"You look..." Branuel Or De A'lanuel begins but Terrenel cuts him off.
"—Stunning. You look stunning Mo bhanrigh bhòidheach bhòidheach."
I smile. "I understand what you're saying now, Terrenel. You just called me your beautiful, darling queen."
Terrenel nods. He's wearing a slight, almost shy smile on his face. Branuel's face however is unreadable. I can't figure out if he's pissed, angry, happy, anything.
"So you left us in the human sheep prison so you could fuck," Branuel Or De A'lanuel says dryly, and my mouth drops open.
"Be quiet," Terrenel says harshly. "We were barely there very long. And this is something Mo bhanrigh bhòidheach bhòidheach needed to do. It was much delayed, in fact."
Suddenly Branuel smiles and laughs. "I am just, isn't the human word, joking? I am just joking, mo bhanrigh meadhan oidhche. In fact, you could have spent more time away if you chose to do so...that was fun." His eyes gleam. And I get a bad feeling in my gut.
"What did you do, Branuel Or De A'lanuel." I had gone in and talked to my Captain. Richardson had been suspended for drawing his weapon at a "civilian" in public no less, surrounded by more civilians. The Cap had just been waiting for me to arrive to fill out paperwork, fill him in, and get "my boys" out, as he called them. He said they'd been no trouble, except the dark haired one kind of gave him the willies. And I knew exactly what he meant. Hell, Branuel Or De A'lanuel gave ME the willies and I knew him better than any of them...or at least I think I did (or was getting to).
"Oh nothing much. Now, now, mo bhanrigh meadhan oidhche. Do not look at me that way. Did you see any bodies? Well, did you? I didn't kill anybody, not a one...even though I was quite tempted. Especially that one that threw the food at us, do you remember that Terrenel Tir Oben?"
Terrenel's jaw clenches and I'm furious on their behalf. "Someone threw food at you? An officer? An officer threw food at you?"
"Well, he was wearing that ridiculous uniform they wear. I mean, really?" Branuel says. "What good is that uniform at all, it stops nothing. They have no armor on, they have no shield, and they're all cowards...no swords or knives, no hand to hand, everything is with that what is it called, a firearm? So yes, he was wearing that ridiculous uniform."
"What did he look like?" I ask. I'm going right back into the precinct and talking to Cap. NO ONE, NO ONE treats my guys like that.
Let it go, my beloved. They're not worse for wear. Did you not hear Branuel Or De A'lanuel say that it was 'fun.' Do you really want to bring him back into that place? Do you really want him to be surrounded again by more...playthings?
Well, when you put it like that. You're right. But I might have to talk to the Cap over the phone then, because that is not acceptable. It really isn't acceptable, Chamuel.
"What do you do?" Branuel suddenly interrupt my conversation with Chamuel
"They are mind speaking," Terrenel says quietly.
Branuel narrows his eyes. "You will stop doing that. I do not like it. I followed your rules. I behaved, I did not harms anyone overly much. And I didn't kill anyone. Now you will listen to me, and stop this mindspeak."
I shake my head. "No can do, Branuel Or De A'lanuel. Your rules are rules that had to be followed because otherwise you'd be in deep shit on the Earth realm. We do have tentative treaties as you know. Your following the rules that are in place does not give you the right to put your own stupid rule forth about me not being able to speak to my bonded."
"I have no issue with you speaking to your, angel," he spits the word out as if it's poison, "...speak if you wish, just do so out-loud"
"I'll speak to Chamuel however I wish to. And now I need to know what you did to any of the men in the precinct."
"Maybe not here, my amour," Chamuel says.
I look around and realize we're still standing in front of the precinct. How stupid could I be. Speaking to Branuel Or De A'lanuel always pissed me off and fried my neurons—and not in a good way. Yup. I blame Branuel Or De A'lanuel.
