Crimson Death
Page 110
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Socrates asked, “Anita, how do you feel?”
It made me turn and look at him sitting across the aisle from Damian. Socrates’ newly short hair was almost shaved so that the tight curl of his hair was completely gone. His face seemed bare, shorn, which would have robbed most men of some of their beauty; I was a big one for nice hair, but his face could carry it. It made his brown eyes look larger, and the dark planes of his face seemed more prominent so that an attractive face had become handsome. Which meant he’d always been handsome. I just hadn’t noticed.
“Anita, can you hear me?” he asked.
I nodded. “I hear you.”
“Okay, how do you feel?”
“I feel . . . fine, good, though every time I think that part I know I shouldn’t be fine on an airplane, and that makes me poke at it and realize that it’s not me.”
Magda spoke from the seat behind him. “Please leave well enough alone, Socrates. Anita is happy enough, aren’t you?”
I nodded.
“Fine. I’ll leave it alone while we’re in the air, but I have some questions when we land.”
“When we land,” she said.
Socrates looked back at her. “You’re okay with this?”
“Have you ever flown with Anita before?” Dev asked.
“No.”
“I have; trust me, this is good.”
Nathaniel said, “She’s fine, Socrates, I promise.”
“Please don’t make me overthink this,” I said.
Socrates held his hands up as if to say okay, and settled back in his chair. Domino was sitting beside him, watching me with his red-and-yellow fire-colored eyes. They were so much more exotic than the golden tigers’ eyes, even Dev’s blue-brown ones. The black clan could never pass for human with those blaze-colored eyes.
Ethan, sitting just behind Domino, looked at me with soft gray eyes. They were tiger eyes in a human face, too, but the color, like the golden tigers, helped him pass for human. Though I’d learned that they looked like tiger eyes, all the clan tigers’ eyes that they had from birth functioned more like human eyes for seeing. It meant they didn’t need prescription glasses to read, or see far off the way that Micah did with his permanent cat eyes. They looked like tiger eyes, but they functioned more like exotic human ones. Until Micah had admitted his need for glasses, I’d never asked the clan tigers how it worked. Unless you ask, you never know. Ethan’s hair was white-blond with gray highlights, or I guess gray lowlights, but there was a streak of dark red that ran from the curls at the front to the back of his head. It wasn’t a talented dye job, just natural coloring. He was part white tiger, which gave him the white-blond hair and the paler skin tone, but blue tiger had mixed with the white to make gray in his hair, and the red streak was red tiger clan. What didn’t show physically was that he also had gold tiger inside him. He’d gained that as a form after he met me, but he’d always been able to change into three forms; now he had four. If he’d been black tiger clan he’d have been a clean sweep of all of them. His mother had been red tiger clan, his father white, but where the blue and gold had snuck in no one knew. Both parents were supposed to be pure red clan and white clan, respectively. Guess not.
Ethan looked back at me. “Anita, is there something you wanted?”
I blinked at him and said, very calmly, “A lot of the clan tigers were pushing me to date you more seriously because you have most of the bloodlines.”
Damian’s hand tightened a little around my and Nathaniel’s hands as if he were afraid I’d say the wrong thing. I didn’t plan on it. Nicky’s hand stayed neutral on my leg as if he knew better, or didn’t care about Ethan’s feelings; it could go either way with him.
Ethan nodded. “I remember; it was a way for you to not choose among the clans but marry most of them. My mixed heritage that had made none of the red clan want to mate with me was suddenly an asset.”
“I know the clan that raised you treated you like shit,” I said.
“You rescued me,” he said with a smile.
“I’m sorry that after I rescued you my dance card was too full for the romance you wanted, but I saw Nilda kissing you good-bye in the parking lot. I didn’t know she had that kind of happiness in her. I really thought she was too crazy to date. I’m glad I was wrong and that you found each other,” I said.
Ethan smiled that smile you get when you’re first in love. “All the ancient werebears are a little crazy, but Nilda just needed love and couples therapy.”
