Page 12

Chapter Twelve

O rion was in so much trouble.

Once they got back to the house, he let Orion know it, too.

“So what’s the Glade? Why haven’t you told me about it? How do you get to it? What’s going on? I can’t believe you kept this from me. You got me pregnant, and you had a doorway, and you didn’t tell me?”

“It didn’t come up.”

Orion was not going to get away with that.

“Oh. Oh, I’m going to get Corbin, possibly Cosmo… Cosmo’s meaner. And Cosmo can see things. He’s a seer, did you know?” He was fairly sure toads were falling from his fingers, but he didn’t care because he wasn’t paying attention because he didn’t particularly care for toads.

Which is probably why they were falling from his fingers.

“What the hell do you mean it didn’t come up? Why didn’t you tell me?”

Orion shrugged, looking more than a little uncomfortable. “That’s a secret.”

“I’m your mate.” Okay, well that hurt like a blow to the chest. He thought they were supposed to share their secrets. He thought that was part of the deal. And not in a boo, here’s this thing that I can do that you can’t because my feelings are hurt because I can’t go outside anymore. “I didn’t do that to you, you do realize?”

“Do what?” Orion didn’t get to be hurt here, even if he looked butthurt and surprised.

“Pay attention.”

“I thought I was paying attention.” Orion looked confused, and that just made Cullen even more angry.

“I didn’t make it to where you couldn’t go out without us. I didn’t do that. I had no idea.”

One of Orion’s brows went up. “You knew how to fix it.”

For a second, he couldn’t breathe, and he shook his head. “No, I didn’t. I just knew that you were with us when we went to Lunastra, and you were with us when we went to the Land of Summer. That’s it.” Did Orion really think that he would do that? Surely not. He wasn’t a dick.

“I have to go. I’ve got to go back and get Elliot from Cosmo. He needs help.” Cosmo was fine, of course, but Cullen wasn’t.

He thought maybe he would just stay with his mom for a day or two. Hell, he still had a room at her house.

Well, they still had a room.

They’d all only ever shared until this house, actually. They’d always just shared a big room.

He would blame Hawk, except that they’d moved into their respective houses before Hawk ever showed up. He supposed in that they should blame the boss.

Well, maybe he could go talk to Gavin. Except Cosmo wasn’t with the boss, and he didn’t want to lie to Orion.

What did it matter? He was just going to go somewhere. Somewhere not here, because…

Well, just because.

Orion caught him when he would have walked away. “Hey. Can we talk about this? Please? And sit down while we do it? Sans toads.” Orion led him into their part of the house, holding his hand so he didn’t get away, and sat him on the couch. He took a deep breath before continuing. “Look, this is all new to me too. I’ve had a lot of changes in the last month or so. A lot. And it wasn’t something I wanted kept from you. I just didn’t get my shit together and tell you.”

“Okay, but you know that I didn’t do this to you, right? I didn’t know. I would never… I don’t want to trap you.”

Orion grinned at him. “If I wanted to go, I would just ask you. As in let’s go outside, and off I’d go. Or let’s go to the dragonland. Or let’s go to the Land of Summer. Let’s go. Did I panic at first? Yeah. Because it’s weird. Now the real question is, can I go out with Elliot, with the new baby? How about Hawk? What about your brothers? There’s so many different questions. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. I’d say that I would never do that, but…” Orion blew out a hard breath. “But it happens. I get frustrated, and maybe I make jokes or roll my eyes, and I’ll try to be better.”

“Me too.” Cullen stared at Orion. “And did we just have a grown-up conversation?”

“Yes, let’s not do that anymore, all right? It’s creepy.”

“I concur. No more adulting.” He cuddled into Orion’s side. “So, tell me about the Glade. Is it full of unicorns?”

“There are unicorns, not a lot. There are winged horses. There are satyrs and dryads and nymphs. All sorts of magical creatures.” Orion kissed his nose.

He loved that. It sounded like Fantasia come to life. “Wow, that’s cool. You’d probably get in trouble if you took me.” Which was a sad thought. “Do you have parents over there? Still? I mean, obviously you have parents. Do you think they’d want to meet me?”

Orion shrugged. “I don’t know. My fathers are fiercely independent. I’m not sure that they remember that they have a child. I think that if I showed up and said, ‘hey, your grandchild is on the way’, they would respond with ‘who are you?’”

“That’s ridiculous. Who could forget you?” Cullen couldn’t even imagine. “You’re the most magical, amazing being I’ve ever seen.”

“Ha!” Orion shook his head and rolled his eyes. “In the glade, I’m just another magical creature.”

“Dude. Then I must be like hideously ugly, like an ogre.” All of a sudden, he could feel himself turning green, warts popping out all over.

“Stop it, you are not an ogre. Besides that, if you were an ogre, you’d still be cute.”

“Thanks. I think.” Cullen chuckled and leaned on Orion.

“Definitely thanks, because I mean it in the best way.” I think you’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” Orion rubbed slow circles on his back.

