“I think my parents really liked Kaz.” Her cheeks flushed, hoping that didn’t sound too coupley. It did, didn’t it? A little panic bubbled in her tummy.
“I knew they would.” Jo leaned into her boyfriend and wrapped her arm around his waist. She was proud of Lian; she had given Marius a whole sentence. She knew he would be beyond delighted with that.
“Is she doing okay?” Marius knew he was pressing his luck, but he hated that he was so helpless in terms of doing anything to help the sisters. “Are you doing okay?” Concern flickered in his bright eyes.
“I-I’m holding up,” Lian confessed to her shoes. “I think she’s in a bit of pain, but she does her best to hide it.” Lian shrugged a little. “So, it’s hard to tell.”
Jo sighed. “That sounds just like her.” Once again, her arms found their way around Lian as she pulled her into a gentle hug. “I know you can make it through this. If you ever need anything, you know how to get ahold of me, and even Marius.” She gestured to her boyfriend. “I know you’re still shy around him, but he would do anything to help either you or Kaz.”
“Thank you,” Lian said to Jo, then turned her attention to Marius and did her best to talk to him directly. “Thank you both.”
“You guys are the best,” Kazun sighed and offered a tired smile. “It means a lot.” He was honored. It was a huge relief to be reassured that they weren’t alone. He’d already known that, but to hear it said aloud was just what he’d needed.
“Hey, it’s no problem.” Jo offered a small smile. “Just keep us in the loop.”
Lian’s stomach let out a quiet growl of discontent, reminding her of the lunch date at hand.
“We were on our way to get some food. I will message you if anything changes.”
“You know how to reach us.” Marius gave a last, meaningful look at the two. “You can contact us for anything. We’re always close to campus.”
Jo nodded in agreement. “You two have some fun, okay?” She knew it would be hard to focus on other things, but worrying wouldn’t do anyone any good. Actually, it would probably just make Michelle grumpy if she knew. “We’ll see you around.” Jo linked hands with Marius, gave a wave, then the two retreated back towards the center of campus.
“I’m glad we ran into them.” Kaz let out a breath of relief. “I definitely needed that.” With so many friends on their side, it felt like all the horrible things were distant. It was almost like Michelle wasn’t in harm’s way. He hated that things were serious enough for her to get sent back to live with her parents. At least things had cleared up between her and Ravin. The demon was an idiot, but he was a well-intentioned idiot.
Despite all the horrible nonsense, at least they had each other.
Kazun strolled over to his transport and unlocked the doors. He climbed inside and adjusted the atmospheric controls, making it just a bit colder. The weather was going to cool down soon, so it wasn’t like it was the end of the world.
No, he couldn’t be dramatic about that kind of thing, not after he’d almost gotten killed as part of an attempt to end the world. That… still haunted him. He knew his traumatic experience would stay with him, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as whatever Lian had to deal with after seeing Iraldin again.
He glanced over as Lian joined him and clicked her seatbelt into place. Despite everything she’d been through… she was still there. She still got out of bed every day, and he was so proud of her.
Once she was settled, Kaz followed suit and pulled out of the parking lot.
Lian watched as the world whirled past at a leisurely pace. She opened the window and felt the air move about.
It wasn’t long before they reached the restaurant. “So, are you looking forward to the game tonight?” It was hard for Kazun to focus on much other than the upcoming event. He could feel the jitters returning. It would be no different than any other, but he couldn’t stop himself from rocking onto his heels and tapping his fingers.
Lian nodded excitedly. She always loved going to the games and watching him and Letvan play. Sometimes being in the crowds made her anxious, but generally all of their friends went with them. Tonight would be different. Michelle and Ravin probably would stay at home. Luckily, she still had Zier to accompany her, and Jo would be there.
Some of the fans had a grudge against her, so having the fallen angel as her friend and bodyguard was nice. A lot of the fanatics Kaz called “fangirls” had delusions of him falling wildly in love with them. It had made them angry when Kaz had given her one of his old jerseys to wear.