“You went to couples therapy when you’d just started dating each other?” Socrates asked, turning in his seat to look at the other man.
“She was on the list for mandatory therapy or she’d be fired from the guard. It scared her to go, so I told her I’d go with her if it would help, and it turned into couples therapy after a while.”
Socrates shook his head. “You must have wanted to be with her bad, or you’re just a better person than I am. When my wife asked for therapy, I said no.”
“She was in the parking lot kissing you good-bye. Did she forgive you?”
“No, she left me. I think I wanted her to leave when I first became a shapeshifter. I thought I was a danger to her and our son, and then the hyena group in L.A. was crazy violent. It wasn’t until I came out here that I thought I had a job and a life that wouldn’t endanger them.”
“You’re lucky she waited for you to come to your senses,” Kaazim said.
“Very lucky,” Jake said from the seat beside him.
“She didn’t wait for me. I mean, she was dating. In fact, she was dating one guy seriously when I asked her to try again.”
“Then you are doubly lucky,” Kaazim said. Jake just nodded.
“I am. You saw her: She’s beautiful and could have anyone she wanted. I so don’t deserve her after all I put her through.”
“I’m glad you felt safe enough to bring her and your son to St. Louis,” I said.
Socrates smiled at me. “Me, too.”
“When is the baby due?” I asked.
“Soon, and we just found out it’s a girl.”
Appreciative noises were made. Fortune called from the backseats that she and Echo were sharing, “That’s wonderful to feel safe enough to have a family.” I remembered what Sin had said, that Fortune had talked to Nathaniel about being his baby momma. There was a spurt of jealousy, which wasn’t an emotion I felt much.
The jealousy went straight to anger, which was usually my default for any negative emotion. Damian’s hand squeezed, but this time Nicky leaned in closer, running his hand up my thigh. It wasn’t sexual, more comforting, but he’d unbuckled his seat belt to do it so that I was suddenly looking into his face almost close enough to kiss. I knew he felt my emotions, but not my thoughts. What did he think had made me feel jealous?
It made me turn and look at him sitting across the aisle from Damian. Socrates’ newly short hair was almost shaved so that the tight curl of his hair was completely gone. His face seemed bare, shorn, which would have robbed most men of some of their beauty; I was a big one for nice hair, but his face could carry it. It made his brown eyes look larger, and the dark planes of his face seemed more prominent so that an attractive face had become handsome. Which meant he’d always been handsome. I just hadn’t noticed.
“Anita, can you hear me?” he asked.
I nodded. “I hear you.”
“Okay, how do you feel?”
“I feel . . . fine, good, though every time I think that part I know I shouldn’t be fine on an airplane, and that makes me poke at it and realize that it’s not me.”
Magda spoke from the seat behind him. “Please leave well enough alone, Socrates. Anita is happy enough, aren’t you?”
I nodded.
“Fine. I’ll leave it alone while we’re in the air, but I have some questions when we land.”
“When we land,” she said.
Socrates looked back at her. “You’re okay with this?”
“Have you ever flown with Anita before?” Dev asked.
“No.”
“I have; trust me, this is good.”
Nathaniel said, “She’s fine, Socrates, I promise.”
“Please don’t make me overthink this,” I said.
Socrates held his hands up as if to say okay, and settled back in his chair. Domino was sitting beside him, watching me with his red-and-yellow fire-colored eyes. They were so much more exotic than the golden tigers’ eyes, even Dev’s blue-brown ones. The black clan could never pass for human with those blaze-colored eyes.
