When Three Points Collide: Ra's Story, page 4
His beloved’s hand was like a branding iron on Kirill’s chest. “Your kind don’t recognize their mate by scent. And if you couldn’t see this person then you couldn’t feel an attraction there either. There was something else, wasn’t there?”
“I thought I was going mad by this point.” Kirill dropped his eyes. For all his years, for all his power, he’d never been so confused in his life. “A single drop of blood just appeared, as if by magic, and it had to have been magic because it was hovering in the air right in front of my face.”
“You found me through my blood.” The wolf - damn Kirill had to find out what his beloved’s name was - but his beloved coaxed Kirill’s chin up, the eyes meeting his clear and full of compassion. “You tasted this blood, I take it. This being is your beloved too?”
Kirill nodded. “I knew then, as I knew when I tasted yours, just one drop and… But then he sent me here and you’re in my arms… and all I know is this being is truly powerful, but he’s meant for us. I don’t even know what type of paranormal he is.”
“These men didn’t become statues on their own. I have a clue. Wait right here a minute.” The wolf patted his chest and walked away, his form disappearing into the shadows further down the alley.
“Arvyn, we don’t have much more time…” The demon called out urgently.
At least I know his name now.
“I just need a minute.” Kirill’s sharp ears caught the sound of sniffing, and then Arvyn charged back, his eyes blazing. But instead of coming near him, he stormed over to the demon guarding the mercenary statues. “Who is he? Who is the mysterious one who you call ‘my Lord’? The one who wouldn’t show his face.” The slap on the demon’s chest barely moved the bigger man.
“We need to get out of here.” The other wolf shifter came over, wrapping his arm around his demon mate’s waist. “Cass can get rid of these bad guys, but we all need to eat, and you need to shift Arvyn – you think I can’t smell the blood and pain you’re in?”
“Who. Is. He?”
Kirill loved that his beloved had a persistent streak, but the talk of blood and pain in connection with the stunning man pierced his brain with a laser focus. “Arvyn,” he tested the name on his tongue and found he liked it. “Arvyn, beloved, these men are right. This is not the place. If Yakov finds me missing, and these guys don’t report back to him, he’ll come looking.”
“I thought you’re the coven master? Can’t you just slap him, or overrule him or something?” But Arvyn turned to him, and that was enough for Kirill to cross the distance between them.
“I am, and I can,” Kirill said firmly, “and believe me, Yakov’s head will be rolling on the ground before another day is over. But we’ll meet them on our terms, from a position of strength… not like this, and not until you’ve shifted and healed. I need you strong beside me, beloved.”
Taking a chance, Kirill wrapped his arm around Arvyn’s waist, pleased that the wolf leaned into him. Looking over at the demon and his wolf mate, Kirill waved his free hand at the three statues. “You two appear to have more experience with these matters than we do. What do you suggest we do now?”
Chapter Five
Unwilling to face Seth’s bad attitude, Ra decided against going back to his realm, and headed for Zeus and Paulie’s earth home instead. The domestic scene - Paulie and Zeus curled up on their large couch, a sleeping Egan on a pile of cushions on the floor beside them - did nothing to ease the ache in his heart Ra had felt since he’d translocated the vampire to his wolfen beloved, but it gave him hope.
Deciding to be respectful for once, he did knock on the front door, even though Ra knew Zeus would’ve already sensed his presence. “It’s only me,” he said, entering the warm home. “I have a gift for Egan.” He magicked up a tiny pair of sneakers based on a pair he’d seen famous sportspeople raved about. “A celebration of his first steps.”
“Ra.” Paulie looked genuinely pleased to see him. “Come in and sit down. Did you have a chance to find Cass and Wesley yet?”
“You have been a naughty little demigod, haven’t you?” Ra did as he was told, settling into a large single seater couch and resting the small shoes by Egan’s cushions.
“I don’t know what you mean. Would you like some tea, or do you prefer coffee?” The red on Paulie’s cheeks was cute. While he’d grown in confidence from when Ra first met him, and even more so since Egan’s birth, the tiger shifter couldn’t lie with a straight face.
