Ancient Wings : Book 1 - Aegis

48 - His Choice

Gray's eyes ran over both of them, accessing the situation as if he was at a crime scene.

After several long heartbeats of silence, he turned then walked down the steps and out the door on the first floor.

Khaius's shoulders tensed as he turned around to face him. Cidney gaped at him.

Khaius scratched his left eyebrow. "I know you probably wanted to handle him yourself-"

"I don't care about that," he told him, still slightly in shock. He held his left hand up. "What is this?"

Khaius looked away from him, his gaze darting around the hallway, clearly nervous. "It's a ring."

"I-I-I grasped that," he assured him, still in a daze. "Wh-why do you have it?"

Khaius looked anywhere but at him, his cheeks pink.

Was he going to propose? Was this....?

His brain felt like it was going to explode.

I... I couldn't even try to understand this right now.

"You know what, don't answer that."

Khaius's eyes shot to his.

"I... I can't even process this right now."

He went to pull off the ring. Khaius's hand stopped him. Cidney met his eyes.

"Keep it," Khaius said, his voice had an edge he'd never heard before.

He left the ring on as he looked up at him, confused.

"Let's... let's go back to work." Cidney turned and walked back into the apartment, acutely aware of the ring on his hand.

*****

Cidney rolled over in bed again.

He was exhausted but he still couldn't fall asleep.

The demons worried him.

How many more bodies would there be in the morning?

The store weighed heavily on his mind. He didn't have long to get everything sold and out of the building.

Then there was the new Concordat to make as soon as Callithea died. The witch probably couldn't hold out much longer.

And then there was Khaius.

He held up his hand and looked at the ring.

It was gorgeous. And perfect.

He dropped his hand to his chest.

But what did he mean by it?

By the time they had finished going through the journals, everyone was exhausted.

When he came to bed, Khaius was already asleep. He didn't mind, he didn't know what to say to him.

Khaius's deep, even breathing told him he was sleeping heavily.

And he couldn't.

Giving up, he got up carefully. He didn't bother with slippers or a robe as he went into the living room.

He went to his storage closet and pulled out a couple of boxes then walked to the bookcase. He sighed. It wasn't going to get any easier later.

He started putting the books into the box. The faster he went, the less time he had to think about it.

He was on his second box when the bedroom door opened.

Khaius came into the living room in his navy pajama bottoms and nothing else. His eyes were confused as they swept over the boxes and books.

"What are you doing, Cid?" he asked.

"Um... I... I couldn't sleep," he muttered as he turned away, more for his own sanity than to stack books. "I figured I'd get started on taking the books down to the store."

Khaius moved to stand in front of him. "Cid, when was the last time you checked your auctions?" His gentle voice had him looking up to meet warm eyes.

"I haven't really been looking, just printing out the orders," he admitted.

He didn't want to know how little the books were going for. It was hard enough.

Khaius picked Cidney's phone up off the coffee table and handed it to him. "Check, please."

Not understanding, he went to his website and logged in to check the sales sheet. He almost dropped his phone.

"What...?"

He ran through the lists of books that went out yesterday, and how much they went for.

Tens of thousands over what they were worth. Every book on the site was sold, and the total was way over what he needed.

"Who...?" he looked up and met his eyes. "You did this?"

Khaius looked down at his phone. "It wasn't just me. The guys got in on it and it might have become a battle."

He stared at him, shocked. "I told you I didn't want your money."

Khaius's eyes flashed as they met his. "I am not giving you money. I'm paying for the books that I've bought. Those books are mine. They are going straight to my own collection."

Cidney gaped up at him. "I... I don't understand you sometimes," he admitted. "The books... the ring..." he swallowed hard as Khaius looked away at the word ring. "I don't know how to talk to you. Especially about us." His eyes burned.

Khaius was looking over Cidney's shoulder at the bookcase as he answered. "You're not alone on that one." He let out a breath and met his gaze. "Right now, your private collection is safe. You can pay the landlord and not go out of business."

Khaius took Cidney's arm and brought him back to the bedroom. "That's enough for now, you need to get some sleep." He closed the door behind him.

He stepped further into his bedroom then turned around. "The ring."

Khaius's shoulders grew rigid as he looked at it on Cidney's hand.

His voice was quiet. "I need to know what it means."

Khaius took a deep breath then met his eyes.

"It means I'm staying."

His heart pounded, the world faded as Khaius continued.

"I wasn't even going to give it to you until we figure this out. But what that dick said... I couldn't stop myself."

"What do you mean, 'you're staying'?" he asked, telling himself not to hope. "Your whole life is back there."

Khaius moved closer until he could feel the heat coming off his body, and his senses full of parchment.

Khaius's eyes stayed on his. "My life is here," he whispered softly.

His fingers held Cidney's chin, his thumb ran over his bottom lip. "I know I have more to learn about you, about how a relationship even works. And we have time to decide if we want to be Mated. But I want to find out. With you."

Khaius swallowed hard as his eyes grew shadowed. "If you want me, that is."

Cidney's eyes burned as warmth poured through him.