"But Michael won't be here." I reminded.
"He said he'll come check in. He's not on good terms with his family. He merely goes to see his little sis, or she gets extremely cranky. Angels aren't the best to be around when they're upset." Junho revealed.
"Oh. Hmm, well I guess I’ll learn more about it in my lessons?" I asked.
Cece rose to her feet, yawning. "Yup. I'll give you a lesson on each of these guys’ spirits." Cece announced in a chirpy voice.
Junho frowned, narrowing his eyes on her.
She rolled her eyes. "Don't give me that look. Fine, fine. Except for Junho," she huffed.
I looked into his turquoise eyes. "Tell me what you are!" I demanded.
"No."
"Awww, why?" I complained.
"Because you promised Marcus you’d guess."
"He's a bear shifter."
"He's not a bear shifter, Scar." Junho snickered.
I groaned. "I give up." I exclaimed, resting my head on his shoulder.
He grinned, his arm around my waist while his hand trailed aimlessly along my legs. "You didn't even try." he accused, amusement filled his voice.
"There's probably like a thousand shifters out there. I bet there's even a unicorn shifter! Is there a whale shifter? Are you a whale shifter?" I nominated, smiling widely.
Cece laughed while Junho sighed, shaking his head.
"No sweetheart. I'm not a whale shifter. And yes, there are unicorn and whale shifters out there," he replied.
I frowned. "Whatever." I rested my head back on his shoulder.
He chuckled at my defeat, pressing a kiss to my forehead.
"I'm off to bed. Night." Cece waved goodbye, heading towards my spare bedroom which I'd gotten refurnished as Cece's guest room for when she came over.
We heard the door close, leaving us alone in the living room.
"How are you feeling?" Junho asked, his voice low.
I could see how tired he was, having been out all day working and organizing the house all of us would be chilling at for the next five days. "I'm okay. I don't feel super weak. I'm making sure to eat regularly and resting when I need to. You look exhausted," I explained before pointing out his exhaustion.
He gave me a tired smile. "Ya. I wouldn't mind going to bed, early," he admitted.
I leaned in to kiss him, wanting a moment to enjoy him before we headed to bed. He let out a soft moan, deepening the kiss.
"Meow."
We pulled apart to stare at Moonlight, who sat in front of us. I raised my eyebrow at him.
"Moonlight, we were having a moment."
"Meow."
"You're a mean cat."
"Meow."
"I'm well aware that I have to get up early tomorrow and shouldn't be up right now kissing Junho, thank you very much."
Junho gave me a confused look.
"You speak cat now?" he questioned.
I blushed, having not told them about Risuki being a Starlight god and that he could talk to me in my mind like my spirits.
"Um....it's hard to explain. I just know from the tone of his meows?" I suggested.
He chuckled. "Well, he did sound like he didn't approve of us kissing when we both should be sleeping," he commented.
"Sleep is for the weak!" I proclaimed.
He sighed. "You’re going to be so out of it tomorrow if you don't sleep. We don't want that, now do we?" Junho suggested.
I frowned. "Nope. Let's go to bed," I whispered, feeling the nerves creep in again.
Junho must have noticed; his hand tightened around my waist. "Scarlet. Trust me, it will be fun. Marcus said Makoto isn't your typical girl down the block. You two could be friends from another life or something. Just be positive and if you get stuck, we'll help you out, okay?"
I looked into his eyes before I smiled. "Okay."
His arms hooked beneath my arms and knees, lifting me up as he rose to his feet. I grinned, happy I didn't have to leave his arms.
"Let's go to sleep. Moonlight, are you coming?" Junho asked, looking down at the black fur ball whose turquoise eyes matched his.
"Meow!" Moonlight replied, making his way to the bedroom – stopping in the hall to wait for us to follow. We both smiled.
"Didn't Marcus say Makoto has a kitty too?" I asked as we Junho began to walk.
"Um, apparently she's not a kitty. She's a Foxshier."
"A what?"
"I don't know. That's the term Makoto classifies her as. She's a familiar by the way."
"Oh? That's interesting. Maybe her Foxshier will get along with Moonlight."
"Meow." Moonlight rubbed at his fur, something he didn't do often which made me curious.
You know her?
"Maybe." Risuki's voice filled my head.
I could hear his hesitation. You’re hiding something.
"I'm going to sleep," Risuki replied – Moonlight scurried to the “Scar room” which was left open.
I sighed. Fine. Be stubborn.
"I guess tomorrow will be the start of our little vacation," I rejoiced.
Junho grinned. "Yes. Let's enjoy every moment," he replied.
I closed my eyes; sleep began to claim me as Junho reached my room, closing the door with what I assumed was his foot.
I'll enjoy these next couple of days no matter what. At least, I'll have my men with me. In stars, we trust.
Chapter Three
DAY ONE:
MAKOTO
"Can we buy the whole store?"
"No, Mako. You have to choose one." Ryder groaned.
Marcus laughed at my indecisiveness as I looked at the ten sets of pajamas – six were unicorn onesies.
"But...but. I want them all! Marcus?" I complained, blinking my eyes at my dragon shifter.
"Marcus. Don't fall for her cuteness," Ryder argued.
"But, how can you ignore those puppy eyes?" Marcus asked in horror.
"Just buy all of them. Look, there's a onesie for each of us," Daniel pointed out.
"She doesn't need six onesies," Ryder argued.
"Why? I think they would look good on her," Elias noted, before he said, “I’ll be right back.” He headed for the washroom.
"Just let her try it on," Kai announced, slipping his hand in mine. He took the orange onesie and walked towards the fitting room.
"Hey! That's not fair. You're letting her try yours!" the others called out.
"Oops. Didn't realize," he replied, grinning.
"You did that on purpose." I laughed.
"Ryder's being silly. He doesn't like the onesie trend," Kai explained.
"Why? They're so cute! Did you see the whale onesie? Adorable," I commented.
We'd reached Earthala, and the first thing we did was head straight to the mall for pajamas. Junho had said they were still out running errands with the others, and Scarlet wouldn't be at the cottage until late afternoon. This meant we had all afternoon to shop around.
"How many items?" the shop attendant asked, giving us a wide smile as her eyes stared down at our linked hands.
"One," Kai replied, giving her the onesie. She nodded, bringing us down to the fifth dressing room.
"I'll be quick," I reassured him.
He held my hand, not wanting to let go. "You can't change until you give me a kiss," he mused.
"I don't think that's a part of the policy." I giggled.
"It should be. It would assist with my separation anxiety," Kai joked.
"Or addiction," I added. I rose on my tiptoes to kiss him.