I fear this will be a long road for you and he
I look at Chamuel and roll my eyes. Try an unpaved dirt ditch. I don't know if I'll ever get "there" with him, Chamuel. We can barely speak without going for each other's throats. And all we do is infuriate one another.
You will get there. It will be rough and unsteady, but you will get there. The Graces are never wrong, and neither is HE.
"STOP!" Branuel shouts and I roll my eyes at him.
"You're acting like a big stupid baby," I mutter, and usher them to my car at which seeing it both Branuel and Terrenel blanch, and I laugh, heartily.
"And I wasn't even here!" Walker whines. We'd picked him up on the way and were now headed to his place, it was bigger.
"Mmmeeeeooowww..."
"See...even Bento wanted to be there. I can't believe you didn't invite me to at least watch, Annora darling."
I roll my eyes. "No I wasn't about to have you watch Chamuel and I. That was a private moment between the two of us, now...Gimme..." I say and Walker laughs.
"You're crazier than I am if you think I'm handing you my familiar while you're driving."
"But Walker, you could just put him in my lap and he'll sit there like a good lil kitty, won't you Bento?"
"Meeeooowww...." Bento smiles a genuine cat smile at me and I quickly turn back to the road. "See. Just put him in my lap."
"I adore you, in fact, I love you to distraction, baby girl. But you're not getting my cat in this car. Now focus on the road and get us to the house. The faster we get to the house, the faster you can get your hands on my familiar."
I pout, but I hit the gas a little harder, and almost laugh—almost—when I hear the two gasps from the back seat. Oh-ho, my Fairies did NOT like that.
"Listen, when we get to Walkers, have we figured out a way to snap Garrett outta whatever it is that he's stuck in?" I ask. "I really do not relish having him shoot anyone again." God, why did everyone keep pointing guns at my guys?
Unfortunate circumstances indeed, my amour
Seriously, that's all you can say?
I mean, Garrett shot Walker twice. And Richardson fired off his gun multiples times. If not for the Time Stop, he would have seriously hurt Branuel.
No amour, he would not have. Branuel is stronger than that. Although he may have killed your officer.
Yeah, bad...that would have been very, very bad, Chamuel. We need to figure out how to get Garrett out of his...obsession.
It's much more than obsession, my beloved. He is under a spell, a spell that was activated by the healer who put the stone in your chest. Thankfully that stone is cracking a bit with the fact that we've finalized the bond. I think it should be a little better since we've finalized our bond. But I cannot be certain. And it will definitely not be undone until that healer undoes whatever it was that she did.
Then we have to hurry it up. We can't leave Garrett in a fucking coma, Chamuel. The guys are going to start asking questions. Hell, my Captain has already asked me where he is. Thankfully we've been partnered long enough that when I "speak for Garrett" the Captain trust what I have to say. But that is only going to last a certain amount of time. Soon he's going to wonder where he is, and what the he'll is going on.
"They are doing it again," Branuel Or De A'lanuel snipes angrily.
Walker laughs. "Ohhhhh you've got your panties in a twist because of the mindspeak don't you? Well, you're just going to have to get used to it, Big Bad Fairy King. Now that they've fucked they're going to have fun with their little mind-to-mind conversations, if nothing else just to drive us all crazy."
"That is NOT why I do it," I bite out. "I honestly don't even think about it. It's natural. I hear him, and it's like he's spoken out-loud and so I answer in much the same manner. I often don't even realize that we're speaking mind-to-mind."
Walker laughs again. "Hey, listen it doesn't bother me, it just amuses me because it's driving Big Baddie over there totally nutso....well even more nutso than he already is. Hey, hey, stop, turn off here, Annora darling."
Oh he was right, I'd almost missed his turn. I turn up his long driveway and try to ignore the chill that crawls up my skin as the dead all clamor for my attention.
"You live in a graveyard," Branuel Or De A'lanuel says, and I look in my rear view mirror and see that he's smiling wildly. Oh jeez. Of course he'd find that awesome.
