CHAPTER 20

“ I ’m so sorry, Graal! I just got carried away. I was so angry. But I shouldn’t have lost my temper and told him you were leaving. That wasn’t my call to make.” Cas frowned. “Now you’re going to have to live in our apartment.”

Cas’s eyes and aura had returned to their normal colour. “There are nine of us and only five bedrooms. So it’s pretty tight.”

“It’s fine.” Graal hiked his rucksack that contained all his few belongings onto his back. And truthfully, it was fine. He’d lived there for over ten years. But he didn’t like it. It had never felt like home. Nowhere had.

So he’d leave, accept Cas’s offer, and stay with him and his family for a few days. But he refused to live off their charity. He’d need to find a new place. In the end, he might end up paying more and being treated the same as he had been.

But he’d happily go through the struggle of finding a new home to have heard Cas defend him and proclaim Graal to be wonderful and amazing. And to top it all off, Cas had called Fernos a shitty landlord and a stinking cockhead. Then told him to fuck off. Cas had done all that on Graal’s behalf. The memory would keep Graal warm for years to come.

Graal chuckled as he remembered Loral and Fernos, eyes watering, coughing, and stumbling from the room. “Thank you for standing up for me.”

“Of course.” Cas reached out and gripped his forearm. “He shouldn’t treat you like that. No one should treat you like that.”

Graal smiled. “And are you sure it is all right if I stay with you? It’ll only be for a few days until I find somewhere new. But I know it is already pretty cramped. I can find an inn.”

“It will be fine.” Cas waved his hand. “I promise.”

“If you’re sure.”

They continued to walk down the darkened streets. Several lanterns cast their golden light.

“And what happened back there?” Graal asked. “You glowed red, and your pixie dust changed.”

Cas laughed. “It’s a pixie defence. It’s meant to frighten off attackers. It can be pretty useful at times.”

“Well, it definitely worked.” Graal chuckled. “But why didn’t I start coughing?”

“It’s a targeted attack,” Cas said. “My pixie dust becomes mildly unpleasant to everyone but absolutely wretched to those whom I am feeling a strong negative emotion towards. I have learnt to control it and hold it back when I want to.”

Cas shook his head. “The first time it happened, it was because my twin brothers, Jasper and Leo, stole a cookie from me.” His laughter rang down the street.

“I was still just a little pixie. But there I was flying in the air, glowing red, pixie dust spewing everywhere, and yelling at them. They were coughing and bent over, their eyes and nose running.” Cas wiped at his eyes. “They never stole a cookie from me again. ”

“I bet.” Graal grinned, shaking his head as he chuckled. “I imagine it would have been quite a shock to your family.”

“And after that incident, father started finding every book he could on pixies. He said they needed to learn more if they were raising one. We’ve got quite a few books now. Although, I’ll be honest, I haven’t read most of them. Briar is the reader in the family.”

Soon they reached the apartment. They walked up the stairs, and Cas entered before him.

“Graal will be staying with us for a few days,” Cas announced even before Graal had fully entered the room. “Oh.” Cas paused. “Hello.”

Grady sat on a chair before the fire. A gargoyle sat opposite him.

“This is Uzoth,” Grady introduced. “Uzoth, this is Graal and my brother Cas.”

The gargoyle inclined his head an inch in greeting. Graal nodded back. Graal realised he’d seen the gargoyle in the area before. But he had never seen the gargoyle anywhere but on rooftops.

“Nice to meet you, Uzoth.” Cas tilted his head, gazing at Uzoth.

Meanwhile, Grady looked between Cas and Graal. “We don’t have a lot of room.”

“It’ll just be a few days,” Cas said, attention back on Grady. “And if you had heard his knobhead landlord, you’d be so angry!” Cas’s wings flapped, and he flew to Grady. “He has tenants who live in the rooms above ground. But then he makes the orcs and certain other races live in the basement. They have a separate entrance, they’re not allowed to have visitors or decorate, and he called Graal the most awful words!” Cas’s hands clenched.

“I did my whole angry pixie thing. I yelled at the landlord and told him to fuck off. And I said other things. But I was so angry, so I don’t remember most of it.” His words rushed together. “But I know I said Graal wouldn’t be living there anymore. So he has nowhere to live because of me, and so we have to let him stay here! Please, Grady. I promised!”

Grady lifted a hand. “All right, Cas. All right. He can stay.” He looked to Graal. “I’m sorry you were treated like that.”

“It’s all right,” Graal said. “I’m used to it. Thank you?—”

Cas flew straight at Graal, grabbing his arms with an iron grip. “You shouldn’t be used to it! You deserve so much better, Graal. How dare anyone treat you like that!”

Graal’s breath caught as he stared into Cas’s intense pale-blue eyes. His throat tightened. No one had ever cared about him like Cas did.

Grady cleared his throat. “I think Lacy said something about a party tonight with Orim. So she should be gone for a little bit, probably even the whole night,” Grady said. “And I’m sure she wouldn’t mind sleeping on the couch if she does come home. Tomorrow we can organise sleeping arrangements for the next few days.”

“I don’t want to put you out. I can sleep on the floor in here.” Graal gestured. “Or I can just go to an inn. Really, it’s no trouble.”

“No,” Grady said, voice firm. “You need a place to stay for a few days. So you will stay here. We will look after you.” It seemed like once Grady made a decision, he stuck to it. “We’ll work something out properly tomorrow. But for now, you two can go and get some rest. Sounds like you had a big day.”