Black Hollow: Beating Around the Bush

by Sheri Lyn

  Chapter Eighteen

  “I’ve picked out my room...if we’re moving here I mean.” Kohen announced.

  Choal grinned, “We’ve got to finish discussing that, but let’s get back to the other house and get you settled in for the night. School starts tomorrow and you want to be ready, right.”

  Kohen nodded eagerly and skipped out of the house. Choal couldn’t deny it made him happy to see this side of him. It was a major change from the defiant, scared, and stressed out kid he’d been only a week ago. He still carried too much responsibility on his thin shoulders, but he had moments where you could see the child was coming out.

  Bishop waited at the door for them all to step through before closing and locking it. No one spoke on the short trip back to Seraphines rental house. Bishop pulled into the driveway and hesitated. “So, you guys want to talk and let me know what you want to do about the house tomorrow.”

  “Yeah, if you don’t mind.” Shayde agreed quickly. “Thanks for dinner … and well everything. We do appreciate it.”

  Choal nodded his agreement and climbed out of the truck. “He’s right about that. I’m not sure we’d have made it this far without you.”

  Bishop smiled and glanced over his shoulder at Kohen, “Have fun at school and remember things are different here. The kids are going to ask what you are, but they won’t make fun of you for not knowing and you don’t have to tell them anyway. Have fun, and if you need anything and can’t get a hold of these guys, you can call me.”

  “Thanks, Bishop.” Kohen hugged him from the backseat awkwardly. “I’m glad we came here.”

  Choal would have sworn he heard Bishop whisper ‘me too’ just as the doors closed but he couldn't be sure. He waved goodbye as he watched the truck pull out of the driveway.

  “Guess we need to discuss what to do, huh?” Shayde opened the front door for everyone to walk through. “It’d be a big help if Seraphine would show up and answer some questions for us.”

  “I’ll clean up from dinner, you help Kohen get ready for bed, and make sure all his school stuff is ready to go for tomorrow.”

  “Sounds like a plan.” Shayde announced as he picked Kohen up and threw him over his shoulder like a sack. “We’ve been given our marching orders, kiddo.”

  “Night Choal,” Kohen called between fits of giggles.

  A strange feeling of rightness filled him as he listened to the sounds filling the house, Shayde’s grumbling, and Kohen’s laughter. Never had he thought his life would be like this, but he couldn’t find it in himself to regret anything so far.

  “You okay?”

  Choal jumped as he twirled around and found Shayde leaning against the wall watching him. “Yeah, just lost in thought. Everything good?”

  “Yup, he already had an outfit picked out, his bag packed and sitting on his desk. So, I didn’t have to do much. He’s a tad excited.”

  “Think he’ll sleep?”

  Shayde smirked, “He was barely keeping his eyes open by the time I pulled the covers up over him. I think the thought of going to school wore him out.”

  “Guess it’s time to talk?”

  Shayde didn’t reply, just moved to the couch and sat down with a drawn out sigh, “Well, since we’ve pretty much relied on Bishop to do anything for us in this town out of fear; I guess it’s time we change that and venture out. So, yeah let’s talk and figure this out.”

  “Looks like I came just at just the right time.” Seraphine waltzed in the room with a smile and a twinkle in her two different colored eyes. “I’m not interrupting anything am I?”

  “No, but you scared the shit out of me.” Shayde grumbled as he stood up and offered his hand. “It’s nice to see you again.”

  Seraphine took his hand and grinned, “I did knock a couple of times, but you must not have heard. And its okay you can add the finally to that, I won’t take offense. I’m sure you’ve been anxious, but I promise there is a reason I’ve been unavailable.”

  Choal pulled a chair from the dining room over and sat, leaving the couch to Shayde and Seraphine. “Is everything okay?” He asked cautiously. “Not that we’re not excited to see you, because we are. It just seemed a bit odd that you’d show up now, out of the blue at this time of the night.”

  “It was time.” Seraphine shrugged one shoulder as if that was the only answer they needed. “You have questions, I assume?”