"My house was built on the largest gravesite in the county. But not just anyone can come here and "visit," these are all the burial places of witches and warlocks and past Coven members. So it's relatively private, and I have my peace. But now..." He smiles at me, "I have my Annora baby and she keeps me company and she keeps the dead company."
"What do you mean she keeps the dead company?" Branuel asks.
Walker looks surprised. "You didn't tell him, Annora baby??"
"And exactly when would've I have had the time to explain or tell him about it, huh? Answer me that, Walker Sergei Romanoff," I snipe, angrily.
"No, baby, you misunderstand. I'm just surprised."
I make a hurumph sound and park the car. I've barely stopped the car when both Fairies dash out of the car. I slide myself out and turn to Walker immediately,
"Gimme, gimme. You don't have any excuses now." Bento reaches for me, and I give Walker a smug look. Walker sighs and hands me the kitten. "Hey baby boy, how you doing sweet little Bento baby? Has Miss Leanore been taking care of you." He makes a cute little meow and snuggles deeply into my arms. I pet his soft fur and wait for Walker to drop all the wards on the house and pull out the house key.
"I still don't see why you have a house key when you have like a dozen wards on the door, Walker," I say. "Same goes for all those damn locks. Why when you have the wards?"
Walker shrugs. "I don't know, habit. Mother had them on the Coven house growing up. I just got used to locks. As for the key. I guess it makes me feel a little bit more normal."
Hmmmm...not an answer I would've expected from him, but it made sense in a way.
We all enter the house and immediately I see Branuel take everything in, and I can tell that he approves...that he very much approves. Yup, Walker and Branuel should just jump the gun and become roommates, because this was ridiculous.
"You have a very nice domicile, War Lak," Branuel Or De A'lanuel says.
Of course the two of them would agree on interior design
Chamuel laughs, Did you really expect anything different. They are much the same, those two, very much the same.
Is this going to be a problem?
Having to deal with the both of them, my beloved?
Yes
I think you've already seen the worst of it. But it is as I have told you...you have a long journey with Branuel Or De A'lanuel. You will get there eventually, but not right away. Your way with Walker is easier and will be easier. You have known him for a long time and you have an established bond with him. With Branuel Or De A'lanuel you were thrust into his world and you are working on understanding how the two of you are going to 'fit' together. But trust me, my beloved, you WILL bond and you will be the stronger for it.
You have a lot more faith than I do.
Chamuel smiles brilliantly. I sort of must, it is WHAT I do after all.
I grin. And the two of us stare and grin at one another like idiots.
"Have you finished your aggravating mind-to-mind speech yet?" Branuel Or De A'lanuel complains. He's glaring at us.
I sigh, "Yes, we're done." I look around. "Where's Garrett, Walker, Chamuel? Where's Garrett?" I ignore their growls and ask again, "Where is Garrett. I need to see him."
"You do not need to see the boy, the boy is fine."
"Again stop calling him a boy, And yes, Walker, I need to see him. I have to make sure that he's okay."
"He is fine. He is sleeping soundly, just like a gun happy sleeping beauty," Walker says sarcastically.
I roll my eyes and shake my head. "Walker where did you put Garrett."
Walker give me a sly look, one that I'm not sure I 100% like.
"Walker..." I say menacingly,
"What? I simply gave him one of the largest guest rooms."
"Which is?"
"The body room."
"Excuse me?" I say, and my mouth drops open in shock. "Say what?"
"The guest room I put him in is called the body room."
"Take me to him NOW, Walker."
"But, darling...."
"NOW!"
"Oooohhh I like this room very, very much, War Lak," Branuel Or De A'lanuel purrs. I however am horrified.
"Walker!" I shriek.
"What is it my darling girl?"
"Walker, when he wakes up he's going to be horrified! This room...this room...it's...it's..."
"I told you it was the body room."
