123 Coming together

Laughter erupted from the floor to ceiling glass double doors as a bruised and bloody Arei followed by a large red wolf carrying a pair of gym shorts in his mouth busted through from outside. "You got some balls, kid, that's for fucking sure!"

The smell of bacon, eggs, and pancakes wafted throughout the kitchen and into the other open areas of the home. Jos and Ry were business as always by the stove, each with comically cute aprons one with cats and the other with ruffles and heart poke-a-dots. Raven sat on one of the dining chairs with Isha straddling her lap talking a mile a minute about one thing after another. She had decided to extend her visit by a few days after discovering what fun was to be had in the large cliffside home. They were schedule to leave directly after dinner tonight.

Raven was the first to tilt her head has the men walked inside. "What in the world happened to you?" She asked looking Arei over.

He chuckled, "The pup got a few good blows in and one hell of a ballsy trick, but not to worry my last one took him down quick enough." He winked in the girls direction. "If you ladies will excuse me, I'm going to take a much needed dip now."

Russ was already halfway to shifting and pulling up his shorts when Jos, Raven and Isha's attention turned back to him. "And you? Felt the need to shift before coming inside this time?"

Russ's hand rubbed over his perfect shoulder as he grimaced. "I'm not sure I'll ever learn to fight against these two's water manipulation tricks." He shook off the memory of being impaled by a watery staff yet again as he strolled over to Jos. "Looks delicious, as does the food he said." Nipping at the tender flesh of Jos's neck.

She shuttered her attention on the sizzling bacon in the pan. Her face heated of thought of his mouth on other parts of her body only an hour earlier before they had gotten out of bed for the day. For all the time they had spent apart or fighting he'd sure found a way to make up for the lost time, especially now that Isha was here to help fulfill all his twisted fantasies in Jos's fashion department with a snap of her fingers. She'd even taken some pages from his book and gotten kinkier with Raven.

"I'm going to go find a shirt. Love you, baby." He pecked her cheek as he made his way to their bedroom. Jos blushed as she continued concentrating on the bacon.

"How much longer?" Raven called from table, Isha still on her lap. "I'm starved and we need to get going soon. I still want to stop by the bar and check on Liam before leaving the country."

"About 20 minutes or so." Ry called out.

Raven tapped Isha's ass to get her to stand. "Alright, well yell at us when it's ready I'm going to go gather the last of my bags. Gotta get my queen here to teleport my shit ahead of us, ya know." She laughed giving Isha's small shoulders a squeeze as she lead her toward the bedrooms.

Jos nodded but refused to meet his curious gaze.

"Have you really agreed to marry him?" Ry asked.

Jos nodded. "If... as long as... well ya know..."

He arched a brow, "As long as you don't end up locked up in that cave for another hundred years or so..." He filled in for her.

Her cheeks reddened. "That yes... and as long as his people accepts me." Her timid eyes finally met his. "I couldn't rightfully stand by his side if they didn't."

He nodded, "Understandable." He said as he flipped another pancake perfectly onto its uncooked side. "I was just thinking it wouldn't be so wise, ya know... telling the kid what he wants to hear now, to keep the peace and whatnot." He gave her a knowing look as he continued. "Seems like the best course of action would be honesty up front."

Jos frowned as she busied herself with anything but meeting his gaze. "He's happy... I'm happy... why ruin that?"

Ry laid the spatula down on the counter and turned fully toward Jos. He hooked his finger under her chin lifting her face to his as he leaned his hips against the counter. "That's all fine for now but what happens later when the truth of the matter comes out?" He smoothed a large thumb over wrinkles of her scrunched up brow. "I care for you, Jos, and no matter how much I like poking the boy, I've began to care for him as well. I don't want to see either of you hurt like this."

Her frown deepened, "What would you have me do then? He refuses to take no for an answer, Ry. He refuses to take uncertainty for any kind of answer." She shook her head against his hand. "I don't know what to do other than make him happy and enjoy the now."

A sad smile spread across Ry's face as he lowered his lips to her forehead and placed a light kiss there. "I understand." He whispered as his lips lingered there.

"What the fuck! I already got to deal with this big mother fucker trying to move in on my girl, now you?" Russ teased as he and Arei moved into the kitchen.