  “What is Kohen? Why does he need anchors? Why did it split between us this time, when it never had in the past?” Shayde threw out one after the other.

  “And how long do we have before it kills us like it did the rest? What’s going to happen to him?” Choal added.

  Seraphine held up both hands, “Whoa, gentleman. I’ll answer all your questions, I promise. But you need to slow down.”

  Part of Choal wanted to scream at her to answer now. He had this fear she’d disappear again and it’d be days or weeks before she’d return. Weeks they might not have.

  “He’s a close descendant of Fenrir, the great wolf of the Norse gods. His power is too much for him to handle until he hits maturity. Hence the need for an anchor or in your case anchors. Humans don’t have enough magic in their souls to bind him to this form as he needs. That’s why they burn out or die if he’s with them too long.”

  “But we’re not human,” Choal said as he nodded his understanding. “So our magic isn’t limited.”

  Seraphine beamed, “Exactly so. You can be his anchor until he no longer needs one, the both of you can give him the stability he craves, needs, and deserves.”

  Choal froze as her words sank in and it hit him when she was suggesting. “Don’t get me wrong, I’d love that. But we’re Psychopomps, we have a job that we need to do. How can we do both?”

  Shayde nodded in shock, “I love him, but can you tell me we’re really the best people for this responsibility?”

  “I didn’t pick this for you.” Seraphine gently reminded them. “I am just giving you the answers you asked for.”

  “Can someone else, better suited to being his guardians be chosen?” Choal questioned with a troubled glance down the hallway. The last thing he wanted was for him to hear this and think they didn’t want him. He had enough to deal with as it was and honestly it wasn’t true. They just wanted what was best for him, even if that wasn’t them.

  “Not unless you die before he comes of age.” She smiled sadly, “But if it helps, this won’t affect what you do. You can still work and take care of him. You can live here, teleport to headquarters, do your job and come back at the end of the day. This isn’t impossible, even if it feels like it right now.”

  Seraphine stood and moved toward the door before pausing and looking over her shoulder, “Move into Bishop’s house, you’ll all be much happier there.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  He sat in shocked silence for twenty seconds after the door shut behind Seraphine before he finally stood up and headed down the hallway to their shared bedroom.

  “Choal, are you okay?” Shayde called from behind him.

  He didn’t reply, too lost in his thoughts to be able to formulate anything verbally. He pulled out a pair of sleeping pants and a shirt, moved to the bathroom, and got changed all on autopilot. When he entered the room again, it was to see Shayde standing beside the bed in his own sleeping pants, with a scowl on his face.

  “You’re freaking me out here,” he announced as he placed his hands on his hips. “Talk to me damn it.”

  Choal shrugged, “I just don’t know what to say, honestly.” He pulled the covers back and laid down on his back so he could stare up at the ceiling. “I’m torn I guess.” He turned to see Shayde still standing there. “What about you? What do you think about all of this?”

  “I’m a bit overwhelmed, I think.” Shayde sighed as he pulled back the covers on his side of the bed and climbed in. “I don’t hate the idea of staying and being his guardian, especially now that I know we can do both.”

  “I know.” Choal
agreed. “Part of me is scared to death, but the other part is loving this life with him, and you if I’m being honest.”

  Choal turned on his side so he was facing Shayde, “Guess we need to discuss the house thing too, Bishop wants an answer tomorrow.”

  Shayde nodded and rolled to his side, “What do you want to do?”

  “I want to move there, but …” Choal hesitated as he searched Shayde’s eyes, “I don’t know that it’s fair to take the house from him. He bought it, but we’d live there. That means he’s paying on the apartment and the house and that doesn’t seem fair. Not to mention we aren’t leaving Black Hollow, right? We are staying here, aren’t we?”

  “I’d like to, yeah. I think this would be a perfect place to live and raise Kohen. But I see what you’re saying about the house. I don’t know what to do.”

  “What if we all moved in there together until we could find someplace else? He’d get his house, and we’d get out of this small place. We’d have to continue sharing a room though unless we put a bed in the office or something.”