After one eventful night of being ganged up on in the bathroom, Lian had swore never to wear it to a game again. After much counseling from Zier and Kazun, however, she never wore anything else. Not only were they dating, they had been friends for almost a year now, a fact the fanatics had tried to bypass.
She wouldn’t have traded their friendship for the world.
“You guys are going against the Altairin Tigers, aren’t you?” Lian tried to stay up to date on all the hockey happenings. Supporting Kaz in his passion was important to her.
Kazun nodded. “Yeah, they’re the best in the league, so it’s going to be a really tough match. I honestly don’t know how this is going to turn out.” They’d never won a match against the Tigers. Even though the rink made everyone play at a fair level, they always found a way to snatch the victory.
He could barely focus on the world around them. “They just always seem to know all of our strategies, even though no one can read minds on the ice.” The letdown of losing was crushing, especially against the Tigers. Their top scorers, the twins Ace and Axel, even found it hard to pierce their defense.
Kazun let out a breath to release some of his pent-up energy, “Sorry, I just…” he ran his finger through his hair. “I’m just anxious, I guess.”
Lian placed her hand on Kaz’s as they sat at the table. “It's okay. I understand. It means a lot to you.” She opened the menu and perused through the options.
“I always wanted to play at this level.” He fingered the edge of his menu. “I was my dream for years. I couldn’t ask for a greater team. It’s just frustrating to be number two in the league when I know we could be the best.”
“You guys work so hard,” Lian sighed. “And win or lose, I still think you’re amazing.” She turned and inputted her order into the holodevice sitting at the edge of the table.
Once she was done, Kazun did the same. He was only halfway paying attention to what he ordered. His mind was elsewhere. “Thank you, that’s really sweet of you.” He placed hand on top of hers. “You’re so supportive, Lian. I don’t know what I would do without you.”
“I feel the same,” she added quietly, giving him a gentle smile. At least when they were together, she could distract herself from the weight of the future. She could stay in the moment. In the future, bad things loomed. Things she didn’t even want to imagine.
“I'm going to have Zier move a couple of boxes over tonight.” She decided to change the subject to something a bit more happy.
Excitement sprung up in Kaz’s chest. “Really?” He couldn’t hold back the goofy grin. “I made sure everything was perfect right before I left. So, there’s plenty of space for everything.” He was filled with a different, better energy. “It’ll be nice to have someone else there, it’s been so quiet.”
Lian nibbled at her lip. “Do you want me to come over after the game?” She wasn’t sure she wanted to go home to the quiet. It wouldn’t be hard to have her bedroom stuff moved over, then she and Zier could tackle the other stuff as they felt like it.
Having to look at the empty bed where Michelle slept was a bit hard. Did Kazun feel the same way about Ravin’s room? They were really close, almost as close as Lian was with Michelle, if not as much so.
“I would love it if you did,” Kazun breathed. “As long as you don’t mind the post-game smell.” The sweat was going to make him reek. Ravin had always complained about it, so he didn’t want to offend
Lian. Sometimes one shower wasn’t enough to knock it out.
Kazun glanced up as their food was delivered. He thanked their waiter and grabbed one of his chips. “If we win, the others will want to celebrate.”
“I don’t mind the smell,” Lian giggled. She was a runner, so she could get pretty pungent herself when she did her own half-marathons. “As long as Jo and Zier are there as buffers, I should be fine with the team as well.”
The Seneal Hockey Wild Dogs were a great group of people. Though, she only really knew Letvan well, besides Kaz. Since she had started coming to team events, she was getting to know them better. Some of them were even warming up to her, like the twins, Ace and Axel.
The rest of the team were either not fond of or were wary of the quiet girl.
“There’s no guarantee that we’ll win.” Kazun was trying to reassure her, but he knew that it put himself down at the same time. “But you’ll have both of them anyway, plus Marius and Xinalist.” He knew that she didn’t know them very well, but they were just two more people who would defend her.
“And me,” he added meekly through a bite of his chicken sandwich. He just wanted to be helpful.
