by N M Thorn
Right now I don’t trust myself, he thought, wondering if he would end up in the middle of his neighbor’s swimming pool again.
“Let’s hope that whoever is messing with me is on a coffee break,” murmured Gunz and stepped through the portal.
Gunz walked out of the portal, recognizing his backyard with relief. No swimming pools, trees or any other pranks. Gently, he lowered Tessa to the ground and brought down his own wards. Then he unlocked the backdoor of his house and opened it, gesturing for her to come in.
“Don’t you dare open the door for me,” she warned, folding her arms over her chest. Involuntarily, his lips stretched into a smile as he recognized that she was getting back to normal.
“You’re in my domain now. My place, my rules,” he said grinning.
“Fine,” she grumbled, heading toward the door. “Friggin’ Lancelot.”
“After you, my lady,” he said with a light bow, letting her through the door.
Gunz closed the door and restored his wards. Tessa stood next to the kitchen table. Now she looked a little uncomfortable, like she no longer was sure in her decision to spend the rest of the night in his house.
“Tessa, you’re absolutely safe here,” he promised with an encouraging smile. “I’ll never let anything happen to you and I would never do anything to hurt you myself.”
“Yes, of course,” she mumbled, smiling weakly. “Otherwise I wouldn’t be here.”
“Can I get you anything?”
“A place to lie down?” she asked, awkwardly playing with her phone. “Do you have a couch?”
“How about a guest bedroom? Would that be acceptable?” he asked, gesturing at the door that was leading into his living room.
Gunz led her through the living area to the second floor and showed Tessa to the guest bedroom. She sat down on the bed, staring at him like she was expecting him to say something.
“Make yourself at home. If you need anything, I’ll be in the room next door,” he said, ready to leave.
“Wait,” she said, her voice strained, and that vibe of awkwardness flared around her again. “I don’t want to be alone… Zane, please… stay…”
Gunz froze, thinking how unbelievably wrong it would be for him to stay in the same room with her at night.
“I’m not sure that it’s such a hot idea—,” he started to object.
“Come on, Zane,” she pleaded. “What century were you born?”
“The same century you were born,” he told her back, frowning. “I just don’t feel comfortable with the idea of spending a night with you in the same room.”
“Jeez, Zane, can you drop your code of honor for a few hours. I trust you not to lay your hands on me or any other parts of your body for that matter,” she said wryly, but then her voice softened as she pleaded with him, “I don’t want to be alone… I can’t… You understand? Not now. Please?”
Maybe Tessa was right and living in modern days, there was nothing wrong with spending a strictly platonic night with a young woman in the same room. But between his upbringing, military training and all the medieval knight’s morals that Kal instilled in him, he didn’t feel right doing it. He glanced into her glassy eyes, recognizing the signs of fear and despair in her gaze and sighed.
“Fine.” He walked to the small armchair that was sitting next to the closet door and sat down. “Lie down, Tessa. I’ll stay in the room with you.”
“But you’ll be uncomfortable in this tiny chair—,” she started to object, but he cut her off.
“It’s either this, or I’ll be in the room next door.”
She nodded and slid under the comforter, shifting to the edge of the bed, closer to where he was sitting. Gunz got up, opened the closet and pulled out a throw blanket. He sat back down on the armchair, stretched his legs and covered himself with the blanket.
The door into the guest bedroom cracked open and a small grey kitten strolled into the room. He hopped on the bed and turned on his engine, purring loudly.
“Mishka!” hissed Gunz, not sure what to expect from the wyvern. “What are you doing here?”
“Relax, loverboy, I’m here to help,” reassured Mishka, softly rubbing against Tessa’s arm. “Haven’t you heard? Cats are therapeutic. We can relieve stress and trigger a feeling of happiness.”
“Zane, you never told me that you have a kitty,” said Tessa, softly running her fingers through the kitten’s soft fur. “He’s so little.” Mishka flipped on his back, allowing Tessa to rub his belly.
“Yeah, little... It’s not a kitty, it’s a little monster. Just a stray I picked up on the street,” muttered Gunz. “Still considering if I should give him to the Humane Society.”