  “Why don’t we discuss the logistics with him tomorrow and see what he says. I don’t mind that plan though.”

  Choal grinned, “Thank you for doing this with me. I couldn't imagine doing this with anyone else.” He rolled over so his back was to Shayde as he sighed in happiness.

  ***

  The next morning Choal opened his eyes and smiled, for the first time he felt like things were going in the right direction. He started to stretch when he noticed the weight around his stomach. He glanced down in puzzlement to see Shayde’s arm wrapped around him. Now that he was more awake he could feel the heat of him pressed against him. It was weird, but he felt comforted, almost protected. He shook that thought off, and gently eased himself from under Shayde’s arm.

  He quietly grabbed his clothes and left the room lost in thought only to jump in surprise to see Bishop standing there with a pastry in hand.

  “I woke up early and couldn’t sleep, so I thought I’d bring the squirt breakfast to celebrate his first day.” Bishop waggled his eyebrows as he looked Choal up and down. “You look like you slept well.”

  “Uh yeah, we talked to Seraphine and got answers and then the two of us discussed things. I guess you could say we got a lot of things figured out and it did help me sleep better.” Choal fidgeted as he eyed the baked good in Bishop's hands. “That smells wonderful, what is it?”

  Bishop took another bite before holding it out for Choal to try, “It’s a chocolate croissant and it is good. Here take a bite, then get changed. Kohen’s already up and dressed, ready to go.”

  “Oh, great.” Choal moaned as the flaky, buttery taste burst on his tongue. “Damn, that’s good.”

  Bishop swallowed audibly as he nodded, “I’ll buy more next time.”

  Choal smiled, “Why don’t you go wake sleepy head up while I get ready to go. You want to go with us to take him to school for his first day?”

  “Yeah?” Bishop asked eagerly, “You guys wouldn’t mind? Cause I’d love that. I’m kind of excited for him too, you know.”

  “Yes,” Kohen whooped from the kitchen, making both men laugh.

  Bishop shook his head and nodded towards the bedroom door. “You go get dressed, I’ll get him and be right out.”

  Five minutes later he was at the kitchen table, munching on his breakfast and listening as Kohen rambled on and on about how excited he was and what classes he was going to take, and all the friends he was going to make. It was enough to make Choal wish he’d been charged with waking Shayde up.

  “What’s taking them so long?” Kohen asked as he glanced over his shoulder. “If they don’t hurry I’m going to be late for my first day.”

  Choal laughed, “School doesn’t start for an hour. You’ve got time, but I’ll go check. Finish your breakfast.”

  Chapter Twenty

  “If this is a dream I don’t want to wake up ever.” Shayde murmured as he opened his eyes slowly to see Bishop standing over him. “Not that I’m complaining but what’s going on?”

  Bishop nudged Shayde over and sat on the edge of the bed, “Choal told me to wake you up. How did I do?”

  “I’m not quite there yet, why don't you try it again, and maybe it’ll do the trick.”

  Shayde didn’t think it’d work, so he was pleasantly surprised when Bishop leaned down so there was only an inch between them and smiled. They stared into one another’s eyes for a long moment, Shayde wanted to reach up and pull Bishop down until he could feel his mouth on him.

  “I should make you beg for it, but time is short and I need this as much as you do,” Bishop murmured right before he slammed their lips together in a soul-searing kiss. The rough texture of his lips, the glide of his tongue against Shayde’s, the low moan of need that filled the air drove their passion higher. He was rock hard and leaking from a single kiss, never in his life had that happened before.

  “Oh, um…. Sorry.”

  Bishop pulled back and winced as he met Shayde’s eyes one more time. “Sorry.”

  Shayde sighed and pushed himself to sit up fully. “Choal, hey…. Um….. well… shit.” He looked pleadingly to Bishop with a worried shrug.

  “That was my fault,” Bishop explained as he stood up and faced Choal who stood in the doorway.

  “No,” Choal held up his hand to forestall any more words. “I shouldn’t have just walked in. I didn’t think or realize or…. You know.”