Arei grinned widely and sprinted over to Jos lifting her up off the ground and spinning her around in his arms. Holding her tightly to his chest he chuckled, "Just call us the 'still yo girl twins'!" He joked. His teasing eyes went to Ry's and caught the almost unnoticeable head shake. His gaze slowly turned to Jos and he noted she was trying her best to fight back tears. He forced a smile as he lowered her to the ground, turning her head into his chest and very gently rubbing his knuckle playfully into her scalp. "I mean come on, she obviously has a type, am I right." He said loudly but the gaze he held her eyes with asked without saying the words 'are you alright?'.

Jos covered a sniffle with a small laugh. "I must, animals, the lot of you." She shoved against him with the hand that had been clinging to the front of his shirt moments ago in anxiety. She glanced nervously over to Russ, but was surprised to find he'd simply ignored the exchange and was now fingering through the stack of pancakes greedily. When her attention moved back to Arei the salient question still remained. His wide hazel eyes moved back and forth between her and Russ's back. Jos simply shook her head and took another step back away from him as his grip slowly loosened around her arms.

"So how does someone like you learn how to cook like this, anyways?" Russ asked around the pancake he'd shoved whole into his mouth.

Ry shrugged, not looking up from the pan as he flipped the last of the pancakes over. "It's relaxing." He smacked Russ's hand with the spatula as it shot out to take another pancake. "You a fork, kid."

Russ laughed as he grabbed a fork and ran it through several pancakes at once and loaded them onto his plate. "I wouldn't be as hungry if your roided up clone over there would stop trying to turn me into a human shish-kabob."

"Too bad I missed." Arei growled as he continued following Jos around the room with his eyes. She'd quietly made her way over to the pantry to remove and fold the apron she wore.

Russ simply laughed and turned to find her almost instantly. "Want me to make you a plate, babe?" He asked holding an empty plate into the air.

Jos shook her head. "I'm not hungry... I... snacked while we were cooking." She lied. "I think I'm going to go see how Raven and Isha are doing, see if they need a hand or something..." She paused and turned back to Russ. "Maybe make on for Shelly? I don't think she's came out of her room yet." With that she headed for the stairs mounting them quickly.

Russ nodded and made his way out to the spacious patio with his plate. As soon as the door closed behind him Arei turned toward the steps and made short work of the distance between the kitchen and the stairs. "I'll be back." He called to Ry over his shoulder.

"Leave her be." Ry called after him as he turned of the stove and began gathering the dirty dishes around him.

Arei snorted and continued toward the stairs. "Somethings wrong." He said matter-of-factly.

"Leave her be and come eat." Ry said more sternly this time. When Arei finally turned his full attention to him, he nodded toward the patio. "She's fine, isn't his fault... this time... well it still involves him... but not directly..."

Arei took several large steps back into the kitchen. "What are you talking about? What is going on?"

Ry glanced to the patio doors. "It's probably best we didn't talk about it here right now."

Arei narrowed his eyes to the door. "I was going to go down and check on Ty in a bit, if you'd like to join me."

Ry nodded. "It would be for the best. There's no point in causing drama, prematurely anyhow." He placed the dishes into the dishwasher and removed his own apron before felling one of the empty plates for himself.

Arei's gaze shifted back and forth between the top landing of the stairs where Jos had disappeared and the patio. "I see." He said nodding and walking over to make his own plate. "How much longer?" He asked, knowing Ry would understand exactly what he was asking.

Ry shrugged as he carried his plate to the table. "With Raven and Isha leaving today, I'd say the sooner the better. The longer we sit in the states, the more likely we are to be found, and keeping them together makes them easier targets." He took a bite and waited until the food was chewed and swallowed before continuing. "Ideally, all three would go in different directions Shelly with Raven or to her in-laws for now, Jos with you, and Russ with me."

"You think they'll make a move this soon?" Arei asked as he drowned his stack with syrup and pecans.

Ry nodded. "I think they know if they want to make a move, it would be better to do so here in the states verses the island where Jos and Raven would be at full fighting strength and the wolves would likely have the support of their clan."

Arei nodded. "But it would be nearly impossible for the vampires to track them here. Let's be real, they would have to be ballzy mother fuckers to attack here even with the fae gone. Four demi-gods would smash them flat in seconds."