Mishka purred louder, throwing an angry scowl at him, and Gunz gave him an evil grin back when Tessa wasn’t looking.
“I would keep him if I were you,” said Tessa, coddling the kitten to her chest. “He’s so sweet and purry.”
“Oh yeah, she’s going to keep me and give you to the Humane Society.” Mishka snickered in his mind and Gunz rolled his eyes.
“I’ll see how he behaves,” murmured Gunz, watching Mishka settling down next to Tessa, his head lying down on her breast. “Now, try and get some sleep, Tessa.”
“Jealous?”
Gunz heard Mishka’s snide question in his head but decided to ignore him. He’ll deal with the pesky wyvern tomorrow when Tessa wasn’t around.
Tessa just nodded and closed her eyes. A few minutes later, her breathing became deeper and she appeared to be asleep. Gunz observed her relaxed face, thinking that it would be a good opportunity to take Tessa to Angelique for a reading. He decided to talk to her about that when she woke up in the morning.
His thoughts slowly drifted to Aidan and Tessa’s entangled relationship with him. She really needed to talk to him, tell him the truth. Gunz didn’t know what Aidan was, but it was obvious that he wasn’t new to the world of magic and most likely he knew a lot more about it than Gunz did. He wished he could talk openly to Aidan and ask him a few questions. That would make many things so much easier. Gunz sighed. Aidan built a wall around himself and Gunz had no idea how to breach this wall.
In the meantime, he secretly hoped that Aidan would never find out that he spent a night in the same room with Tessa. It wouldn’t help his cause. He wasn’t afraid of Aidan, even though magically-speaking Aidan was a lot more powerful than he was. Despite the fact that so far Aidan didn’t show much kindness to him, Gunz respected him and he wanted to avoid getting into any kind of confrontations with him – magical or physical.
As tired as he was, Gunz couldn’t fall asleep for a while, his restless mind keeping him awake. Everything was happening too fast, too many moving parts and unknowns. He had no time to organize his thoughts and process everything calmly.
Most of the night he spent sitting in his chair, keeping an eye on Tessa. Her sleep wasn’t restful either. She was crying and moving in her sleep. After a while Mishka got tired of her constant movement. He assumed his true form and sat down on her pillow, softly humming some kind of spell. Tessa sighed and finally relaxed.
Only when the first rays of the morning sun touched the sky, did his tired mind quiet down and he slowly drifted to sleep.
~ Tessa ~
The large red numbers of the alarm clock were showing 9:48 AM. Tessa sat up on the bed and looked around. The window blinds were open, and the bedroom was bright with the morning sun. Indifferent to the bright light, Zane was sleeping, sitting in the armchair. His head was tilted back, and his arms were folded on his chest. Even in his sleep, he didn’t look relaxed.
Tessa slid off the bed and quietly approached him. For a few seconds, she just stood, silently studying Zane’s face. Noticing the blanket at his feet on the floor, she picked it up and carefully covered him. She was hoping that the touch of the blanket to his arms wouldn’t wake him up. His lips parted a little and he turned his head to the side, avoiding the direct sunlight but didn’t wake up. Tessa tiptoed he
r way to the window and pulled on the string, closing the blinds. After that, she grabbed her phone from the nightstand and quietly left the room.
She walked downstairs, and first thing called her office. Even though Ryan was still recovering after the attack, and Dr. Davis was still off, the dental office wasn’t closed. Claudia answered the phone and Tessa told her that she had a family emergency and she would need a few days off. Since it was the middle of the week, she told Claudia that she’ll be back at work on Monday and hung up the phone.
Even though she could get a ride home with Uber, Tessa didn’t want to leave. She was still shaken by everything she found out last night, but it wasn’t the only reason why she didn’t want to go. She didn’t know Zane that well, however, in these few short days, she learned to trust him, and that was quite unusual for her. Not very social, normally she kept everyone at arm’s length. She never shared her private life with anyone and trusting didn’t come easy for her.
Zane was different. She smiled thinking about his archaic chivalry and the way he managed to be there for her, every time when she needed him. “You called.” That’s what he said when he showed up in her apartment in the middle of the night. He said it like it was the only possible option. Tessa smirked. She was sure that if she called her uncle, with his wife hissing into his ear, he would find a thousand excuses why he couldn’t come right away. And probably anyone else would also tell her to wait until morning.