  “This is your room too, you have every right to walk in anytime.” Shayde quickly clarified. “Are you okay… um…. Do you want…. To … I don't know… maybe, talk...about this…?”

  Choal tilted his head and scrunched his brow, “What, about you guys kissing? I guess it makes the house thing easier, right?”

  “Wait, I’m confused.” Shayde said as he looked to Bishop who just shrugged in reply. “What’s easier? What are you talking about?”

  He hoped Choal wasn’t trying to get out of moving into the house because of this. No way was Shayde going to allow that to happen. Whatever warped idea Choal had in his head, needed to be removed right now. They were staying together all of them, no questions asked.

  “The bedroom situation.” Choal gestured between the two men, “you guys can share the master bedroom, and things will be all set.”

  Shayde opened and closed his mouth multiple times as he tried to force words out of his suddenly dry mouth. That was not where he thought this conversation was going at all. Not to mention he wasn’t sure if either of them were ready for that step.

  “That’s moving a bit fast, and who said anything about me living there anyway?” Bishop questioned in alarm. “When I left last night you two were going to discuss the three of you staying in the house. It had nothing to do with me being there.”

  “Oh,” Choal shrugged one shoulder lazily, “I mentioned that it wasn’t fair to you to pay for both places, so we want to move into your house with you until we can find something permanent here. Or I guess that part will have to be discussed again now.”

  “Hold up,” Bishop gawked between them, “Permanently? What the hell did I miss between when I dropped you off and when I showed up this morning?”

  “Seraphine.” Both men replied in unison.

  “Of course, I should have known,” Bishop grumbled as he ran a hand through his hair. “Okay, how about we get the squirt to school and then sit down and discuss things properly. And just to clear the air,” He gestured between Shayde and himself, “We’re not at a place that we’re ready to share a room. That’s jumping the gun a tad bit, okay.”

  Shayde nodded his agreement, even if inside his heart hurt a little bit at his proclamation. It was true, they weren’t ready for that level of commitment. Unfortunately, that didn’t stop him from wanting to claim Bishop and in a perfect world, Choal too.

  He watched as they filed out of the room as he climbed out of bed and pulled on his clothes for the day still lost in thought. He felt like he was gaining
ground with Bishop, only for Choal to move farther out of his grasp. Was he being too needy, wanting them both? Was it too much to ask that the four of them could be a family?

  “Shayde come on?” Kohen pounded on the door. “We’re going to be late, and you need to eat.”

  He grinned at the kid’s impatience and pulled the door open as Kohen was poised to knock again. Shayde wrapped the kid in his arms and laughed, “What if I hold you hostage so you can’t go today? What do you think about that?”

  “Choal” Kohen screamed, “Bishop….Help me…. Please.” He called between bouts of laughter. “No…”

  “What is going on?” Choal demanded to know as he came around the corner and eyed them. “Shayde what are you doing to him?”

  “I’m holding him hostage of course.” Shayde winked, “He’s trying to run away to school. Can you believe that? He wants to leave us to go to that place.”

  Bishop glowered at Kohen in mock disapproval, “You want to do what? I thought you liked us, how could you do that. Look you’re going to make Shayde cry.”

  Kohen giggled as he squirmed around to see Shayde’s face. Shayde quickly scrunched up his face and pretended to whimper.

  “I don’t understand.” Choal muttered, “You knew he was going today. We all went to sign him up together.”

  Shayde set Kohen back on his feet and ruffled his hair. “Go get your things, I’ll eat later, okay.”

  Kohen nodded and raced out of the room with a smile, calling back, “I’ll put something in a napkin and you can eat on the way, Shayde.”

  Bishop snickered as Shayde sighed, “Choal, think of it as a game, we were teasing the kid. He was in a hurry, so we were slowing him down and having some fun with him.”

  “Yeah.” Bishop agreed, “He needs to know that you’re not going to leave him and doing things like that help him be a kid. So it’s a win-win situation.”

  Choal nodded but Shayde could tell he really didn’t understand.

  “So are we moving today?” Choal changed the subject, “or do we wait until Kohen’s out of school?”