hangs over the door. I frown. My heart picks up. "Where are our books?” Some of them are rare, trying to find them was a pain. We had to travel to a lot of Norm used bookstores where they thought they were fiction books and were selling them for mere dollars.
A Void opens in the wall next to us, and Maverick walks outs. He looks at us. "Well, I guess the surprise isn't as shocking as I wanted it to be. The others and I moved your library this morning while Paden kept you busy. Edgar wanted to make sure you start training today, and you can't do that if you're moving things.”
I blink at him. "You touched my books?"
Maverick holds up his hands. "Easy girl, we made sure to keep t
hem in their genres and in alphabetical order. They’re the same as they were on the shelves here."
Paden grips my shoulder. "Did you wear gloves with the first editions?"
My pulse shoots through the roof. If the oils from their hands got on some of those, they’ll be ruined.
Maverick rolls his eyes. "Yes, little bro, we followed all your instructions to a T."
I let out a sigh. "I swear, if any of those first editions are ruined, I'm holding you both responsible."
Maverick comes to me and reaches for my hand. "Don't worry, Lon. They’re still in perfect gold leaf condition. Let me show you both."
He opens a Void, and we follow him through it. My heart nearly stops. I saw the library yesterday, but the shelves were bare and the fireplace wasn't lit. With our books filling some of the empty spaces and the orange glow of the fireplace dancing on the walls, it takes on a cosy atmosphere. "I'm going to have to buy more books."
Maverick shakes his head whilst laughing. "Edgar let the monster grow by adding all this extra shelf room."
Paden shoves him in the shoulder. "Just because you don't like to read doesn't mean we don't. I can't wait to buy more books to read with Lon and fill up the shelves here."
Maverick rubs his shoulder. "I like to read...manga."
I smile and rub his hand with my thumb. "And there's nothing wrong with that."
He grins and stares at his brother. Paden sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. "I like anime for the most part, but I don't get the appeal of manga."
"It's the same as your comic books. The layout is just different. Please don't get into another debate over comic books and manga." I let go of their hands and walk around the room. My books are indeed in the same order I had them in at Edgar's. Paden and Maverick’s debate continues and becomes background noise as I smile when I come to the shelf with glass doors, behind it stands all of my first editions. Some of them are centuries old. "I love this place. I might just live in this room.”
"You can't do that, we would never see you." I glance over my shoulder as Amr walks in. He grins at me as he peers around the room. "This place does look really good now that there's books in it."
I laugh. "You would see me eventually. I'd need to eat at some point."
Paden huffs. "Dude, you just don’t get the art form that is a graphic novel."
I roll my eyes and turn to face Amr. I guess the debate happened anyway. "Ignore them, this could go on for hours."
Amr's smile widens. "So are you excited to start the other elements training today? I can't wait. I've always felt like I could use more than one element, but I've never had the chance to really try the other techniques."
I nod. "I'm excited to learn the other elements, too, for the most part."
He laughs. "You and Lusk will be fine. He can teach you to become stronger in your main element, just like Jakki will teach me how to be better at earth."
I huff. "At least you love Jakki. That makes things easier for you. Did you just call him Lusk?"
Amr steps forward. "That's his name, isn't it? I feel weird calling him Mirren, like you do. He'll be my brother in law one day after all."
I shudder at the thought. "Doubtful."
He places a hand on my shoulder. "Give it time. The Fates never get it wrong, they haven't with me. And it turns out they didn't with you and Jericho either."
The debate to our right goes silent at his name. I glance at them, and they stare back. "Yes, but he's too far away to even let him know, and Minos is with him. I don't know if I will ever have all of my Fold. The mark on my back may always be a set of squiggly lines with no meaning."
Amr nods. "You're meant to be with them. Somehow, someway, they will find their way back to you."
I lift an eyebrow. "So you have faith that Kearn will come around?"
Amr nods. "One day he will, I have faith that the Fates aren't wrong."