Well, Aidan would show up too, she admitted to herself. But she couldn’t let herself drag Aidan into all this. He was her anchor, her safe place, the small island of normality in the midst of this supernatural storm.
A soft meow pulled her out of her thoughts. Tessa looked around the kitchen and found Mishka, Zane’s kitten, sitting on the kitchen counter between the coffeemaker and a small tray of K-cups.
“K-cups. That’s easy,” murmured Tessa, adding a cup of water into the coffeemaker. A few minutes later the coffee was ready, and its bitter warm aroma wafted through the kitchen. Tessa was ready to take the cup, but the kitten put his paw on her hand and meowed again.
“Wait,” said Tessa, her eyebrows slowly climbing up. “You want coffee?”
“Meow,” replied Mishka, nodding.
Did the cat just nod at me? thought Tessa and asked aloud, “Milk and sugar?”
The kitten nodded again.
For a moment, Tessa stared at him flabbergasted, but then laughed and moved the coffee cup toward the kitten. “Figures,” she muttered, adding some milk and a spoon of sugar into his cup, “even his pet is a freak of nature. I’m not going to be surprised if this kitten can speak English.”
“Why only English?” She heard a high-pitched voice and twirled around. The kitten was licking the burning-hot coffee and talking to her. “I speak most of the local languages. I can even speak the Dragon tongue.”
“Holy shit!” gasped Tessa and clapped her hands. She wasn’t scared and now that she got over the initial surprise, she actually liked the idea of a talking feline. “You really are a talking cat. That’s so cool!”
“Uh-huh, I’m Mr. Cool,” said Mishka proudly between licks. “But I can purr too, if that’s what you prefer. Meow-meow.”
“I think talking is a lot better than purring,” admitted Tessa, stretching her hand to pet the kitten but stopped halfway. “Hmm… since you’re not a regular cat, would it be okay for me to pet you?”
“For you, babe? Any time.” Mishka lifted his head and a wide feline grin spread on his face.
Tessa giggled, petting Mishka’s grey fur. He stretched under her touch and arched his back, just like a normal house cat.
“Well, Mishka, I see you drink coffee,” she said, searching through the kitchen cabinets. She found the box with the pancake mix and pulled it out. “Do you also eat pancakes for breakfast?”
“Do you know how to make pancakes?” asked Mishka, pulling his head out of the coffee cup again and staring at her with curiosity in his round reddish eyes.
“Oh yeah,” sung Tessa, reaching into the refrigerator for the milk and eggs. “I’m the best.”
“Then everything you cook is mine,” replied the kitten matter-of-factly. He traveled between the plates on the kitchen counter and rubbed his head against Tessa’s elbow. “You know, prrrr, who loves you the most… prrr… Zane can wait until some other breakfast. Maybe tomorrow morning.”
“Aw, Mishka, don’t be greedy.” Tessa smiled, petting the kitten. “I’ll make enough pancakes for everybody.”
A half hour later, a stack of fluffy golden pancakes was towering in the middle of the table and the smell of coffee and freshly-baked goods dominated the kitchen. Tessa took one of the pancakes and put it on a small plate.
“Here is the best one for you, Mishka,” she said, putting the plate in front of the kitten. “I’m going to get Zane. Try not to eat everything.”
“Sorry, I can’t promise that,” replied Mishka, starting to get personally acquainted with the hot pancake on his plate.
Tessa wagged her finger at the purring kitten warningly and headed to the second floor. She walked into the bedroom and found Zane in the same position in the armchair. She came closer and gently touched his shoulder. The moment her fingers connected with his shirt, he woke up.
Tessa gasped and backed away. She had never seen anyone waking up like this. He didn’t move, but his eyes flew open and every muscle in his body tensed, his face a stone mask. The flames lit up on the bottom of his eyes and his body eradiated an unbearable heat.
“Zane, it’s okay, it’s just me,” she said soothingly.
“Tessa,” he exhaled, visibly relaxing. The red glow in his eyes dimmed down and he got up. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” He folded the blanket and put it away in the closet.
