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Footsteps thumped on the floor of the roof behind him. When he glanced over his shoulder, he noticed KG and Camden.

“Hi.” Zelus reached for Cam. “What’s happening?”

“You’ve picked up the lingo well.” KG grinned. “I’m proud. I’ve also found Bia in her statue form. It appears she’s been added to an installation with other figures in a gallery in New York. Because I’ve still got finesse, I managed to buy the statue. If I’m right, her likeness will remain in the statue, but she’ll be free of the iron.”

“You know who her celestial mate might be?” Camden asked. He slid his hand over Zelus’s ass and gave it a squeeze.

Zelus shivered. Ah, he loved his mate. “Like with us?”

“I’m not sure who her mate is, but I do know she’ll have a better chance of finding that person in a carefully controlled environment.” KG wriggled his eyebrows. “Who knows … she might have someone that needs that push, too.”

“Understood.” Zelus stuffed his hand into Camden’s back pocket. “We’re in, whatever you need us to do.”

“For now, you’ll be in charge of keeping her safe. Once she’s at the store, my crack security team is in charge of her protection. Got it?”

“You bet,” Cam replied. Zelus didn’t need to answer. He trusted Cam to make decisions just as much as he trusted Cam to know exactly what he needed. They truly were a pair.

“Cool. I’ve got to make some calls. We’ll talk when I get more details.” KG waved, then left Zelus alone on the roof with Camden.

“It’ll be good to see my sister again. I haven’t spoken to her in years.” Zelus rested his head on Cam’s shoulder.

“Like two thousand years?”

“Something like that. She must’ve been turned after I was. I bet she’s scared. She was always the smartest of us, but violence followed wherever she went.” Zelus stared at the blue, purple and pinks stretching across the sky. “Enough of her. You’re here.” He kissed Camden’s neck. “I’m glad we decided to see this through. I love you.”

“I love you, too.” Cam tugged away from Zelus. His shoulders trembled and he turned his back on Zelus. “There’s something I need to tell you.”

“I’m sure it’s nothing I can’t handle.” Zelus gave his lover space, but he still yearned to touch him. “Talk to me. I’ve been encased in bronze and forced to watch the world pass me by for the last two thousand years. I’m a good listener.”

“I’m—I’m not sure how to start.” Camden sat on one of the patio chairs and rested his head in his hands. “It’s screwed up.”

“Okay.” Zelus dragged the other chair next to Camden’s and sat beside him. “Take your time.”

Camden pressed his hands together as if he were about to pray. “Might as well start at the beginning.” He stood and laced his fingers together behind his head. “When I was a kid, my parents … they were good people. They encouraged me to do what I wanted—like to be in plays if I wanted to, or to play baseball. When I was twelve, my step-father was killed by a drunk driver. I didn’t eat. Wouldn’t play. All I wanted to do was sit in my bedroom and be alone. My mother handled the loss differently. She withdrew, too, but she took the bottle with her. She knew before I did that I was gay. Compound that with losing my step-dad and she shut me out.” He stopped moving and stared at Zelus. “One day I’m her kid and she’s proud of me and the next I’m dirt. I bet you can understand being cut out of everything you know.”

“I do.” Zelus stood and opened his arms to Camden. They were so much alike—him and Cam. They’d been through hardships, survived and found each other. Now they’d never have to be alone. He also had a pretty good idea of where Cam was going with his speech. His heart ached. Cam’s mother was still alive and still thought about him. She might have cut him out of her life, but he’d never really died the way she insisted.

“Dad wasn’t a simple guy. He’d go away for long periods of time, but he’d always come back in time for my baseball games or my plays. Like I said, Mom shut down when he died because she’d discovered the stuff he’d been hiding. It turns out he’d go off for those days in order to see his boyfriend. He had another life.”

“Wow,” Zelus gasped. He stroked Cam’s back. He wasn’t sure what else to say.

“She wouldn’t tell me about Devin and insisted he wasn’t real. When I came out, that’s when I found out the truth. She blamed my father for making me gay. Do you believe it?” Cam’s shoulders shook. “Someone cannot make someone else gay.”

Zelus didn’t suppose so, but he’d been encouraged to be himself. He’d observed the humans and noticed how they categorized each other, rather than allowing them to be individual. He couldn’t comprehend someone telling another person what they could or couldn’t be.

“On my eighteenth birthday, I came out. That night, Mom informed me that I no longer existed to her. Dad couldn’t be true to her and neither could I. It’s a lot of shit to put on a kid.” He shook his head. “That was the last night I talked to her. I hate being abandoned. First Dad—although it wasn’t his fault—not really. Then Mom. For a while there, I didn’t think I could attract a man who loved me for me—geek and all. I thought I found one, but he turned out to be a dead end.” He stared at Zelus. “That’s why I had a hard time believing you. My heart knew the truth, but it took a while for my brain to catch up.”

“I promise you.” Zelus tugged Cam into his arms and rested his forehead on his lover’s. “I’m yours. No matter what, I’m devoted to you. Never forget that. Geeks are very sexy.” He grinned and kissed Cam on the lips. “You’re the sexiest man I’ve ever known.”

“Thanks.” Cam offered a wobbly smile. “Anyway, that’s my past. That’s me, warts and all. If you can accept that, then we’ve got a bright future.”

“I can accept whatever you throw at me. I’m always yours and this future we’ve started is bigger than the gods. It’s perfect.”

The End