Kearn works as a servant at Spearwood. His bi-coloured eyes caught our attention. Both of us had crushes on Kearn, but it turns out Amr was meant for him. However, he doesn't seem open to the idea of a Fold. He evades all of Amr’s tries to get romantically close to him. I don't think the Fates would pick someone for Amr that wouldn't be sexually attracted to him, but who knows. My faith in the Fates isn't strong to begin with. Amr hates it when I tell the Fates to fuck off. He's a lot more religious than me in that sense.
I sigh. "Well, let's go and find our tutors. We need breakfast and then to go over the schedule Edgar has made up for us."
Amr leads the way out of the library and down the long hall to the stairs that goes down into the kitchen; we pass the second level at a landing.
A horde of men stand around the kitchen. Some eat cereal. Jakki hovers at the stove cooking eggs and sausage. He looks to us. "Oh thank the Sun god, you're back. I have no idea what I'm doing here." He hands the spatula to Amr.
Amr laughs and kisses Jakki on the cheek. "You did great, Love. Nothing's burnt."
Jakki lets out a sigh. "Oh, good. I couldn't tell if the eggs were cooked or not.
I go to peer at the sausage pan. It always smells amazing, but I know it won't taste good. For some reason, our angel genes don't like meat very much. I'll only eat it during survival challenges. "How do you know when it's cooked? You don't even eat the meat."
Amr flips a sausage patty. "Dad taught me. Since he likes meats, he taught me what to look for."
An edge of jealously creeps up my spine. I wish I could've had that with our father, but it wasn't meant to be. I shake my head. Edgar's my dad; he took the time to raise me. And, he tried to teach me how to cook meat. I only paid enough attention to get me by in a stretch. I was more interested in the vegetarian meals he took the time to learn and teach me how to make.
"That's cool." I go to the fridge as Maverick and Paden each get a bowl of cereal. Several conversations go on at once as the eight of them break off into their own little groups. I grab a grapefruit and a cheese stick. I'm an odd duck, but I like my cheese.
I take a seat next Bullock who sits at the long table away from the others. A plate of half eaten toast sits in front of him, and of course, a books rests in his hand. A Briefer History of Time by Stephen Hawking. He glances at me but returns to his book without so much as a greeting.
I push my nail into the skin of the grapefruit and begin peeling it. "How do you like that book? I've never read any of his books, but I would be interested to see what he thinks."
Bullock’s Adams apple bobs in his throat. "I like his work. In this one, he breaks down what he talked about in The Brief History of Time."
I nod. "So you would recommend it then?"
He nods. The back of his knuckles go to rub at his cheek, but he forces his hand down. "Yes."
After taking off the peel, I hold a slice of grapefruit out to him. "Would you like a piece? I can't eat a full one by myself today." It's taken years to get him to open up this much to me, but I've been patient. There's something off with him, but I can't figure out what it is. So I've just been taking my time. It’s not like we're in any rush to seal the Fold bond.
With a small amount of hesitation, he takes the piece of fruit. His fingers just barely touch mine. A jolt runs up my arm. "Thank you, I like grapefruit."
I smile. "I'm glad to hear that." One of these days, I hope he lets me get close enough to kiss him. I've wanted to for a few years now, but he shies away from me if I get too close, and he isn’t in need of healing.
I glance at Mirren. He stands at the island in the centre of the kitchen and talks to Rian, who I've yet to really meet. A smile plays on his lips. He doesn't look too bad when happy. His eye catches mine, and the smile falls into a frown.
I look down to the table's dark wood grain. Whatever. The sight of me takes the happiness out of him. Well, the feeling is mutual.
CHAPTER FIVE
Day Two
Jakki stands outside with me; his arms crossed.
I push my hands out and try to make a small
hole in the grass. The first move taught to earth user children. Not even a speck of dirt trembles under me. I huff as my hands shake. Nothing. "What am I doing wrong?"
Jakki flips his long blond hair over one shoulder. "You're naturally fire, so I don't expect this to be easy for you. Fire users aren't as able to ground themselves, you need to centre your mind. Let go of your emotions. Let them flow down through your feet instead of rising up through your head."
Sounds like something an earth user would say. They are all about acting as if they're grounded all the time. I let out a breath, and let the ire I feel at not being able to do this on the first couple tries run down and out of my body. The earth cracks, but no hole forms.