by Zoe Perdita
“Get your ass in here,” Tyler said once they were gone.
“I’m not about to be bossed around by another alpha,” Ari grumbled as he stalked into the room.
Felan smiled, showing his teeth. He sat up in bed. The color had returned to his complexion, and he looked as strong as he ever did. But the glasses still rested on his nose, and he squinted at Ari behind them. “I think I need a new prescription.”
“That happens. I couldn’t heal your eyes. There was so much silver and—”
“I don’t care about my eyes. I care that you’re safe and everything is over,” Felan said and kissed Ari’s hand. Pulled him into a hug that Ari didn’t realize he needed until he wrapped his arms around Felan and squeezed.
“Yeah,” Ari breathed.
Kissed Felan’s cheek, his mouth, and let himself finally relax.
When the alpha released him, Ari noticed that Tyler was gone.
The scandal didn’t rock Haven the way Montgomery’s death had, but Ari still had more people dropping by his shop than he used to. The insurance agreed to cover the damages, and Ari was able to save about half of his wares. Another portion had to be repaired, but that was better than tossing everything in a landfill and less dangerous to boot.
The loss of his herbs hurt worse than the broken antiques in his shop and house, and they were something that no amount of money could replace.
When Felan saw the damages, he wrinkled his nose and kissed the back of Ari’s head. “We’ll get it back.”
Ari scoffed but kept from reminding Felan how many years in the making that collection was or that Ari was one of only four healers in Haven City, and that left a huge number of shadow folk without someone to turn to.
About a week after the whole fiasco was over, the baskets started to arrive.
Ari found the first one on his doorstep, covered in a cloth. When he pulled it back, he found a neatly sorted collection of herbs, shining with otherworldly light that only he could see. Of course, there was no name or sign of who’d left it.
The donations continued after that.
Ari got at least one a day, and while Felan raised his brows and his face broke into a delighted smile that bordered on surprised, he feigned ignorance.
Ari didn’t believe it for a second.
Still, at that rate, he’d have his collection built up in no time, and the only ones he’d have trouble replacing were the rarer herbs, the ones he had to hunt down himself.
Looks like he had more friends than he realized.
Story of his life.
The only thing left to deal with was Kian.
His presence hung about the Victorian as it had before, but it retreated when Felan was present. Ari noticed how the sensation of being watched faded and Kian kept quiet more often than not.
His chest ached. He was replacing one brother with the other, again, but how the hell could he explain it to a ghost?
Ari got his chance the Saturday Amy came back from Europe. Felan went to pick her up from the airport and promised her a meal in exchange for stories of her travels. The healer left them to it. He wasn’t about to go sticking his nose into family business, no matter what Tyler told him to do. Maybe someday he’d feel comfortable around all of them.
Someday wasn’t today.
That meant he had the house to himself for the night, and after several hours spent making salves and tonics with long shelf lives, he heard the familiar notes on the piano.
Ari smiled as he wiped his hands and listened.
Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata. His favorite.
The music started softly, and he could picture the way Kian’s fingers used to dance across the keys, kissing them with the lightest hint of pressure. It grew gently, and Ari leaned against the door to the sitting room, listening, and letting himself bask in those memories for a moment before he stepped inside
“You’ve been quiet lately. Is it because of Felan? Because I—”
Let go, Ari.
The voice whispered in his ear, and Ari froze.
The smile slipped from his lips.
“What?”
Let me go.
Ari’s mouth felt as dry as old bones. His heart pounded in his ears, and he leaned against the door and listened to the piano notes, once so sure, grow fainter.
“After all this time? Why now?”
Need him.
Not me.
Ari shook his head and threw open the sitting room door.
The piano sat unoccupied as it always had, but the weight of Kian hung in the room.
The light in the corner flickered, and a shadow surged toward him.
Arms as light as air wrapped around him, and Ari stood still, soaking it in.
This whole time he thought Kian had stayed for his own sake, but it seemed it had been the other way around. He stayed for Ari, maybe for Felan as well. And now that they’d come back together, he could finally leave.
But. . . .
“I miss you. We both miss you,” Ari said, voice cracking and cheeks hot. His eyes stung, but he didn’t dare close them. Pinch away the tears.
Not yet.
He couldn’t see it, but he felt Kian smile.
Love him.
Ari nodded. “I do. I will. I—Kian!”
Goodbye.
And, like a candle being blown by the wind, his presence guttered and went out.
Ari let out a breath.
Then another.
His body felt as brittle as glass, yet he could still breathe. Still move. The heaviness that hung over his heart for the last ten years lifted. No presence spied from the shadows. No ever watchful eyes followed his every move.
He was alone, but he had his mate back.
Time stopped when Kian died, and now, the clock in Ari’s heart started to move again. Tick forward a second at a time.
He wiped his eyes and smiled at the empty house.
Ari wasn’t sure how long he stood in the sitting room when he heard the jingle of keys at the front door.
“Are you sure you want to see him tonight?” Felan asked, his voice taking on a hint of concern that Ari recognized.
He straightened his slumped shoulders and stepped into the entryway just in time to meet Felan and Amy. Felan smiled apologetically while Amy beamed.
She was taller than Ari was now and thin as a rail, but she still looked like the little girl he remembered from all those years ago. “Uncle Ari! I had to see you tonight. Too much coffee on the plane. Dad told me what happened, and I’m just so happy you’re back.”
“Back? I never went anywhere,” Ari said into her shoulder and patted her back, helpless against the onslaught of her hug.
“You know what I mean. I’ve missed you. We all have,” she said and finally released him.
Ari nodded and felt Felan’s body press into his side gently. The touch of the alpha’s lips brush his head. He let the sensation soak into him and took a breath.
“If you had so much coffee on the plane, how about some tea. You can tell us about your trip, and I think I’m going to have to meet this girlfriend of yours,” Ari said and managed to smile without it feeling forced.
Felan’s brows rose as Ari ushered them into the kitchen, but Ari ignored it. He’d explain what happened with Kian later.
For now, he’d do what he thought Kian wanted: focus on the living instead of the dead.
It sounded like good advice, all around.
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About the Author
Zoe Perdita writes gay shifter romance because the only thing better than one hot shifter dude is two hot shifter dudes making out. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with a fluffy orange cat. When she's not writing, Zoe likes to travel, read, watch anime and play video games.
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Copyright © 2017 by Zoe Perdita
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