“He is a celestial kitsune and erects many of our barriers and protection wards. Unfortunately, you know his daughter.” Damien glanced around the room at us before he turned back to Nix with a tight look on his face. “Ahmya is his daughter.”
“Are you kidding me?” Nix yelled from her seat on the couch, and I watched as Hiro winced. Damien had left the line open and as I focused on that line of connection, I could feel his conflicting emotions. He was ashamed of his previous involvement with the conniving bitch, but only because he didn’t realize how manipulative she was at the time. That hussy had been doing everything in her power to break up our team from the second she was of age to mate, only wanting Ryder, Damien, and Hiro. Sadly for her, we had decided long ago that we weren’t going to let a pretty face come between our bond as brothers. Other than a short stint where she’d pulled the wool over Hiro’s eyes by offering herself up as the answer to all his sexual fantasies, she’d failed. Once Hiro learned of her true nature, we were all in agreement, none of us wanted anything to do with her.
I watched, rooted to my spot, as Nix tore her hand from Hiro’s, and pain lanced my chest. Was she pulling away from us? It felt like we were losing her, if not now, then tomorrow. Panic raced through my veins as adrenaline released, making me heady.
Calm down, Kill. She’s not pulling away. She’s just feeling the weight of the situation we are in. Goddamn, but I was happy that D had a connection to our girl. I didn’t know how men survived without knowing what a woman was thinking or feeling. They were so fucking complicated to understand.
Yeah, well, so am I. I rubbed a hand over my chest, trying to ease the emotional and physical reaction I was having to the stress.
“He’s bound to hate me right away,” Nix mumbled through her hands as her body went rigid. I wanted to help her to relax somehow, but I knew that she needed to get all this information more than she needed to calm down. Going before the Council was no fucking joke. There was a reason why everyone underneath them tried their best to tow the line, myself included. While I didn’t care for their leadership—not that I’d ever say that out loud—I knew there was justification for the fear shifters felt toward their rulers.
“I’ve always known him to be honorable, but there’s always the possibility that Ahmya has been in his ear.”
I growled at Damien. I knew he wanted to be honest with Nix, but he wasn’t doing a good job to ease her concerns. “She lives here at school and has no idea you’re undocumented. If she did, that bitch would have caused tidal waves of trouble by now. Don’t worry about her. She’s not worth the brain power we’re wasting.” I crossed my arms over my chest. Move on to the other Council members. Let’s get this over with.
Nix dropped her hands and shook her head, starting to laugh, easing all of us. “Well, no wonder that bitch feels so entitled!”
Hiro chuckled. “Pretty much sums it up.” He rubbed a hand down her spine and she leaned into the touch.
As Nix’s tension alleviated, so did ours. We didn’t butt heads often, but we were five powerful male mythologicals living under one roof; we were bound to rub each other the wrong way sometimes and argue occasionally. Nix had been good for us. We may have been a close-knit group before she arrived, but her mere presence united us further. We felt more like a family with her around, bringing us together every day because we all wanted to be near her. She was quickly becoming the center of our bond. The realization was startling but welcome. It would be a cold day in hell before I lost her because some old assholes had a mind to rip her away from her life. Away from me. My Puca thumped loudly in my head, agitated. Yeah, right there with you buddy. An idea of how to help Nix started to form in my head, but I kept one ear on the conversation while I formulated a plan for the afternoon.
“Alright, so what about the others? I can’t even pronounce most of these words guys.”
Damien met my eyes and I just shook my head. Some of our mythologicals were downright terrifying. It was also why they held strong places on the Council. Their strength and powers instilled fear into anyone who broke—or considered breaking—the Council’s laws. “Well, these are a little harder to explain. Use the literature Theo gave you to get a better grasp, but I’ll give you a basic run down. A Manananggal is, well, sort of like a vampire.”
“A really, really gross and sadistic one.” Muttered Ryder, shuddering. I knew Ryder freaking hated that guy. The shifter creeped him out. Fuck, he wigged me out too. Nix arched an eyebrow, moving her fingers in a gesture asking for more information. “They aren’t the Dracula style vampire. They don’t drain blood. They dismember a body and consume it from there.”
I scoffed. “Yeah, you forgot the part where they shift and fucking divide in half to devour their prey through their middles.” I pulled a face.
“Ugh.” Nix blanched. I wanted to swear, to hit something, but I didn’t want to disturb her or frighten her anymore than I already had. This was why we had wanted to bring her in slowly. To show her the wonders and beauty in the world, rather than the nightmares, the corruption, and the imbalance. This felt like we were throwing her off the deep end and hoping she would choose to swim. I prayed she wouldn't run after this, or if she did that she’d let us go with her.
“An aqrabuamelu is basically a giant scorpion. Their powers are basically the same as the scorpions you know about, but just on a much larger, more dangerous level. As for the Koschei… they're kind of the hardest to describe. I guess the closest explanation would be a grim reaper. They control death and the dead.”
“Oh shit. Well, that’s terrifying.” I could tell Nix was trying to hide the shiver that wracked her body, playing it off as nothing, but I caught it.
“The last one, as you already know, is a basilisk.”
“Basilisk. A giant snake that kills by sight. I can’t believe those things are real.” She wrapped her arms around herself, pressing the stacks of papers tightly into her body.
We nodded. “Don’t like snakes?”
“Yeah, no. I’m not their biggest fan.”
“Well, now you know them all. Our world is full of fantastic beasts.” Ryder wiggled his eyebrows, motioning to himself, but when Nix cracked a smile and then a little giggle, I wanted to kiss the dude.
Ryder threw a wink in my direction and puckered his lips, blowing kisses in my direction. Damn you, D. I wasn’t being fucking serious.
Damien didn’t respond but his lips quirked to the side. I grumbled but let it drop. It had lightened the mood and Nix gave a genuine laugh when the inside joke was shared with her.
“Just don’t stare at the guy and you’ll be fine.” I wanted this meeting to finish up. I had things I wanted to do, and they involved Nix.
“That was a lot of information, guys. Do they put all the seriously creepy shifters on the Council on purpose?” Smart girl. Many never thought to ask why members were on the Council. To them it just was.
“Yes, Nix,” I interjected, stretching the kinks from my back. Even in her fear and insecurity, her eyes tracked my movements and my Puca and I wanted to preen. Apparently, she was good at compartmentalizing, or was slowly finding her courage to face tomorrow. Her eyes were hungry as they watched my muscles ripple against the thin material of my shirt. “It’s partially because they’re strong, that they’re going to be feared at least a little. If there’s fear as well as respect, the chances of anyone breaking the laws go down.”
Walking toward her, I reached for the paperwork in her hands. “I’ll take these to your room. Let Ryder and Damien explain the social dance. I avoid that portion as much as I can. After that, we’re going outside to do some training.”
The look on her face made my whole day. Color seeped back into her skin, excitement making her come alive again.