Page 9

CHAPTER 9

C as flew towards him, a sparkling vision of gold. His slinky gold tunic hugged his torso. Gold trousers encased his slender legs. Gold painted his lips, cheeks, and eyelids. He even wore long gold dangly earrings with little glass baubles on the end. He cast a pale, shining aura around him, brighter now that it was night.

Graal had no words for the beauty that was Cas.

And as Cas flew towards Graal, he smiled at Graal as if Graal weren’t some hideous monster.

Graal took a breath and smiled back as best he could. He wasn’t used to smiling. He couldn’t fathom why Cas would be happy to spend time with him.

“You made it! I so hoped you would.” Cas reached out and gripped Graal’s hands.

His hands felt so small compared to Graal’s. And Cas seemed genuinely pleased Graal had come. Graal had thought Cas might forget he’d invited him or hadn’t really meant the invitation. He’d thought maybe Cas was just being polite.

Graal thought about not coming. Over and over he’d debated with himself. He didn’t want to turn up and see the shock on Cas’s face if Cas hadn’t actually meant the invitation.

But it turned out he had.

Graal had been uncertain about coming to a place that would be filled with mirth and pretty decorations. Honestly, Graal felt out of place. But looking at Cas’s smile, he couldn’t think of anywhere else he’d rather be.

Graal was glad he’d come. Especially because Cas had seemed so off after seeing the incubus. He’d tried to put on a brave face. But Graal could see through it to the hurt. It almost made Graal want to follow the striking incubus down the street and beat him into the snow.

And then Cas had asked him to come to the markets and had touched his hand.

Of course Graal had said yes. How could he not?

Cas tilted his head. Half of Cas’s hair had been woven into an elaborate hairstyle. The rest hung loose, and the white and pale-blue hair slid across the gold material he wore. “Let me show you the markets.” Cas linked his arm with Graal’s as if touching Graal was the most natural thing in the world.

Graal felt so aware of Cas beside him, so close. Cas flew above the ground as they moved through the markets. With their height difference, this brought their heads to about the same level. Graal kept glancing down at their joined arms.

“I want you to really enjoy the Christmas markets tonight!”

“I’ll try my best.” Graal had to admit that the markets overwhelmed him. Everywhere he looked seemed to shine and erupt with over-the-top exuberance and festive nonsense. Music floated through the air. People laughed and yelled and carried on. Children darted around.

This was not his thing .

Graal belonged in his dark and dank room alone. Not amongst this merriment and frivolity. But Cas really wanted him to enjoy tonight. So Graal would try.

Cas tugged on his arm. “Oh! Chestnuts! Come on, let’s try some. I haven’t had any this year.”

Graal noticed several people glancing at Cas in appreciation as they moved through the crowd. Then they frowned at Graal as if confused as to why the two would be together.

Graal could understand the confusion. He wanted to tell them they weren’t actually together. Cas was just being kind.

“Mommy! A troll!” The whispered words came from a siren child who cowered behind her mother. “Is he going to eat me?”

Graal hunched his shoulders and looked away as the mother scooped the child up and whispered to her.

Graal wasn’t a troll. But some couldn’t tell the difference. Some didn’t care to learn. For many, they were all the same—big, ugly, hideous monsters.

Trolls didn’t eat children, of course. But he’d heard the sorts of fairy tales parents told their children. Behave or the troll, ogre, or orc would sneak into their room and eat them whilst they slept.

Graal’s lip curled. Thankfully, Cas hadn’t heard the child’s comment, and he led Graal to the stand where a man sold chestnuts from a large hot metal drum.

“We’ll take a bag, please.” Cas dropped Graal’s arm to count out his coins.

“I can get them.” Graal reached for his coin-purse.

“Shhh. It’s on me.” Cas waved his hand. “I invited you, and it was kind of you to come out.”

Cas took the paper bag of chestnuts from the vendor. They moved to the side so they weren’t blocking the crowds. Cas held out the paper bag to Graal.

Graal reached out and took one of the nuts. He peeled the warm hard shell from the pale flesh and popped it into his mouth. He chewed the buttery sweet, soft nut. “They’re good.”

Cas tucked the bag into the crook of his arm and reached for a nut.

“Here, I can hold the bag for you.” Graal reached out and took it.