“No, you sit there. I can conjure my own refreshments.” Ra looked across at Zeus who had a knowing smirk on his face. “Did watching Egan’s first steps wear you out that badly? So badly you didn’t have time to check your computers? You must be getting truly old, if you couldn’t manage the half a dozen steps it’d take you to get to your office.”
“Seventy-four steps.” Zeus faked yawned. “Did you ever stop to think that I was helping you, because I know how bored you get doing nothing on that realm of yours? Most of your people live on this plane, and with only Seth for company… well, we all know anything would be more fun than dealing with him all day.”
“That’s the excuse you’re going with?” Ra arched an eyebrow in Zeus’s direction. “You and Hades run the little operation with Cass and Wes – surely one of you…”
“We both have new young that keep us very busy.” The look Zeus gave his sleeping son was fond and changed the older god’s whole persona. “You love to be among mortals. The work the demon and the wolf shifter do is vitally important…”
“Not to mention it allows you to stick your nose into mortal affairs without upsetting the Fates,” Ra interrupted drily. He didn’t miss Zeus’s worried glance at the ceiling.
“Paranormals don’t have the same access to resources that other mortals do. Their very nature means they aren’t likely to access law enforcement, or counselling services, and our little team are only sent after truly innocent beings who are in dire need of help.”
Leaning back in his chair, Ra conjured himself a cup of Death Wish coffee. The rich brew had a heavenly scent. “Quite a change of thinking for you, being all caring about paranormals when you used to avoid them like the plague.”
“Paulie changed me.” Zeus hugged his mate close. “I’m not ashamed of admitting to change. I think it shows what a well-rounded god I can be, instead of only one or two dimensional, and you know, you know the work Cass and Wes do truly helps paranormals in need when they have no one else to turn to.”
Paulie’s face was getting redder by the minute, but he ducked his head when Ra caught his eye. The question was there. Ra could see it on the young demigod’s face, and while Ra wanted nothing more than to talk about his own revelations over the past few hours, he couldn’t resist teasing a little more.
“You’re right, yes. Cass and Wes mentioned that – the fact you only send them in to help innocent paranormals who’ve got themselves into situations they can’t handle. Those with innocent souls,” Ra glanced at Paulie, “those who don’t have the strength or power to deal with abusive or painful situations.”
“It’s important work,” Paulie’s voice was only slightly muffled by Zeus’s chest. “Not to mention it gave Wes and Cass a chance to explore the world – which Cass had never had the opportunity to do before, and Wes has a purpose now that means something to him.”
Paulie wasn’t wrong. Ra knew that, even if he didn’t know the full details of why Wes didn’t want to return to the Cloverleah pack. He turned his focus to Zeus. “Can you think of any reason why Cass and Wes wanted to meet you in one of the roughest dives I’ve ever had the misfortune to walk into?”
“Dives? Like in the ocean?” Zeus looked puzzled. “We might be gods, but the only ones who can swim under water are Poseidon and his sons.”
“I don’t mean dives like that.” Ra chuckled. “Dives, as in you have to have sunk pretty low in life to go into one. Honestly, the stink in that place was indescribable and how Wes stood it, being the only decently dressed person in there until I came along, I don’t know. They were very disappointed when I turned up instead of you.”
“But you did see them, though?” Paulie asked. “You helped Wes and Cass with their little problem?”
Ra shook his head. “And see, this is where you’ve been naughty. Cass and Wes couldn’t work out why they were even sent to the area, and I agreed it was a mystery. You have a captive coven master on one hand…”
“Captive?” Paulie looked up at Zeus, his eyes wide.
“Captive coven master on one hand,” Ra carried on as though Paulie hadn’t interrupted him. “An alpha wolf being tailed by other wolves on the other. All in the same little town, but no apparent interaction between the two events. As Cass put it, they don’t have anything to do with territory disputes and it’s not like a coven master and an alpha wolf can’t sort out their issues on their own – they’re hardly helpless.”
