Chapter 9

Asire.

Unsurprisingly, the rollaway bed was uncomfortable. There are more worrisome things than getting on a bed and it immediately creaking, even when there’s no reason to. But that doesn’t stop one from getting worried.

I’d spent most of my childhood sleeping on uneven wood floors in a drafty bedroom, knowing that I could get attacked at any moment, so the rollaway didn’t actually bother me that much. The first night I’d been in this house, sleeping on a soft bed, I wondered if I’d one day forget what those floors felt like. I never had, though. Their rough edges were impressed on my soul, and I could feel them still if I closed my eyes and thought about it for even a second.

Luckily, since I already have so much trouble sleeping, I hadn’t got any the two nights before Billy and Regory showed up with their Family. So the rollaway was fine for the three hours of sleep that I did get.

I woke up to someone pounding on my door relentlessly. Momentarily forgetting I wasn’t alone anymore, I shouted, “Reggie, if you don’t stop it, I’m going to cut holes in all your suits so your nipples will show!”

“That is just rude!” she yelled back.

“So is pounding on my door!”

I remembered the other occupant of the room when he started chuckling. Immediately, I felt like an idiot and burrowed further into the too big comforter. It hung so far down on either side of the bed that it was touching the floor. Thankfully, that made it easy for me to hide.

“Get up, then!” Reggie called back. “It’s like seven in the morning and we got shit we need to do!” She said this as if we didn’t have to drag her out of her apartment all the time, usually with someone hanging off her back. I usually didn’t even get home until four in the morning, so getting up at seven sounded like torture.

Her heels tapped down the hall after that, leaving me with a still amused man in my bed, while I tried to disappear under the covers of the rollaway. Of all the times I’d thought about waking up with a man, this certainly had never crossed my mind.

Fortunately, my first impression of Loki seemed to be accurate. A fairly composed guy. So, instead of furthering my embarrassment, he sat up and said, “Good morning.”

“Morning,” I responded, feeling more awkward than I probably should have. He was all the way across the room. If Billy had told me how tall he was, I would’ve rearranged the other legions differently, so that I didn’t have to share my room with him. Never having had a man in my bed, it was just weird. Even if I hadn’t slept in the bed with him.

Best to ignore how weird it was and not make him uncomfortable. “You can use my shower,” I told him. “I think most of the others are at work right now, so the only people here are the young children, Reggie, myself and your Family. If everyone else is awake, there probably isn’t any hot water left, though.”

He nodded. “Okay.” His voice was really deep and gravelly, which was strangely pleasant.

He got out of the bed and I stayed right where I was. Since I couldn’t exactly wear a bra to bed, I was waiting for him to get into the bathroom before I got up. I was wearing one of my oversized t-shirts, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t see anything and that wasn’t a risk I was willing to take.

Loki, being five or six inches taller than me and muscular, was fucking huge. With all his bulk and muscle, he was easily twice my size and carried himself like a man who knew how to do damage. His white hair was shoulder length and straight as a ruler, but since he was just getting up, was messy at the moment. His eyes were the clearest brown I had ever seen, with just a touch of orange thrown into the mix. His features were all masculine and formed in a way that pleased my artist’s eye.

He knelt down by his suitcase, which he’d tucked as far out of the way as he could, and started rifling through it with his big hands. And I remained where I was. Patiently waiting for him to lock the bathroom door. Finally, he came up with clothes and disappeared into my bathroom.

I tossed off the big comforter and got out of bed. After absentmindedly rearranging the covers back into order, I rushed over to my dresser and pulled out a tank top, bra and jeans. Then I hopped into the closet, just in case he came back out of the bathroom for something. I didn’t think that was likely, because I could hear the shower going and I heard the water falling sounds change when he stepped under it, but I was paranoid.

It wasn’t until I came back out of the closet that I realized I couldn’t brush my teeth or hair, because both the brushes were in the bathroom. With Loki. Who was still in the shower. Great.

To pass the time, I made up my bed and checked my phone for messages. There was one from my boss. He sounded half asleep when he explained everything that was happening with the pawnshop. The renovations would take a couple of weeks, but he had everything in the works. In the meantime, he’d still pay us if we continued to sell the expensive shit online for him, and he’d call again once the store was ready for its grand reopening.

It’d be the third since I’d worked there.

Thankfully, nothing in the back had been damaged and he wanted us to help him move it into storage. He was renting the unit tonight and would like me to come in to get everything done.

I called him back quickly and told him that I would be there at six o’clock.

The shower shut off and I listened to Loki rustle around in my bathroom for a couple of minutes before the door opened. I was sitting on my bed, waiting for access to the bathroom. He was dressed in an off white sweater and jeans. His pale hair was tied back. He even had shoes on. When he saw me, he raised his eyebrows in inquiry.

“Forgot my brush was in there,” I explained.

“Ah,” he said, and gestured for me to come into the room.

The bathroom was warm from the shower, so I guessed everyone had been careful in that regard, and I noticed that Loki had been kind enough to fold up the towel he used instead of leaving it on the floor, so I didn’t have to hurt him. His dirty clothes were neatly folded on the edge of the tub and there was still water dripping out of the showerhead.

I grabbed my brush and yanked it through my long hair. If I used enough conditioner, it’s not that difficult to maintain my hair, but when you have long hair for an extended period of time you stop being as careful with it as you should. Which might be why my brush was missing half the bristles and the pad that held them all kept coming up.

While I brushed my hair, Loki shaved.