“You didn’t,” said Tessa trying to sound nonchalant. “I just wanted to tell you that breakfast is ready, and we should go back to the kitchen before Mishka eats it all.”
He stared at her for a moment with a shocked expression, but then raked his hand through his short hair uncomfortably and looked away.
“Thank you,” he said, his voice a little hoarse. “Give me a few minutes to clean up and I’ll be right down.”
Tessa returned to the kitchen and noticed that Mishka didn’t manage to devour all the pancakes in her absence. He was still working on the first one, chasing it down with his coffee. She quickly set up the table for two and put another k-cup in the coffeemaker. By the time Zane walked into the kitchen, everything was ready. He halted at the door, giving her that shy lopsided smile that she liked so much.
“Sit down,” she told him, waving at the empty chair. She put a small stack of pancakes on his plate and offered him a cup of coffee. “Your breakfast is served.”
He sat down, taking the cup from her hands and threw a quick glance at her. And again, she caught a touch of surprise in his eyes. “Thank you,” he said, “you did all this cooking for me?”
“No, silly, she did it for me,” purred Mishka. “You can leave any time you wish, Mr. Third Wheel.”
Tessa laughed and petted the kitten, but Zane frowned, throwing a scorching gaze in his direction and mouthed something that Tessa read as “You’re talking”.
“What?” huffed Mishka innocently, catching a pancake with his tiny claw and pulling it down from the stack on Zane’s plate. “She loves the talking kitty. My kind of girl.”
Zane just sighed and started to eat. After he was done, he got up and quickly cleaned the table. He didn’t let Tessa do any work, and washed all the dishes, cups and the frying pan, stacking everything neatly in the dish rack that was sitting next to the sink. Once he was done, he turned around and leaned against the kitchen counter, gazing at her.
“Tessa,” he said after a quick pause, “do you need to be anywhere today? Work? Home?”
“No,” she replied and held her breath. She was hoping that he didn’t need to go anywhere either. She liked it here, with this shy, slightly awkw
ard man and his cheeky talking cat. She felt safe and comfortable, and for the last few hours she allowed herself to forget about all her problems and unanswered questions. Zane glanced at his watch and her heart skipped a bit, as she thought that he was late somewhere.
“Perfect,” he replied, and Tessa exhaled, realizing that she was holding her breath all this time. “If you remember, I promised to help you figure out what you are. So, if you’re up for it, we can visit my friend today and hopefully, she’ll be able to tell us what’s going on with you. What do you say?”
“Of course!” Tessa’s heart lit up with hope. “Let’s do it.”
“Okay.” He glanced at his watch again. “Give me thirty minutes. I need to get my car. My mechanic left me a message, saying that I can pick it up at any time today.”
An hour later, Zane parked his SUV in front of one of the high-rises on Ocean Drive. Tessa watched him walking around the car and rolled her eyes – he was seriously going to open the door for her. Oh no, you don’t, she thought, watching his progress, you open this door and I’ll kick your ass.
Zane opened the door and offered her his hand, a boyish grin on his face accompanied by a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. Tessa looked around and since few people were standing right next to them, she gritted her teeth and silently accepted his hand, walking out of the car.
“You see? It didn’t hurt at all.” He winked at her.
“It’ll hurt you,” growled Tessa, squeezing his fingers in her hand. “Never again.”
“Ouch, ouch…” He groaned mockingly. “Never again… my lady.”
Tessa stared at him for a moment, and then started to laugh. “Promise me that one day you’re going to tell me where you acquired all your medieval manners.”
“I promise, my lady.” And there it was again – that bow that she saw only in the movies about the Middle Ages. This archaic, courtly bow that seemed to come so natural to him.
They walked into the building and took the elevator to the 3rd floor. Zane stopped in front of the door with the number 313 on it and knocked. A young woman in a business suit opened the door. In her high heels, she stood a little taller than Zane. She threw a curious gaze at Tessa, her eyes going up and down like she was sizing her up. Then her gaze moved to Zane and she smiled. Her smile was sweet and a little shy, and her fingers fidgeted with her long ponytail, as a faint blush colored her cheeks.