“And you.” She took his hand and kissed the back of it. With the food there, she wasted no time in digging into her grilled chicken salad. The delightfully light flavors made her feel refreshed. More importantly, it pacified her grumbling stomach.
After swallowing a bite of chicken, she wiped her lips with her napkin. “So do we have to head over to the rink after lunch?”
Kazun nodded. “Yeah, then we’re going to get ready to try to win the game.” He slowly clenched his fingers, then unclenched them repeatedly. It served as the best way to focus himself. “Or, you know, try our best.”
“You’ll do amazing.” Lian smiled. “Letvan said he was really proud of his new tactics. I’ve seen you guys practice. You’ve all stepped up your game.”
“It’s pretty awesome. Having a knight as a captain is definitely a benefit.” Kaz leaned back in his seat. “He’s super intense during games. His focus is razor-sharp, but he’s aware of everything. He’s been trying to help us do the same, but he has military training, and almost none of us do. Kaito is one of the ones who does, so he picked up on it all fast. He’s a Mershark, so he has intensity down.”
The only one who’d been truly struggling was Kazun. Because Letvan knew that out of the entire team, the human would be the one most likely to lag behind, Kazun had been given special attention. He was only nineteen. The next youngest player was in their mid-twenties, but Mark was a werewolf. He already had the pack mentality ingrained into him.
Kazun didn’t have that; he had had to work the hardest out of everyone. So that was what he did. He did his best against people who were just more powerful than him. “Letvan’s been taking time to make sure I can get the same level of focus, but…” Kaz sighed. “I don’t know if I’ll ever be good enough. I’m just human.”
“Hey, you guys are second in the entire league. And you, Mr. Human, are a very important part of that team. I think that’s more than good enough.” She gave him an encouraging smile then took a big bite of salad. “Humans were the ones who invented hockey. It’s your game Kaz.” She gave him a big thumbs up.
Pride built up in his chest. “That’s true.” He felt his mood turning back towards the positive again. “You should be a motivational speaker. You’re good at it.” He knew that this was just a temporary distraction for her though. Soon, things would go back to being stressful. Soon mortality would catch up with all of them.
Kaz jumped when he caught a glimpse of the time. “Oh, stars! We’ve got to get going!” He swiped his card on the machine to pay. He hopped to his feet. “Hey, we should call Michelle and Ravin tonight, regardless of if we win or lose, just to check up on them,” he suggested.
Lian got up and took Kazun’s hand and her eyes sparkled. “I would love that.”
Then together, the two of them hopped into Kaz’s transport and drove away to the school.
When they arrived, Kazun leaned over and kissed Lian’s cheek. “I’ll see you after the game,” he promised. “Then we can check in on your sister, and maybe start moving you in.” Regardless, win or lose in the game, he’d still be winning. Maybe soon they’d work up the courage to tell people about their relationship.
Chapter 14
Her bed was nice and warm. The heated body pillow beside Michelle felt great on her bones. She cuddled closer, nuzzling her face into its somewhat prickly exterior. The pillow smelled good and familiar; she squeezed it tighter.
Then she was aware of her pillow moving. Not a lot, just a slight inflation and deflation. This befuddled her half-asleep mind. Pillows didn’t normally move. Why was this one? Slowly, she cracked her eye open.
The room was dim, her heavy curtains were closed. In the peaceful dark, she made out the shape, not that of a pillow, but a person. One of her favorite persons to be exact.
It all came back to her in a flash that exploded happy warmth into her cheeks. How could she have forgotten after their time in the hot tub? Butterflies danced in Michelle’s tummy as she felt a smile pulling uncontrollably across her face. Oh yeah.
Sure, she was still a bit sore from the night, but her bones could get over it. She’d had a great time.
She looked up at her old spacy alarm clock. A little moon floated and orbited the holographic numbers that read 9:45 am. She nudged her pillow a little, hoping they would get to spend a little time together before he went off to work and she had to trudge off to her doctor’s appointment.