Ethan, sitting just behind Domino, looked at me with soft gray eyes. They were tiger eyes in a human face, too, but the color, like the golden tigers, helped him pass for human. Though I’d learned that they looked like tiger eyes, all the clan tigers’ eyes that they had from birth functioned more like human eyes for seeing. It meant they didn’t need prescription glasses to read, or see far off the way that Micah did with his permanent cat eyes. They looked like tiger eyes, but they functioned more like exotic human ones. Until Micah had admitted his need for glasses, I’d never asked the clan tigers how it worked. Unless you ask, you never know. Ethan’s hair was white-blond with gray highlights, or I guess gray lowlights, but there was a streak of dark red that ran from the curls at the front to the back of his head. It wasn’t a talented dye job, just natural coloring. He was part white tiger, which gave him the white-blond hair and the paler skin tone, but blue tiger had mixed with the white to make gray in his hair, and the red streak was red tiger clan. What didn’t show physically was that he also had gold tiger inside him. He’d gained that as a form after he met me, but he’d always been able to change into three forms; now he had four. If he’d been black tiger clan he’d have been a clean sweep of all of them. His mother had been red tiger clan, his father white, but where the blue and gold had snuck in no one knew. Both parents were supposed to be pure red clan and white clan, respectively. Guess not.
Ethan looked back at me. “Anita, is there something you wanted?”
I blinked at him and said, very calmly, “A lot of the clan tigers were pushing me to date you more seriously because you have most of the bloodlines.”
Damian’s hand tightened a little around my and Nathaniel’s hands as if he were afraid I’d say the wrong thing. I didn’t plan on it. Nicky’s hand stayed neutral on my leg as if he knew better, or didn’t care about Ethan’s feelings; it could go either way with him.
Ethan nodded. “I remember; it was a way for you to not choose among the clans but marry most of them. My mixed heritage that had made none of the red clan want to mate with me was suddenly an asset.”
“I know the clan that raised you treated you like shit,” I said.
“You rescued me,” he said with a smile.
“I’m sorry that after I rescued you my dance card was too full for the romance you wanted, but I saw Nilda kissing you good-bye in the parking lot. I didn’t know she had that kind of happiness in her. I really thought she was too crazy to date. I’m glad I was wrong and that you found each other,” I said.
Ethan smiled that smile you get when you’re first in love. “All the ancient werebears are a little crazy, but Nilda just needed love and couples therapy.”
“You went to couples therapy when you’d just started dating each other?” Socrates asked, turning in his seat to look at the other man.
“She was on the list for mandatory therapy or she’d be fired from the guard. It scared her to go, so I told her I’d go with her if it would help, and it turned into couples therapy after a while.”
Socrates shook his head. “You must have wanted to be with her bad, or you’re just a better person than I am. When my wife asked for therapy, I said no.”
“She was in the parking lot kissing you good-bye. Did she forgive you?”
“No, she left me. I think I wanted her to leave when I first became a shapeshifter. I thought I was a danger to her and our son, and then the hyena group in L.A. was crazy violent. It wasn’t until I came out here that I thought I had a job and a life that wouldn’t endanger them.”
“You’re lucky she waited for you to come to your senses,” Kaazim said.
“Very lucky,” Jake said from the seat beside him.
“She didn’t wait for me. I mean, she was dating. In fact, she was dating one guy seriously when I asked her to try again.”
“Then you are doubly lucky,” Kaazim said. Jake just nodded.
“I am. You saw her: She’s beautiful and could have anyone she wanted. I so don’t deserve her after all I put her through.”
“I’m glad you felt safe enough to bring her and your son to St. Louis,” I said.
Socrates smiled at me. “Me, too.”
“When is the baby due?” I asked.
“Soon, and we just found out it’s a girl.”
Appreciative noises were made. Fortune called from the backseats that she and Echo were sharing, “That’s wonderful to feel safe enough to have a family.” I remembered what Sin had said, that Fortune had talked to Nathaniel about being his baby momma. There was a spurt of jealousy, which wasn’t an emotion I felt much.
The jealousy went straight to anger, which was usually my default for any negative emotion. Damian’s hand squeezed, but this time Nicky leaned in closer, running his hand up my thigh. It wasn’t sexual, more comforting, but he’d unbuckled his seat belt to do it so that I was suddenly looking into his face almost close enough to kiss. I knew he felt my emotions, but not my thoughts. What did he think had made me feel jealous?
