“Unfortunately, Ori is perceptive. He figured out how we felt, and it put a distance between us.”
Dad’s eyes looked pained, and a muscle ticked in his jaw. “About a century ago, Lael changed drastically. In hindsight, it had started centuries earlier, but Ori seemed happy and never complained. Lael nearly died in the First World War. After hehealed, he grew cold, distant, and disdainful of Ori’s love. One day, Lael left with no warning. There was a brief note saying they were over and warned Ori against looking for him. It shattered Ori’s heart into so many pieces, no one could figure out how to help put it back together. Since the breakup, Ori’s been a virtual recluse.”
I glanced at my forgotten sandwich growing cold on my plate. He might have been a jerk to me, but no one deserved that much heartache. “That’s heavy.”
“I’m not telling you all this to make you feel obligated,” Dad said. “You have every right to walk away, and I won’t let anyone, not even Michael, force you to stay if you’re uncomfortable.”
This new context on Orion would have been really helpfulbeforetoday. It didn’t excuse his behavior, but it made it more understandable. My anger drained away, replaced by a sudden, surprising swell of compassion.
“Just think about giving him one more chance,” Dad said, watching my face. “You’re the best person for this mission, Zeke. Your deductive skills, your intuition, your heart, and yourtrainingare exactly what’s called for. And there isn’t anyone better than Orion to keep you safe, if you can find a way to get past his rough edges.”
Rough edges?They were more like chainsaw teeth.
Chewing on another fry, I tried to remove emotions from my deliberation. Orion had majorly overstepped. Scared me, too, if I was being honest. On the other hand, walking away would only reinforce Orion’s isolation and distrust. If the Drevlin threat was as serious as Michael claimed, I couldn’t abandon this mission with a clear conscience.
Dad watched me, but like always, didn’t push me into making the decision he wanted. He had the patience of a being who’d live for millennia. But he wouldn’t have come unless he wanted me to try again. This time, however, he wanted me to have fullinformation and be able to ask him anything before I made my choice. Something Michael had denied me.
“I’ll stick with the assignment and give him another shot, but no more caveman, chest-pounding, ‘me in charge, you listen,’ crap.”
My theatrics made Dad laugh. “I’ll make sure Gabriel tells him exactly that.” His amusement changed into something more paternal and full of pride. “You’re a good man, son, and I love you so much. I believe in my heart you are doing the right thing, but if you ever have doubts, call me and I’ll take you home in a heartbeat.”
I didn’t need a psych degree to realize this was why Michael wouldn’t let Dad protect me. He’d betooprotective and that might jeopardize the mission. And if Dad couldn’t do it himself, he trusted Orion with my life. That was a pretty strong endorsement.
“Yeah, yeah, enough of that. You’re still paying for lunch, old man.”
Dad barked out a laugh, the sound turning heads all over the restaurant. “It’s cute you think four millennia make me old. I’m just hitting my prime.”
His food arrived and we shared an extremely rare father/son lunch. I laughed at his animated stories, and he smiled like a proud dad when I talked about my successful cases. The day certainly started off crazy, but if that was what it took to spend a few hours with my father, I’d take the crazy any time I could.
Hopefully Gabriel’s talk with Orion went half this well. If it did, we’d be fine working together. If not, well, I always did love a challenge.
Orion
After Gabriel left, I went to the basement to set up the training room. It was a familiar exercise meant to keep me from overthinking the awkward start we’d been through. I was so ashamed of how I treated Ares’s son, I might not be able to face my friend. The effects of my isolation had been invisible to me when I was living in the moment.
The others must’ve known and been waiting for the right situation to present itself to shock me back into reality. The only thing I wouldn’t own was how they sent Zeke into the lion’s den like they had. They had no way of being sure I wouldn’t hurt Zeke.
I called Gabriel out for their callous disregard for the boy’s safety. He laughed it off, pointing out Zeke held his own. It wasn’t an accurate assessment. I’d been mad, but not so far gone I didn’t have control. Hurting Zeke hadn’t been the plan. Scare him? Yes. Convince him to obey me? Absolutely. Inflict pain or serious injury? Not even a thought.
Unfortunately, collateral damage didn’t care about intent. What I did could’ve hurt him, and if that had happened, Michael and Gabriel would have been responsible.
I took off my shirt and went through some warm-up exercises, pushing my body through familiar patterns. The familiarity helped settle my nerves about the upcoming conversation with Zeke.
He came home a little over an hour after Gabe left. I heard him walking around upstairs, but didn’t call out, either verbally or mentally. He’d earned the right to come to me on his own terms. I wasn’t going to force him to deal with me before he was ready.
Ten minutes later he trudged down the stairs. I rested the weighted sword I’d been swinging and waited for him to come around the corner. My breath caught at the sight of him in a tight workout shirt and shorts. He looked good. Really good.
I shook my head minutely, pushing those thoughts away. This was Zeke. I couldn’t go there.
Zeke came ready to spar. He didn’t wear socks and had no jewelry or earphones.
“I’m ready for you to assess me,” he said in a neutral voice.
I nodded and invited him to come onto the mat. Before we started, I needed to clear the air. “About earlier. I was out of line, and I owe you an apology. Michael put you in charge of this mission, and my job of protecting you doesn’t change that. I promise that I’ll defer to you unless I’m absolutely convinced you’re putting yourself in danger. If that happens, I hope you’ll listen to my concerns and not think I’m trying to overrule you. I realize after what I did that might be hard, but I promise you it will come from a good place.”
Zeke dropped his gaze and shuffled his feet. “First, Dad said to say hello, and let you know if you do it again, he’s going to kick your ass into the next century.”
He looked embarrassed, but I’m sure Ares told him to tell me, or he’d have come himself. “Fair. I expect no less.”