Well…at least my ‘his and hers’ sinks were finally getting put to use. The ‘his’ part hadn’t been used the entire time that I’d lived here. So there’s that.

After I got the last of the tangles out of the tips of my hair, I emptied the brush and Loki finished shaving. He had a little carrier bag for all his toiletries, and he’d placed it in the corner of the counter, after picking up his toothbrush and toothpaste, at the same time that I was doing the same.

There’s something strange about brushing your teeth next to somebody. I can’t explain exactly what, but I know that it felt weird. Or maybe I’d been living alone for so long, I forgot what it felt like to move around another person. To exist in time with someone else.

We left the room together, and that was even stranger.

If Reggie had seen it, I was sure she would have made some comments, ignoring the fact that she’d shared a room with Dovie and who the fuck knew what had gone on in there.

The house was almost completely quiet by the time we got down there. Most of the legions were gone, off to work like I said. Those who remained were those taking care of the children. Alain and Ella were there as well. I can’t say that I blamed them. If my child had been missing for a couple of days, I sure as hell wouldn’t want to leave the people looking for her.

Loki’s Family was milling about as well. They had clustered together, since they didn’t know any of us Orphans, and were quietly talking about something. Billy and Regory were there as well and I almost smiled just at the sight of them. Having gone seven years without seeing them, it was surreal to have them in my living room.

Even weirder to be able to touch them. I’d grown up with Billy there every day, and I’d felt so lost without her, when we’d first separated. The day after, I woke up alone in a hotel room, the air smelling empty of their scent and silent without their heartbeats. I’d felt so alone, and nothing felt right since. I’d gotten used to being alone, to the point that having people in the house always felt weird to me, but nothing could make me okay with not getting to see them every day. Nothing would make me okay with getting used to not having them around.

Shade, the vampire, was hovering over the smallest one amongst them. I believed her name was Sunbeam, the tiny girl with charcoal gray hair and ice blue eyes. Her skin looked paler this morning than it had last night and when she smiled, it somehow made her skin look grey. When I had thrown my senses out yesterday, I had realized that she was a rare hybrid. Faerie and vampire.

Reggie was standing off next to Dovie and they were clearly flirting. Everything about their body language suggested heavy, heavy flirting.

I wasn’t about to cock-block my best friend, so I went over to Billy and Regory instead. Loki, probably thinking the same thing that I had, decided to follow me.

Billy grinned at me and jumped up to greet me with a hug. I was surprised she let me go to bed yesterday. She was just as happy to see me as I was to see her. When my phone had beeped, indicating there was someone at the gate, I had immediately hit the accept button and then rushed to the door to watch for them. The second the cars appeared I’d bolted outside.

Regory had run up to me and I didn’t even get to say a word before his arms were around me and my feet were off the ground. My arms had locked around his neck and I didn’t even care that I couldn’t get away. I’d felt warm for the first time in seven years.

Billy had run up and Regory just latched his arm around her and picked her up as well, because he didn’t wanna let me go. So all of us had our arms around each other and two of us didn’t have our feet on the ground and I hadn’t cared at all. Finally, I had my family back.

Reggie and Dovie continued to flirt for a few more minutes before Reggie realized that I was downstairs with Loki. Then they broke away and approached us. “We aren’t going to waste any more time,” Reggie said, getting right down to business. “Since their attacks have all been during the night, I think it’s safe to assume they’re stationary during the day.”

“I agree,” I said. “It would draw too much attention to attack any of our workplaces during daylight hours, when reporters can get to the scenes quicker.”

“How bad are the reporters?” Billy asked, looking worried.

I shrugged. “It’s the City of Orphans. If you want to make it big, this is a good place to attempt it. If you can confirm any of the more outrageous rumors, then you’ve made a name for yourself.”

Reggie was nodding. “Generally, we only have to deal with the more desperate or insane. Most reporters and journalists spend most of their time being told what to do by a higher up or sitting on their ass writing the stories. Those with any kind of self-preservation choose not to enter the city for a good story.”

“They have a tendency to disappear,” I explained. “Usually when they enter the vampires’ territory.”

Loki’s eyebrows raised.

All I could do was shrug. We could keep the city from Annihilists, but we couldn’t keep the monsters in the city at bay. The whole point of Seattle was to keep us out of society. We were too calm to get sent to prison or to kill, but too dangerous to unleash on unsuspecting people. Reggie and I couldn’t explain it to them because it’s not something people understand unless they’ve lived in the city for a while.

Reggie waved her hand, brushing aside the journalist and reporter thing. “Anyway,” she said. “If they’re stationary we have roughly,” she checked her watch. “Ten hours before they start moving again.”

“Okay,” Billy said. “I can start tracking now,” she shrugged. “The faster we get this kid back, the better.”

Billy and I exchanged a look before plugging back into the conversation. No one else noticed and that’s probably for the best. We would try everything in our power to get the baby back, but the second we did, she had to leave. The longer she stayed in the city the more likely it’d be found out that I was breaking the conditions of my Orphaning papers.

I turned my back on the Family and Reggie and looked at Millie’s parents. They were sitting on the couch and they looked absolutely wrecked. Alain was healing nicely, and could hobble now. Ella wasn’t hurt during the fight. However, neither of them had been sleeping and there’d been at least two arguments between them. Mostly the parents playing the blame game.

They would work through this though, because they were mated. Legions don’t leave their mates.

For anything.

“I need a picture of Millie,” I said, holding my hand out.

Ella blinked and her bloodshot eyes narrowed, like I had just asked for her right hand. “Why?”

“So Billy can track her.”