“Do you? Will you think so even when I get all big and swollen?” He’d never thought Cosmo was ugly, but Cosmo sure had, so Cullen knew his time was coming.

“Baby, you’re carrying our kid. I can’t imagine anything being more stunning to me than you being big with her.” Orion stared into his eyes, that silver gaze so serious. “I love you. All of you. No matter what. And I know you would never screw me over, babe. Okay?”

“Okay.” He had to return the favor. “I know you didn’t hide the whole Glade from me on purpose, but please don’t not tell me things.”

“Fair enough.” They grinned at each other. “Are you hungry? Yarrow brought doughnuts.”

“What kind?”

“Uh, lemon, blueberry, and maple logs.”

“Should we eat his doughnuts?”

“Love, he’ll be hauling sticks into the springhouse for a week. I’ll toss food at him periodically.” Orion rose to go grab the doughnuts and some milk.

That was kind of wonderful, so Cullen let the rest go, and he laid in his lover’s arms and ate doughnuts.

* * *

Orion sighed, because Cullen had deserved better than to be forgotten. He’d just never taken anyone to the glade before who wasn’t—who wasn’t a rescue. And the last one he’d taken there had been a couple of centuries ago.

Orion waited until everyone was busy, though, Cullen watching Elliot, Hawk and Corbin in Lunastra for a guardian meeting or some shit.

Then he pulled off the pendant he wore on a cord around his neck and laid it on the table that Basil had brought into the bedroom. It was a lovely Regency piece he’d always adored. The table. Not the pendant.

That was old silver, a stylized wooden door like something out of The Hobbit , surrounded by trees, vines climbing around the edge.

He stared at it for a long moment. Then he knocked on it three times with the tip of his forefinger.

The whole world slowed down, even the dust motes no longer dancing. A bright light appeared, the shape of it like the doorway on the pendant. And then the door opened, letting him step through.

Into the Glade.

He took a deep breath and ducked in, knowing the pendant would hide itself until he came back. It had a built-in glamour that way so no one could steal it.

Orion stood just inside the glade for long moments, the scents of rich earth and sweet running water filling him as he breathed in and out. It had been a long time. A really long one. God, goddess, and their children…

“Orion.” The soft, melodious voice of a naiad reached him, and she rose out of the water on a little splash. “How good it is to see you.”

“Hello, Lania. How are you?”

“Well. Are you here to see your fathers?”

“If I am allowed.”

She tilted her head, her blue and white and gray hair sliding over one shoulder. “Why should you not?”

“You know how they are.”

His fathers weren’t mean, not under any circumstance, they just simply…had these incredibly complicated lives, which had absolutely nothing to do with him.

And he wasn’t one hundred percent sure that they remembered they had a child.

“I do. They’re home. You’re well come there.” She tilted her head, water dripping from her fingers as she waved her hand. “So tell me. What’s different about you? You look different.”

“Do I?” He gave himself a once-over, being as dramatic as he could. He wasn’t ready to share about Cullen and their little girl. Not until he spoke to his fathers. “I think I just look like me.”

“Oh, no. No, you look different. Definitely not just you. Something’s more .” Oh, Lania was too clever for her own good.

“I need to go see my fathers. I’ll stop back by on my way out, though, and we’ll have a nice visit.” Hopefully, that would assuage any damage.

“Don’t tell me. Just hurt my feelings, that’s all right. I didn’t want to talk to you anyway.” She splashed him, the spray of water making him glitter.

He laughed and waved, then began to wander deeper into the glade, following the paths that had been worn down by millennia of hooves and feet and stones.

The breeze was warm and pleasant, and he could hear the hint of a pipe playing a seductive tune. The satyrs must be rutting. That meant the dryads would be flirting and hiding, the trees circling them in their boughs.

It was lovely to be home, really. It had been too long.

After an apple and a bunch of grapes, along with a long sip of clear water from a stream, Orion found himself at a familiar hill. It was gentle and rolling, olives and apples and apricot trees offering sustenance and shade to the home built right into the side of it. The front door was a deep purple, a single horn carved into the surface.

He knew that there was a foyer on the other side of that door, with a bench to sit and wait and hooks on the wall for cloaks to hang. There was a table too, with fresh fruit and nuts in their shells, candies created from honey—an offering to both visitors and the gods. If he looked beneath that table there was a tiny door carved into the wall, a spot for their petty drake—her name was Elspet and she had amused him for hours as a child, with her gossamer wings and her rainbow scales.

Ivy and moss covered the home so it looked like it was a piece of the earth itself. It was an illusion, of course. Most everything here was open to interpretation. It was rare that he found anyone who remembered that fact. That very little here was real. Unchangeable.

Orion didn’t bother to knock. He just went and found a comfortable place near the door and waited.

They would come to him.

A tiny fairy came fluttering up to him, her entire body no longer than his finger. “Orion! Welcome home.”

He narrowed his eyes and sniffed, discovering the scent of cinnamon and peaches, pink and silver sparks surrounding her. “Finola, is that you?”