Cas smiled and began to peel a chestnut. “Chestnuts always remind me of sitting with my family in the winter. We’d often put a pan into the open fire with a couple of handfuls of chestnuts. We’d roast them before passing them around.”

Cas popped the nut into his mouth and let out a groan, a groan that caused heat to curl in Graal’s gut and the orc to think things he shouldn’t. Like did Cas sound similar when he experienced pleasure at the touch of a lover’s hand?

Graal cleared his throat. “Your family are witches, human witches.”

Cas laughed. “And I’m a pixie.” Cas reached into the paper bag. It crinkled as he pulled out another chestnut and peeled it. “I’m adopted. I’m not sure what happened to my birth parents. Not sure if they died or gave me up or what, but I spent the first few years of my life in a foundling home. It wasn’t nice.”

Cas grimaced, and Graal couldn’t help but feel how wrong the expression looked on Cas’s lovely face. Graal wanted Cas to smile, and he wanted to see Cas’s sky-blue eyes sparkle with mirth. Sadness didn’t suit Cas.

“Then I flew away. I lived on the streets for a while. It was horrible there too. Winter came, and it was worse. The snow never stopped. The cold reached down to my bones, and I just wanted to get warm.” Cas kept his gaze on the chestnut. “Pixies are less susceptible to the cold compared to humans. Still, it’s unpleasant. ”

Graal nodded. It was similar for orcs.

“So I was walking down this alley, and then I saw these candles and baubles through a window. They were so beautiful.” Cas smiled. “It was like the inside glowed with light, and I could almost feel the warmth.” Cas met Graal’s gaze. Cas held up the peeled chestnut. “Open up.”

“What?” Graal frowned.

Cas held the chestnut to Graal’s lips. “Open up.”

Graal opened his mouth, surprised when Cas placed the chestnut on his tongue, fingers brushing Graal’s lips before retreating. Cas’s gaze lingered on him.

“Then I heard her sing.” And Cas began to sing,

“Trim and decorate the tree,

Come and be merry with me,

The fire will keep the cold away,

We’ll have a merry Christmas Day.”

Cas peeled another nut and held it out to Graal. Graal obediently opened his lips and let Cas place it into his mouth, fingers once against brushing Graal’s lips.

“It was like a siren song, calling me in.” Cas laughed. “I flew up to the window and gazed in. A witch stood, singing alone in the bakery, stirring the cauldron on the stove. No one had ever shown me much kindness until that point in my life. Yet somehow, I knew she would. I flew down and opened the door. In I crept. She kept singing. I came up beside her and sat, just watching her, wanting to be near her.”

“Then what happened?” Graal asked.

“She saw me and screamed.” Cas shook his head, a fond smile on his lips. “But then she recovered. She picked me up, cooing over me and saying how cold I must be and how thin and small I was. She made me cookies and hot chocolate, and I never left. They already had so many children. So lots of mouths to feed. They weren’t wealthy. But they took me in and cared for me. And that’s how I became a pixie witch. ”

Cas’s smile dimmed. “They died about thirteen years ago, my mother and father. I think of them every single day. I miss them.”

Cas gazed at one of the Christmas trees. Light from the candles and globes reflected off his face, causing the gold paint to shimmer. “Whenever I see Christmas baubles and hear Christmas music, it reminds me of that first Christmas when I came in out of the cold and found my true family.”

Graal’s throat tightened. “I see why you love Christmas so much.”

“I think that’s why I want to spread Christmas cheer, because that’s what my mother, my father, and my family did for me,” Cas said, voice soft. “I want to give that to others.”

Graal nodded.

Cas flew on, and Graal walked beside him. They walked close, arms knocking together.

It didn’t mean anything. Cas feeding Graal nuts, the casual touches, it couldn’t mean anything. How could it? How could someone like Cas want someone like Graal?

But every time Cas leaned in close, heat flooded Graal’s body. He stammered and flushed and dropped his gaze.

If this were another orc, or a troll or ogre, he’d have assumed they were interested.

But Cas couldn’t want Graal. He could have anyone. And he’d seen the captivating incubus who had been Cas’s partner. Graal couldn’t even compare to someone like that.

But as they walked and Cas showed him the markets, he kept casually touching Graal, a hand to his shoulder, arm, or wrist. Cas kept leaning in close, gaze locking with Graal’s and lingering.

And Graal could almost believe Cas desired him. Almost.