Ra leaned forward in his chair, resting his elbows on his knees, his coffee cup still in one hand. “I agreed with them - it was a real conundrum.” He watched Paulie closely. “Surely, there’d be so many other shifters, who were weaker and less capable, who would benefit from Cass and Wes’s assistance more. But Wes said that you, Paulie, was most insistent they stay on the case and get the alpha wolf and the coven master together. They just didn’t know why. What did you see when you were peeking over Zeus’s shoulder as he studied his computer screens?”
“I don’t peek,” Paulie mumbled. “I was sitting on my mate’s lap. Egan was sleeping…”
“He does a lot of that.” Ra gave the youngster a quick glance. The innocent faced angel had barely moved, but he had a tiny smile, almost as though he was listening.
“Not at night, he doesn’t,” Zeus grumbled. “And Paulie likes to sit on my lap when things are quiet. It’s not as though I have anything to hide when I keep an eye on mortal affairs.”
“No, only from the Fates. What did you see, Paulie?” Ra ran his finger around the top of his cup, reheating the coffee, before taking a sip. “What connections made you send your dynamic duo in to lend a hand to the situation?”
“They’re Fated,” Paulie whispered, looking up at his mate, who took over the conversation.
“I caught sight of the alpha in my screens before he got into town. Didn’t think anything of it,” Zeus said crisply. “Then, the day Paulie was with me, my ‘sight’ kept catching the alpha, and at other times the vamp. It was Paulie who told me they were fated, but it looked like neither of them knew about it. Paulie wanted me to give them a nudge, but I told him that was the Fates job.”
“But then Arvyn got hit by that car and I was sure the vamp did it on purpose.” Paulie swiped under his eye with his finger. “Then the car came back, and the alpha was gone, but the coven master, Kirill, his face when he touched that drop of blood left by Arvyn on the pavement – the wonder and joy… Oh…”
“Joy swiftly smashed by Kirill’s second.” Zeus shook his head. “That guy is a piece of work. I got Hades to check on Yakov, the second in charge of the coven, after I witnessed what happened on the pavement. It was Yakov who was driving the car that day. That vamp has a black soul, although he does his best to hide it. It seems he hates shifters, something I thought Cass could help with, because Cass would see the hatred and darkness in Yakov’s soul.”
“Yes, well, I imagine Kirill knows about it now, because it was Yakov who shot the coven master full of tranquilizers and chained him to a basement wall until he could get rid of Arvyn.” Ra was still fuming over the state of the vampire when he found him although he did his best not to show it.
“So, you have seen them then?” Paulie asked eagerly. “You’ve seen Arvyn and Kirill?”
Ra shrugged. “There might have been a bit of finger twitching around that helped Kirill get out of his cell without anyone in the coven seeing him, and that same finger might have sent Kirill to where Cass, Wes, and Arvyn were busy handling three mercenaries that’d been sent to kill off Arvyn. Not that I would know who was responsible for that bit of magic, because I don’t interfere in the affairs of mortals.”
“But if you’ve seen them, why are you here?” Paulie threw up his hands, turning to his mate. “I didn’t get it wrong. I know what I saw.”
“It would help if you told me what you saw.” Ra had already guessed. He knew what he’d seen, both when he’d seen Arvyn for the first time and Kirill. But for some reason, call him perverse, but he needed to hear confirmation from the mouth of the young demigod. “Why did you send me to meet up with Wes and Cass?”
“Connections.” Paulie sounded upset now, and that hadn’t been Ra’s intention. “Like fine silk threads in brilliant gold.”
“Between Arvyn and Kirill.” It wasn’t a question.
“Yes, and a third.” Eyes still bright with tears, Paulie faced Ra, his chin jutting out. “Floating above their threads was a headdress depicting the sun, just like the one I see above you every time I see you. The threads connected all three. I’m so sorry, so very sorry. I felt sure you were their third and I just wanted you to be as happy as we are. But if it’s not you…” He turned to Zeus. “Could it be Helios? Can I meet him? Maybe if I could see if he has a similar headdress…”
“Their third is not Helios,” Ra said sharply, feeling guilty now he’d upset Paulie so badly. He’s very young, he reminded himself. I shouldn’t have let my teasing go this far. “I know I’m their third – I saw them bathed in the light described by so many others of our kind.”