“It is! Are you here to see the children?” She bounced down on a leaf, chin in her hand as she watched him.

“I hadn’t thought to, no. I don’t want to disturb them. Are they doing well?”

“Of course. Don’t worry. None of them will remember you, because they’re not the same children as when you left. Now you’re like a story to them, like a legend. They keep coming, though. There’s a bunch. A little world of little ones. All needing parents. All needing friends. There’s a little fox; you could take him. He has a lovely laugh and bright red ears!”

“Oh, lovely, I think that I have my hands full. But I would love to come and peek. Perhaps.” He didn’t want to disrupt anyone; it was hard enough to care for the children.

He remembered.

“Have you missed me? That’s the important part. Did you bring me a present?”

“Of course I brought you a present.” Orion was neither stupid nor did he have a death wish. He pulled a tiny diamond out of his pocket, handed it over. She took it, fluttered over to give him a burning kiss to his cheek.

“Thank you. You’ve done well.”

“You are most welcome. Have you seen my fathers?”

“They are in the garden in the back.”

“Thank you, sweetness.” He bowed, and she tittered, the sound like tiny bells. And he took a deep breath, then let it out.

She buzzed off like a hummingbird, and Orion waited. Maybe he should go around back…

“Orion.” The deep, mellifluous voice of his alpha father sounded, and he smiled, turning to see him standing at the corner of the house.

“Father.” He bowed deeply. “I was worried you wouldn’t remember.”

One dark brow winged up, the only change of his father’s expression. “Orion, I could never forget you. Neither could Alnitak.”

His omega dad was Alnitak, and this father was Rigel. They were dark and light, seriousness and laughter, sky and earth. He loved them so much.

“I am glad, and I meant no insult. You have so many children.”

“We do, my son, but you were special. You stayed with us so long, and you brought so much magick and joy with you.” His father turned on his heel, robes swishing, and led him back around the house to the gardens.

“Orion!” His omega father rose, holding out a pair of dirty hands. “Come give your da a hug!”

He was a beam of light where Father was a stroke of lightning and a burst of thunder. He moved to take the hug, soaking up the grounded, earthy love his da offered.

“Look how handsome you are, my lad,” Da said. “I’m so pleased to see you.”

He breathed in the scents of loam and greenery. “I missed you both.”

“Hmm.” Father stared at them. “You have not used your door in a very long time.”

“I know how much you have to do here. I didn’t want to intrude.”

Da’s bright green eyes widened. “Orion! How could you think we would be too busy for you?”

“He told me he worried we would forget him,” Father said.

His da jerked. “Son! You are beloved. I carried you—and you alone under my heart! How could I have forgotten you, even for a second?”

“Sorry. Sorry. I’m just being an ass.” Tears stung his eyes for a moment. “I had to come see you.”

“What is wrong?” Father asked, frowning deeply.

“Has someone hurt you?” Da glanced to his mate. “Rigel. One of those humans have hurt him!”

Orion? Mate? What’s wrong? Are you having a nightmare? Do you need me?

No, love. I’m fine. I promise, I’ll tell you what’s going on soon, but you just hang out with El, okay?

Okay. As long as you’re fine.

I am. “No one hurt me, Da. I promise. I mean, the closest anyone has come lately is Yarrow, who felled a small tree that almost landed on me.”

“Yarrow?”

“A beaver shifter. Look, we need to talk. It’s serious, yes, but it’s not bad. Can we please go inside?”

“Of course.” Father arched one eyebrow. “Seriously, do you need some assistance? We have no little ones right now. We can come and speak harshly on your behalf.”

Da rolled his eyes. “With our hooves.”

“Oh, I thought there was a fox…”

“Ah, yes, well, he is with others, at the foundling meadow.” Da blinked at him. “We’re taking a bit to rest. Regroup.”

Orion nodded as if he knew what that even meant. “Um, I have news.”

“Come inside. I have honey cakes and tea.” Father opened the door, and they went to the rough-hewn table, the heavy wood gleaming from a million washings.

“What news?” Da took his hand, held it tight.

“My mate is pregnant.” The words just fell from his lips and both of his parents stared at him as if a serpent had leapt from his lips.

“You have a mate!” Da shrieked.

“And they are pregnant?” Father thundered.

“Yep.” He was pretty sure his ears were bleeding. Maybe his nose.

“So, where are they? Who are they? When can we meet them?”

Orion? Love? Is someone yelling at you?

A little, yeah. I came to see my dads to ask permission to bring you to the glade.

Oh. Cullen sighed mentally, which also abraded him . You could have said.

It was supposed to be a good surprise.

“Son, pay attention,” Father snapped.

“Sorry. My mate was worried that someone was screaming at me.”

Da’s eyes widened, and he smiled.

“Don’t you yell at him! He’s the most amazing mate ever and I love him!” His eyes crossed as Cullen’s voice came out of his mouth.

Now his father gaped at him. “Is that your?—”

“Yeah. He’s fierce.”

“We need to meet him. Go and get him.”

Are you ready to meet my dads, love?