Ry pointed the end of his fork toward Arei. "True, but at best they only know about you. It's very likely they know nothing of Ty and I being here, let along Jos being a demi-god as well... the cursed beast by now maybe but not her full identity."

Arei nodded. "That's sure to come as a surprise to them." He chuckled recalling some of the harsh comments about her during the meetings in Florida. "From what I gathered from Florida, they were none the wiser... thought she was human." He added around a bite. "If I had to wager, I figure none of them knew until seconds before she killed them... even then couldn't have sensed it." He chuckled, "I doubt they even registered the pull she has on men as anything other attraction to a pretty face."

Ry laughed but then turned thoughtful. "Do you think the kid realizes it?" He asked not noticing the back door opening.

"Do I realize what?" Russ asked stepping through with his empty plate and mug.

Ry choked a bit on his food. "Ah ummm... nothing..." He answered.

Arei narrowed his eyes. "No," He directed his words to Ry but never took his eyes of Russ. "He should know... we should know his answer... could help with the case." He straighten and kicked the chair across from him out. "Have a seat." He waited until Russ flopped down into the chair laying his empty dishes in front of him, then asked. "Are you aware the attraction you feel for Jos is part of the Kraken's curse or have you mistaken that attraction and possessive tendency as actual love and affection?"

A nerve in Russ's jaw twitched. "I am well aware of the power she has over most men." He said curtly.

"But?" Arei pushed.

Russ fought the anger building inside him. "I assure you my 'affections' are based strictly on Jos the person and not Jos the siren-kraken," he corrected. "I love the person she is, regardless of the creature she hides inside. It is that sweet, loveable, charming girl who always puts everyone else's needs ahead of her self, who would leave every thing she knows to help someone else... a girl who pretended to grow up with me and Shelly so we would always have a friend and playmate no matter how many times we had to move... the girl who not only stood up for us when we were being bullied for being orphaned, stray mutts, but who also posed as our much older guardian to take up for us with the school and school boards. I love the girl I grew up with, not the 'monster' you assholes perceive her to be." He pushed his chair back angerly scraping it across the aged hardwood floor. "I'm not listening to this bullshit. I've got the only mother I've ever known leaving in a few hours. If you don't mind I'd rather spend that time with her verses answering your fucking stupid questions." He shoved up from the chair and stomped around the table.

Ry chuckled as Arei quickly pushed up from the table and blocked Russ's way.

"Move." Russ growled, his lip curled up in a snarl.

Arei nodded his head and clasped Russ on the shoulder before pulling him in tightly against his chest for a hug. "Glad to hear it, man. If I have to see her with another man, I couldn't be happier than to know he sees her the same way we do." With that Arei released him and seat back down.

Russ's confused eyes moved back and forth between Arei and Ry. "What in the actual fuck???" Russ mumbled still looking back and forth between their identical smiling faces.

Ry answered this time. "We just had to be sure, kid."

Arei chimed in. "I'm positive the vampires only thought she was human and didn't realize the attraction was the curse and not the girl. I have a feeling it was that obsession, that drive that fueled Dante's torture of Shelly. It also clouded Xavier's judgements enough to slow, maybe even stopped, what ever crazy motive he for forcing a merger of all the vampire clans."

Russ froze for a second as the information washed over him. He turned and walked back to his seat at the table. "So you're saying..." He shook his head. "Alright, exactly what are you saying?"

Arei glanced over at Ry. When Ry nodded he turned his attention back to Russ. "About a year ago, Ry, as you already know was sent to keep an eye on you and your sister. I was sent to 'work' as a body guard for the North American vampire clan. Would you like to know why?" He didn't wait for Russ to answer, instead he shot right into the explanation. "The DeMarco's had began combining many of the worlds largest clans again. The council was convinced they were picking up where their father had left off or out for vengeance against those who killed him."

"Who killed him?" Russ asked leaning forward.

"Jos and Raven." Ry answered matter of fractally. "Raven plead to the courts it was in defense of you and Shelly. He was about to attack you as Jos attempted to carry you through the palace gates. Jos's tentacle plunged through his heart as Raven's blade severed his head. It was a hell-of-a sight from what I was told."