Leave it to her mother to fill her schedule the day she got home.
Ravin made a quiet sound of complaint. He wrapped an arm around Michelle and held her close. “It’s too early to be up,” he muttered, his drawl even thicker in his half-asleep state. “Let’s go back to sleep.” He hadn’t even so much as cracked open one of his eyes.
“It’s two hours until you have to be at work.” She didn’t mind the proximity. “And I don’t want to sleep them all away.” Chances were, after her injection she would lose the rest of the day to slumber anyway. The medicine she was going to get always kicked her ass.
It was like injecting pure fire straight into her bloodstream. More often than not, she found herself throwing up incessantly due to the agony. That was something to look forward to. She nudged him again, then decided to try a different tactic. Her lips pressed softly against him.
“Come on, country boy,” she prodded. “Don’t you want breakfast before work or something?”
Ravin grinned. “Okay, you’ve convinced me.” He sat up and stretched. “I can never say no to breakfast.” He leaned down and gave her a delicate butterfly kiss. “Or to my beautiful girlfriend.” He didn’t ever want to leave her side, or the bed for that matter. He’d known the night would be great, but he’d had no way of knowing it could be that spectacular.
He placed a gentle hand on her hip. “How are you feeling. Does anything hurt too bad? I did my best to make sure you wouldn’t be hurt.” His tail flicked in the covers. It was tangled up in one of her sheets.
“I’m a bit sore,” she confessed. He wanted her to be honest, so she would be. “But I’m fine. Really. Actually, I’m great.” Despite the lingering twinges in her bones, she had enjoyed her night with him. The fact that he had been so careful meant a lot to her.
In the past, she’d had partners who were less than polite when she told them to be gentle.
“Thank you for being honest with me.” Ravin started mussing his hair. “I’m glad that you had as much fun as much as I did.” He rubbed one of his horns; they were even more sensitive than usual. That generally happened after a night like theirs.
“What kind of breakfast were you thinking of?” His fingers danced over her skin, massaging gently as he went. “Because I’m sure I can make something tasty.”
Michelle tapped her finger to her lips. “Probably pancakes,” she mused. “With chocolate c
hunks in them.” Oh, that sounded so good, especially with a tall glass of milk. Either the massage or the day dream of ooey gooey pancakes was making her start to drool. “I absolutely have to try to make those now,” Ravin groaned. “Because I will be thinking about pancakes all day long if I don’t.”
Her arms wrapped around his sturdy shoulders. “I should probably find some clothes before my parents find their way in here.”
Ravin slipped out of her arms and rose to his feet to fetch a few articles of clothing for her. He found some for himself and pulled on his pants from the night before. “I can get that started. You just relax, alright?” He winked. “Then we can cuddle and savor the morning.”
A quick thumbs up was flashed as Michelle pulled on a bra then a shirt. “I like the way you think, sir.” She winked, standing up and then pulling on her underwear.
“Why thank you.” He grabbed his shirt. “I’ll be back before you know it.” It wouldn’t be too hard to navigate the kitchen, that truly gorgeous and luxurious room. It would be a lot of fun, though his cooking skills weren’t up to par with Maruis’ by any means. He could boil water, and scramble eggs, and make pancakes from a box.
He jogged downstairs and got to work. It was easy to find the pancake mix; the chocolate was the difficult part. Everything was meticulously organized, but he didn’t want to intrude in anyone’s thoughts.
Ravin put on some music while he prepared everything, and searched for the chocolate. He added a little flare with every movement and swished his tail to the beat. It was easy to forget his problems and have fun, especially after such an amazing night. After everything they’d been through, it had felt right.
Not by any stretch of the imagination would he have pictured the two of them together a year ago. Now it was weird to be apart.
The lyrics came without thought; they spilled from him as he danced around the kitchen.
“I feel like I should have bought tickets.” Marie chuckled as she entered the room and went to the coffee pot and filled up her mug. It was nice to see life in the kitchen, and smell the scents of breakfast.
Syndrome of Mortality Page 13