“I see what you’re doing.”
Loch grinned. “Of course you do. But who better than my brother Air to assist me in such a quest.”
“Ugh,” Henry groaned. “Don’t talk to me about air right now. Because you do realize what this means, don’t you?”
“Yes, my mage. I do.”
“Why aren’t you upset? This affects you as much as it does me!”
“To learn that the god who hunts us is the god of air, the god who controls the very powers we seek to use against him?”
“Yeah. That. Cause I’m pretty upset about that minor detail.”
“Why?”
Henry waved his arm around. “Loch, come on. You aren’t dense. Stop pretending like you are. You survived in the fae court. You know how to see around corners.”
“I do.”
“Then…” Henry waited.
Loch straightened and his eyes took on a predatory gleam. He walked forward, removing the long loose shirt he wore as he went.
Henry gulped and fought the urge to back up a few steps. His beauty made it easy to forget just how dangerous Loch could be. He hadn’t been the fae prince’s guard because he was a pushover. No, their Loch was a warrior, through and through. Loch stopped mere inches away from Henry and turned, leaving Henry staring at the broad expanse of his back. All those pretty muscles, the lines where his wings were magically hidden away. And his guardian mark, proudly on display where it had once been hidden beneath a mass of scars. It looked like a wing. Most of the guardian marks revealed something about their power. Henry reached out and ran his finger over the design. Loch trembled beneath the touch.
“You ask why I am not frightened? Because I have been chosen, Henry. As have you. We are part of Sawyer’s plan, whether he remembers it or not. He chose us. How can I be afraid when he has bestowed such an honor upon me?”
Henry glanced down at his wrist, at the mark which had appeared so many years ago on his arm. It had frightened his uncle and his mentor. His fathers had been afraid, too. They knew it meant a life of danger for him. And they’d been right. It was dangerous. But it was also filled with so much love. Henry sighed and Loch turned to him once more.
“The question-answer device says dance is important to humans in their mating habits. I have studied this ritual but find I require practice.”
“Are you asking me to dance?”
“Yes.”
Henry chuckled. “Fine. But don’t expect me to stop thinking.”
“I would not ask the impossible of you, my mage.”
“I appreciate that.”
“I forgot the question-answer device. I do not have music.”
“Tablet, Loch. It’s called a tablet. And I can take care of music.”
Henry moved to his laptop where it sat on the table and opened a music streaming station. He selected a channel whose icon had lots of red and hearts, and sure enough a classic love song began to croon through the speakers.
Loch grinned and pulled him close. “I do enjoy human music,” he confessed.
“I’m glad.”
“Am I dancing correctly?”
“Loch?”
“Yes, Henry?”
“Shut up.”