He had said that. I just guess I didn't expect it to be just soooo MUCH of a body room. There are anatomy drawing everywhere, and shelves upon shelves of preserved..."pieces."
"Walker how is this an acceptable guest room? I mean, who in their right mind would spend any amount of time in this room?"
"I would," Branuel Or De A'lanuel says.
"Case in point," I say dryly.
"It is a nice large room, Annora darling," Walker says with a false look of innocence on his face. There is no way he didn't know that this room would totally freak Garrett out.
"I want you to move him now."
"No. He's been comfortably comatose in this room for the last couple of days. Moving him now is just silly, love."
I sigh. And turn to Chamuel. "We need to wake him up, Chamuel."
"I don't know if that is a good idea, Annora my beloved."
"Well, we can't leave him like a comatose sleeping beauty." And he really did look pretty sleeping.
That is that witch healer speaking, not you, my beloved.
I don't know what you're talking about Chamuel. I mean look at him, he really does look beautiful lying there. He is a good guy, Chamuel. And he's a really good partner. He has had my back for four years. We've been through a lot together. And...well...things were...well, they were simpler with him. Okay, so they got a bit complicated there at the end, but for a long while they were simple...and easy...and it was lovely and easy to care and love him.
Again, this is not you speaking.
It is. Garrett is one of the good ones. He cares, and he's kind. He's considerate and always thinks about me. I've been very unkind to him since...well...since that night. Just because I thought I made I mistake didn't mean I had to be so cruel to him, so unkind.
My love, you weren't unkind. You were actually very kind, because you understood that the two of you could not be together. And I know that some part of you recognized that you would NEVER be together. Cutting him off was a kindness my beloved, not an unkindness.
Well whatever it was, it has made me feel like utter dog poop, Chamuel. And I need you to rectify this now. You need to wake him up. I need my partner back.
You are still straining and still have bonds to complete
We are NOT leaving Garrett in a coma until I sleep with the rest of the guys, Chamuel. Wake him up!
"Fine, my beloved," Chamuel says out loud and sighs. He goes over to where Garrett is sleeping on the large black bed with black drapes and places his hand on his forehead and says, "Wake." That is all it takes and instantly Garretts eyes pop open and he screams. Well I suppose I might scream to if I woke up and the first thing I saw was a wall of body parts.
"Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my fucking God!!!" Garrett yells and jumps out of the bed, his eyes rush around the room wildly until they come to settle on me. "OH my GOD! Honey, holy shit, this is...this is...I don't even know what the fuck this is."
Garrett NEVER swore this much. Yeah, he was REALLY upset. "You're okay Garrett. You uh, just fell down, and then you had a nap here at Walkers place."
Garrett frowns. "I fell?"
Well, he had fallen, okay after Chamuel had doozied him and said "sleep." But that counted right? "Yeah. Walker and Chamuel put you to bed. And you've been uh, sleeping. I think you hit your head pretty hard when you fell."
"Annora honey, why can't I remember that?"
Chamuel, why can't he remember?
Some memories may have been rearranged by me...
YOU TOOK AWAY HIS MEMORIES?
No, I simple rearranged them...and maybe I took away one or two...do you really want him to remember that he shot Romanoff two times and that you threatened to kill him, amour?
Ugh, When he put it that way. "So yeah, you're fine. You're better than fine. I mean, don't you feel completely refreshed?" I stroke Bento and try to keep my breathing nice and even. No stressing out right now.
"Actually I do feel really good. Except uh..." he looks around. "This room...I really don't like this room, honey."
"Stop calling her—"
"—Walker!" I say menacingly and then turn back to Garrett, and plaster a fake smile on my face, "Well why don't we move out of this room into the parlor downstairs and talk a little okay? I'll fill you in a bit?" I watch as he takes in Branuel Or De A'lanuel and Terrenel Tir Oben and his eyes narrow.
"Yes...filling in would be good...very, very, good."