“Then why aren’t you with them?” Turning his face into Zeus’s chest, Paulie wailed, “Orin was right. Gods always get things wrong with their mating. I felt sure this one would work, but Ra’s here, and they aren’t…”
“You forget, my sweet young mate might be a demigod, but he’s lived most of his life as a shifter,” Zeus said to Ra as he stroked Paulie’s hair. “Shifters know their mate by scent, and then it’s pretty much ‘jump their bones and bite their necks’ and the mating’s done. Vampires take a bit longer – they see a person, have an overwhelming urge to be with them, and then, when they’ve fed from that person, they know for sure the person is their beloved. I take it you didn’t let your two get that close to you?”
Ra thought about the drop of blood he’d left for Kirill, and how he’d made sure to rub his hands over the alley wall he’d been hiding by. “Not physically close, no. But I left clues I’m sure they’ll find. The thing is,” he appealed to Paulie directly, “I didn’t mean to upset you, but I don’t understand why you didn’t tell me your suspicions before I went there. Wes, Cass, and I worked out the alpha and the vamp must’ve been fated or have some connection. But the vamps hadn’t told Cass anything and the alpha didn’t know why he was in town, he just was.”
“He would’ve been feeling the mate pull.” Paulie wasn’t as visibly upset anymore, but he left his head resting on Zeus’s shoulder. “Those two intersected a few times when Arvyn was in town, they’d just never actually met.”
“You are probably right, and that does explain why Arvyn felt he couldn’t leave, but we didn’t know any of that.” Ra sighed. “So, we went to question the wolves following Arvyn, and found out that they’d been hired by that Yakov to basically drive Arvyn out of town. We took care of them, but Arvyn overheard us talking, and learned Kirill was locked up. He was on his way to break his mate out of the coven, by himself, when he was set on by three further mercenaries who were trying to kill him. I saw him – I saw the light bathing Arvyn even in the dark alley, but I already knew he was fated for Kirill.”
“And you,” Zeus said quietly. “If you zapped Kirill to Arvyn, then you must have seen his light too.”
“I did, I definitely did, although I made sure neither man actually saw me.” Ra appealed to his old friend. “Can’t you see how much easier things would’ve been if I’d been warned about all this before I went there? All I could think was that I’d be like a spare wheel. Kirill knew about Arvyn and all he wanted was to get to him. Arvyn was prepared to take on a whole coven full of vampires just to free a mate he hadn’t even met. Neither one of them had even considered I might be in the picture too. I couldn’t get in the middle of a situation like that. It was so damn romantic, and so typically paranormal.”
“Zeus warned me repeatedly, there was only so much I could do or say. The non-interference law doesn’t apply as much to me as it does to you, but it still applies. I felt sure if you could just all be in the same place together… You should’ve stayed and revealed yourself.” Paulie pushed himself up from Zeus’s chest as Egan stirred. “You gods always over think things. I’m sure that’s why the Fates have been giving you immortals paranormal mates. At least then one side of the equation will trust their instincts and won’t second guess every action.”
“You still should’ve warned me,” Ra insisted, although he suspected Paulie was right.
“Then I would’ve been directly interfering and it’s not as though I knew how you’d feel having two mates. Face it, with the Egyptians record on violence against the gay community in modern times, how was I to know you’d even accept two male mates.”
Ra bowed his head. “I would never deny a gift from the Fates, not when I’ve been alone so long. What people do, mortals… I have no control over that. The Fates brought these men into my life for a reason and I wouldn’t question that.”
“Well, I didn’t know that.” It was Paulie’s turn to look embarrassed. “I know you’ve never said anything against me and Zeus or any of the other same-sex pairings across the pantheons. But I couldn’t be sure. I figured, if you could all be in the same place, Arvyn would’ve made the connection even if Kirill didn’t. And you would’ve known because your two mates would’ve been lit up for you to see. But no. You decided to be all noble instead and just left the two men you were fated for.”
